On July 01 2011 10:03 billyX333 wrote: Well what do you recommend I do from here? I dont have any spare parts around to test anything. Whats the cheapest solution?
Borrow a graphics card from a friend to test. Or buy the cheapest one you can find.
On July 01 2011 09:27 JingleHell wrote: And how exactly did you get a virus in your BIOS? Also, given that you think this is the case, I'm not sure I trust your ability to diagnose, so why don't you list the symptoms. Or do you not want us to find out what you were trying to download?
Well what else could it be besides the fact that the virus is not located on my hard drive? And I don't know how I got it or I would have told you obviously.
How about saying what it does? IF it actually is a BIOS virus, (they're kind of rare because they're kind of specific) flashing the BIOS may not be possible, so knowing what it is will help figure out what you can do to fix it, or if you can.
Anyways, how do you know it's a virus? What's it doing that proves it's a virus and not hardware?
Well when using my computer, I continuously got linked to a big "Your computer may be infected!" popup and then it would redirect me to a site to get it cleared. It also did this when I tried to enable my firewall. Thats just one specific detail I remember. I read that BIOS viruses are rare and one particular BIOS virus does indeed do exactly what I just described. I guess thats my best example
Do you know what site it is? You could stop your computer from going to that site if you go to C drive/Windows/System32/Drivers/ETC/Hosts ( edit "Hosts" via notepad with administrator and then add "127.0.0.1 WebpageHere" ) but that's all it'd do might be useful in the future
Malware doesn't do this. The red/blue/color stuff could be from a virus, it could only be a virus if it does it immediately before shutting down or rebooting.
Viruses don't affect start up in terms of display.
That stuff your seeing is either your graphics card or Monitor, or the plug/cord in between the two.
On July 01 2011 09:27 JingleHell wrote: And how exactly did you get a virus in your BIOS? Also, given that you think this is the case, I'm not sure I trust your ability to diagnose, so why don't you list the symptoms. Or do you not want us to find out what you were trying to download?
Well what else could it be besides the fact that the virus is not located on my hard drive? And I don't know how I got it or I would have told you obviously.
How about saying what it does? IF it actually is a BIOS virus, (they're kind of rare because they're kind of specific) flashing the BIOS may not be possible, so knowing what it is will help figure out what you can do to fix it, or if you can.
Anyways, how do you know it's a virus? What's it doing that proves it's a virus and not hardware?
Well when using my computer, I continuously got linked to a big "Your computer may be infected!" popup and then it would redirect me to a site to get it cleared. It also did this when I tried to enable my firewall. Thats just one specific detail I remember. I read that BIOS viruses are rare and one particular BIOS virus does indeed do exactly what I just described. I guess thats my best example
Do you know what site it is? You could stop your computer from going to that site if you go to C drive/Windows/System32/Drivers/ETC/Hosts ( edit "Hosts" via notepad with administrator and then add "127.0.0.1 WebpageHere" ) but that's all it'd do might be useful in the future
This actually sounds like one of those malware programs that associates internet file extensions with its own executable such that it runs every time you open up firefox or IE or whatever. They usually have some sort of random-looking name as its running process.
They're easily thwarted by simply removing the registry keys associated with it, but of course, I don't know if this is actually the malware problem.
As for your graphical issues, I don't have anything knowledgeable to say, but if the vast majority of the forum is telling you that it's your GPU, you should probably take their advice :<
I've had very similar looking artifacts in the past. Replaced my graphics card and all was good again.
The thing with malware these days is that the vast majority of what is actually in circulation is made by someone who actually wants to gain some form of profit from it. Which is why it tends to stay hidden instead of doing things that would be immediately obvious, like distorting the screen. So any problem that occurs which is very hard to miss is already unlikely to be a malware infection. The "your computer is infected" warning popup on the other hand, is definitely some form of malware that you picked up at some point, but it doesn't need to settle in the BIOS. It's just a regular piece of malware on your harddisk using the Windows registry to ensure it's executed at the right time.
yes thanks for all the advice. I've definitely accepted the GPU or video card to be the culprit now I just need to find my warranty.
It actually crashed about 4 times over the course of the week with the same glitchy graphics except it was always temporary. It did cross my mind that it was the GPU but my frustration at the virus on my computer at the time overrode that suspicion apparently. Now I'm just worried that something is functioning incorrectly to have allowed my GPU to gradually break down perhaps? I don't know enough about computers to really do anything about it though.
That is not a virus. That is a broken GPU or motherboard. Try reflashing your bios first, you can probably find instructions and the firmware on your motherboard manufacturer's site. If that doesn't work, replace your graphics card and see if the problem persists, if it does, you are likely looking at having to get your motherboard replaced.
Just to be sure, also check the monitor and the cabling, however, looking at the screenshots, that seems very very unlikely.
its pretty common for graphic cards to die after some month of life these days. dont worry, there should be no other problem with your pc. if you have warranty, fine. if not, before you throw it away you can actually bake your graphic card in an oven at 200° for about 5 min, no kidding. most of the time graphic cards die because of too much heat deployment, so the pins expand and constrict over and over again until a connection is broken. when baked, the solder my be able to melt end expand, so the contacts close again. http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/529271-bake-your-graphics-card-oven-fix.html wont help on broken RAM though, but worth a try.
I had this same issue on a laptop. I replaced the the video card and that resolved it. However a couple months later, it happened again. This time the motherboard and video card were replaced. It has worked ever since. So, the video card was fried, however the motherboard was actually at fault frying the video card. I suspected the motherboard was made around the time a bad batch of capacitors was going around to motherboard companies.
Go ahead and try the troubleshooting you are thinking. There's absolutely no harm in removing the bios battery for a few minutes and putting it back. It will just reset the bios settings. Go ahead and flash the latest bios. Think of it this way: Your computer is already unusable. What are you going to do? Break it? Use this as a chance to play around and learn how these things work.
However, I believe it's a hardware failure between the motherboard and/or video card.
Yeah, honestly sounds like you have both a hardware problem and a virus. You might as well remove the possibility of a BIOS virus by flashing a new one but don't expect any miracles.
Actually, if looks like your using Integrated Graphics(IGP) and one of your Ram sticks went bad (the easiest way to test bad RAM is to use a IGP because IGPs use your RAM).
I wouldn't boot into windows even if you could because any HD writes might be corrupt. I would just take out 1 stick (you prolly have 2) and use 1 stick at a time to figure out which one is bad.
If you have a GPU, your VRAM may be bad. Either way, its a memory issue either with your main board memory (cheap to fix) or you need to RMA/buy a GPU if you have a GPU.
On July 01 2011 17:37 billyX333 wrote: yes thanks for all the advice. I've definitely accepted the GPU or video card to be the culprit now I just need to find my warranty.
It actually crashed about 4 times over the course of the week with the same glitchy graphics except it was always temporary. It did cross my mind that it was the GPU but my frustration at the virus on my computer at the time overrode that suspicion apparently. Now I'm just worried that something is functioning incorrectly to have allowed my GPU to gradually break down perhaps? I don't know enough about computers to really do anything about it though.
the virus you were experiencing through the OS was definitely malware, just speaking out of experience, I don't know the exact science to it as to what it does to your computer, but it can be taken out easily by running one of the various freeware programs out there, such as "Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware."
unluckily i didn't document when i experienced it and how exactly i found a solution, i'm not sure if the malware continuously pops up to the point where you can't even browse through your programs regularly.
i don't think you're at fault though when diagnosing it as a bios virus, just a little too hasty. every time you experience display errors always look for video card-related symptoms, from whether or not the video card itself is bad to the connection between the monitor and card itself. best way as the majority said is to just find a working video card and switch it with your old one to find out for sure.
Iv combed through the thread and I have to agree from the pictures and information provided that it is indeed a GPU problem. If your motherboard has on board graphics try taking out your video card and booting up.
On July 01 2011 21:28 adelise wrote: A BIOS virus rofl
Ever hear of an SMM rootkit?
It is possible, but it's still not what we call likely.
Yes, it's possible but the way he said "A BIOS virus, rofl" makes me think he believes they don't exist.
But based on the pictures and posts, I'm 99% certain it's a graphics card problem and that he has a rogue AV on his system, both easily fixed.
Yeah, pretty much. Although I pretty much reacted the same way in my first response, I just put it into useful words. The tl;dr version of my first post would be something like "A BIOS virus, rofl".
On July 01 2011 10:04 Sir.Kimmel wrote: pull the cmos battery to verify that I'm right... then buy a new graphics card...
This! You may want to think that there are people using significant amounts of their time writing viruses for the very BIOS you have just to fuck with people like you but you'd be better off just buying a new graphics card and accepting the fact that hardware errors produce some pretty weird effects.
If you are using an onboard chip, just buy a new mobo.