Nasty Log-Off Virus.

Hi! I've a MacbookPro - I use OSX for the most part, but I have XP installed for gaming, which I do a little of.

Well, 'conquering the world' has had to be postponed for a while, because I've been hit with a virus that causes xp to "log off" the second it begins to log on. Safe mode doesn't help. I've checked out this possible fix, which probably would have worked fine...except for the fact it requires you to eject a disc and insert another half-way through an xp repair process.

The Macbook's eject key over on the top right isn't recognized, of course. Fantastic.

I've tried booting xp from an antivirus disc, but it doesn't do the scan well because it needs to connect to the internet to "be updated".

The most frustrating thing is...I bought the Windows antivirus program that day because the OS was starting to become pretty infested (up until then I sorta "forgot" how much of a threat viruses were to xp - in comparison to OSX)...I went to boot up to install the program that day, which was when I discovered this virus. Great timing.

Can anyone out there give some advice? In simple terms too, if you could...I'm no technological genius.

Have you tried booting from your Windows disc? I am not a Windows expert (anymore!) but if you can boot from your Windows disk you might be able to do something.

However, as a practical matter, you may have to get rid of the infected Boot Camp partition and start over. Depending on how you have formatted the Windows partition, you may be able to copy program data files (using Paragon NTFS or other utilities), but the safest thing would be to go to Boot Camp Assistant, select "restore the partition," then reinstall Windows and put the antivirus on immediately. You will lose all your gaming stuff, however. But you can't use it right now anyway.

Others can help you more with how to find and copy key data files but you have to be careful because you don't know what the virus is or what files you have infected.

Cheers

It looks like your best bet for now is to remove XP and reinstall it. Boot your MBP with your original XP install media. Be very careful from here on.

Make sure you identify the XP partition. It should be plainly marked as Boot Camp, drive c.

Reinstall XP: Don't reinstall over the top of the current copy - use the XP install CD to first format the partition (you'll lose everything) and then reinstall. If you don't reformat the partition, the virus may still be active and return to infect the new installation.

Be very careful you do not accidently format your OS X partition.

Once XP is reinstalled, install your AV software immediately. Reactivate XP and then proceed to download and install all updates. Lots of good free AV software out there: Avira PE, AVG, Comodo, and so forth. No excuse not to have one running.

Any questions, post back.

Regards.

Thanks for the tips - but if you do know of any more possible ways around this problem without having to compromise all my saved xp files - that would definitely be a first preference.

I've done a little googling...and some people seem to have located the files that this particular virus alters so as to cause log-off grief - so is there a way to access and edit some xp files remotely? Or even, coming back to that one link's solution, is there any way at all to eject a disc when running an xp repair (command prompt is accessible)?

Looks like the price for running the XP partition without antivirus. Avast is pretty good and is free. Think the partition would be infected so go with SammySlim's and chscag's advise.