Urgent computer question...

[Hyperion]

My comp has been really fubar the last several days, including not being able to access command and the task manager.

Also, on startup there is always a WTF.exe (WTF = gibberish 3 letters and a number name .exe)

It changes every time because I block it.

This time around I killed it's process and the system started working better.


Any idea just what the hell is going on and how to fix it?

(It goes without saying, I've never encountered this problem before.)

[Vympel]

Reformatting always works- I'm not joking most of the time I just do a clean Windows install when strange problems pop up. On average this is once every 1.5-2 years.

[Kamakazie Sith]

My comp has been really fubar the last several days, including not being able to access command and the task manager.

Also, on startup there is always a WTF.exe (WTF = gibberish 3 letters and a number name .exe)

It changes every time because I block it.

This time around I killed it's process and the system started working better.


Any idea just what the hell is going on and how to fix it?

(It goes without saying, I've never encountered this problem before.)

Sounds like it could be a virus.

[Raxmei]

Is your virus scanner fully up to date?

[Hyperion]

Virus scanner up to date. Nothing found, has all the earmarks of a virus.


So far I suspect it may be one of the more recent superviruses, the annoying SOBs that hide and change so well and quickly that the heuristics in the virus scanners don't have a hope in hell of catching them...


And yes, this thing is probably being nuked tomorrow.

[Faram]

Go for an online virus scanner and clear out the bugs.

Any one of the following works:

http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php
http://www.pandasoftware.es/activescan/ ... an-com.asp
http://www.pcpitstop.com/antivirus/avload.asp
http://security2.norton.com
http://housecall.antivirus.com/


Then run Search & Destroy.
Cleans out all those pesky spy & malware junk

http://spybot.eon.net.au/

[Pu-239]

Reformatting always works- I'm not joking most of the time I just do a clean Windows install when strange problems pop up. On average this is once every 1.5-2 years.

My computer gets fucked up a lot. I do this every month, or 2 weeks.

[Exonerate]

Might be a hexxed virus. Check your registry and startup for irregular programs. Get a firewall, and see if it tries to access the internet.

[Vertigo1]

Something is definitely spawning this thing. Personally, I'd go beyond a regular format. I'd go straight for a low-level format. Bomb that sucker to hell and back, then start over from scratch. Maxtor's LLF utility is the best one I've found and doesn't require a Maxtor drive in the system to work.

[Specialist]

First check to see if it's not a command trying to excute at startup and is sending a error message because you deleted it.

[Enlightenment]

Also, on startup there is always a WTF.exe (WTF = gibberish 3 letters and a number name .exe)

It changes every time because I block it.

Looks like some kind of virus or spyware.

When you've got WTF.exe running, use the file find utility (Windows-F or Start > search > for files or folders) to find the EXE on your drive. Kill the process and rename the executable to something that won't run, like "garbage.junk" or similar. Reboot. If it's gone then you're done. Otherwise get back to us.

LLFing your drive is vast overkill at this point.

[Exonerate]

Yeah... Formatting your HD is kinda overkill. Just find a way to remove it...