Anti-virus conflicts
There is a virus going around that is installing autorun.inf to the root directory of flash drives and hard drives. The file is hidden so you cannot see it without showing hidden files. At the moment I do not know the name of the particular virus, but I have noticed that anti-virus software is not touching the autorun.inf. It detects it but will not delete it. You will need to do this manually. I do not think the autorun is the actual virus but runs the virus on bootup.
WARNING! Be sure the file is not valid. The C drive should not have the file. Most if not all flash drives should not contain the autorun.inf on the root of the drive, but some may. You usually find the autorun.inf on the root of a CD so it will automatically start when you insert a CD. If you are not positive that it is a virus, do not delete it and seek help.
To delete the autorun, delete the file.
- Boot to safe mode
- Turn off System Restore
- Unhide files and folders
- Do a search for autorun.inf
- delete the autorun (be sure the file is not valid. The C drive should not have the file. Most if not all flash drives should not contain the autorun.inf on the root of the drive, but some may. You usually find the autorun.inf on the root of a CD so it will automatically start when you insert a CD. )
- Run a complete anti-virus scan on system
- Turn System Restore back on
- Boot back to normal mode
If you are still having issues, use the virus and spyware troubleshooter.