a little off topic I know, but we're talking about my music studio PC so I hope that covers me.

My desktop PC appears to be infected with some form of rootkit virus.
System:
OS: Windows XP SP3
Protection: BitDefender IS 2009

Symptoms:
- frequent redirects to highly suspicious looking web sites (non only from Google searches but also from Bing and Yahoo searches)
- Google Chrome browser: all pages unresponsive, including settings
- application tdsskiller.exe (widely recommended as a tool for removing rootkits) does not run

Solutions attempted so far
- scans in normal and safe mode using Spyware Doctor, Malware Bytes, Spybot S&D, Emmisoft

Having considered my options, they seem to boil down to the following:
1 Opt straight away for a clean Windows installation

2 Attempt to rid myself of the virus (by using one of the log-posting fora where approved’ moderators offer assistance

3 Mount an image backup I made a few months ago using Macrium Reflect (although I have made regular image backups, I have never attempted to mount one)

My data is backed up on an external HD.

I’d be particularly grateful for the thoughts of highly experienced Windows users/installers and, of course, IT professionals.

Thanks,

Marc

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