My 14 yr old daughter's black screen

[krus54]

My 14 yr old daughter just called me in a panic about her ASUS laptop (Windows 7). I'm away from home now so I can't see exactly what she's talking about.

She boots the computer, it gets to the Windows signup screen and once she logs in her screen goes black.

I'm not there to see exactly what's going on, but she says she's got two dialog boxes that come up. One which says that she needs to activate Security Essentials 2011 (which I'm now reading is not a real AV program), and when she clicks on one of the buttons the system tries to go a web site but she gets a message that the web page can't be opened.

The other notification is from Windows Advanced Security Center which is giving her all kinds of warnings.

I told her to boot up in Safe Mode (without networking/Internet) and she has the same issue in Safe Mode: black screen with "Safe Mode" text in the corners

Any suggestions/advice? Does she likely have a virus? If so, any ideas on how she can get rid of it? She's got Vipre AV installed.

I guess she can try malwarebytes, but I'm not sure how she can even get it or run it if her screen is black.

Thanks for the help (in advance)

Dave

 

[MindoverMaster]

Total black, as in no mouse, no taskbar? The last error sound like Windows is somehow thinking it isn't genuine. Safe mode should have a black screen.

 

[KSoD]

In Safe Mode can she use Ctrl+Alt+Del to bring up the Task Manager and force start explorer.exe? Cause if not then it looks like she will be using a Restore Point. Without being able to at least get something on screen other than the Safe Mode text there is no way to fix the PC as it stands.

You could try Avast Boot CD or Hirens. But i doubt they would work.

 

[krus54]

Thanks for the reply. I had to wait until I was back home to see her laptop myself before responding. All I can see on the screen is the white cursor and it can be moved around with the mouse. The rest of the screen is completely black. There is no task bar.

I had problems with my wife's laptop about 6 mos. ago in which Windows didn't think it was genuine. Not quite sure how I got it fixed...but there were messages that came up asking me to verify.

With my daughter's laptop she had gotten the black screen and then a box which told her to active the Security Essentials 2011. She [sigh] clicked on the link but got a message that she could not active the web page because there was no connection to the Internet. Again, I wasn't there to see what was going on... I don't think it's a hardware problem with her screen because she would never have gotten the Windows sign on screen. How can I possibly help her if I can't see anything on the screen?

Total black, as in no mouse, no taskbar? The last error sound like Windows is somehow thinking it isn't genuine. Safe mode should have a black screen.

When she brought up Safe Mode, she had the same issue. Black screen. She does get the normal Windows sign on, it's when she logs in to her Windows account that she gets the black screen. Does this sound like a virus?

Thx!

In Safe Mode can she use Ctrl+Alt+Del to bring up the Task Manager and force start explorer.exe? Cause if not then it looks like she will be using a Restore Point. Without being able to at least get something on screen other than the Safe Mode text there is no way to fix the PC as it stands.

You could try Avast Boot CD or Hirens. But i doubt they would work.

 

[KSoD]

Did you even try to use the Ctrl+Alt+Del option to get the Task Manager? I understand that there is just a black screen, that doesnt mean that you cant use that keyboard combination to open up the Task Manager and force start explorer.exe at all. Not trying isnt going to help us help you.

 

[krus54]

Did you even try to use the Ctrl+Alt+Del option to get the Task Manager? I understand that there is just a black screen, that doesnt mean that you cant use that keyboard combination to open up the Task Manager and force start explorer.exe at all. Not trying isnt going to help us help you.

Hi,
I haven't tried using the Task Manager approach yet because I didn't see your reply while I was home. I texted my daughter after I saw your note and told her to try that.

Thanks!

 

[krus54]

My daughter informed me last night that your suggestion on Task Manager worked, except now she can't get past the pop-ups telling her to activate the Security Essentials. Everytime she closes it, it pops back up.

I have seen a suggestion about using Spy Doctor to clean it up or manually via making changes in the registry. Do you know if Spy Doctor (free version) will fix this up?

Thanks again for the help!

Dave

Did you even try to use the Ctrl+Alt+Del option to get the Task Manager? I understand that there is just a black screen, that doesnt mean that you cant use that keyboard combination to open up the Task Manager and force start explorer.exe at all. Not trying isnt going to help us help you.

Hmmm, I didn't see that my last update posted. My daughter tried the task manager and it worked so she can see the screen and she is eternally grateful. But the laptop has constant pop-ups about activating Security Essentials. Each time she closes the pop-up, it comes up again...non stop. I read that this is really hard to get rid of because of all the changes this virus makes on the files and registry. Not sure if it was here or another site I read this, but that Spyware Doctor, paid version can get rid of it. Any thoughts? Thanks

 

[KSoD]

No spy doctor will not clean this up.

Remove the Fake Microsoft Security Essentials Alert Trojan and AntiSpySafeguard

Spyware Doctor is almost as bad as this infection itself. You can run the program, use it to clean your system and run it again and have it find more items for it to clean. It will always find something to clean even right after you used it to clean your system. The program is designed to always make you think you need it when you dont.