Sound distorted on laptop and slow to start up

Hi,I hope someone out der can help me. The sound on my Dell Latitude D620 laptop becomes distorted usually bout once a week. Laptop sounds are effected aswell as music/dvd audio. When this happens the laptop is slow to load when I turn it on. Usually I just use system restore and restore it to when the sound was good and everything is grand. However now my sound is distorted again and my restore points are gone, most likely cos I used up all the memory allocated to system restore. I wouldn't be a computer wizard but I can follow instructions. Is there anyway to get my sound and laptop back in full working order. i would be very grateful of any help offered,thanks.

Hello KazBrowne-78 and

My name is JonTom

• Malware Logs can sometimes take a lot of time to research and interpret.
  
• Please be patient while I try to assist with your problem. If at any time you do not understand what is required, please ask for further explanation.
  
• Please note that there is no "Quick Fix" to modern malware infections and we may need to use several different approaches to get your system clean.
  
• Read every reply you receive carefully and thoroughly before carrying out the instructions. You may also find it helpful to print out the instructions you receive, as in some instances you may have to disconnect your computer from the Internet.
  
• PLEASE NOTE: If you do not reply after 5 days your thread will be closed.

Lets take a look at your system with some scans. Please work your way through the following steps:

• Please perform the following scan
  
  
  
  • Please download DDS from here and save it to your desktop.
  • Disable any script blocking protection (How to Disable your Security Programs)
  • Double click on the DDS icon to run the tool (may take up to 3 minutes to run).
  • When done, DDS.txt will open.
  • After a few moments, attach.txt will open in a second window.
  • Save both reports to your desktop.
  • Please post the contents of the DDS.txt and Attach.txt logs in your next reply.
  
  
• Please scan your system with GMER
  
  
  [external image: Posted Image]
  Download GMER Rootkit Scanner from here or here.
  
  • Extract the contents of the zipped file to desktop.
  • Double click GMER.exe. If asked to allow gmer.sys driver to load, please consent.
  • If it gives you a warning about rootkit activity and asks if you want to run scan…click on NO.
  • In the right panel, you will see several boxes that have been checked. Uncheck the following …
  • IAT/EAT
  • Drives/Partition other than Systemdrive (typically C:\)
  • Show All (don't miss this one)
• Then click the Scan button & wait for it to finish.
• Once done click on the [Save..] button, and in the File name area, type in "Gmer.txt" or it will save as a .log file which cannot be uploaded to your post.
• Save it where you can easily find it, such as your desktop, and post it in your reply.

**Caution**
Rootkit scans often produce false positives. Do NOT take any action on any "<— ROOTKIT" entries

Please post the DDS logs and the GMER log in your next reply.

If you encounter any problems with the scans come back and let me know

Hi JonTom Good to hear from you. Thank you so much for your help and for the cool welcome sign. I will get started straight away and get back to you as soon as possible with those logs.

No problem, post when you can

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner but things have gone from bad to worst with laptop. I ran the first scan (dds) successfully but when running the second scan (gmer) the computer froze so eventually I manually shut it down. When I powered up again I started the scan again, same thing happened again. When I restarted laptop next morning it said error loading operating system. When I was looking up this error on phone internet I came upon a fast solution so I tried it. Now I cant access anything not even bios. After the dell page loads it goes to a white screen with 3 grey boxes on it. In one of the boxes it says this computer is protected by a password authentication system…..etc. Bottom grey box asks me to type in system or administrator password and press enter. Dont seem to be anywhere to type in a password. This password I do not know anyway, this laptop was passed onto me bout 3 months ago. If I just press enter another grey box appears between first two and says invalid password, press enter to try again.Is der any way I can bypass this? The fast solution that I performed to recover operating system is this: went into bios settings, changed the translation method used to access the hard drive to "Large" and than rebooted. Now I am stuck with this screen looking for a password. Typing in large didn t work either.

Hello KazBrowne-78

I ran the first scan (dds) successfully but when running the second scan (gmer) the computer froze so eventually I manually shut it down.
When I powered up again I started the scan again, same thing happened again

It would have been better to let me know that you were having trouble with GMER at this point rather than trying a fix of your own - there are several ways to run the tool and we could have tried to run it differently.

Now I cant access anything not even bios. After the dell page loads….

Before we go any further, are you able to boot into safe mode? Please try the following:

• Reboot Your System in Safe Mode
  
  
  
• Restart your computer.
• As soon as BIOS is loaded begin tapping the F8 key until the "Advanced Options" menu appears.
• Use the arrow keys to select the Safe mode menu item.
• Press Enter.

If you are unable to reach safe mode you may have to get in touch with Dell for a master reset password (Thanks to terry1966 for this information):


http://www.tech-faq.com/reset-dell-bios-password.html

If you cannot boot your Latitude to run this program, you can get the master password for your Dell by calling Dell Technical Support at (800)624-9896.

Dell Technical Support will request the Service Tag and Express Service Code from the bottom of your Latitude.

If you were not the original owner of the Latitude, Dell will transfer registration of the used Latitude from the original owner with only the Service Tag and Express Service Code from the tag on the laptop.

Please give the above methods a try and see if they allow you back into Windows. (You may may need to find the contact number for the Dell Support centre in Ireland). Let me know how you get on

Hi JonTom Unable to access safe mode. I will contact dell and post here when I have some news.

Hello KazBrowne78

I will contact dell and post here when I have some news

Thanks for letting me know. I will leave your thread open until you get back to me. Good luck with your enquiries

Hello KazBrowne78

It has been a few days now. Did you manage to get in touch with Dell?

Hi JonTom. No luck with Dell because I am not original owner. Trying to locate original owner but he is after moving so could take a while.

Hello KazBrowne-78

Trying to locate original owner but he is after moving so could take a while

Thank you for letting me know. If you cannot reach bios and allow the machine to boot we are stuck. After speaking with our Tech Crew, finding the correct password does seem like the only option forward.

I will close this thread out soon to prevent others from posting in it, but please do not think that I am abandoning you.

Once you have the password that allows you back into the system, let me know (you can send me a PM) and I will be more than happy to look at the machine.

Good luck and best wishes
JonTom