It sounds a lot like the SASSER virus (I remember it from 2003) to me. Did you disconnect the network cable/disable wifi/disable anything else remotely network-related? That screen usually pops up via a connection to some place on the Internet.
I would say download the update listed on that PC Hell page on another computer and copy it over to your computer through thumb drive/CD/floppy/whatever. Make sure you're NOT connected to the Internet in any way and it shouldn't shutdown your computer. Also use that Symantic removal tool.
If you have the time or a techie friend you could create a "Bart's PE" disc that contains anti-virus and anti-spyware software. It would boot off the CD and scan the HDD for you.
It really comes down to how much time you want to spend on fixing it versus how long it would take you to back everything up and re-install. USB 500 gigabyte HDDs are relatively cheap these days. If you have a spare computer or a friend with one you could use something like Norton ghost to create an image of your whole hard drive. Just a matter of balancing the advantages and time sink involved in either fixing this or backing up/re-installing.
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by: WallDPosted on 2008-07-23 at 10:07:47ID: 22071400
Does the machine allow you to start in safe mode?
If so you may be able to run a av scan from there
Other wise to rule out the virus issue remove the disk attach to another machine with a working av package and scan the disk from there.