XP files damaged...

[431Cruiser]

Hey guys.

I bought a used Dell desktop on ebay about two months ago. It came with XP installed, but no discs. I used 98 until now, so am not too familiar with XP.

I downloaded some games and programs last night and picked up some viruses/spyware. A window popped up from Anti-Spyware Master and, only reading the Anti-Spyware part, I thought it was from my CA or AVG Anti-Spyware programs and clicked "yes." Things got ugly quickly from there.

Using my spyware killers, ccleaner, registry mechanic, hijack this, and a few others, I have gotten most of the junk off the machine. I do have something that is making a new browser open from time to time, so it is not completely clean yet.

Either my tools and I, or one of the two dozen viruses/malware programs, or all of us, have damaged my XP OS during the last 24 hours that I have been trying to fix the thing. (I really think the heavy damage was from the viruses. When I went to bed last night, I did not have the download problems, gray box color, and homepage trouble that I note below. I rebooted many times after many scans, and it always looked the same. This morning, it looked different.) Here's what we have to work with:

1. If I click on start so that the pane pops up, there is nothing on the left side of the pane (above 'All Programs'). My Docs, PIcs, etc are on the right side of the pane, but no programs appear on the left side. Looks funny.

2. When I click on IE, it says "about:blank" in the address bar although I have provided a path. After it sits for awhile, it will eventually sometimes go the appropriate homepage. If it doesn't, I can type something in and will go there, but very slowly. Other browsers open on occasion.

3. I tried to download Firefox to see if that would allow me to work more quickly in trying to get some help. A box pops up that says "Internet Explorer cannot download...firefox. Internet Explorer was not able to open this site. The requested site is either unavailable or cannot be found. Please try again." The box is a shade of gray now.

4. I thought maybe #3 may be due to my CA Firewall, etc. I am not too sure that it is enabled because it is not in my System Tray on the lower right of my screen. But, the Tray must be damaged, too, because everything else is missing (except the clock and audio settings.) When I click on the Security Center to disable the Firewall to see if that is why I cannot download, nothing happens when I click on the program. It doesn't open, but yet it does not freeze up either.

5. As you probably know, in C:\Windows, there is a folder named "repair" and in the system32 folder there are folders named Restore and Setup. In Restore, there is an exe named srdiag. Can any of this be used to get this thing back to normal?

6. I am using my wife's wireless laptop right now. An XP disc came with it, but it is a DVD. My desktop will not play it...already tried it. (Maybe you can tell me which files to copy from the DVD to the laptop and then copy over to the desktop?)

7. I cannot do a restore. My only restore point for May takes me back to yesterday AFTER the crap hit the fan. I did not know that XP does not set the points as frequently as 98, so I have not been creating any restore points.

Thanks for your time and help and, hopefully, the miracle that you are going to send me.
Chris

[doubledragon5]

Easy way to solve the issue would be to buy a XP Os and do a clean install. Then you can reinstall all of you other programs..

[glc]

If your Dell was built after 6/04, you have a recovery partition. Press Ctrl+F11 on startup to restore the system to the way it was when delivered.

[431Cruiser]

glc....

Thanks for that tip. Do you know of some file or folder that I could look to check the date, or would I just give it a rip and try it?

Also, I do not have a way of saving some files that I do not want to lose to restore (or reinstall if I get a disc. Too large for 3.5", do not have CDRW, Outlook is wiped out, and the machine won't let me attach anything using hotmail/web-based account. Would it be possible to create another partition and move this stuff there, and then do the control+F11? Or would restore wipe out the partition?

Thanks again.

[Negeva]

Originally Posted by 431Cruiser glc.... Thanks for that tip. Do you know of some file or folder that I could look to check the date, or would I just give it a rip and try it? Also, I do not have a way of saving some files that I do not want to lose to restore (or reinstall if I get a disc. Too large for 3.5", do not have CDRW, Outlook is wiped out, and the machine won't let me attach anything using hotmail/web-based account. Would it be possible to create another partition and move this stuff there, and then do the control+F11? Or would restore wipe out the partition? Thanks again.

Personally, I would attach another drive to it and copy files that way. Then scan to make sure they're clean.

It's been a long time since I've used Dell's recovery partitions, so cannot comment if they will wipe your data one if you create it. Do know that other OEMs like HP,ACER and so on can detect partitions and ask if you want to destroy or keep them.

[glc]

Remove the drive from the laptop and use a USB adapter to recover your files.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...20-OTB&cat=HDD

[431Cruiser]

I realized that I was working under "User" account instead of Administrator, and everything was working properly (except for the adware viruses) under the Admin account. I created another account and XP worked like it is supposed to except for the viruses.

I downloaded and ran Super Anti-Spyware and it picked up the trojans that the other programs did not detect. However, when it deleted them and rebooted, I got a blue screen and a "STOP: c0000135 {Unable to locate component}" message. The component.....basemcva32. I do not know much about xp, but I do not believe that is a legitimate file.

After all of the hours spent getting the pc cleaned off, the reputable SAS program got me again. I created a restore point before I installed the program.

It won't boot at all..normal or safe. It gets to a point and the blue screen with the message pops up. So now my questions are:

1. I created boot disks and tried to boot, but it asks for the XP cd which I do not have. If I use the recover feature, it asks for administrator's password. I do not know it since I bought this used and it was setup for me to work from the "User" account. Is there anyway to get around the password?

2. Anything else that I can do from the boot disks to get windows back up?

3. No normal or safe mode boots work, nor does "Last known working configuration" or whatever it is called.

Thanks for any help.

[glc]

Have you tried Ctrl+F11 yet? You are at the point where you will probably have to reload XP to get it going.

[431Cruiser]

It does not respond to Ctrl+F11 now that I have the problem in the last post. It won't boot. Had it almost clean. Everything worked and I only had a couple of pop ups and had located the source of the virus. Then, this other problem developed and now it won't boot.

I am going to clean it off if I can. I cannot get to DOS unless I use a boot disk. Once there, it is not your normal DOS and have limited commands as you know. Can't boot in safe mode, either, so not sure I can even get it booted to the point that I can clean it.

[glc]

You now need a XP CD. If Ctrl+F11 does not respond, the recovery partition is empty or not there.

[431Cruiser]

Yes, looks like I'm screwed. From DOS with the bootdisk, I can use C:\Windows\Format C:, and it asks "Are you sure?"

I type Y, and then it says it can't find Autofmt.exe. I check the DIR, and it is not there. So I make a copy of it from the laptop, install it on this pc, check DIR, and can see it. However, it when I go to Windows\Format C: again, it then says that it can't format this drive.

I borrowed an XP cd from my dad, but it does not detect it.

I noticed on DIR that the system32 folder has 0 bytes, so looks like something is up with that, too.

I spent just under $30 for it, and have used it for several months before getting the virus. I may as well just trash it and get another.

Maybe I can partition my old 98 box, and place the harddrive of the bad xp box in it and format it that way? I can then put it back in its own box, load 98 on it and use a converter that I have to get it back to xp. (I am keeping my 98 box intact until I get an xp box running that I feel good about. I have a lot of stuff on the 98 that needs transferring over. In addition, I just liked the 98 but can't get software for it anymore.)

What do you think?

Thanks for keeping up with this and helping like you have.

[glc]

Can you get it to boot from either a floppy or CD? If so, boot it with a zero fill utility and wipe the drive, then install whatever OS you have and/or want. I would recommend some flavor of XP or maybe Linux.

http://dban.sourceforge.net