computer shutting itself down

Well if its what Paavo has (a worm...) then take that pc off the network asap, because it infects any other pc around it. unless those are patched as well.

Check out Symantec's write up on it:

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.pinfi.html

go to Start --> run --> regedit

and check to see if you have that key value in place:

PINF

to the registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer


If so, you just got wormed =)....

Most worms work off of expoits and travel around infecting any machine it encounters that havent been patched. They are usually scripts that run on their own. (remember the sql slammer? it was a worm that exploited one thing: the default root account of msSQL is sa, the pasword is sa. If you didnt change it then sql slammer got you.

I just had the same thing and patched my system up. This may be redundant but here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;823980

That will fix the sucker up :D

:: My Edit ::

You have to download this manually, not through Windows Update. Also, quit all yout applications, and if that doesnt work, go into Safe Mode.

Ok, now my computer just reset itself without the warning box at all. And it's an "always on top box" so it's not like i had it hidden behind another window. The computer just clicked off all of the sudden.

Wonderful.

I've run all the updates and stuff.

Don't have a virus scanner... guess I should get one?

I'll probably just reformat... computer is getting too slow anyway. Might as well get it over with.

Am I being attacked from the outside, or is the worm causing the reboots by itself? If it's from the outside maybe I can just unplug and burn a few cd's before i reformat.

Now I'm trying to run Regedit, and every time i do, it closes itself immediately. It just flashes on the screen then disappears. Looks like my system is completely ****ed. damn the man.

Regedit shutting itself automatically is a sure sign you have a virus. Make sure it isnt connected to the network, get Norton or a free virus scanner asap, scan all your other pc's. Update them immediately.

I'm the only computer on my network... Er... I don't have a network at all actually. I got this email scanner called avast, and it's found several instances of the virus already. hopefully this will just get the system stable enough that i can burn some cd's and erase the mutha.

Yeah, its best to just re format. bummer....

Now every time I boot up it says that windows has recovered from a major error, and to please report it to microsoft. Then the computer just clicks off at some point. I left it on last night, and it rebooted itself sometime during the night. They need to raise the security risk on that virus... seems a lot worse than "low" to me...

No more rebootings for me, it's been about 30 hours since it happened.. *knocks on wood tho*

And I think I got rid of that virus too.
I installed Fsecure's 30 day trial and ran it about five times, until it couldn't find the virus anymore. I also checked a couple of times .EXE and .TMP files only, so it wouldn't take so long. I think/hope my PC's alright now.

Lovely return on investment and cost-of-operation provided by those windows boxen, eh?

Yep, these Macs I've bought are just soooooo pricey....and for all that money, I never even get to play around with those games you guys call "viruses." Damn things just keep making me work and work and work and work.....