by Decided 16 Replies latest jw friends
My xp system won't boot normally. It loads windows and goes to a blank screen where normally my mouse arrow shows up while it finishes, it just sits there and doesn't do any thing else. I tried loading a previous one that works and it does the same thing. Yesterday when I chose a former one that worked it did work but today it just sits on a blank screen. I'm in safe mode now. Any ideas????
Ken P.
If you can get to safe mode, do the following:
I'm in IT and frankly, situations like this are usually not worth trying to figure out. It's generally easier to reload then repair anymore and if you have to reload, get Windows 7 and take advantage of the "opportunity".
You could try System Restore and go back day after day until you get back to one that works but all of this is just a hassle. You probably have a virus that is buried deep in your system and it's just easier to reload. Trust me, after the last time trying to remove a virus for 6 hours, I realized that it's just easier and quicker to reload.
Try system restore ( its buried in the system accessories programs ) or system repair off your XP disk ,
install the disk and reboot, you should come to install
windows or a repair window.
One thing that you should know is when you reload windows you will lose all you saved data and programs
and you'll have to reinstall them...
Sounds a lot like you have a trojan (probably several) on your computer. Ordinary anti-virus software can't find these, or remove them. You need a special program such as MBAM or Super Anti-Spyware. Both are good, I tend to prefer MBAM.
Go to http://www.malwarebytes.org/ and download the free version of MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM). Install it and let it update. Then do a full scan of your C:\ drive. This will take anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes depending on how much stuff is on the harddrive of your PC. Allow it to quarantine/remove everything it finds.. you'll probably have to reboot to remove the last traces of the things it finds. It's not uncommon to find 200 or more infected objects/files on your PC. (the most I've seen and killed on a single machine is over 700!)
When you're done, go to http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/ and download HijackThis! Install it, run the program and post a copy of the logfile it produces here.. I'll analyse it and let you know if there are any other problems with your computer.
This is worth trying before you do the more drastic steps above.. I've brought several machines back from the dead with MBAM.
JAFO
I'm with Slippy on this. I work in IT as well, and it's just not worth dicking around for hours on end. I've seen some of my coworkers screw around for 2 days trying to remove some malware, only to find they had to format anyway. Take the opportunity to save your data, format your drive, and perform a clean install.
W
like slipnslide said - you could be at this for days or even weeks trying to figure it out (even if you really know what you are doing). You would be quicker to backup and resintall as they said. And I 2nd going for win7 - its much, much better than xp.
--Another IT type here.
Backing up your files in the manner recommended is most excellent advice.
I would hold off on buying a new OS until I was sure that this was not a hardware problem. The symptoms you describe could be caused by corruption of your OS or malware, but they are also quite common when a system's hardware is failing. I see this on almost a daily basis on systems that have reached the 5 to 6 year range in age, especially with entry level Dells, Compaqs, HPs and eMachines that use "Bottom Feeder" motherboards.
Hopefully you have an XP CD or a system restore disk from your PC manufacturer. Backup your data in the manner described above. Be thorough. It's easy to forget something.
Assuming that rolling your system back to a previous date will not fix things, the next step to try would be a repair install using either the repair function on the XP CD (Clean boot from the CD) or the System Resore function from disk provided by your PC manufacturer.
Either of these options will work if your PC is healthy hardwarewise. If they don't, then it's time to think about repair/replacement of the PC itself.
You can perform a NON-DESTRUCTIVE reinstall of Windows XP, if you have a Windows XP CD. This process will reinstall XP, while leaving your data and programs alone.
Step-by-Step Instructions Here:
Youve all said it. - but in future, a portable Hard drive is always useful, I have about 3 Im obsessed (thats because Im always deleting things by accident)
the oh no second. - and I use windows live sync on my systems so when one dies and loses files and I have to restore, the other one just puts all the files back on it :D
At this point at home I have 4 external USB hard drives, mirrored 1.5 TB hard drives in my PC and mirrored 1.0 TB hard drives in my "server". I guarantee that when push comes to shove, I'll STILL lose something... lol
I agree with TD on the old computer thingy too. Once they hit about 4 years old, weird shit starts to break and all of the sudden they don't turn on or you get beeping with weird black screens. Any beeping? It's possible it's hardware but I think that is unlikely due to you being able to get into Safe Mode. Especially the bottom-feeder models.
