Did this link to "WinHex" show up immediately after the messsge about "drive failure"? If so, I would be highly suspicious about doing anything with it. Do you have any reason to believe that the hard drive actually has any problems? WinHex, if that's what you really are seeing a link to, is a very sophisticated program that most people would not have the skills to use. I know it would be useless to me, and I think of myself as moderately computer savvy.

What were you doing at the point the warning message popped up?

I was cleaning up my husbands laptop. I posted earlier about a problem with Firefox and seemed to solve the problem by cleaning out the cache. I then moved on to start-ups to stop a bunch of things from starting because the computer was so slow to start up. I was Googling a bunch of start-up entries to figure out what could be stopped. The computer seemed to be working fine.

I went into msconfig to stop some programs as I couldn't find them in services when I did a restart. That's when the warnings came up. So many things started popping up I was so confused. I think I got a 'critical memory failure' warning (something like that), something about corrupted files, fragmented files. They appeared to be Windows messages. Then something started to download which said, Windows XP Repair and it started checking a list of things about problems. It would say 'found 2 problems. Then Zone Alarm popped up saying WinHex was trying to go to the Internet. I denied it and Googled WinHex. I couldn't understand what the search results were about. Something about Forensic recovery of the drive.

I didn't allow this program to fix the problems and kept denying Zone Alarm.

I shut down the computer and restarted. I had a blank desktop, except for the Start Button. When I clicked Start, nothing was in the menu except Control Panel and Documents. Program folder was empty. I tried Control Panel and it was blank so I couldn't get to Admin Tools. Tried Safe Mode with Networking and same thing. Tried Safe Mode without Networking and no difference. Got no where with Safe Mode. Couldn't access System Restore as the Programs Folder was empty as was Control Panel.

I continued to get warnings of a hard drive failure and critical memory loss. I didn't know if this was a virus or some sort of scam. I'm beginning to think I lost the hard drive.

I don't know what happened. Computer is a Dell Vostro Laptop, 4 yrs old running XP Pro. We have been traveling in the South and have been using it on the road. I don't know if it got damaged somehow.

Jane

Sounds like infection Jane!

If you are infected with Windows XP Repair it is important that you do not delete any files from your Temp folder or use any temp file cleaners. This is because when this infection is installed it will delete shortcuts found in various locations and store backups of them in the %Temp%\smtmp folder. It does this so that you when try to launch a program from your start menu, none of your shortcuts will appear and thus making you think that your computer has a serious problem. Therefore, you do not want to delete any of the files in your Temp folder as it will remove the backups that we will use later in the guide to restore your Windows Start Menu. For a list of folders that shortcuts are deleted and the corresponding directories where they are stored, please see this topic

Windows XP Repair also attempts to make it so you cannot run any programs on your computer. If you attempt to launch a program it will terminate it and state that the program or hard drive is corrupted. It does this to protect itself from anti-virus programs you may attempt to run and to make your computer unusable so that you will be further tempted to purchase the rogue. The messages that you will see when you attempt run a program are:

Hard Drive Failure
The system has detected a problem with one or more installed IDE / SATA hard disks. It is recommended that you restart the system.

Or

System Error
An error occurred while reading system files. Run a system diagnostic utility to check your hard disk drive for errors.

Or

Critical Error
Hard drive critical error. Run a system diagnostic utility to check your hard disk drive for errors. Windows can't find hard disk space. Hard drive error.

After you close this alert you will be presented with another alert that pretends to be for a program that will attempt to fix your hard drive.

Fix Disk
Windows XP Repair Diagnostics will scan the system to identify performance problems.
Start or Cancel

If you press the Start button, it will pretend to scan your computer and then state that there is something wrong with it. This message is:

Windows XP Repair Diagnostics
Windows detected a hard disk error.
A problem with the hard drive sectors has been detected. It is recommended to download the following sertified software to fix the detected hard drive problems. Do you want to download recommended software?

These are just further alerts trying to make you think your computer has a serious hard drive problem. It should be noted that if you attempt to run a program enough times it will eventually work.

You need to go to a malware removal forum.

Jane you might consdir going to Kaspersky and downloading the rescue CD. You will need to burn this to a DVD as an .iso then reboot, set the BIOS to seek the CD drive. Insert the DVD and follow along. This loads Kaspersky's Rescue program in Linux so nothing in Windows is running. You will need to allow it to update the definitions before running the scan.

That way you can hopefully eliminate the Vius/trojan aspect, it does remove things at the end if they are found.

If you have misgivings about Kasperky you can get a similar thing from AVG. Avira, Bitdefender and others.

as zep said you really need to head on over to LzD and get help with this one before things are really messed up.
Analysis and Malware Removal
register there then start a new thread of your own in the area I linked you to. Tell exactly what you have here and provide a link to this thread.
I am there as well if you need any help let me know.
Once you begin please stay only with the team there so there is no confusion or conflicts.

Yes get help with it..

Recent variants of this family have been installing the TDSS rootkit as well.

Windows XP Repair will also make it so that certain folders on your computer display no contents. When opening these folders, such as C:\Windows\System32\ or various drive letters, instead of seeing the normal list of files it will instead display a different folder's contents or make it appear as if the folder is empty. This is done to make it seem like there is corruption on your hard drive that is causing your files to not be displayed. It does this by adding the +H, or hidden, attribute to all of your files, which causes your files to become hidden. It will then change your Windows settings so that you cannot view hidden and system files.

There's a lot a things going on here, I strongly suggust the user get expert help.

Everything you wrote is happening. I'm traveling and presently in Florida and called a computer tech from the phone book. I left a message that my hard-drive was fried. Haven't heard back (lucky).I'm on my little netbook (thank goodness I took it along).

All folders are empty. No shortcuts or anything in Control Panel. A window pops up asking for $84.00 to attempt to save my files. It all looks so real and appears like Windows.

I wonder how I got this as I have so much security on the computer. We are looking at real-estate in the South and have been using various real-estate websites.

I'm off to LzD now.

I knew something seemed fishy. I also knew I'd find the answers here. Thank you all very much,

Jane

Just wanted to update. I am going to wait until we are back in NY to work on the problem. I only have a netbook to use and it doesn't have a CD drive. It appears I will have to burn a disk and don't have the ability. I also don't have the time to devote to the task and will wait until I get back. It is obvious we picked up this bug through a open, internet signal at hotels. That is my guess.

The netbook works well. I will post back when I get home.

Thanks again,
Jane

that would be my guess also, one of the hazards of unsecured networks and hotspots, definitely let LzD help you with this one.

Good luck!

These Anti Rogues are getting more and more difficult to remove. There also making other changes to the computer that have to be fixed after the malware is removed, they also can install from legit web sites too. Running Malwarebytes isn't the answer anymore, several other special tools need to be run first and a rootkit scanner as well. They should be run in order under the direction of a malware forum.

Jane I just want to say WAY TO GO GIRL!!! you did a great job of kicking that infection to the curb. I have been over there in the trenches with ya!

I am very impressed! You stuck with it and learned a lot in the process.

I told you the team at LzD is the best.

really congrats on what you accomplished.

Good for you, Jane. They are the greatest at LzD, and Corinne is wonderfully patient.

How true, what a great team. Quite an experience, glad its over...although I still don't trust his computer!

Thanks for your support,
Jane