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[moggy]

Jeebus theres a lot of scaremongering going on here....


Has no-one thought its just the BIOS start-up screen that is being displayed and not the actual BIOS....

Can i ask what do you mean mate its the AMI screen,if i press pause/break it stays on that screen.If i press delete i get the BIOS screen.Are they two separate things forgive my ignorance.Dean.

[minifreek]

Yes...

It basically tells you how much RAM memory your graphics adapter has and what type/model it is... also what CPU the machine has installed, and also what hard drives and CD/DVD/Bluray drives are installed...

The BIOS screen is ONLY accessed by a key press, it won't boot directly to the BIOS screen...



Basically once you press the on button, it will (or should) eventually boot into Windows or whichever operating system is installed...


Your not being ignorant at all BTW....

[moggy]

Well with some help of some of you guys and some personal pms,i think i may i say may have sorted it.I went into the Bios and made sure the date was correct,as the other day it was 02/02/2002.Then i went to load default ok turned off the pc,left it for half hour.Restarted and it is now booting straight to windows,no AMI screen.I still don't know what caused this(as said could have been something i downloaded) or whether my BIOS is still compromised,but i suppose i will just have to wait and see.Thanks for all the help and advice as always it was very much appreciated.Dean.

[Entwood]

Well with some help of some of you guys and some personal pms,i think i may i say may have sorted it.I went into the Bios and made sure the date was correct,as the other day it was 02/02/2002.Then i went to load default ok turned off the pc,left it for half hour.Restarted and it is now booting straight to windows,no AMI screen.I still don't know what caused this(as said could have been something i downloaded) or whether my BIOS is still compromised,but i suppose i will just have to wait and see.Thanks for all the help and advice as always it was very much appreciated.Dean.

given 2 salient points from all that has been said ..

1) It self booted to BIOS (setup)
2) The date reverted to 2002 (probably when it was built)

I will 99% agree with BM that the BIOS (CMOS) battery is on its way out. This provides a very small current to a single chip on the motherboard that "stores" a "map" of where everything is, the date, and a few other things. If the battery starts to get tired then the chip loses that info and setup has to run everytime.

If you "boot" several times in succsesion you put extra strain on the battery .. leaving it a while allows it to recover a tad ....

For the sake of around £2.00 change the little battery .. it is probably a CR2032 ... if nothing else it will take the battery out of the equation .. if the problem still occurs it is then something serious.

HTH

[TheBoy]

Jeebus theres a lot of scaremongering going on here....


Has no-one thought its just the BIOS start-up screen that is being displayed and not the actual BIOS....

Right. 'dangle berries'. In a nutshell.

The OP has said he was downloading dodgy software from dubious sources.  These downloads are riddled with malware, always are, always will be.

Whilst doing this, the BIOS configuration changed.

Coincidence? Really?


Its far more likely that the BIOS and/or the boot block (if its new enough to have one) have been compromised.  The big danger with pre-boot compromises is the OS is unable to detect the compromise in any way, so immediately the OS is pwned by somebody nasty.

A BIOS update is probably unlikely to resolve it, due to a combination of poor software handling by the flasher, and because at the point of flashing, the system is still compromised.  If the bootblock has been done as well, no chance.


Can it be fixed? Yup, most probably. I can certainly put the OP in touch with companies that can analyse and usually remove the infection, as I'm sure Guffer could too. An initial investigation is likely to be £20-30k (exc vat), with a quote then generated. For most people, a £150 brand spankers PC is a far more viable option.


Scaremongering? Nah, sadly its reality. Apart from a desire not to see a fellow OOFer get oppsed over by scumbags, I really couldn't give a shit about anyones PC. One more compromised PC on the Internet is irrelevant to me, as long as none of mine are.


To the OP, you've had the views of somebody with a 20yr professional background in IT systems engineering, and the views of our resident professional IT Security guy, and both (for once ) are broadly in line with each other - it is very likely that that system board, that hard disk and potentially that RAM will be controlled by somebody out to make financial gain.

I would strongly recommend to never use it again, and from another PC, change all your passwords used in any online services.

[moggy]

Jeebus theres a lot of scaremongering going on here....


Has no-one thought its just the BIOS start-up screen that is being displayed and not the actual BIOS....

Right. 'dangle berries'. In a nutshell.

The OP has said he was downloading dodgy software from dubious sources.  These downloads are riddled with malware, always are, always will be.

Whilst doing this, the BIOS configuration changed.

Coincidence? Really?


Its far more likely that the BIOS and/or the boot block (if its new enough to have one) have been compromised.  The big danger with pre-boot compromises is the OS is unable to detect the compromise in any way, so immediately the OS is pwned by somebody nasty.

A BIOS update is probably unlikely to resolve it, due to a combination of poor software handling by the flasher, and because at the point of flashing, the system is still compromised.  If the bootblock has been done as well, no chance.


Can it be fixed? Yup, most probably. I can certainly put the OP in touch with companies that can analyse and usually remove the infection, as I'm sure Guffer could too. An initial investigation is likely to be £20-30k (exc vat), with a quote then generated. For most people, a £150 brand spankers PC is a far more viable option.


Scaremongering? Nah, sadly its reality. Apart from a desire not to see a fellow OOFer get oppsed over by scumbags, I really couldn't give a shit about anyones PC. One more compromised PC on the Internet is irrelevant to me, as long as none of mine are.


To the OP, you've had the views of somebody with a 20yr professional background in IT systems engineering, and the views of our resident professional IT Security guy, and both (for once ) are broadly in line with each other - it is very likely that that system board, that hard disk and potentially that RAM will be controlled by somebody out to make financial gain.

I would strongly recommend to never use it again, and from another PC, change all your passwords used in any online services.

Hi TB,first of all can i say thank you for all of your and others comments and advice.But the bottom line is that financially i cannot afford another pc,i just don't have the money.I have to say i still don't understand,what the difference is between the AMI screen and the bios screen.All i know is that the Ami screen never used to come up,it did say cmos settings wrong.As for the bios settings i would not know,if they are wrong.Because i don't know what they were in the first place,i am i a no win situation as i need to keep using this pc.But thanks again to all,i will just have to hope my pc is not being controlled by a nasty.Regards a very foolish and upset Dean.

[STEMO]

Dean...I don't know much about computers either. But what I do know is, after all the advice you've received on here, you shouldn't even be considering using it for online banking or the like. Even access to your emails would give someone a shed load of information about everything from car insurance to which banks you use and, of course, your personal life.
You say you can't afford a new PC. Can you afford to have all your accounts hacked?


Buy a cheapish tablet, they are pretty good for day-to-day stuff now.

[Gaffers]

Jeebus theres a lot of scaremongering going on here....


Has no-one thought its just the BIOS start-up screen that is being displayed and not the actual BIOS....

 and both (for once ) are broadly in line with each other

I know! I was shocked too but it was probably because nobody mentioned the C word

[moggy]

Dean...I don't know much about computers either. But what I do know is, after all the advice you've received on here, you shouldn't even be considering using it for online banking or the like. Even access to your emails would give someone a shed load of information about everything from car insurance to which banks you use and, of course, your personal life.
You say you can't afford a new PC. Can you afford to have all your accounts hacked?


Buy a cheapish tablet, they are pretty good for day-to-day stuff now.

Ste,thanks for your reply.Without going it to to much detail,myself and the wife are nearly close to being evicted.No money is available for a tablet,everything goes on bills and rent food and getting us to work.If i have been hacked the hacker has nothing to get as i don't have anything.I made a big mistake and do not have the means or money to put it right.But i will have to live with that,i do worry about my wife.As in my youth i lived on the streets but she will not cope well,and what do we do with the cat she loves him.I will have to keep close eye on my banking stuff,but if things go tits up.There is nothing i can do about it,as TB said i should not have been a Freetard.Regards to all Dean.

[STEMO]

Dean...I don't know much about computers either. But what I do know is, after all the advice you've received on here, you shouldn't even be considering using it for online banking or the like. Even access to your emails would give someone a shed load of information about everything from car insurance to which banks you use and, of course, your personal life.
You say you can't afford a new PC. Can you afford to have all your accounts hacked?


Buy a cheapish tablet, they are pretty good for day-to-day stuff now.

Ste,thanks for your reply.Without going it to to much detail,myself and the wife are nearly close to being evicted.No money is available for a tablet,everything goes on bills and rent food and getting us to work.If i have been hacked the hacker has nothing to get as i don't have anything.I made a big mistake and do not have the means or money to put it right.But i will have to live with that,i do worry about my wife.As in my youth i lived on the streets but she will not cope well,and what do we do with the cat she loves him.I will have to keep close eye on my banking stuff,but if things go tits up.There is nothing i can do about it,as TB said i should not have been a Freetard.Regards to all Dean.

 

[05omegav6]

Sorry to hear that Dean. Ideally you need to not be using that PC for anything, especially not banking etc

I would go as far as to ask if the pay issue you had a while back was when you started having pc issues? Could be a lesson there for everyone

I appreciate that won't be of any solace but it might make you think twice about keeping the pc irrespective of whether you replace it sooner or later...

As for the rest of the issue, get in touch with Stepchange

[STEMO]

Sorry to hear that Dean. Ideally you need to not be using that PC for anything, especially not banking etc

I would go as far as to ask if the pay issue you had a while back was when you started having pc issues? Could be a lesson there for everyone

I appreciate that won't be of any solace but it might make you think twice about keeping the pc irrespective of whether you replace it sooner or later...

As for the rest of the issue, get in touch with Stepchange

And shelter, they really are on your side 

[Sir Tigger KC]

Bearing in mind that I'm a complete ignoramus luddite.    Would a new hard drive and/or memory card give Dean a 'clean' lappy? 

Hell of a lot cheaper if so. 

[STEMO]

Bearing in mind that I'm a complete ignoramus luddite.    Would a new hard drive and/or memory card give Dean a 'clean' lappy? 

Hell of a lot cheaper if so. 

I don't know, Tigger, but those who do are adamant about stuff like this......rebuild or new. 

[moggy]

Sorry to hear that Dean. Ideally you need to not be using that PC for anything, especially not banking etc

I would go as far as to ask if the pay issue you had a while back was when you started having pc issues? Could be a lesson there for everyone

I appreciate that won't be of any solace but it might make you think twice about keeping the pc irrespective of whether you replace it sooner or later...

As for the rest of the issue, get in touch with Stepchange

Hi mate,thanks for that.I have no choice but to use this pc,no about the pay issues i had no pc problems then.Just when i downloaded some doggy software.Can you tell me what is stepchange,Regards Dean.