PC won't boot after malware cleansing

[HungryGarou]

After seeing a fake FBI Cybercrime tab pop up in my browser, I becan using both Malwarebytes & HitmanPro to clean out my PC. I then proceeded to restart the thing and after doing that, my laptop just hangs at the "Press the ESC key for Startup Menu" screen. I can't even access the startup menu when hitting ESC. I have access to another machine and am thinking of prying out my laptop HDD and plugging it into the other to get to the bottom of things, but have no clue where to start.

[Hobie-wan]

Can you tap F8 as the PC boots and get the menu? If so try safe mode. If you get that far, do Start > Accessories > Right click on command prompt and run as admin > SFC /SCANNOW.

See if that gets you anywhere. Otherwise you'll probably need to boot off a windows or recovery disc and hope there's a non destructive repair option. Backing up stuff to the other PC (and scanning for junk) before any disc option would be a good idea.

[Anapan]

Harsh. I know a bunch of people who still use MBAM regularly on every OS (no matter how ineffective it might be on new ones - they like the stacked fixes list). HitmanPro is likely the culprit. I'm unfamiliar with it. Hobbie's advice is spot-on. failing the SFC (System File Checker) or a UI, you may still be able to get a command prompt from the F8 menu or a bootable install disc to revert to a previous backup (they happen regularly in any modern windows version). Let us know what happens.

[MrPopo]

Hobbie's advice is spot-on.

[TheRetromancer]

After seeing a fake FBI Cybercrime tab pop up in my browser, I becan using both Malwarebytes & HitmanPro to clean out my PC. I then proceeded to restart the thing and after doing that, my laptop just hangs at the "Press the ESC key for Startup Menu" screen. I can't even access the startup menu when hitting ESC. I have access to another machine and am thinking of prying out my laptop HDD and plugging it into the other to get to the bottom of things, but have no clue where to start.

Eugh. This is why I never rely on 'auto-cleaning' programs. I make sure that Kaspersky asks me for every item it wants to clean before I let it, so that I can examine it, its location, and determine what to do with it.

What sounds like your problem is that one of your programs (probably HitmanPro) has mistakenly identified an integral .dll as either infected or potentially dangerous, and has either moved it or deleted it.

Hobbie is absolutely correct in what you should do. MrPopo also gets points for actually posting a pic of Hobbie from Star Wars. Well done, gents.