Determine the Extent of the Infection

• Does the mouse still move or is the computer completely locked up? If the mouse does not move, it may be necessary to power down the computer using the front panel button or pulling the plug. If the mouse does move, try to launch your anti-virus software to attempt to scan and clean the computer. Otherwise, try to restart the computer by clicking the "Start" button and selecting "Shut Down." When the shutdown dialog box appears, select "Restart."
  
  

Attempt to Restart in Safe Mode

• Immediately after the computer performs the power on self test (POST), press the F8 key until the command line startup menu appears. Select "Safe Mode with Networking" and hit enter. Safe Mode attempts to start the computer with only the bare minimum services for the computer to run and may allow you to run anti-virus or anti-malware software that would not run in normal mode. Test the keyboard using Notepad or another word processor to determine if an infection was the cause of the typing failure.
  
  

Update Anti-Virus Definitions

• Modern anti-virus applications provide the ability to download updated anti-virus definitions manually or automatically. Ensure that the application has the latest definitions to catch and clean the virus or malware infecting the computer. If the virus is a "zero day" virus (previously unknown), the anti-virus vendor may not have updated its definitions. When the updated definitions become available, download them and attempt to clean the infection.
  
  

Update the Operating System

• Security vulnerabilities continue to crop up for this Windows XP. Hackers using tools such as Metasploit can gain access to a Windows XP system or create viruses to turn the computer into a bot. Beginning in 2006, with Windows Vista and later with Windows 7, Microsoft made greater efforts to increase the security and performance of its operating systems. Reformat the hard disk and install one of these modern operating systems to start fresh. Install anti-virus software with updated virus definitions prior to restoring personal documents from backup.