Not sure if I'm infected. Can't boot because of 'critical boot file corrupted'

[slg1013]

Hello,

 

I noticed that our family laptop was in "Startup Repair" mode this morning (it seemed fine about 8 hours prior when I used it; not sure if anyone else used it after).  The details indicate a corrupted "d:\windows\system32\drivers\spldr.sys" file.  The attempted repair fails, and I'm unable to boot into windows.  I can run a command prompt from the "Startup Repair" console, and ran a "chkdsk d: /f" which claimed there were no issues.  I'm not sure if this issue is the result of a virus and I'm not sure how to proceed since I don't know how to get the required tools onto this machine.

 

Thanks for any help you can provide...

 

Steve

[TwinHeadedEagle]

Hello,

    

 

They call me TwinHeadedEagle around here, and I'll try to help your with your issue.

 

     

    

Before we start please read and note the following:

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---

Please download Farbar Recovery Scan Tool x64 and save it to a flash drive.

• Plug the flashdrive into the infected PC.
• Restart your computer and tap F8 to bring up the Advanced Menu, then click Repair your computer
• Follow the prompt to enter keyboard input method, and then the prompt to enter a password. If the machine does not have a password, simply click Enter.
• In the Choose Recovery Tool menu select Command Prompt.
• You will see a big black window with a blinking cursor (command prompt).

  Access the notepad and identify your USB drive

  In the Command Prompt please type in:

  notepad

  and press Enter.
• When the notepad opens, go to File menu.
• Select Open.
• Go to Computer and search there for your USB drive letter.
• Note down the letter and close the notepad.

  Scan with Farbar Recovery Scan Tool

  Once back in the command prompt window, please do the following:

• Type in e:\frst64.exe and press Enter.

  You need to replace e with the letter of your USB drive taken from notepad!

• FRST will start to run. Give him a minute or so to load itself.
• Click Yes to Disclaimer.
• In the main console, please click Scan and wait.
• When finished it will produce a logfile named FRST.txt in the root of your pendrive and display it. Close that logfile.

  Transfer it to your clean machine and include it in your next reply.

[slg1013]

Thanks so much for your help.  I've attached the frst.txt file.

 

Steve

[slg1013]

Sorry fogot to press the "Attach" button

FRST.txt

[TwinHeadedEagle]

You have a lot of restore points. Can you try restoring your system to the time before this happened:

Restore point made on: 2015-08-12 02:00:36

Restore point made on: 2015-08-12 09:50:09

Restore point made on: 2015-08-12 10:00:07

Restore point made on: 2015-08-12 11:49:06

Restore point made on: 2015-08-12 12:45:53

Restore point made on: 2015-08-15 15:10:37

Restore point made on: 2015-08-19 01:17:30

Restore point made on: 2015-08-19 02:00:15

You can do it from recovery options.

[slg1013]

The 2 most recent restore points (on 2015-08-19) failed (unable to restore a windows journal file - restore point was either damaged or deleted during the restore).  Since it's not clear if these occurred before the issue, I also tried to restore to the restore point made on 2015-08-15 when the machine appeared to functioning properly.  This restore point also failed (unable to restore skype.exe - restore point was either damaged or deleted during the restore).  I didn't try any other restore points after that... I'm not confident that the results will be any different; if you think that is incorrect, I will try a restore point from 2015-08-12.

 

Thanks,

 

Steve

[slg1013]

A colleague has suggested an upgrade to Windows 10.  What do you think of that?

[TwinHeadedEagle]

If you are able, then go for upgrade.

[slg1013]

So the upgrade was a failure, since it requires that the machine be able to boot into windows to handle the licensing correctly.  I'm guessing that since you had me attempt to restore from a previous configuration that you don't see any signs of a virus or malware on the machine that's causing the issue, and that my windows installation must have somehow got trashed?  If this is the case, I'm guessing that I'll need to make a clean install of Windows?

 

Thanks...

[TwinHeadedEagle]

That is correct.

[AdvancedSetup]

Glad we could help.

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