Virus problem

Jabi

Hi all

Wondering if you guys and girls could give me a hand with some laptop virus problems. Basically what happens is that when I turn on the computer it goes to the windows xp loading screen and stays there. Does exactly the same when I try to start it in safe mode.

The problem did occur before and a friend fixed it. She said that she left it running for ages because what happened basically was that the virus was trying to make all the programs start at one. So when it eventually did turn on she reinstalled xp to get the registry right and then ran the stinger anti virus tool. Afterwards she stopped the programs trying to register or start. I have mcafee I think but I don't go online with the computer so its not up to date.

What I suspect is that I did not delete the file with the virus and after some period of time it reactivated itself or i ran some program that I rarely run and it went again. Of course I could be wrong and it might be some entirely new virus. I have a usb key so do tend to bring random things from the computers of friends' and college. Problem is that my pc knowledgeable friend is no longer in the country.

So any chance you guys know something about fixing computers?

Gilgamesh

reinstall?

Jabi

Computer never gets to a point where I can do anything

Gilgamesh

I meant the entire machine

Jabi

I'm not the most technical person in the world so I don't quite understand. If I can't get the computer to a stage where I can do something how am I mean't to start a reinstall

formatman

can do it as a nixor if you want or are you looking for free help ?

Jabi

Depends on how much you are charging

I wouldn't mind figuring out how to do it myself though.

odie

Follow this guide to re-install

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxphome/installxpwindowsinstall/indexfullpage.htm

Jabi

What happens is that it goes to the loading screen, it never gets to the desktop it just sits there loading, forever.

Windows has to be running for me to be able to run a cd, or am I tragically mistaken about that?

formatman

50 euro collect and return in Dublin or Wicklow

Jabi

Do you mind if I think about that for a bit? will pm you in a day or so.

pickarooney

If you want to salvage important files before reinstalling, it might be a good idea to boot from a liveCD (Knoppix or similar) and copy your stuff onto the USB key or another hard drive via a network cable.
That's assuming you don't figure out a way to fix the problem without wiping the drive.

formatman

no probs , let me know if you don't get it sorted

Dr_MalPractice

do you have a windows install cd, or boot floopy? or do you have a 'reload' cd that came with the laptop from the original manufacturer?

Does your machine POST successfully, and what do you see( e.g., a logo screen, or a load of technical looking information). You know when your machine has POSTed when it makes a single beep as windows starts to load(keyboard lights flash too).
POST means Power On Self Test.

by setting the boot up order in the BIOS, you sould be able to boot from the cd drive, so if you have an install cd you'd be able to follow the instructions from there.

the method of entering the BIOS can vary acording to maker, but usually involves pressing a specific key, usually 'delete' or 'F10' or sometimes 'F3'.

remember, you're only looking to set the items
'first boot device'
'2nd boot device' etc.

hope this helps.

Jabi

It goes to the loading screen, sort of blue windows background, windows xp logo but the bit where I log in never comes up.

I think I have the reload cd but thats back in cork and will need to go search for it.

Thanks for the infor on setting up the reboot from BIOS.