System wrecked - where to go for help

[Guest Misterfyer]

Following what I suspect to be a virus attack, I can no longer access my C

drive fully - Windows Explorer only sees My Documents. System Restore is

completely disabled, I get an error message from Internet Explorer every

minute or so. Most desktop icons were wiped. Attempt to return to last known

good config doesn't work. XP will not reload from CD. Where do I go for

help?

[Guest Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Re: System wrecked - where to go for help

 

 

"Misterfyer" <Misterfyer@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:AEF2C364-5E9A-46AA-8319-B9570C6E9C21@microsoft.com...

> Following what I suspect to be a virus attack, I can no longer access my C

> drive fully - Windows Explorer only sees My Documents. System Restore is

> completely disabled, I get an error message from Internet Explorer every

> minute or so. Most desktop icons were wiped. Attempt to return to last

> known

> good config doesn't work. XP will not reload from CD. Where do I go for

> help?

 

If you tell your PC to use the CD drive as its primary boot device then it

WILL reload from your WinXP CD when booting from that CD. You must, of

course, allow the installation process to format your disk.

[Guest Misterfyer]

Re: System wrecked - where to go for help

 

Thanks, Pegasus. I think I already tried that and the PC just hung with a

black screen (+ a tiny winking dot - top left) But . . . I'll try again. If

you don't hear from me, my grave is plot number 722b Hendon Central.

 

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>

> "Misterfyer" <Misterfyer@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:AEF2C364-5E9A-46AA-8319-B9570C6E9C21@microsoft.com...

> > Following what I suspect to be a virus attack, I can no longer access my C

> > drive fully - Windows Explorer only sees My Documents. System Restore is

> > completely disabled, I get an error message from Internet Explorer every

> > minute or so. Most desktop icons were wiped. Attempt to return to last

> > known

> > good config doesn't work. XP will not reload from CD. Where do I go for

> > help?

>

> If you tell your PC to use the CD drive as its primary boot device then it

> WILL reload from your WinXP CD when booting from that CD. You must, of

> course, allow the installation process to format your disk.

>

>

>

[Guest PaulM]

Re: System wrecked - where to go for help

 

When you do a repair install or a clean install, unplug all printers, USB

hardware, except keyboard and mouse. Set to boot from CD drive and go.

 

--

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.paulsxp.com

http://www.paulsxp.com/forum

http://www.supportspace.com/home/home.s2?aiu=paulm

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Misterfyer" <Misterfyer@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:2BF84E15-E234-4241-82E5-8D23815183DC@microsoft.com...

> Thanks, Pegasus. I think I already tried that and the PC just hung with a

> black screen (+ a tiny winking dot - top left) But . . . I'll try again.

> If

> you don't hear from me, my grave is plot number 722b Hendon Central.

>

> "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>

>>

>> "Misterfyer" <Misterfyer@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>> news:AEF2C364-5E9A-46AA-8319-B9570C6E9C21@microsoft.com...

>> > Following what I suspect to be a virus attack, I can no longer access

>> > my C

>> > drive fully - Windows Explorer only sees My Documents. System Restore

>> > is

>> > completely disabled, I get an error message from Internet Explorer

>> > every

>> > minute or so. Most desktop icons were wiped. Attempt to return to last

>> > known

>> > good config doesn't work. XP will not reload from CD. Where do I go

>> > for

>> > help?

>>

>> If you tell your PC to use the CD drive as its primary boot device then

>> it

>> WILL reload from your WinXP CD when booting from that CD. You must, of

>> course, allow the installation process to format your disk.

>>

>>

>>

[Guest Patrick Keenan]

Re: System wrecked - where to go for help

 

 

"Misterfyer" <Misterfyer@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:AEF2C364-5E9A-46AA-8319-B9570C6E9C21@microsoft.com...

> Following what I suspect to be a virus attack, I can no longer access my C

> drive fully - Windows Explorer only sees My Documents. System Restore is

> completely disabled, I get an error message from Internet Explorer every

> minute or so. Most desktop icons were wiped. Attempt to return to last

> known

> good config doesn't work. XP will not reload from CD. Where do I go for

> help?

 

Your first priority should be to consider the value of whatever data was on

the drive. If it's of no value, you can set the system to boot from CD,

and do a clean install, starting with removing the system partition,

creating and formatting a new one.

 

If the data is of value, consider getting a new hard disk - these are cheap.

Where I am, bare 500-gig drives are now in the $90 range. Remove your old

drive and set it aside, install the new one and install XP to it. When you

have the system working properly and A/V installed and updated, you can

attach the old drive and restore data from it.

 

If you are having difficulties booting from the CD, clear the CMOS (power

down, remove the battery, find the CMOS CLEAR jumper, reset it, put the

battery back in) and restart. You might want to force the issue by also

disconnecting the hard disk. XP setup will go partway, then halt when it

does not detect a hard disk. Then you can re-connect the drive, knowing

that the rest of the basic hardware is functioning. Do disconnect any

un-needed peripherals, including printers, modems, scanners, etc.

 

 

HTH

-pk