Massive computer issues for me

Friday, January 23, 2004 by CerebroJD | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk

Yesterday I was surfing the net minding my own business, when all of the sudden I get a whole bunch of pop-ups. I began closing out of them, but one thing led to another, and somehow, I ended up installing something pretty dangerous I think. I think that because last night at 8 oclock our time, my computer decided to freeze up on my dad (while I was at work). So he restarted it, and now I cannot log into either of the two users on the computer. It simply freezes up before it has a chance to do anything besides display the "Loading personal settings..." dialog. Anyways, I tried to get in via Safe Mode to recover some of my data, but it still wont let me into my user. It will let me into the other user, but since all my files in my user are protected, I cant access or copy them to another computer on our home network. So this has left me in a fine situation. 1) No backups. (doh!) 2) No access to files. 3) Possible reformat on the horizon.

Oh yeah! I also ran three different virus scans from the other user, and all showed up with no results. Nothing new in msconfig that I could find, and when I did a system restore, nothing changed for the better.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what could have caused this monumental catastrophe? Any help would be appreciated. With luck, I will be able to figure out some way into the system, but things arent looking good at the moment.

CerebroJD crosses fingers
138 Reply 6 Referrals
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yrag
Reply #21 Friday, January 23, 2004 11:27 PM
It will probably show two...his and yours



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kongit
Reply #22 Friday, January 23, 2004 11:27 PM
have you tried booting up into dos safemode?

CerebroJD
Reply #23 Friday, January 23, 2004 11:29 PM
According to task manager, explorer.exe is running already. Should I end that instance of it first?

CerebroJD
Reply #24 Friday, January 23, 2004 11:30 PM
dos safemode


Whats that? I havent heard of that before.

kongit
Reply #25 Friday, January 23, 2004 11:32 PM
when you get to the option to log into the safemode by pressing f8 (or whatever button it is for you) repeatedly at the startup before the bootskin comes into play there should be several options for safemode. I have xp pro so it might be different if you have xphome

CerebroJD
Reply #26 Friday, January 23, 2004 11:36 PM
Umm, would the DOS mode you're referring to be the Command Prompt option?

kongit
Reply #27 Friday, January 23, 2004 11:44 PM
yes

CerebroJD
Reply #28 Friday, January 23, 2004 11:48 PM
I am into my user now (still with no start bar etc.) and I now have a command prompt. What should I do with it?
[Message Edited]

kongit
Reply #29 Saturday, January 24, 2004 12:00 AM
type in explorer.exe

kongit
Reply #30 Saturday, January 24, 2004 12:01 AM
or just move the files manually through the command prompt to a place where they will be safe.

CerebroJD
Reply #31 Saturday, January 24, 2004 12:04 AM
Still no Windows environment, but explorer was running. I've got to get some sleep. I'll think about some other possible solutions. Also, I'd appreciate any other insight that you (or anyone else) can provide. I'll be back in the morning.

CerebroJD goes to bed zzzzzzz...........

CerebroJD
Reply #32 Saturday, January 24, 2004 12:05 AM
or just move the files manually through the command prompt to a place where they will be safe.



Good idea! I'll work on that in the morning.

kongit
Reply #33 Saturday, January 24, 2004 12:12 AM
good night

SelfExiled
Reply #34 Saturday, January 24, 2004 12:49 AM
If you are an administer, you should be able to access all the system files. I would delete the internet files including cookies. Sometimes a file can be in there that causes such problems. Malicious cookies and such. Did you install anything? If you did, I would run Spybot, Search and Destroy. Adware can be tricky these days. I think you have a spy bug. Also, if you have multiple virus scanners on your system that might cause a boot up problem. But, I think its too soon for a complete system restore.

kongit
Reply #35 Saturday, January 24, 2004 1:30 AM
I don't think at this point he can do most of that stuff chas. Right now he is basically limited to the command prompt. Whatever did this to his computer has taken away his main ability to fight it: programs. Windows programs like spybot and the virus scanners really can't be run very well through the command prompt. I doubt he can even do a system restore. So right now if I was him I would consentrate on saving what he can and then reformat and then reinstall windows and find out how to stop whatever happened to his system from happening again.

Essencay
Reply #36 Saturday, January 24, 2004 4:34 AM
If you think that it's just a corrupt system file and you can get to the command prompt, use the File Checker to replace bunged up files. At c:\ type in sfc you'll get a list of arguments. I would use sfc /scannow make sure you have your XP disc handy and that your cupholder is working

CerebroJD
Reply #37 Saturday, January 24, 2004 12:02 PM
So. Right now I've managed to get into my user in normal start-up mode. (yay!) It took about 45 minutes to log into it. I dont have any start bar, or any icons. On the plus side, I was able to get into stardock central using the "Run" dialog in the task manager. I also have ObjectBar running, and at the moment I'm trying to get it to display a start bar for me. Whoops! Just locked up ObjectBar, so that idea is out the window. Will try to upload a screenshot of the task manager. I still have some control over apps, just as long as they dont use any aspects of explorer.

Screenshot uploaded. Check out my profile.
[Message Edited]

CerebroJD
Reply #38 Saturday, January 24, 2004 12:03 PM
corrupt system file


I was thinking that too. What does the scannow do?

Essencay
Reply #39 Saturday, January 24, 2004 12:16 PM
sfc is XP's builtin system file checker. It will scan all system files and replace ones that have been corrupted or are missing. Using the argument /scannow forces it to scan now. There are other options listed. Someone else might have another idea, but I've generally found that if this doesn't work, then you will continue to have issues with your XP install until you re-install it.

Microsoft(R) Windows XP Windows File Checker Version 5.1
(C) 1999-2000 Microsoft Corp. All rights reserved

Scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Mi
crosoft versions.

SFC [/SCANNOW] [/SCANONCE] [/SCANBOOT] [/REVERT] [/PURGECACHE] [/CACHESIZE=x]


/SCANNOW Scans all protected system files immediately.
/SCANONCE Scans all protected system files once at the next boot.
/SCANBOOT Scans all protected system files at every boot.
/REVERT Return scan to default setting.
/PURGECACHE Purges the file cache.
/CACHESIZE=x Sets the file cache size.

C:\>



CerebroJD
Reply #40 Saturday, January 24, 2004 12:26 PM
Ok, I will definately consider that, Essencay. I have work today though, but I will work on that when I get back, assuming that no one objects to this course of action. Thanks to everyone for your suggestions!

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