BleepingComputer.com: Recovered from Virus, now Graphics Driver / Resolution Problem

mark1956, on 16 January 2012 - 03:17 AM, said:

One remote possibility for malware damaging a video card? I suppose it could be written to overclock the card and at the same time reduce the cooling fan speed?

It is unlikely as that would not have any real gain for them and these days it seems to be all a bout the money unlike back in the 80s when viruses were just destructive.

This post has been edited by rotor123: 16 January 2012 - 11:16 AM

I doubt any malware writer will have produced an infection to do that, the main aim of most Malware is to steel personal information without being noticed, or to con you in some way. Damaging your video card would achieve nothing for the author and I have yet to come across any Malware that causes damage to a systems hardware.

Thanks for letting us know your plans and I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

This post has been edited by mark1956: 16 January 2012 - 02:28 PM

Have you tried cleaning the card contacts with a qtip and some rubbing alcohol?

It wasn't the Card. Great... Just Effin' great.

I installed a brand new 6770 and during the install process it throws a message about something conflicting or damaged in the registry. Effff! This was my first concern. That virus F'd my registry.

Anyway, now when I reboot I get the message: "No AMD graphic driver installed, or the AMD driver is not functioning properly. Please install the AMD driver appropriate for your AMD hardware." So I go download the latest drivers from the AMD Website install, reboot, same thing.

I can raise the resolution to 1400x1050, slightly better than with the old card but no higher.... Balls. I guess I have nothing left but to wipe this HD and start over. There goes another week.

Do you still have malwarebytes installed and if so can you put that log up here, and how did you remove this virus? Did you get help here?

cryptodan, on 18 January 2012 - 03:30 PM, said:

Sorry, I couldn't wait anymore. I wiped the install drive and have been spending the last several days reinstalling EVERYTHING... It was definitely not a hardware issue. Works fine now. That virus definitely raped my registry, and without access to knowledge of what exactly was destroyed I had no choice but to start over from scratch. If you're curious about the logs or whatever re-read this thread from the beginning, I posted every piece of information here.

You can close this one, I just wish y'all hadn't told me my card was dead when it wasn't. Not that I don't appreciate what y'all do, but this was expensive.

Glad you got this this fixed, and sometimes we can only go by the information that is presented to us. If this were my PC I would instantly think that the card was dead, so we made an error, but as such we are not perfect. I also do not like telling people to completely reinstall their OS unless it is determined that that is the cure for your particular issue.

I have to agree with cryptodan.

Sometimes in troubleshooting substitution provides the definitive answer be it Yes or No. Substitution of the presumed bad part or putting the presumed bad part into another computer for testing.

FWIW a recovery install is mainly good for replacing corrupt or missing drivers. It will not fix chnaged registry entries and other settings as it assumes they were done on purpose. It will allow windows to run on different hardware however.

This post has been edited by rotor123: 19 January 2012 - 03:37 PM

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We didn't, and that is exactly why I said this, "twice":

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Nobody in this thread advised you to purchase a new card it was only "suggested" that the card might be faulty. None of us would ever recommend replacing a hardware component until it is proved to be defective.

Glad to hear you have got it going now, you should be able to return the card if you do it quickly.