page fault error on boot

I am at my wit's end. I was trying to clean some nasty trojans from my
Lenovo T60p laptop running Windows XP sp2. The trojans disabled my
antispyware software and kept me from opening task manager.

So I tried to boot into safe mode to run the antispyware from there.
F8 wasn't loading safe mode, so I went to msconfig and clicked the
/safeboot option under boot.ini. When I rebooted my computer into safe
mode, I got a page_fault_in_non_paged_area blue screen error, then it
tried to restart, same error. The same thing happens in booting to
normal or last known good modes.

I used the XP recovery console from the cd-drive and did the bootcfg
/rebuild thing. My hope was that it would reset the boot.ini file,
getting rid of the /safeboot option, and hopefully returning things to
normal. But it didn't help. I still get the page fault error.

I have a backup, so I can try some fairly aggressive solutions if
anyone has them. But I would really, really like to fix this so I don't
have to reinstall Windows. Does anyone have any ideas? My thanks in
advance!

Ben


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bensy

undisclosed wrote in message
...

I am at my wit's end. I was trying to clean some nasty trojans from my
Lenovo T60p laptop running Windows XP sp2. The trojans disabled my
antispyware software and kept me from opening task manager.

So I tried to boot into safe mode to run the antispyware from there.
F8 wasn't loading safe mode, so I went to msconfig and clicked the
/safeboot option under boot.ini. When I rebooted my computer into safe
mode, I got a page_fault_in_non_paged_area blue screen error, then it
tried to restart, same error. The same thing happens in booting to
normal or last known good modes.

I used the XP recovery console from the cd-drive and did the bootcfg
/rebuild thing. My hope was that it would reset the boot.ini file,
getting rid of the /safeboot option, and hopefully returning things to
normal. But it didn't help. I still get the page fault error.

I have a backup, so I can try some fairly aggressive solutions if
anyone has them. But I would really, really like to fix this so I don't
have to reinstall Windows. Does anyone have any ideas? My thanks in
advance!

Ben

The main purpose of virus scanners is to protect you against infection. Some
of them can fix some of the damage done by viruses by they cannot fix
everything. You may not like it but your best bet is to save your data files
(including your EMail files!) to an external medium, then format the disk
and re-install Windows. It's the fastest way to give you a robust
installation with a guaranteed outcome.

Post again if you need instructions how to save your files. You should also
review your current virus protection and consider practising safe hex.

Yes, could you please tell me how to do that?

I have ThinkVantage rescue software, and it appears to be writing my
data to an external drive, but when I open the external drive on another
computer, my files aren't there. So I need a new strategy. The best
thing would be if I could copy the files to my external hard drive, but
I don't know if that is possible.

Thank you.


--
bensy

Another question -- I have discovered that the ThinkVantage recovery
software is writing my data to my external hard drive. I can browse the
external drive from the software, and my data shows up. However, when I
hook the hard drive up to another computer, I can't see the data.

One detail: the TV recovery software appears to be giving the External
drive the letter C:, and when another computer browses the drive, it
labels it E:

Is there any way to fix this? Or should I go for another way of
copying the data?

Thanks again.


--
bensy

undisclosed wrote in message
...

Yes, could you please tell me how to do that?

Click Start/Help, then look for help on System Restore. It tells you exactly
how to invoke and use the wizard.

I have ThinkVantage rescue software, and it appears to be writing my
data to an external drive, but when I open the external drive on another
computer, my files aren't there. So I need a new strategy. The best
thing would be if I could copy the files to my external hard drive, but
I don't know if that is possible.

I know nothing about ThinkVantage. I recommend you check the manual and/or
the ThinkVantage FAQs.

Ok, let's skip the Thinkvantage sutff. Is there any way to salvage my
data without using system Restore? I can't boot into Windows -- I can
only use the Windows recovery console from the Windows XP cd. Thanks!


--
bensy

undisclosed wrote in message
...

Ok, let's skip the Thinkvantage sutff. Is there any way to salvage my
data without using system Restore? I can't boot into Windows -- I can
only use the Windows recovery console from the Windows XP cd. Thanks!
--
bensy

Your initial post suggested that you were still able to boot into Windows,
albeit at a reduced functional level. It now seems that this is not so. Here
are a few options:
- To restore Windows: Use a manual System Restore process as shown here -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545. This is not something for the
faint-hearted.
- To save your data: Remove the hard disk, then put it into an external USB
case. Now connect the case to some other PC and save your files. On the
Thinkpads I've seen it's quite easy to remove the hard disk.

Note also that there are two groups of people: Those who don't back up their
important files regularly and those who do. Over time all members of the
first group migrate to the second group. The transition can be very painful.
I hope that yours is bearable. Perhaps you will check out the price of a
2.5" hard disk that you could use as a permanent backup medium, using the
USB case I mentioned before.

I'm sorry for the confusion. I wasn't clear enough in my original post,
but yes, my laptop won't boot to Windows. It just keeps restarting
after the blue screen.

Thanks for the manual system restore advice and the other stuff. I am
one of those who backs up, but not frequently enough. Last backup was
two weeks ago, in which time I graded a ton of papers and entered them
into my gradebook, did 5 days of writing, and so on. So there is some
serious potential pain, but it's not life threatening.


--
bensy

undisclosed wrote:
I'm sorry for the confusion. I wasn't clear enough in my original post,
but yes, my laptop won't boot to Windows. It just keeps restarting
after the blue screen.

Thanks for the manual system restore advice and the other stuff. I am
one of those who backs up, but not frequently enough. Last backup was
two weeks ago, in which time I graded a ton of papers and entered them
into my gradebook, did 5 days of writing, and so on. So there is some
serious potential pain, but it's not life threatening.



To slave the drive to another machine, you can use an adapter like
this. It has 40 pin IDE (for 3.5" desktop drives), 44 pin IDE
(for 2.5" laptop drives), and a SATA connector (for 2.5"/3.5"
SATA drives). It comes with a power supply, useful for the drives
that need a bit more power than can be provided over the USB bus.
The output is USB2, so then you can plug the adapter into another
computer, and copy any data you might need. There is no enclosure,
so you have to be careful to support the drive and adapter so
the drive won't fall or get bumped.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-155-_-Product

Product manual.

http://www.startech.com/Data/Product...SB2SATAIDE.pdf

The main advantage of that style of adapter, is not having
to open up the desktop computer, and cable up the drive there.
Using USB, it is a bit easier to just plug it in to a port
on the back of a desktop machine. Data transfer rate with
USB2 is about 30MB/sec, so it can be a bit slow if you're
copying over a 1TB drive.

You still have to figure out how to get the drive out of the
laptop casing.

Paul

Thanks for the links, Paul. I was wondering exactly how to do that, and
now I know. I think this is the easiest solution. Lenovo posts some
invaluable service manuals on the web, so I have detailed instructions
on how to take it apart.


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bensy