Help !!

[hardy49]

I was doing my banking on my laptop when all of a sudden the screen went black and no matter what I do I cannot get anything up on it.About ten minutes earlier I had installed a safety programme which the bank had said needed to be installed for extra security.Could this be the trouble ? Whatever - please could somebody tell me how I can get back into my laptop.
Many thanks in advance

[Old_Geezer]

It is a possible cause I suppose. You are sure it was from the bank ?

If you can log back in then you can usually restore the system from an earlier date.

Have you tried cycling the power and seenig if you can get back to Windows (or whatever you are using) ?

[hardy49]

Well the laptop hibernated so when I restarted it I pressed F8.I now have the messages "continue with system restart" or "delete restoration data and proceed to system boot menu"
What do I do next please ?

[Old_Geezer]

I'm not so familiar with laptops & hibernation.

I'd wait for further answers if I were you, but failing that, I think I'd avoid deleting anything until sure it isn't needed. (I'd assume if it continued failing I'd get the option to delete again at some point.) I'd plump for the continue restart in your shoes.

[Old_Geezer]

BTW this "safety programme", you did virus scan it before installation I take it ? I suspect it is a "red herring", but one does wonder.

[beso]

I would suggest you contact your bank immediately. That "safety program" could well be a malicious netbot designed to search for other computers to infect.

You may have picked up a small trojan designed to manage the larger netbot installation. This smaller trojan may have also included logging designed to collect your banking details. It detected you were at your banking site and then tried to send your login details to the hackers.

Otherwise you may not even have been at your bank website but a spoofed clone of it run by hackers in Asia.

Hopefully the install failed which crashed your computer. However the hackers may already have your banking login and cleaned out your account. Fortunately most banks wear this cost rather than freak out their customers with the vulnerabiities inherent in internet banking.

You may need professional help to clean your computer.

[daffy654]

I wouldn't automatically assume this program that was installed is a rogue one. My bank has a link on their homepage for a security program but I have refused to install it preferring to trust my own (stringent) security.
I would be tempted to try a virus scan in safe mode if possible and then uninstall the security program.

[factor-fiction]

Yes, most internet banking sites now offer Rapport or something similar.