Citsme

Hello. I was working with one tech support person on a different and also credible computer assistance website in a specialty area for Malware, Viruses, Trojans, etc. He had me do quite a few different processes; it was an incredibly long link of posts. I did everything he said and ultimately, the computer was virus free. I had additional questions, so my problem was transferred to another area of the help forum and that person suggested I go back to where I just came from. I was weary at this point; my first helper was great and patient but I gave up when I got the second message. This problem has been going on for approximately 9 months now; the only reason I didn't work harder to fix it is that I was fortunate to be able to purchase this laptop in October of 2011. Prior to that, I would spend days in a row working to try to recover the computer from the blue screen of death (it was potentially going to be my death from the stress!) I am very interested in computers and learning as much as I can; I help others who know NOTHING about computers get rid of malware, trojans et al. It has been so long, I don't remember what the second question was about but now that you have reminded me, I will research that even if just for my personal knowledge. I have had all sorts of problems I've not had before; some might be screen printed on the desktop and I will check that also. In the meantime, programs won't start, it was running extremely slow, it froze up a lot but mostly it was the errors that led me to believe it was the OS that was the problem. I can't imagine that no one else with Windows XP Media Edition has not had to repair the system yet all I can find is what I can not do such as slipstream and not what I should do. Due to the need to get this computer working properly, I have tried a couple of different help forums and no one has anything much to say. Getting professional help is out $$ wise. The computer is 6 years old and has been upgraded; in addition to the two internal drives, I have a 500mb external and a 1T external that started all these problems - it is coming back to me. I plugged in the 1T external drive and all was well. I didn't like the letters assigned to the drives and having been walked through the process before I was familiar with it and looked up the procedure and followed it through. That seemed to cause a problem and I ended up removing that drive until the computer works. It was attached sometime during the process when we worked on the infections so there is a posibility it could be infected however I remember running Malware Byte's, Super Anti-Spyware, SpyBot and a couple other on the drive; I even did a check disk and it came out fine. I'm sorry this is so long and not of much help. I am stressed, just getting over an extended illness and a bit forgetful which I am too young for at this time! Dell Dimension E310 and has always worked perfectly. The only thing I regret is the MEDIA EDITION. Thank you for your time and interest in this situation! I hope I can find a place to choose emails when an answer is posted! C Shirey

Hello. I hope you can help me with this situation; I've been reading different documents from many sources and I am getting different answers. I don't know what the best way to proceed and I can not do a clean install. I was in a situation that due to neglect on my part, my desktop became very infected but currently, I believe that at this time it is no longer infected. I think that in the process of cleaning up the infections, I have damaged my XP Media SP3 OS. I used the CD that came with the system to repair the OS and got an error to the effect that the OS on my computer is newer than the OS on the disk. Of course it is; it includes all of the service packs. So, repairing the system with the original CD doesn't seem possible. I thought about trying to delete Service Packs but haven't reviewed that possibility yet. I have previously slipstreamed XP Pro with SP3 successfully so I though that trying it with Media Edition would be a valid idea. From the same page in a Windows forum from Microsoft http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/itproxpsp/thread/8546f297-9781-422b-b53e-4f283e6b13dc/ regarding slipstreaming for Windows Media Edition, I found two different points of view in the same post! Dated Tuesday, April 29, 2008 At first I want to say that Slipstreaming SP3 into XP MCE 2005 is ALMOST supported, but we have to hack somethings." This comment was followed by a long technical process. I seem to think you can't slipstream with the Media edition (which I keep highlighting as it is the problem as I see it, so far at least! :) ) however I don't know what I really can or can not do. I have the original disc and the original key and my goal is to dual boot to Windows 7. My C: drive is overstuffed so I have been moving files off of it to give it working space but I keep having errors that relate to OS problems and I did not write them down. Do we have any suggestions out there? I appreciate any and all help I can get. This has been going on forever (especially since I got my laptop but my life is on the desktop!) Thanks, cs.

Many thanks and I'm on it tomorrow!

I just wanted to remind you of this part of the thread; due to my illness the thread has stretched out over time and I apologize.

The computer you are working on is a DESKTOP. You have the patience of a saint! First let me clear up what type of computer it is; I did before but these threads do get long and confusing and the confusion comes from me! The computer you are all so kindly helping me with is a DESKTOP - a Dell Dimension E 310 Windows XP Media SP 3. I am using a laptop computer which needs to be connected to a printer to print out your suggestions and cross them off as I try them. (Wish I knew how auto save worked with this email program; lost the entire email from the beginning.) I did get one post beep so I stopped as advised and was in the middle of reporting back on the laptop when the desktop started booting - it had been a good five minutes since I touched it. The desktop had had multiple infections and we believed that it was clean. I learned last night from the Belarc Advisor that the free version of AVG we were desperately trying to get rid of is still there as is the current and correct paid version of Avast. The new external hard drive was connected to the desktop when it was infected and I specifically ran every kind of check on it I could including a disk check and it came up clean. I partitioned it into three equal partitions; I thought I was done with that. During the clean up of the trojans, etc. the new external would appear under My Computer and then disappear. When we felt we were done though, it was there. The letters assigned were not convenient as my seldom used media reader was in the middle and because I'd done it before successfully, I changed the letters associated with the media card drives and moved up (in the alphabet) the letters associated with the external drives (3 partitions) so all the drives would be together. I would NEVER TOUCH THE C: DRIVE OR THE E: or F: drives; the last two are part of the boot order; one of the two possibly first. I restarted the computer and this whole situation began. What I believe caused it to boot, but I am not confident in this, is that the last thing I did to the desktop before I started my report to you was to completely unplug the new external drive. Questions, if you will: Is that a likely scenerio? If so, why would that have happened? What do you think the status of the new (a couple months old now) external drive is? Is there anything I can do to verify its stability before I try to use it? It is 1TB and I need it on the desktop but I don't want to bring that down; it has been running since it came back up. I know I have to turn it off and then back on to see if it can do that without problems. Most importantly: What do you suggest I do now? I know you are much too kind to suggest I go back to pen and paper! :) Thank you to all who have taken their valuable time to help out with this situation; it is much appreciated. cs.

Hello all, I appreciate each and everyone of you; you'll never realize how much! I had a friend that was going to help but he cut out just in time and today has been so busy. I have to put this laptop in the network so I can print. I know there are people who are hoping for a paperless world but I am not ready for it! I am having difficulty with one of the directions I know should be simple and I apologize: I will certainly Google for a picture of that (ha, ha - I feel foolish) but I am not aware of a power supply on the motherboard. I've done my least work with the motherboard. Can't wait! Looking forward to hearing from you as always!

Still working on this; please hang in there for me! Hello everyone! I am still working on this problem and have a friend here to lend a hand. No, as rarely as possible. I was getting stuck repeatedly at a black screen that was blank; was there something else I should have done to shut it down? Thank you; hopefully back to you soon! cs.

Hello Ken. That was on my list of things to report when the computer actually booted and threw me off. The computer beeped one time only the first time I turned it on. When I shut it down by using the off button and turned it back on the same way, there were no more beeps.

Hello again. I am usually a very patient person; I take on some of my friend's computers to do basic trouble shooting or to add memory or a hard drive. That being said, I am totally frustrated with this problem; my level of understanding is no where in this ballpark so all I can do is report what I've tried - in detail - as I do not know which detail OK, NOW THAT I CAN BREATHE AGAIN . . . everthing I tried - failed. Imagine my surprise when as I am sitting here getting ready to detail all of the steps I have taken that have not worked and next to me on the other desk - THE COMPUTER BEGINS TO BOOT FROM A BLACK SCREEN. Now this goes back to something I believe I have mentioned somewhere along the way in this thread. The computer we are working on is a Dell Dimension E310 running Windows Media Edition XP SP 3 with two internal hard drives and one external hard drive. The C: drive became so overcrowded and I wanted to organize music and photos better and have room for additional backup so I added another external hard drive. At first there was no problem adding the external drive - pretty much you just plug it in. I went in and partitioned it into 3 equal partitions and letters were automatically assigned. Now the real problem begins. The Dell has some type of virus, worm etc. and someone helped me work through it. As we were working through it, the 2nd hard drive would disappear and return in My Computer. The last thing I did before I started to report back just now was to unplug the 2nd hard drive which most likely caused the computer to boot fully after 5 minutes or so. I'm a bit concerned about the status of this hard drive and I do not know more than the check disk command to check it; I'd rather not plug it into my laptop; I need one thing in my life that works! I also need to understand why this happened as best as it can be determined and what steps should I take to verify the integrity of the XP Media Edition SP 3. I tried to do a repair a couple of times on the system but I always got the message that the information on my computer was newer than the information (files) on the disk. I've done this with someone else's XP Professional too many times to say (it's old and he hates computers) and never had a problem. The "Media" part of the OS is only causing me problems. BTW, yes, I did have anti-virus protection running automatically and a group of other programs that I ran on a consistant basis to keep the Dell clean. I did not own the laptop at the time and I could never be without a computer so I take the very best care of my equipment that I can. What can I do, check, test, etc. to make sure to the best of our knowledge that this won't happen again and what do I do with my external hard drive to check it? It was brand new when this nightmare started. The last thing you might be wondering is why I changed the drive letters. First of all, I have done that before and had no problem. I have a 4 slot media card reader and a single slot (which is not showing up now) on my printer. All of these drives appeared right in the middle of the rest of the more used hard drives and I was just trying to put things in better order. I know not to touch the C: drive or E: or F: which are DVD-RW and DVD-RAM drives respectively and I believe the E: drive is the first item in the boot sequence. Thank you all for everything; you can't imagine what this means to me. My life is on this computer and although I could have taken the hard drives out, I am not in the position to purchase another computer now or in the near future. Looking for all of your suggestions . . . Cherie

Hello everyone. I've been unable to deal with this problem as much as I need my computer but I am back at it again. My keyboard is USB. The boot process would begin but only go so far and prior to that stopping point, I would press (F12) numerous times and nothing would happen; the process would stop in the same place - at the error mentioned in the original post. I don't recall any beeps when I turn it on but I will pay special attention today. The date and time were fine the last time the computer booted correctly. I think it has something to do with me changing drive letters (not the C: drive or the CD rom drive) as it happened immediately after unless by coincidence something else failed at the same time. I plan on re-reading the posts in order and I believe (without reading them again yet) that I will begin with Jelly Bean's directions and report back as to what happens. Thank you to everyone who has an idea, suggestion or comment; I really appreciate it. This computer has never, ever been down this long and I blame it on an illness and the fact that I got this laptop LOL (not really laughing though!) cs.

To Ken: Hello Ken, Thank you for helping out. I would be thrilled to try F12 but I can not get even that far in the boot process . . . YET!!! :) I will look into your other link; the more information the better! Cherie

Hi Nev! I have both; a laptop with Windows 7 and a Desktop with XP SP 3 which is the one that needs assistance. In the area where the forum asks what type of machine you have I entered both and apparently there was only room for one and the laptop won! I will start on your instructions today; looking forward to it!!! Many thanks. Cherie

Hi Nev - thanks for your input! I know that the boot order is the CD ROM and then the C Drive both of which I purposely left untouched. I can't get past the error page to even look at the boot sequence or anything else . . . I am stuck there. I am sure that the boot order is CD and then C drive. Cherie

Hello everyone - looking forward to being part of your forum! The computer is a Dell Dimension E310 running Windows XP SP3 Media Edition. I had gone through a fairly long assisted process to get rid of infections and was ready to use the 1 Terabyte External HD I had purchased and connected and partitioned. Sometimes the drives showed under My Computer - 3 partitions; sometimes they did not but I chose not to use them until the virus removal was done. The virus removal was complete and the computer was working well and I wanted to move some things off of the C: drive as it was very overcrowded. The new drive didn't show up under My Computer. Finally, after trying a few different things, I changed the drive letters - not the C: drive or the CD rom drive; I just moved the 5 camera - phone card drives (sorry don't know technical names!) further down so that the hard drives - 2 internal and 2 external could be listed closer together. I went to boot the computer that had been working and it will not boot. I got the error below which I also found in the thread I have listed underneath: Part of it was cut off as it was very far left on the screen (I guessed at some of it!): DVO51 Series OS Version A03 Alert! Previous attempts have failed booting this system at checkpoint [1thr] Contact Dell Support. Now the thread I am referring to is titled,"Booting Error" and was posted by mtwarren 3 on 09-06-2008 at 10:41am. I read all three pages but I am not sure - due to something I've done - if this applies. My difference is the change to the drive letters prior to not being able to boot; I tried to boot with and without the external drive connected - when connected I received the error above. None of the F keys are working either. Everything I own is on this computer; the laptop is relatively new. What do you suggest I do next? Not pulling out my hair please, I'm doing that on my own! Thank you for your time and assistance. Cherie