Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
It's hard to run an anti-virus scan if you can't boot from the hard drive. To run an anti-virus or other scan, you'll need to take some special steps to boot from something else.
Most of the self-help books that have been written about XP say the same thing: if you can't start XP in Safe Mode, you might have a virus so run an anti-virus program. Well, all of my anti-virus packages were downloaded, so I have no install disks. But even if I had an install disk, if I can't boot Windows, or I can't connect to the internet, a disk won't do me any good. So how do I run an anti-virus scan under these conditions? And if I reformat and reinstall XP, isn't there a possibility that a virus could attach itself to the new install if I haven't eliminated it before hand?
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You're experiencing a definite chicken-and-egg situation. You need to run an anti-virus program to possibly fix Windows, but you need to be able to run Windows in order to run the anti-virus program.
Seems like a no-win situation.
There are approaches and they all begin with booting something else.
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When things are this broken, I often suggest just reinstalling Windows. If you do reformat and reinstall, you'll be erasing everything - including any viruses - so you don't have to worry about them tagging along. If you rebuild the system in the correct order, you can stay safe from the beginning and be virus-free.
The problem, of course, is that this is a lot of work and erases everything, including all of your programs and data. If you've backed up properly, this shouldn't cause you too much grief; on the other hand, if you're like too many people, losing all of that data may be a real problem.
So, we'll look at a couple of options that don't involve a complete reformat.
Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper
Using another computer, download and burn to CD the Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper.
This relatively new tool is probably exactly what you need. It's a version of Microsoft's anti-malware software that runs directly from the CD when you boot it.
Make sure to download the latest version so that the most recent threats are covered.
Bootable anti-malware discs
Several anti-malware companies actually also provide recovery disc images that you can download for this purpose as well.†
In fact, you'll note a common thread: "rescue" media of some sort. If you have a favorite anti-malware tool, it's worth searching for that "tool-name rescue CD" and you may find that they have one available.
Download that, burn it to CD, and boot your affected system from it to begin the cleanup process.
All-in-one Utility CDs
There are several popular free CD images available that contain collections of tools that can be used not only to recover from malware infections, but also to perform other maintenance and repair on otherwise compromised machines.†
Each of these CDs are free downloads, and when burned to CD, they create bootable media that you can use to recover and repair your unbootable machine.
Live CDs
Many, if not most, distributions of Linux are free. Another approach is to use one of the Linux "Live CDs".
Live CDs are free, downloadable images that can be burned to CD. Boot from that CD and your machine is running a version of Linux without having to make any changes to your system or hard disk. You can then run anti-virus software or other tools against the Windows installation on your hard disk.
The most popular Linux Live CD is Knoppix.
Another promising Live CD is Ubuntu. Ubuntu's Live CD doubles as its install CD should you ever want to switch.
The great thing about all of these bootable CDs is that once you do boot, even if you can't perform the virus scan, you can still examine your Windows hard disk and possibly repair problems by hand, or at least recover files before taking more drastic action.
Because I tend to be a computer geek, I have copies of both Knoppix and Ubuntu lying around, and I am typically prepared to grab the latest Microsoft System Sweeper, should I need it.
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† Products listed are just examples for reference and no endorsement is implied.
(This is an update to an article originally published July 17, 2006.)
Article C2726 - October 1, 2011 « »
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
December 29, 2011 7:44 PM
My son was trying to fix an issue with my keyboard and installed a new one but it didn't correct the issue with keys not working in certain sector of keyboard, found issue listed on several forums that it might be an issue with malware/virus, but also had an issue with it starting to list "no bootable device detect" so he also took the laptop apart to check all connections and removed hard drive and then re-installed, now the computer won't boot at all. It had also started doing a ticking sound part time then it would stop.A system restore was done but didn't correct the keyboard issue & the computer did boot up at least once after that but now the computer won't boot at all. Could a virus/malware do this or is it a dead hard drive? It won't safe boot either. He tried booting ubuntu from a flash drive but said he didn't get that to work either. Should I just go ahead and try to run the Malware suggestions or the Microsoft standalone system sweeper? If it is a dead hard drive is there any way to get my pictures and files from it, yes I know I should have done more backups on the system but my husband usually uses it for more internet surfing then files and I just plain forgot common sense maintenance with it. Thanks for any other suggestions. ( Windows Vista OS- 3 yrs old laptop)
March 1, 2012 11:19 AM
I used the Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper to boot and scan my computer. It did a great job of getting a Trojan virus I had on my computer. I had also downloaded the Ubuntu Live CD. After I had removed the virus, my system still would not boot up. Well, I would see the Windows logo, then my computer went into setup mode. It said that setup is being restarted... Then it said: "Please insert CD labeled "Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 CD" into your CD-ROM drive D: and then click OK. You can click OK if you want files to be copied from an alternate location, such as a floppy disk!" I inserted my Windows XP Pro disk that came with my Dell computer when I bought it. It was the service pack 2, however, as I bought my machine in 2005. I had gotten to SP3 through the download center at Microsoft.com. When I inserted my CD that came with the computer, I got a Fatal Error Message. It said "One of the components that Windows needs to continue setup could not be installed. The operation was cancelled by the user. Then I got an Error message under that which read: "The signature for Windows XP Professional Upgrade is invalid. The error code is 80060100. No signature was present in the subject."
Like I said, I had also downloaded the Ubuntu Live CD. When I put it in the CD drive, I could try the CD before using it, but I could not install Ubuntu. When I tried it, I could see all of my programs on my computer, but I could not use any of them. Then I used my Windows XP Pro SP2 CD to run chkdsk /r/f at the recovery option of installing Windows XP again. It removed all of the bad files, and stated that the disk had been repaired. However, when I tried to boot into Windows, I got the same error messages as before. So I tried the Ubuntu disk again. This time I was able to load Ubuntu onto my computer. It partitioned a external hard drive I have, and loaded itself unto it. However, my programs are still not working. I can view all of my pictures, but I cannot access any of my music or videos. These are the ones I had backed up on the external drive. I have tried to access some of the programs on my internal hard drive. but I have no success loading any of them. What am I doing wrong. I saw a Microsoft Product called Diagnostics and Recovery Tool. There is a Version (5) for XP. Do you think this application would solve my problem? Thanks for your patience and guidance!!
March 31, 2012 6:59 PM
i have reinstalled windows becasue of security check virus blocking me from booting, however i still cant boot after restart is it possible the virus has stayed somehow? how do i fix this?
July 10, 2012 11:11 AM
How do I run a bootable virus scan such as Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper when my machine doesn't see the CD driver until Windows boots up?
10-Jul-2012
April 14, 2013 3:27 PM
I got hit with the FBI white screen greentag virus on my Dell mimi with no cd drive.
Cannot reboot system locks up with the white screen. How can I remove this from my dell mini 10, no cd drive. Sytem will not boot from flash drive eighter? How to I check BIOS?
winxp ie8 sent from main system.
thank you
Felix