Member Avatar for _mike_

I have got a really nasty virus on my PC, I have used the dell sytem restore to restore it back to factory settings as this has worked with other virus probs, but when I restart its still there, on the black bios start up screen it has green lines accross the screen and won't start windows...I was hoping there was a floppy disk or something i could start the pc with to format it clean off the virus?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by kennyn

Dani AI

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A compact, practical follow-up to the exchange between @mike_ and : priorities are (1) decide whether the fault is hardware/firmware or a disk-based infection, (2) preserve any important data before destructive fixes, and (3) run targeted tests that rule out simple causes.

  • Quick display and hardware checks: test the machine with a different monitor or cable; if the system has a removable graphics card, reseat it or try the onboard video path; run the system with nonessential add-on cards and peripherals removed; try booting with only one RAM module installed (swap modules). Inspect the board for obvious damage, bulging capacitors, heavy dust or loose heatsinks.
  • Firmware and power checks: discharge residual power (power off, unplug, hold power button briefly) and, if comfortable, clear the firmware settings by removing the CMOS battery briefly or using the motherboard jumper. Avoid firmware flashing unless a specific update is known to fix the issue.
  • Data preservation and offline checks: create a sector-level image of the drive before any reformat (Clonezilla, Macrium Reflect, ddrescue or similar imaging tools). Use a second, working PC to make bootable rescue media (Linux live USB, Windows PE or vendor rescue environment) to run SMART/health checks and offline malware/rootkit scans. Vendor or third-party rescue disks can detect boot-sector infections without loading the installed OS.
  • When to accept hardware repair: if corruption appears before any OS code runs and persists across displays and GPUs, the fault is very likely GPU/motherboard related and will need part replacement or shop repair. Limit repeated stress cycles and get professional help for component-level fixes.

This summary builds on 's low-level focus and gives additional non-destructive diagnostics plus data-safety steps that complement the thread answers.

Member Avatar for kennyn

If the Bios screen is showing lines across the screen then this is probably not a problem with a virus in Windows.
More likely to be a problem with the pc.
What symptoms did you have that suggested you had a virus ?
Can you get into the bios settings pages ?
And if so do the green lines go away ?

Member Avatar for _mike_

Hi, thanks for the reply :) basically i uninstalled the mcafee virus protection as was having issues installing something, and an hour or so later i was online and all of a sudden the screen froze with lots of wierd colours and the shut down, once i restarted it was there from immediate start up.. I have been able to get into the bios settings ( blue? ) pages, but its still there, and also sometimes i cant choose certain options like the sytem restore as the mouse would stop.. i managed to get into windows safe mode too and restore to earlier date, but no matter what i do, the colours are still there preventing me from seeing what im doing properly and preventing me from running windows in normal mode at all... it seems like its a virus that is there from start up if there is such a thing?

Member Avatar for kennyn

It is possible to get a boot sector virus which might explain some of this.
But not the screen being corrupted when in the bios settings
( At that point you haven't got as far as reading the hard disk )
It still sounds more like a hardware fault or possibly corrupt bios settings.
To check this, go into the bios and disable the hard disk.
The pc will then not to boot to Windows, but at least it will proves the issue more low-level than a virus on the hard disk.

Member Avatar for _mike_

ok, great, good idea, but how do I disable the hard disk in the bios?

Member Avatar for kennyn

I hazard guess from most Dells I've seen it will be -
F2 for the bios setup
Look inside "Drives"
It will probably be the first drive listed e.g. Drive 0
If it set to "On" and has a disk attached it will give you the drive details on the right hand side.
Once you've found it, press enter, then change setting to off.
At this stage it won't do any harm to switch all drives to off to be sure.
Although make a note of what the bios says is connected to each in case you want to switch things back on selectively later.

Member Avatar for _mike_

Ok, thanks for this... i'll take a look tonight, and repost, thanks for your help..

Member Avatar for kennyn

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