Reinstalling Win2K

[CKS]

Hi guys. I am hoping someone will help me with a pretty simple problem.

I have Win 2K on a self built/reclaimed system. At the moment Win 2K will not boot up properly. I have been running the system for 6 months with no problems so I am assuming I have a virus.

The problem occurs when I boot up, all goes normal until I get past the log-in stage. At the point where the OS begins to bring up my desktop wallpaper and the icons should appear the computer halts. No wallpaper appears except for the standard blue covering and no icons appear. I can still move my mouse and use Cntl+Alt+Del to bring up the 'task manager/shut down' window but I cannot use any other keys or right-click on the desktop. The OS system is effectively useless at this point and all I can do is shut down.

I have tried repairing and reinstalling Win2K from my disk but depite doing this successfully the bug persists. My feeling is that I have a virus screwing up my system.

Do you have any advice on ways to fix the system?

Failing that can someone tell me how to format my hard disk? I would prefer not to loose the infomation on it but if there is a virus on the hard disk I may be better off wiping it clean.

Many thanks.

[crjdriver]

Can you boot into safe mode?

[pillainp]

If you can get to the Task Manager, can you see what processes are running in the background? Also you could try clicking File>New Task (Run) and typing in explorer.exe and clicking OK to see if you can get Explorer up and running that way.

[CKS]

I can boot into safe mode but it's the same as normal mode - blank screen, no controls available.

I can get to task manager and see programs running. I havn't tried running new tasks (mainly because I didn't know that was available). Will try tonight.

Any ideas on the formating of the hard disk?

[pillainp]

You can simply boot off the Win2K CD and let it start the Windows install. When it gets to the part where it asks you where you want to install (which of the listed partitions), select one and then choose to format in NTFS/FAT32 in the next screen. This will format the partition and give you a fresh install of Win2K.

In the screen with the list of available partitions, you can even delete all the partitions and then recreate one for your Win2K install, so that you start with a freshly prepared hard disk.

[CKS]

Thanks for your help, I have formatted my hard disk and reinstalled Win2K. All works well again but 2.5 hours wasted doing the reinstall.... time to buy some virus software!

[RJ]

time to buy some virus software!

Why ? There's excellent freeware antivirus software around. I use AntiVir, and I've heard that AVG is also very good. You should try one of them first.

RJ

[pillainp]

I second RJ on the antivirus issue. Why waste money on the antivirus software when you can get AVG for free? ALl it takes is a visit to www.grisoft.com and a few minutes to register and download the package.

It works just as well as a lot of paid-for packages.

If you do have a virus onboard, it might be a good idea to back up all your stuff to another HD or a CD and delete all your partitions and then recreate them. I do this quite often for clients. Delete, switch off for 10 minutes, reboot, create.. and repeat the cycle two or three times. I do not know if there is any science behind it but it works. Then simply install your OS, install an antivirus package and then copy your stuff back.