bro's computer went freakay

[wfbberzerker]

for some reason, whenever my brother reboots his computer, (in windows 2000) as soon as windows load, it will stop at a blank screen right before explorer loads. that is, the mouse is there and you can move it around, but the desktop doesn't load. i have to do the ctrl-alt-delete, where under the processes tab there is a program called "EXPLORER.EXE" running. if i end the task and then run a new "explorer.exe" task (all lower-case, mind you), windows then continues to load normally. i had suspected this might be a virus, so i installed norton anti-virus.

it installed fine, and when i ran liveupdate, it told me to reboot after everything was done... which i did. now, the same problem is still there (with the task that loads initially still being called "EXPLORER.EXE" in all caps), but this time, when i try to end task and run the new explorer.exe task, i get the error message: "Access to the specified device, path, or file is denied."

i get the same error message regardless of what program i try to run using the new task command. so, basically his computer is forever stuck at that screen. i even tried to run the anti-virus program to see if that would fix it, but i cant even get into anti-virus because of the error message i said above.

do you know what i can do to fix this, short of reformatting his computer? i dont think i'll be able to back up any of his stuff if i cant even get into windows!

thanks, wfbberzerker

 

[MichaelD]

Hmm. I've thought about this carefully, and honestly, it sounds GENERALLY like a HARDWARE problem.

 

[amnesiac]

Try booting into safe mode, disabling any apps that start with windows, and see if you've made any hardware changes prior to this.

If you have, undo those changes or uninstall that hardware and see if the problem goes away.

Also, next time you have a GENERAL HARDWARE problem, there is a FORUM just for that.

(lol MichaelD..just realized your subtle message as i was writing mine... )

 

[wfbberzerker]

i see... general hardware eh?

ill try what you said amnesiac

 

[wfbberzerker]

ehh... quick question

how do i check what programs load at startup again?

 

[n0cmonkey]

Wrong forum.

 

[brentman]

run -> msconfig

 

[RbSX]

msconfig in the run window

 

[wfbberzerker]

how do i that in windows 2000? (msconfig doesnt work)

 

[DaTT]

its the same in all Windows. check your spelling

 

[DaTT]

you can also see in the registry what programs start up with windows.....

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RUN

 

[wfbberzerker]

UPDATE:

i got anti-virus to run (while it was in safe-mode), and it found 77(!) viruses. after it quarantined/fixed/deleted them all, i rebooted the computer, and lo and behold, windows loaded! however, now i have another big problem.

although windows loads to the desktop ok, any program - and i mean any - does not open. if i try to open any of them, i get the error message "Cannot find the file 'blahblah.exe' (or one of its components). Make sure the path and filename are correct and that all required libraries are available." considering windows now actually loads, should i just go ahead and back up all of his stuff and do a fresh reformat?

 

[BmXStuD]

format, because some of the files you may be backing up may have a virus also. So if you backup and put on another pc you may come again with the virus! 77 virus just format and be careful when downling off mirc or kazaa or any warez site.

 

[wfbberzerker]

and be careful when downling off mirc or kazaa or any warez site.

yah, thats probably where he gets all these viruses from. go figure

 

[LeeTJ]

Originally posted by: wfbberzerker
UPDATE:

i got anti-virus to run (while it was in safe-mode), and it found 77(!) viruses. after it quarantined/fixed/deleted them all, i rebooted the computer, and lo and behold, windows loaded! however, now i have another big problem.

although windows loads to the desktop ok, any program - and i mean any - does not open. if i try to open any of them, i get the error message "Cannot find the file 'blahblah.exe' (or one of its components). Make sure the path and filename are correct and that all required libraries are available." considering windows now actually loads, should i just go ahead and back up all of his stuff and do a fresh reformat?

ya, ur antivirus killed all the .exe's cause they had been infected w/ the virus.

just format and reinstall dude. might as well since your gonna have to reinstall all the apps anyway.

 

[DaTT]

When I find a virus on my computer, I never let Norton remove them for me. I always hit up Symantec.com to find instructions on manual removal. I have had a total of 3 viruses (all at once), and removed all of them manually so I knew what was being removed.