This is PatL. You helped me with a recent problem, "malware hidden on desktop" posted 28 Oct 2010. The subject has been achived. I apologize if this is the incorrect place/method to contact you, but I have a qyestion concerning the rootkit.
I have reformatted/reinstalled windows XP Pro. I did this by booting from the windows installation CD. I have a question and pardon me if I seem parinoid. Can the rootkit stay behind on my hard drive even after it is reformatted?
I ask this for 2 reasons: I was first alerted to the possibility of my infection because each time I started windows I had a 3-4 second burst of activity and a blinking DOS-like cursor flashing in the upper left-hand corner of my screen. I did not remember that ever happening until I became infected. I still get the blinking cursor, even after the reformat/reinstall.
Additionally, I had 1 partition on my hard drive prior to infection. When I reformatted/reinstalled windows the setup asked which partition should it install too. It gave a choice of C or another un-named, much smaller, 32MG, partition. I have not installed windows in a long time and did not think much of it at the time, but is it possible that the rootkit created another partition, hid it and it remains behind even when I reformat C:?
Once again I apologize if this post is in the wrong forum. But since this infection incident I find I am a little crazy, very angry and mistrusting of things I once took for granted. I guess it is the nature of the beast?
Any assistance is greatly appreciated and I thank you in advance for your time and trouble.
PatL