BleepingComputer.com: Laptop virus infection prevents complete logon, even in Safe Mode

I have an IBM ThinkPad, running Windows XP Professional. While working online last week, The screen suddenly went blue and gave an error message (unfortunately, I don't recall what it said). I attempted to restart, but could not logon. I shut down, then removed the battery. A few hours later, I reinserted the battery and tried to boot back up. I now receive the following error messages:

First -

Second, appearing behind that error message, is the logon screen. I enter my password and the logon screen disappears. A few seconds later, another error message pops up:



If I click on the underlined "What should I do?" link, it brings up a help screen. Through that screen, I am able to follow another link which brings up my browser window, and I am able to access the internet. If I 'X' out that error window, I get yet another pop up error message:



Following that link I get:



Which takes me here:


(asterisks above represent my computer logon name)

I have used ctrl+alt+del to bring up the Task Manager, where I have tried to access the Desktop by starting a New Task, but as soon as I do, I get a black screen with the notorious System Security 2009 warning, followed by the 'loading' of my desktop icons behind a fake AV program which runs and tells me I am infected. The difference in my case, however, is that this appears to be more malicious than a mere succession of nag screens. I cannot circumvent the pop-ups in order to run my MalwareBytes and other system protection software. In fact, I cannot access any of my laptop files. Any icon I click or program I try to 'run' or folder I try to open results in a tiny pop-up bubble over a fake AV icon in the taskbar, which tells me that the specific file is infected and urges me to click to download the latest protection. I have tried a couple of times to use Task Manager to end some suspicious processes, but that doesn't seem to have any effect. Eventually, the same cycle of warnings begins, no matter what.

I have also tried to get into Safe Mode in order to run my Malware and Spybot programs, but I am denied logon access completely, nor can I force the Task Manager to open.

Is there any way at all to force a logon? I have tried downloading and running my Malware prog again, and telling it to open and run upon completion of download, but the program will not download. I haven't tried scanning my laptop directly from the internet - is that an option? Can you recommend a safe site where I can do this free of charge that will also allow me to remove the offending files?

I am at my wits' end. Is this a lost cause or can my laptop be salvaged? I have some very important files that I had not yet backed up and cannot afford to lose them . . .

Any help would be very greatly appreciated!

By the way, I was in the habit of routinely running Spybot S&D, Malwarebytes, and ccleaner on the Thinkpad mentioned above. The last time I ran them (the day before the crash), they reported no infections, and no registry errors. This thing caught me totally off-guard.

I'm going to take a quick detour while I wait for help with the original issue:

I am currently using an old Compaq Presario desktop, with Windows ME, to access the internet. I'm afraid using the Thinkpad, even though I can force an internet connection, will just keep the virus floodgates open. In the meantime, I am wondering if anyone can recommend an alternative to Malwarebytes anti-malware. That program is not available for ME, but I don't want to leave this PC unprotected. (I do have Spybot S&D and ccleaner installed, but they don't catch everything.)

Thanks!

This post has been edited by Euthenia: 30 May 2009 - 09:51 AM

Well, after reading through more topics in this forum, I decided to try a few things for myself. I went back to the laptop and forced it to go online, then - after many hours of trial and error - managed to access MalwareBytes by using the browse feature of an online file scanner. I then closed the browser and managed to run the program, which found and removed around sixty infected files. After that, I was able to restart, logon, and access my desktop. But, I had to reconfigure my browsers' proxy settings, because I couldn't get online anymore, and my programs were unable to properly update.

When I was back online, I downloaded and installed two additional protection programs, SuperAntiSpyware and Avast Home Edition. I wanted to run both of them, as well as MalwareBytes, which I couldn't update prior to running beforehand, and was prompted to update each of the three programs in turn. I was also prompted to restart prior to running each of them. Restarting after the Avast update triggered an automatic scan - which I believed to be safe, based on the program info and settings, so I let it run. After completion, the screen went black, then the laptop restarted. Now, I can't get past a looping logon request. After inputting my password, I get a message that says my preferences are being loaded, then I'm kicked back out to the logon screen. As before, I cannot get into safe mode, and I also cannot access the BIOS screen to change the settings to allow for boot-up through the CD drive.

This is very disheartening. Is there anything I can do at this point?