Recently, Norton Security alerted me to two security threats. One was a "misnamed program" and the other was a Trojan Horse. Norton reported these problems as fixed with the Trojan Horse requiring a reboot. Reboot however failed, the screen going black after the splash screen. Restarting with F8 to safe mode brings up the screen but selecting does nothing. Ditto F12. Norton "help" could not help and said that I should contact the vendor. I only have the Re installation CD for Win XP Home edition. When I place in CD drive it does nothing. My last backup was two months ago and there is data that I do not want to lose. Any help is gratefully appreciated.
Thank you.
My name is Tomk. I would be glad to take a look at your log and help you with solving any malware problems. Logs can take a while to research, so please be patient and I'd be grateful if you would note the following:
I will be working on your Malware issues, this may or may not, solve other issues you have with your machine.
The fixes are specific to your problem and should only be used for the issues on this machine.
Please continue to review my answers until I tell you your machine appears to be clear. Absence of symptoms does not mean that everything is clear.
It's often worth reading through these instructions and printing them for ease of reference.
If you don't know or understand something, please don't hesitate to say or ask!! It's better to be sure and safe than sorry.
Please reply to this thread. Do not start a new topic.
After tapping F8 at reboot - like you did to attempt to enter safe mode… are you able to select "Last Known Good Configuration"?
Thanks for responding ! Norton detected 2 threats and reported them as "fixed". Reboot was required, however. On reboot, I got the splash screen then nothing. Using F8 or F12, I get the menus off BIOS but am unable to start anything selected. The menu just sits there. Bottom line is I cannot boot up in any mode.
OK…. It may be that you've already answered this in your mind, but I'm unclear…
Can you boot to the Command Prompt?
Do you know someone who has a Windows XP home systems disk that you can borrow?
(it is legal to use the disk to repair a valid installation)
Thanks for follow up. I can't answer this in my mind because I do not know much about computers. All I report is what I have experienced. Norton said they could not help but said to contact the vendor. This turned out to be totally useless. A member of the Norton forum said that my OS files were corrupted and said to seek help from your site. Not knowing much I cannot say if the new Norton 360 deleted necessary files or the files were already damaged by the infection. But Norton did alert me immediately and the problem that was "fixed" started after my immediate reboot.
The disc that came with the PC is no help as it does not do anything. If you are saying that I need to obtain or purchase the Win XP Home install set to fix then I will see what is available on eBay. Thanks again,
Marshall
I had two questions there that might have caused confusion.
First off, when you tapped F8 to get to the screen that allowed you to try to enter in safe mode…. you have already verified that it not only won't enter safe mode, but it also does nothing when you select "Last Known Good Configuration". What I am asking is did you try to select "Safe mode with command Prompt"?
The second question was in regards to a Windows XP home system disk. You do not necessarily need to purchase one if you know someone who has Windows XP home. You can borrow theirs to do a repair of your system. The media is the same… only the license is different. It is perfect legal to use their disk for a repair.
Hi again,
I selected safe mode with command. It opened to OS to run - Win XP, hit enter. Goes to screen with one exe and two dll's, the same as when I hit safe mode with networking. On this screen, I can't scroll up or down and "enter" does nothing.
I don't know anyone with the install 3-pack. That's why eBay.
Regards,
Marshall
Something didn't go right… but I'm not sure what. That error isn't "unusual" but it is rare. Often it corrects with a fresh install.
On your good computer, please go to My Computer, right click on your flash drive, and select Format the drive. Put a check mark in front of Quick Format and then click Start.
Then please try to reinstall by running unetbootin-xpud-windows-387.exe.
Don't forget to copy xPUD_userinit_fix on to the drive again and try to boot the "sick" computer again.
Same result. I will start from step 1 starting from internet download to reformatted flash. This PC could be considered as a fossil with current tech. I recently upgraded the memory with new chips.
Download accomplished but did not open to burn. Selecting burn from download results in prompt for file to execute. Selecting gives the message "not a valid file". Maybe I should call it a loss and pull the HD to recover my data.
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