worm? virus?

From: "Leonard Grey"

| Make your housemate pay a technician to fix your computer.
| ---
| Leonard Grey
| Errare humanum est

I agree!



--
Dave
http://www.claymania.com/removal-trojan-adware.html
Multi-AV - http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

On Tue, 19 May 2009 11:05:41 -0500, "Tom [Pepper] Willett"
wrote:

Why a new hard drive? What's wrong with the one you have? Just reinstall
Windows!!!!

A repair install won't get rid of malware.
"shepetie" wrote in message
...
:
: My husband has already suggested a new hard drive................
:
: I noticed in another posting on corrupted files that you can do a "repair
: install" from our windows XP SP2 cd. Would that work? If so, I'm
thinking
: that I could reinstall Norton (maybe) and then continue on to doing my
: updates, scans, etc.

I see nothing wrong with a new drive - the old one might have done its work and
is about to pack in?
I did just that when my old drive refused to start and I do mean start - the
disk just would not spin anymore - however in a USB housing I could treat it
like an old watch and make it spin by a quick movement of the wrist - enough to
get some info from it - New hard drive 500GB was set up at a ridiculous cheap
price and most of the useful data was transferred from the USB to the new drive.
Now that old disk is still lying about in the housing should it be that there
was something I missed.

Børge in sunny Perth, Australia

shepetie wrote:
running: windows XP home edition Norton Internet security
2009
my husband and I left for 48 hours and I believe that our housemate has
done
something to infect us. computer runs disk check at startup - icon at
top is
a white flag/blue bkgrnd - and it wants to change security id or code
(I
can't remember) and he let it run, changing several files (I don't know
how
many) before disconnecting pwr to computer to stop it. We have no task
bar
at bottom of screen, no start menu. Norton will not open. I can't
access
any system scans. I can't download and run any on line scans. I tried
to see
if he had deleted anything and recycle bin can't be accessed because of
corrupted files.

My husband has already suggested a new hard drive................

I noticed in another posting on corrupted files that you can do a "repair
install" from our windows XP SP2 cd. Would that work? If so, I'm
thinking
that I could reinstall Norton (maybe) and then continue on to doing my
updates, scans, etc.

OK OK I understand and accept the advice you're giving me. I have
never
done that though. I don't even know where to start............and I'm
already frustrated beyond belief, otherwise I wouldn't be
here............my
husband, who doesn't want to even think about this situation, will have to
take care of it for me. At least now I know why he won't let the
housemate use his laptop! And I guarantee that when this is all said and
done that a password willbe put into place........


shepetie...
Don't know if you're still around, but if you are...

As you've heard from a number of responders to your query, it's entirely
possible your system has become so corrupted from this or that malware that
it's beyond redemption and nothing but a fresh install of the OS will return
the system to a bootable, functional state.

The obvious problem here is that *all* the data on your hard drive (HDD)
will be lost. I assume you're aware of that.

You've mentioned the possibility of a "repair install" of the OS. It's a
good thought and worth a try, assuming you're able to undertake such. So do
this...

1. First of all, if there's any personal data on your HDD that is
important/essential/crucial to you and/or your husband, copy such to some
removable media such as a flash drive, or CD, or whatever is available.

2. Hopefully your XP OS installation CD is either a non-branded or retail
version, not a recovery or restore type of CD provided by an OEM. Generally
speaking if the XP installation CD is of the latter variety one cannot
perform a Repair install as I'm going to describe.

3. Undertaking a Repair install of the OS is a relatively straightforward
process. It would be roughly akin to making a fresh install of the OS, but
in nearly every case one's existing programs & user-created data would be
retained. Notice I said "nearly". While it would be a rather rare situation
where data would be lost or corrupted as a result of the Repair install, and
as unlikely as it may be, it *could* happen.

Again, it's a relatively rare event that a loss or corruption of data will
occur even when the Repair install is unsuccessful, but it *can* happen. So
I want you to be aware of this.

4. Here are the step-by-step instructions that can be found at Microsoft's
site at...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...nostart.mspx#2

quote
Before performing a repair installation of Windows XP, you should have both
your Windows XP CD and your product key available.

To perform a repair installation of Windows XP

1. Insert your Windows XP CD into your computer.

2. Restart your computer. If prompted, press a key to start from the CD-ROM.

3. When the Welcome to Setup page appears, press ENTER on your keyboard.

4. On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement page, read the licensing agreement.
Press the PAGE DOWN key to scroll to the bottom of the agreement. Then,
press F8.

5. When prompted, press R to have Windows XP attempt to repair Windows by
reinstalling important Windows components.

The repair and reinstallation process might take more than an hour.
Eventually, Setup prompts you to answer questions just as if you were
installing Windows XP for the first time. For detailed instructions, read
"Install Windows XP" at...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/winxp/install.mspx"
/quote

Also, here are a number of websites that contain detailed step-by-step
instructions for undertaking a Repair install. Let me assure you that it's
not a difficult process and not terribly time-consuming. As I've indicated,
it's roughly similar to making a fresh install of the XP OS.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XP...install.htm#RI
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=138
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winx...exfullpage.htm
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;315341

Assuming the Repair install is successful, you should use your anti-virus
program to
immediately check out the PC for any virus infestation. Also, you will need
to download/install *all* the MS critical updates since SP3. (I'm assuming
that if you undertake this Repair install of the XP OS, you would be doing
so with a XP installation CD that contains SP3). But you can undertake this
Repair install with an XP OS installation CD that contains an earlier SP (or
even no SP) than what is currently on the present system and then later
(assuming the Repair install is successful) install the latest SP3.
Anna

Anna, a repair install does not remove a malware infection.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

Anna wrote:
shepetie wrote:
running: windows XP home edition Norton Internet security
2009
my husband and I left for 48 hours and I believe that our housemate has
done
something to infect us. computer runs disk check at startup - icon at
top is
a white flag/blue bkgrnd - and it wants to change security id or code
(I
can't remember) and he let it run, changing several files (I don't know
how
many) before disconnecting pwr to computer to stop it. We have no task
bar
at bottom of screen, no start menu. Norton will not open. I can't
access
any system scans. I can't download and run any on line scans. I tried
to see
if he had deleted anything and recycle bin can't be accessed because of
corrupted files.

My husband has already suggested a new hard drive................

I noticed in another posting on corrupted files that you can do a "repair
install" from our windows XP SP2 cd. Would that work? If so, I'm
thinking
that I could reinstall Norton (maybe) and then continue on to doing my
updates, scans, etc.

OK OK I understand and accept the advice you're giving me. I have
never
done that though. I don't even know where to start............and I'm
already frustrated beyond belief, otherwise I wouldn't be
here............my
husband, who doesn't want to even think about this situation, will have to
take care of it for me. At least now I know why he won't let the
housemate use his laptop! And I guarantee that when this is all said and
done that a password willbe put into place........


shepetie...
Don't know if you're still around, but if you are...

As you've heard from a number of responders to your query, it's entirely
possible your system has become so corrupted from this or that malware that
it's beyond redemption and nothing but a fresh install of the OS will return
the system to a bootable, functional state.

The obvious problem here is that *all* the data on your hard drive (HDD)
will be lost. I assume you're aware of that.

You've mentioned the possibility of a "repair install" of the OS. It's a
good thought and worth a try, assuming you're able to undertake such. So do
this...

1. First of all, if there's any personal data on your HDD that is
important/essential/crucial to you and/or your husband, copy such to some
removable media such as a flash drive, or CD, or whatever is available.

2. Hopefully your XP OS installation CD is either a non-branded or retail
version, not a recovery or restore type of CD provided by an OEM. Generally
speaking if the XP installation CD is of the latter variety one cannot
perform a Repair install as I'm going to describe.

3. Undertaking a Repair install of the OS is a relatively straightforward
process. It would be roughly akin to making a fresh install of the OS, but
in nearly every case one's existing programs & user-created data would be
retained. Notice I said "nearly". While it would be a rather rare situation
where data would be lost or corrupted as a result of the Repair install, and
as unlikely as it may be, it *could* happen.

Again, it's a relatively rare event that a loss or corruption of data will
occur even when the Repair install is unsuccessful, but it *can* happen. So
I want you to be aware of this.

4. Here are the step-by-step instructions that can be found at Microsoft's
site at...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...nostart.mspx#2

quote
Before performing a repair installation of Windows XP, you should have both
your Windows XP CD and your product key available.

To perform a repair installation of Windows XP

1. Insert your Windows XP CD into your computer.

2. Restart your computer. If prompted, press a key to start from the CD-ROM.

3. When the Welcome to Setup page appears, press ENTER on your keyboard.

4. On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement page, read the licensing agreement.
Press the PAGE DOWN key to scroll to the bottom of the agreement. Then,
press F8.

5. When prompted, press R to have Windows XP attempt to repair Windows by
reinstalling important Windows components.

The repair and reinstallation process might take more than an hour.
Eventually, Setup prompts you to answer questions just as if you were
installing Windows XP for the first time. For detailed instructions, read
"Install Windows XP" at...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/winxp/install.mspx"
/quote

Also, here are a number of websites that contain detailed step-by-step
instructions for undertaking a Repair install. Let me assure you that it's
not a difficult process and not terribly time-consuming. As I've indicated,
it's roughly similar to making a fresh install of the XP OS.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XP...install.htm#RI
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=138
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winx...exfullpage.htm
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;315341

Assuming the Repair install is successful, you should use your anti-virus
program to
immediately check out the PC for any virus infestation. Also, you will need
to download/install *all* the MS critical updates since SP3. (I'm assuming
that if you undertake this Repair install of the XP OS, you would be doing
so with a XP installation CD that contains SP3). But you can undertake this
Repair install with an XP OS installation CD that contains an earlier SP (or
even no SP) than what is currently on the present system and then later
(assuming the Repair install is successful) install the latest SP3.
Anna

shepetie wrote:
running: windows XP home edition Norton Internet security
2009
my husband and I left for 48 hours and I believe that our housemate
has done
something to infect us. computer runs disk check at startup - icon at
top is
a white flag/blue bkgrnd - and it wants to change security id or code
(I
can't remember) and he let it run, changing several files (I don't
know how
many) before disconnecting pwr to computer to stop it. We have no
task bar
at bottom of screen, no start menu. Norton will not open. I can't
access
any system scans. I can't download and run any on line scans. I tried
to see
if he had deleted anything and recycle bin can't be accessed because
of
corrupted files.

My husband has already suggested a new hard drive................

I noticed in another posting on corrupted files that you can do a
"repair
install" from our windows XP SP2 cd. Would that work? If so, I'm
thinking
that I could reinstall Norton (maybe) and then continue on to doing my
updates, scans, etc.

OK OK I understand and accept the advice you're giving me. I have
never
done that though. I don't even know where to start............and I'm
already frustrated beyond belief, otherwise I wouldn't be
here............my
husband, who doesn't want to even think about this situation, will have
to
take care of it for me. At least now I know why he won't let the
housemate use his laptop! And I guarantee that when this is all said
and
done that a password willbe put into place........


Anna wrote:
shepetie...
Don't know if you're still around, but if you are...

As you've heard from a number of responders to your query, it's entirely
possible your system has become so corrupted from this or that malware
that it's beyond redemption and nothing but a fresh install of the OS
will return the system to a bootable, functional state.

The obvious problem here is that *all* the data on your hard drive (HDD)
will be lost. I assume you're aware of that.

You've mentioned the possibility of a "repair install" of the OS. It's a
good thought and worth a try, assuming you're able to undertake such. So
do this...

1. First of all, if there's any personal data on your HDD that is
important/essential/crucial to you and/or your husband, copy such to some
removable media such as a flash drive, or CD, or whatever is available.

2. Hopefully your XP OS installation CD is either a non-branded or retail
version, not a recovery or restore type of CD provided by an OEM.
Generally speaking if the XP installation CD is of the latter variety one
cannot perform a Repair install as I'm going to describe.

3. Undertaking a Repair install of the OS is a relatively straightforward
process. It would be roughly akin to making a fresh install of the OS,
but in nearly every case one's existing programs & user-created data
would be retained. Notice I said "nearly". While it would be a rather
rare situation where data would be lost or corrupted as a result of the
Repair install, and as unlikely as it may be, it *could* happen.

Again, it's a relatively rare event that a loss or corruption of data
will occur even when the Repair install is unsuccessful, but it *can*
happen. So I want you to be aware of this.

4. Here are the step-by-step instructions that can be found at
Microsoft's site at...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...nostart.mspx#2

quote
Before performing a repair installation of Windows XP, you should have
both
your Windows XP CD and your product key available.

To perform a repair installation of Windows XP

1. Insert your Windows XP CD into your computer.

2. Restart your computer. If prompted, press a key to start from the
CD-ROM.

3. When the Welcome to Setup page appears, press ENTER on your keyboard.

4. On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement page, read the licensing
agreement.
Press the PAGE DOWN key to scroll to the bottom of the agreement. Then,
press F8.

5. When prompted, press R to have Windows XP attempt to repair Windows by
reinstalling important Windows components.

The repair and reinstallation process might take more than an hour.
Eventually, Setup prompts you to answer questions just as if you were
installing Windows XP for the first time. For detailed instructions, read
"Install Windows XP" at...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/winxp/install.mspx"
/quote

Also, here are a number of websites that contain detailed step-by-step
instructions for undertaking a Repair install. Let me assure you that
it's not a difficult process and not terribly time-consuming. As I've
indicated, it's roughly similar to making a fresh install of the XP OS.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XP...install.htm#RI
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=138
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winx...exfullpage.htm
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;315341

Assuming the Repair install is successful, you should use your anti-virus
program to
immediately check out the PC for any virus infestation. Also, you will
need to download/install *all* the MS critical updates since SP3. (I'm
assuming that if you undertake this Repair install of the XP OS, you
would be doing so with a XP installation CD that contains SP3). But you
can undertake this Repair install with an XP OS installation CD that
contains an earlier SP (or even no SP) than what is currently on the
present system and then later (assuming the Repair install is successful)
install the latest SP3.
Anna


"Leonard Grey" wrote in message
...
Anna, a repair install does not remove a malware infection.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est


Leonard:
I fully understand that as I've indicated in the initial opening of my post.

But it *is* conceivable that even with a malware infestation corrupting the
OS, a Repair install *might* return the system to a functional state if only
for a brief moment of time allowing the user to then (hopefully) remove the
malware. Obviously the nature of the malware infestation (assuming that *is*
the root cause of the problem(s) being experienced) will play a role here in
determining whether a Repair install of the OS will be successful or not.

In any event it would seem the OP is just about at the end of her "tether"
with regard to this situation so while I freely admit my suggested
course-of-action is iffy at best, I thought it was worth a shot given the
situation.
Anna

No, actually it is not conceivable with contemporary malware.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

Anna wrote:
shepetie wrote:
running: windows XP home edition Norton Internet security
2009
my husband and I left for 48 hours and I believe that our housemate
has done
something to infect us. computer runs disk check at startup - icon at
top is
a white flag/blue bkgrnd - and it wants to change security id or code
(I
can't remember) and he let it run, changing several files (I don't
know how
many) before disconnecting pwr to computer to stop it. We have no
task bar
at bottom of screen, no start menu. Norton will not open. I can't
access
any system scans. I can't download and run any on line scans. I tried
to see
if he had deleted anything and recycle bin can't be accessed because
of
corrupted files.
My husband has already suggested a new hard drive................

I noticed in another posting on corrupted files that you can do a
"repair
install" from our windows XP SP2 cd. Would that work? If so, I'm
thinking
that I could reinstall Norton (maybe) and then continue on to doing my
updates, scans, etc.
OK OK I understand and accept the advice you're giving me. I have
never
done that though. I don't even know where to start............and I'm
already frustrated beyond belief, otherwise I wouldn't be
here............my
husband, who doesn't want to even think about this situation, will have
to
take care of it for me. At least now I know why he won't let the
housemate use his laptop! And I guarantee that when this is all said
and
done that a password willbe put into place........


Anna wrote:
shepetie...
Don't know if you're still around, but if you are...

As you've heard from a number of responders to your query, it's entirely
possible your system has become so corrupted from this or that malware
that it's beyond redemption and nothing but a fresh install of the OS
will return the system to a bootable, functional state.

The obvious problem here is that *all* the data on your hard drive (HDD)
will be lost. I assume you're aware of that.

You've mentioned the possibility of a "repair install" of the OS. It's a
good thought and worth a try, assuming you're able to undertake such. So
do this...

1. First of all, if there's any personal data on your HDD that is
important/essential/crucial to you and/or your husband, copy such to some
removable media such as a flash drive, or CD, or whatever is available.

2. Hopefully your XP OS installation CD is either a non-branded or retail
version, not a recovery or restore type of CD provided by an OEM.
Generally speaking if the XP installation CD is of the latter variety one
cannot perform a Repair install as I'm going to describe.

3. Undertaking a Repair install of the OS is a relatively straightforward
process. It would be roughly akin to making a fresh install of the OS,
but in nearly every case one's existing programs & user-created data
would be retained. Notice I said "nearly". While it would be a rather
rare situation where data would be lost or corrupted as a result of the
Repair install, and as unlikely as it may be, it *could* happen.

Again, it's a relatively rare event that a loss or corruption of data
will occur even when the Repair install is unsuccessful, but it *can*
happen. So I want you to be aware of this.

4. Here are the step-by-step instructions that can be found at
Microsoft's site at...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...nostart.mspx#2

quote
Before performing a repair installation of Windows XP, you should have
both
your Windows XP CD and your product key available.

To perform a repair installation of Windows XP

1. Insert your Windows XP CD into your computer.

2. Restart your computer. If prompted, press a key to start from the
CD-ROM.

3. When the Welcome to Setup page appears, press ENTER on your keyboard.

4. On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement page, read the licensing
agreement.
Press the PAGE DOWN key to scroll to the bottom of the agreement. Then,
press F8.

5. When prompted, press R to have Windows XP attempt to repair Windows by
reinstalling important Windows components.

The repair and reinstallation process might take more than an hour.
Eventually, Setup prompts you to answer questions just as if you were
installing Windows XP for the first time. For detailed instructions, read
"Install Windows XP" at...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/winxp/install.mspx"
/quote

Also, here are a number of websites that contain detailed step-by-step
instructions for undertaking a Repair install. Let me assure you that
it's not a difficult process and not terribly time-consuming. As I've
indicated, it's roughly similar to making a fresh install of the XP OS.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XP...install.htm#RI
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=138
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winx...exfullpage.htm
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;315341

Assuming the Repair install is successful, you should use your anti-virus
program to
immediately check out the PC for any virus infestation. Also, you will
need to download/install *all* the MS critical updates since SP3. (I'm
assuming that if you undertake this Repair install of the XP OS, you
would be doing so with a XP installation CD that contains SP3). But you
can undertake this Repair install with an XP OS installation CD that
contains an earlier SP (or even no SP) than what is currently on the
present system and then later (assuming the Repair install is successful)
install the latest SP3.
Anna


"Leonard Grey" wrote in message
...
Anna, a repair install does not remove a malware infection.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est


Leonard:
I fully understand that as I've indicated in the initial opening of my post.

But it *is* conceivable that even with a malware infestation corrupting the
OS, a Repair install *might* return the system to a functional state if only
for a brief moment of time allowing the user to then (hopefully) remove the
malware. Obviously the nature of the malware infestation (assuming that *is*
the root cause of the problem(s) being experienced) will play a role here in
determining whether a Repair install of the OS will be successful or not.

In any event it would seem the OP is just about at the end of her "tether"
with regard to this situation so while I freely admit my suggested
course-of-action is iffy at best, I thought it was worth a shot given the
situation.
Anna

Anna wrote:
shepetie wrote:
....


"Leonard Grey" wrote in message
...
Anna, a repair install does not remove a malware infection.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est


Leonard:
I fully understand that as I've indicated in the initial opening of
my post.
But it *is* conceivable that even with a malware infestation
corrupting the OS, a Repair install *might* return the system to a
functional state if only for a brief moment of time allowing the user
to then (hopefully) remove the malware. Obviously the nature of the
malware infestation (assuming that *is* the root cause of the
problem(s) being experienced) will play a role here in determining
whether a Repair install of the OS will be successful or not.
In any event it would seem the OP is just about at the end of her
"tether" with regard to this situation so while I freely admit my
suggested course-of-action is iffy at best, I thought it was worth a
shot given the situation.
Anna

I'd have to agree with you, Anna. If it works, great. If not, well,
nothing was lost in trying it, especially when a point of diminishing
returns is looming it's definitely worth a try before going through the
pain of a rebuild. It may not help either, but I'll also sometimes
recommend a chkdsk run too; on rare occasions it'll get things working
again at least temporarily if the malware trashed the tables. If not,
again, nothing was lost in the attempt.
It's too bad backing up data has to be an extra cost with macines
today. They all get the software, sometimes even imaging software, but
not the second drive or better yet an external drive, to back up TO.
Some have recovery partitions but they're never well documented for the
newbie and seldom used too. It takes having to rebuild from scratch a
few times for most to become believers. C'est le vie.

Twayne`

Leonard Grey wrote:
No, actually it is not conceivable with contemporary malware.

LOL! Contemporary malware? Where'd that come from? How'd you decide
the problem is "contemporary malware"? What if it's not; THEN it's
concievable, I guess?

Leonard, I've noticed your bit of macho prejudices before and I suggest
you at least think about the things you say first. I know, you probably
think if it's being used now, it's contemporary too, right? That's a
little redundant though.

....

On May 20, 9:54*am, "Anna" wrote:
shepetie wrote:
running: windows XP home edition * * * * * Norton Internet security
2009
my husband and I left for 48 hours and I believe that our housemate
has done
something to infect us. *computer runs disk check at startup - icon at
top is
a white flag/blue bkgrnd - and it wants to change security id or code
(I
can't remember) and he let it run, changing several files (I don't
know how
many) before disconnecting pwr to computer to stop it. *We have no
task bar
at bottom of screen, no start menu. *Norton will not open. *I can't
access
any system scans. *I can't download and run any on line scans. I tried
to see
if he had deleted anything and recycle bin can't be accessed because
of
corrupted files.

My husband has already suggested a new hard drive................

I noticed in another posting on corrupted files that you can do a
"repair
install" from our windows XP SP2 cd. *Would that work? *If so, I'm
thinking
that I could reinstall Norton (maybe) and then continue on to doing my
updates, scans, etc.

OK * OK * I understand and accept the advice you're giving me. *I have
never
done that though. *I don't even know where to start............and I'm
already frustrated beyond belief, otherwise I wouldn't be
here............my
husband, who doesn't want to even think about this situation, will have
to
take care of it for me. * * At least now I know why he won't let the
housemate use his laptop! *And I guarantee that when this is all said
and
done that a password willbe put into place........
Anna wrote:
shepetie...
Don't know if you're still around, but if you are...

As you've heard from a number of responders to your query, it's entirely
possible your system has become so corrupted from this or that malware
that it's beyond redemption and nothing but a fresh install of the OS
will return the system to a bootable, functional state.

The obvious problem here is that *all* the data on your hard drive (HDD)
will be lost. I assume you're aware of that.

You've mentioned the possibility of a "repair install" of the OS. It's a
good thought and worth a try, assuming you're able to undertake such. So
do this...

1. First of all, if there's any personal data on your HDD that is
important/essential/crucial to you and/or your husband, copy such to some
removable media such as a flash drive, or CD, or whatever is available..

2. Hopefully your XP OS installation CD is either a non-branded or retail
version, not a recovery or restore type of CD provided by an OEM.
Generally speaking if the XP installation CD is of the latter variety one
cannot perform a Repair install as I'm going to describe.

3. Undertaking a Repair install of the OS is a relatively straightforward
process. It would be roughly akin to making a fresh install of the OS,
but in nearly every case one's existing programs & user-created data
would be retained. Notice I said "nearly". While it would be a rather
rare situation where data would be lost or corrupted as a result of the
Repair install, and as unlikely as it may be, it *could* happen.

Again, it's a relatively rare event that a loss or corruption of data
will occur even when the Repair install is unsuccessful, but it *can*
happen. So I want you to be aware of this.

4. Here are the step-by-step instructions that can be found at
Microsoft's site at...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...nostart.mspx#2

quote
Before performing a repair installation of Windows XP, you should have
both
your Windows XP CD and your product key available.

To perform a repair installation of Windows XP

1. Insert your Windows XP CD into your computer.

2. Restart your computer. If prompted, press a key to start from the
CD-ROM.

3. When the Welcome to Setup page appears, press ENTER on your keyboard.

4. On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement page, read the licensing
agreement.
Press the PAGE DOWN key to scroll to the bottom of the agreement. Then,
press F8.

5. When prompted, press R to have Windows XP attempt to repair Windows by
reinstalling important Windows components.

The repair and reinstallation process might take more than an hour.
Eventually, Setup prompts you to answer questions just as if you were
installing Windows XP for the first time. For detailed instructions, read
"Install Windows XP" at...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/winxp/install.mspx"
/quote

Also, here are a number of websites that contain detailed step-by-step
instructions for undertaking a Repair install. Let me assure you that
it's not a difficult process and not terribly time-consuming. As I've
indicated, it's roughly similar to making a fresh install of the XP OS..
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XP...install.htm#RI
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=138
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winx...air/indexfullp....
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;315341

Assuming the Repair install is successful, you should use your anti-virus
program to
immediately check out the PC for any virus infestation. Also, you will
need to download/install *all* the MS critical updates since SP3. (I'm
assuming that if you undertake this Repair install of the XP OS, you
would be doing so with a XP installation CD that contains SP3). But you
can undertake this Repair install with an XP OS installation CD that
contains an earlier SP (or even no SP) than what is currently on the
present system and then later (assuming the Repair install is successful)
install the latest SP3.
Anna
"Leonard Grey" wrote in message

...

Anna, a repair install does not remove a malware infection.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

Leonard:
I fully understand that as I've indicated in the initial opening of my post.

But it *is* conceivable that even with a malware infestation corrupting the
OS, a Repair install *might* return the system to a functional state if only
for a brief moment of time allowing the user to then (hopefully) remove the
malware. Obviously the nature of the malware infestation (assuming that *is*
the root cause of the problem(s) being experienced) will play a role here in
determining whether a Repair install of the OS will be successful or not.

In any event it would seem the OP is just about at the end of her "tether"
with regard to this situation so while I freely admit my suggested
course-of-action is iffy at best, I thought it was worth a shot given the
situation.
Anna

Might fix it versus will fix it... Might versus will...

I'll choose will every time. (some retrictions apply)

I predict if the might choice is taken and it looks like it is
working, it will soon fall apart or more problems will come up that
have not been encountered yet.

Then the "will fix it for sure" choice will be taken along with wishes
it was taken before.

Say... what happened to the housemate?

From: "Anna"




| Leonard:
| I fully understand that as I've indicated in the initial opening of my post.

| But it *is* conceivable that even with a malware infestation corrupting the
| OS, a Repair install *might* return the system to a functional state if only
| for a brief moment of time allowing the user to then (hopefully) remove the
| malware. Obviously the nature of the malware infestation (assuming that *is*
| the root cause of the problem(s) being experienced) will play a role here in
| determining whether a Repair install of the OS will be successful or not.

| In any event it would seem the OP is just about at the end of her "tether"
| with regard to this situation so while I freely admit my suggested
| course-of-action is iffy at best, I thought it was worth a shot given the
| situation.
| Anna

It is more likely to exacerbate the problem.


--
Dave
http://www.claymania.com/removal-trojan-adware.html
Multi-AV - http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

From: "Twayne"

| Leonard Grey wrote:
No, actually it is not conceivable with contemporary malware.

| LOL! Contemporary malware? Where'd that come from? How'd you decide
| the problem is "contemporary malware"? What if it's not; THEN it's
| concievable, I guess?

| Leonard, I've noticed your bit of macho prejudices before and I suggest
| you at least think about the things you say first. I know, you probably
| think if it's being used now, it's contemporary too, right? That's a
| little redundant though.

| ...


Actually, it is a good terminology.

Contemporary malware is different from 5 years ago. It is more complex, makes more
modifications to the OS and uses greater ammounts of obfuscation techniques.



--
Dave
http://www.claymania.com/removal-trojan-adware.html
Multi-AV - http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

below
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

David H. Lipman wrote:
From: "Twayne"

| Leonard Grey wrote:
No, actually it is not conceivable with contemporary malware.

| LOL! Contemporary malware? Where'd that come from? How'd you decide
| the problem is "contemporary malware"? What if it's not; THEN it's
| concievable, I guess?

| Leonard, I've noticed your bit of macho prejudices before and I suggest
| you at least think about the things you say first. I know, you probably
| think if it's being used now, it's contemporary too, right? That's a
| little redundant though.

| ...


Actually, it is a good terminology.

Contemporary malware is different from 5 years ago. It is more complex, makes more
modifications to the OS and uses greater ammounts of obfuscation techniques.


Yes, that's what I had in mind. Most malware writers have learned to
survive a re-install.

[Twayne is actually in my KF so I don't see his posts unless they are
part of a reply, inwhich case I just ignore him.]

Leonard

From: "Anna"
| Leonard:
| I fully understand that as I've indicated in the initial opening of my
post.

| But it *is* conceivable that even with a malware infestation corrupting
the
| OS, a Repair install *might* return the system to a functional state if
only
| for a brief moment of time allowing the user to then (hopefully) remove
the
| malware. Obviously the nature of the malware infestation (assuming that
*is*
| the root cause of the problem(s) being experienced) will play a role
here in
| determining whether a Repair install of the OS will be successful or
not.

| In any event it would seem the OP is just about at the end of her
"tether"
| with regard to this situation so while I freely admit my suggested
| course-of-action is iffy at best, I thought it was worth a shot given
the
| situation.
| Anna


"David H. Lipman" wrote in message
...
It is more likely to exacerbate the problem.
--
Dave
http://www.claymania.com/removal-trojan-adware.html
Multi-AV - http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp


David:
We have undertaken scores of Repair installs of the XP OS in cases where it
appeared a malware infestation of one kind or another was responsible for
causing a dysfunctional system and where prior attempts to remove the
malware were unsuccessful.

In a *significant* number of cases the Repair install was successful in
returning the system to a bootable, functional state without further ado. In
a number of cases further anti-malware processes were necessary but it was
apparent that these processes were successful *only* because the Repair
install itself had been successful.

Did the Repair install frequently fail? Of course it did. Naturally (as I've
always tried to point out), assuming the user has access to the data, he/she
should always attempt to copy whatever data is important to them *prior* to
undertaking a Repair install of the OS. Admittedly there's always the
possibility of further data corruption/loss resulting from a failed Repair
install, although the danger in such has been (perhaps surprisingly) rather
minimal in my experience after undertaking hundreds of XP Repair installs
over the years.

In any event, since it appeared the OP had pretty much come to the "end of
her rope" and it appeared that the problem would not be resolved other than
fresh-installing the OS, I thought (and still think) that as a last resort a
Repair install of the OS was worth a shot.
Anna

From: "Anna"


| David:
| We have undertaken scores of Repair installs of the XP OS in cases where it
| appeared a malware infestation of one kind or another was responsible for
| causing a dysfunctional system and where prior attempts to remove the
| malware were unsuccessful.

| In a *significant* number of cases the Repair install was successful in
| returning the system to a bootable, functional state without further ado. In
| a number of cases further anti-malware processes were necessary but it was
| apparent that these processes were successful *only* because the Repair
| install itself had been successful.

| Did the Repair install frequently fail? Of course it did. Naturally (as I've
| always tried to point out), assuming the user has access to the data, he/she
| should always attempt to copy whatever data is important to them *prior* to
| undertaking a Repair install of the OS. Admittedly there's always the
| possibility of further data corruption/loss resulting from a failed Repair
| install, although the danger in such has been (perhaps surprisingly) rather
| minimal in my experience after undertaking hundreds of XP Repair installs
| over the years.

| In any event, since it appeared the OP had pretty much come to the "end of
| her rope" and it appeared that the problem would not be resolved other than
| fresh-installing the OS, I thought (and still think) that as a last resort a
| Repair install of the OS was worth a shot.
| Anna

A repair-install is that tact of a corrupted OS where a malware infection is not the case.
A repair-install makes assumptions that some modifications are deliberate and won't be
fixed. It will make corrections on most of the kernel to bring it to working order.
However in many cases where malware has modified many aspects of OS modules such an action
can ceate unexpected side effects and make problems worse.

In the case of a malware infection where problem still lnger, you can't prove that the OS
is still not compramised then the best action would be to wipe and re-install not try
band-aide approaches.


--
Dave
http://www.claymania.com/removal-trojan-adware.html
Multi-AV - http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp