I was working on someone’s Windows 10 laptop that kept going to a BSOD Critical Process Died. I couldn’t get into Safe Mode and the Reset options wouldn’t work. All the built-in options from Windows: Startup repair, SFC, DISM, system restore, and chkdsk– none worked. It was suggested online that it might be a virus. I couldn’t get Windows to start up in any form or manner so the only way I could scan for any virus was to use a bootable CD/DVD/USB drive.
I was going to download one from the Internet when I discovered that my Avast Antivirus could produce one for me.
Avast Bootable USB
So down by the clock (or click on the arrow) and you should see the Avast icon. Right-click on it and click on Open Avast user interface.
Click on the Protection option (it looks like a lock) on the left-hand side and when the purple area opens, click on Virus Scans.
In the next window click on Rescue Disk.
Insert a CD/DVD/USB depending on what you want. I used a USB flash drive so I clicked on CREATE USB.
Then wait until it’s finished. That’s it. Take it. Eject it. Put it in the computer you want to be scanned, boot from it and run a scan.
Click on All hard discs and then Start scan. It pops up with a scan log at the end. Close down the log file, click on continue and then you’re given the option to Quit and restart computer or Start another scan. The scan in my case didn’t detect any malware and in the end, I had to reinstall windows.
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Interesting discovery. I have a bootable rescue cd using Kaspersky which I only used once to test out.
So Terry, when you reinstalled Windows, were you able to save (make use) of the data files, Mindblower!
Yes, I used Hiren’s to recover any data first. https://www.hirensbootcd.org/
It was the first time in a long time that I was forced to use any bootable device for a virus scan.
I tried to make a USB recovery using Avast after following instructions in latest Daves Computer Tips but when I get to create USB, it says that it failed. I tried 2 different USB’s but same thing.
Any suggestions?
Go to file explorer, right click on the USB drive and go into properties. Check the File system type. If it says FAT32 try formatting it to NTFS. Close out this window then right click again on the drive. Click on Format. In the File system area click on NTFS. Then Start. Then try the Avast program again. Warning formatting erases everything on the drive.
Thank you Terry for your information. I followed your instructions and changed it to NTFS but it still failed. Technology. Grrr
Another option suggested online is to disable the avast Self-Defence Module before running it. Open AvastUI then Menu (top right hand corner) then Settings, Troubleshooting – uncheck the ‘Enable Self-Defense’ option. Then try again. Don’t forget to re-enable this option after. On and off there seems to be a bug in this component that can interfere. Otherwise go back to the troubleshooting and try the repair app button.