Argonath RPG - A World of its own

Argonath RPG Community => Hardware/Software support => Resolved issues => Topic started by: Gmail on June 26, 2013, 08:41:50 pm

Title: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Gmail on June 26, 2013, 08:41:50 pm
Hello I installed a few mods, noticed a good mod called "new great effects 1.6" downloaded it, had to download SAMI, downloaded that, installed both and my game wouldn't start, so I uninstalled SAMI and NGEF, after that I went int my GTA directory, it said there is no GTA to be found, so I went back in my steam to my "commons" so I clicked on that, there was nothing, I went even more back, than it put me onto the "computer" screen and showed my HDD completely erased and my SSD still fine, I don't know what happened but I had about 2h worth of footage to put on youtube, all my games, all my projects, everything on there, please help me, I don't know what happened, I don't have any anti virus or anything.. please help.

Post Merge: June 26, 2013, 08:43:25 pm
(http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/2632/19o.png)
this is left..
(http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/6155/uceb.png)
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Doggie on June 26, 2013, 08:44:26 pm
SAMI isn't the cause of your problem for sure
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Gmail on June 26, 2013, 08:45:30 pm
SAMI isn't the cause of your problem for sure
have you tried uninstalling SAMI?
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: KelviNC on June 26, 2013, 08:45:50 pm
If you have any copy for the original gta3 before installing GTA mods,so just delete the previous one and copy that one there,if you don't have one so please,try to re-install your GTA.
or you might get more ideas here.
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Devin on June 26, 2013, 08:47:15 pm
I don't know what happened, I don't have any anti virus or anything.. please help.

Well I know what happened, it's rather simple.. No anti-virus is like walking around in Africa hoping to not get malaria from a mosquito.
Firstly install an Anti-Virus program like Avast Free and scan your entire PC, the next thing you will need to do is try data recovery methods.

To begin with, try this program: http://www.formatted-recovery.com/format-recovery-external.html (http://www.formatted-recovery.com/format-recovery-external.html)
Another good program is Recuva, I have used it a few months ago on a drive which became corrupt, fortunately I was able to save some of the data.
You can get Recuva from here: http://www.piriform.com/recuva (http://www.piriform.com/recuva)
And it's free.  ;)
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Doggie on June 26, 2013, 08:48:33 pm
have you tried uninstalling SAMI?

SAMI is just a program to install mods easily.
It can't effect your game like this.
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Gmail on June 26, 2013, 08:51:35 pm
SAMI is just a program to install mods easily.
It can't effect your game like this.
everything you install, everything that you download can have a virus on it, remember that, everything.. and yes even pron..
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Devin on June 26, 2013, 08:56:17 pm
There's a possibility that your files attributes may have changed, check whether files are not hidden.

Click on "Start" --> In search box, type "cmd" and press Enter.

This will open Command Prompt

Enter this command.

attrib -h -r -s /s /d a:\*.*

You can copy the above command --> Right-click in the Command Prompt and paste it.

Now press "Enter".

Now check if there's any files within your drive.
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Gird3r on June 26, 2013, 09:58:47 pm
I've worked on this problem for Jack now using Teamviewer, files have been semi-confirmed as getting deleted (checked using Recuva) Hence changing attributes won't really work, but it's a worthwhile tip and I'll help Jack check that one just to be extra sure so it can be confirmed if the attributes where changed or if the files was deleted. As for protection, I've also instructed and guided jack towards the process of securing the computer.


Let this be a lesson to those of you reading who are not computer savvy enough: Do not install everything you see on a whim. Jack is very lucky that the virus author did not have enough knowledge to truly delete his files. Hopefully, a full recovery will be made using Recuva.

Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Devin on June 26, 2013, 10:02:21 pm
A reputable Anti-Virus program, along with a trust worthy Anti-Malware program is always a must for any computer connected to a network, even a local area network with no internet connectivity.
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Gird3r on June 26, 2013, 10:04:58 pm
A reputable Anti-Virus program, along with a trust worthy Anti-Malware program is always a must for any computer connected to a network, even a local area network with no internet connectivity.

Very true. I'm in agreement with you there Devin.

(Not Norton or anything from Symantec however, no matter how well profiled or reputable they look. That company needs to die someday, just pointing it out).
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Devin on June 26, 2013, 10:07:16 pm
Hence me mentioning an Anti-Virus like Avast earlier, and malware protection such as Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, those are two programs which I haven't had a single problem with and I have used them for many years.
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Gird3r on June 26, 2013, 10:33:50 pm
Hence me mentioning an Anti-Virus like Avast earlier, and malware protection such as Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, those are two programs which I haven't had a single problem with and I have used them for many years.

Yhe. :)
SUPERAntiSpyware and SpyBot Search & Destroy are not to shabby tough. Check them out. Especially Spybot Search & Destroy. It has a feature dedicated to browser security, in which it optimizes and plugs security holes like a boss.

We used a combo of Avast, SUPERAntiSpyware and Spybot Search & Destroy, coupled with some Hexidecimal analysis of the trojan, and a little amount of reverse engineering to defeat a extremely nasty Trojan that infected the IT school i went to between 2007-2010 (The trojan infected the school at my last and third year). The IT "experts" and the company behind the school was at a complete loss for it.

The most of the honor goes to a semi-friend who shall not be named who suggsested SUPERAntiSpyware.

Using some EXE reverse engineering and Hexadecimal editing, we discovered it did this:

*Neutralise and exploit a security hole in F-Secure to make it lagg/be unable to peform normal operations, while looking normal still.

*Spread itself using AutoRun functions, even if you did decline the "Open this bla bla with this" prompt, hence it could only be safely accessed for reverse engineering if you opened it trough DOS prompt.

*Infected any USB drive inserted instantly in silent mode.

*At a certain date, it would override the safety mechanism and prevent the computer from shutting down, and also overloading the CPU and motherboard in order to literally make the computer heat up to dangerous levels. IN short, the computer would eventually catch fire. We monitored this behavior on a older laptop that was going to be destroyed anyways, we stopped the experiment when the computer started smoking (we had to remove the battery with gloves on and anti-chemical face screen for protection).

*At run, it instantly removes the necessary drivers and modifies the registery negatively in order to start .EXE files. However, the author forgot to nullify the .COM file extension (which we used to install the triple security routine I just mentioned).

*It had a icon resembling that of a purple octopus with 4 legs (very stupid move of the author because it instantly made it suspicious once we isolated it).

*It changed the registry options to prevent you from viewing hidden files, then installed a hidden System 32 folder.


The school IT expert notified F-secure company of the Virus existence, and it took a good week before they had included it into the database.

The school stole the honor of discovering, preventing and saving 199/200 school laptops from us (The last laptop had to be completely wiped, the other 199 made a full recovery with no data loss). We got nothing for doing this. Which we should have, considering they could have lost equipment for roughly 450 thousand dollars.

Today, I and my friends would not have helped the school at all. We did the hard work and did not get a single cent out of preventing this potentially dangerous disaster from happening.
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Gmail on June 26, 2013, 11:49:37 pm
Yhe. :)
SUPERAntiSpyware and SpyBot Search & Destroy are not to shabby tough. Check them out. Especially Spybot Search & Destroy. It has a feature dedicated to browser security, in which it optimizes and plugs security holes like a boss.

We used a combo of Avast, SUPERAntiSpyware and Spybot Search & Destroy, coupled with some Hexidecimal analysis of the trojan, and a little amount of reverse engineering to defeat a extremely nasty Trojan that infected the IT school i went to between 2007-2010 (The trojan infected the school at my last and third year). The IT "experts" and the company behind the school was at a complete loss for it.

The most of the honor goes to a semi-friend who shall not be named who suggsested SUPERAntiSpyware.

Using some EXE reverse engineering and Hexadecimal editing, we discovered it did this:

*Neutralise and exploit a security hole in F-Secure to make it lagg/be unable to peform normal operations, while looking normal still.

*Spread itself using AutoRun functions, even if you did decline the "Open this bla bla with this" prompt, hence it could only be safely accessed for reverse engineering if you opened it trough DOS prompt.

*Infected any USB drive inserted instantly in silent mode.

*At a certain date, it would override the safety mechanism and prevent the computer from shutting down, and also overloading the CPU and motherboard in order to literally make the computer heat up to dangerous levels. IN short, the computer would eventually catch fire. We monitored this behavior on a older laptop that was going to be destroyed anyways, we stopped the experiment when the computer started smoking (we had to remove the battery with gloves on and anti-chemical face screen for protection).

*At run, it instantly removes the necessary drivers and modifies the registery negatively in order to start .EXE files. However, the author forgot to nullify the .COM file extension (which we used to install the triple security routine I just mentioned).

*It had a icon resembling that of a purple octopus with 4 legs (very stupid move of the author because it instantly made it suspicious once we isolated it).

*It changed the registry options to prevent you from viewing hidden files, then installed a hidden System 32 folder.


The school IT expert notified F-secure company of the Virus existence, and it took a good week before they had included it into the database.

The school stole the honor of discovering, preventing and saving 199/200 school laptops from us (The last laptop had to be completely wiped, the other 199 made a full recovery with no data loss). We got nothing for doing this. Which we should have, considering they could have lost equipment for roughly 450 thousand dollars.

Today, I and my friends would not have helped the school at all. We did the hard work and did not get a single cent out of preventing this potentially dangerous disaster from happening.
Hence me mentioning an Anti-Virus like Avast earlier, and malware protection such as Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, those are two programs which I haven't had a single problem with and I have used them for many years.
you guys show what a community is capable of, thank you so much, now to see if the virus is gone and if my files can be restored

Post Merge: June 27, 2013, 12:10:40 am
Oh and how didn't anybody notice the name of my disc; A Potato.. potato.. its funny.. because.. potatoes.. oh well..
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Astaroth on June 27, 2013, 12:49:39 am
Just re-download the porn you had downloaded and stored it there. <3
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Gmail on June 27, 2013, 01:01:27 am
Just re-download the porn you had downloaded and stored it there. <3
nahh, I don't use my 1400€ PC for porn, I have a phone for that..  :neutral:
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: KeiraDrake on June 27, 2013, 01:34:54 am
My laptop has powered through almost 4 harddrives now, and the shop I take it is on the verge of refusing to fix it. My first laptop randomly made a restart and I lost a file for my operating system, to which I asked ARGOS to repair, which they didn't, and then the shop repaired it and my Step Dad kept (Little bastard did not tell me he had it repaired -_- Thieving bastard).
I bought a Second laptop... This time much bigger in ways of HDD and Screen. That hard drive went as soon as the pre-installed antivirus ran out of its 30day trial (three times this occured before fully breaking). I had a HDD replacement on that one, this time installed Ubuntu 12.4/12.4/13.4), and manged to fuck it up on an OS that is similar to Apple in the way that they have never heard of a virus. My third harddrive I made an attempt to install Windows 7 myself, and found out I needed to install the drivers for it. I messed that up, and now I am getting to the desktop and it takes about 1 hour to even open the Start Menu. So now, I am moving onto my fourth!
I mother is very reluctant to let me on the shared Desktop, due to my poor history with Technology (With Phones, XBOX, Laptops, PSPs and School Laptops).
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Gird3r on June 27, 2013, 02:11:54 am
Devin, I checked his drive. The attributes was not changed. So it's confirmed the drive had the files deleted.

Started attempt at recovery. So just holding my thumbs for jack here. :P
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Gmail on June 27, 2013, 12:33:44 pm
Devin, I checked his drive. The attributes was not changed. So it's confirmed the drive had the files deleted.

Started attempt at recovery. So just holding my thumbs for jack here. :P
YAY
the recovery worked
but all the files are corrupt..
fu
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Devin on June 27, 2013, 01:08:24 pm
Lesson learnt the hard way unfortunately, I hope you will now install an Anti-Virus program as well as an Anti-Malware program this time around.
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Ragdoll on June 27, 2013, 01:11:25 pm
He should've waited a bit more before going to the drastic measures though.
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Gmail on June 27, 2013, 01:12:01 pm
Lesson learnt the hard way unfortunately, I hope you will now install an Anti-Virus program as well as an Anti-Malware program this time around.
Yeah,  I still can't believe how much data I lost just because of my stupidity..
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Doggie on June 27, 2013, 03:53:41 pm
Download ESET Nod32

It literally saved my computers life
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Gmail on June 27, 2013, 03:59:34 pm
Download ESET Nod32

It literally saved my computers life
No, I'm going to buy it tommorow
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Doggie on June 27, 2013, 04:01:10 pm
No, I'm going to buy it tommorow

Buy what
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Gmail on June 27, 2013, 04:07:41 pm
Buy what
I'll buy Nod 32
for 25€
Title: Re: HDD deleted.. itself- emergency
Post by: Doggie on June 27, 2013, 04:25:55 pm
I'll buy Nod 32
for 25€

Okay
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