Member Avatar for spidey

Hi, I have C: as my main drive and D: partition for backups. Whenever I double-click on either drive at My Computer, it always says Access is Denied! I found it out the day after my brother connected a USB flash drive on the computer.
I scanned my PC with Norton antivirus (I don't have an antivirus installed before the problem). What it has tracked was the worm VBS.Solow.B only. I searched info about it but there's no sign of its symptoms. Perhaps it's not related to the problem then. I can't make System Restore coz I have just turned it off as what the site says to remove the worm. The worm is gone but the problem still exists.
I'm getting paranoid that it might be a virus and will infect my important files.
Help please.

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Dani AI

Generated

Quick diagnosis and a compact recovery checklist based on ’s symptoms and ’s cleanup direction.

The error "Access is denied" on a drive is usually one of three things: (A) a malware autorun/shell hijack that replaces the normal double‑click action, (B) files hidden or changed to system/readonly attributes, or (C) NTFS permissions/ownership changed so Explorer can’t open the root. Before reformatting, these are the practical steps to try (work slowly and back up any important files first).

  1. Inspect from a clean environment (Safe Mode, Windows PE, or a Linux live USB). Look at the root of each drive for suspicious files (autorun.inf, unexpected .lnk or .exe). From a Windows command prompt you can show hidden/system files and unhide them:

    dir D:\ /a
attrib -s -h -r "D:\*.*" /S /D

    Delete any autorun.inf or obviously malicious files you find while offline (no network).

  2. If files are visible but double‑click still fails, reset ownership and ACLs (run an elevated CMD). On modern Windows:

    takeown /F "D:\" /R /D Y
icacls "D:\" /reset /T /C

    Warning: these commands change permissions across the drive — back up first and accept that system files may require a reinstall if ACLs are reset for the system volume.

  3. If you cannot remove the infection from inside Windows, use a rescue USB/CD scanner (offline AV) to disinfect, or copy personal data from the clean environment and wipe/reinstall. Reformatting, which solved the problem for , is a definitive fix but should be last resort after backing up.

Prevention notes: disable autorun for removable media, keep AV and OS updated, scan any USB on a known-clean machine before plugging it in.

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Member Avatar for bobbyraw

ok so you brother infected you pc. Restoring to a previous point will not help, the system volume is one of the main areas affected with worms and viruses. so when you do a restore you still have the same problem.you need to run a few programs to get this fix. (the super experts on this will help you further) as for the virus program that you installed AFTER the infection, will not do much good..
turn of system restore
down load and run these programs.
CClean

then use AVg free to scan then use an online scanner kapersky or panda

Member Avatar for spidey

Thanks for the quick reply. My Internet connection has become very very slow that I couldn't open any site and other online programs. The only programs that run are Skype, Limewire and Google Talk. I ran CCleaner and TrojanHunter but TH update doesn't work. I installed Kaspersky and it removed imgkulot.reg virus, which my previous AV failed to detect. The virus is gone but C: couldn't still be explored or opened by double-clicking, plus I was so sick of the slow Internet connection. Desperate, I decided to reformat the PC. Now the Internet connection is back to normal! The virus has slowed it down to like almost no connection at all.

Thanks for the help. God bless!

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