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HALP! this laptop won't do anything!!

C

canadageek

Senior member
alright...my friend just came back for christmas, and her laptop is all messed up.
when i try to open the start menu, it won't open. when i try to open a folder, it tells me activeX has been disabled.
when i try to change the internet options, it won't change.
everything works fine in safe mode. so i assume that hopefully i can fix it without losing any of her files.
can anyone help me with this?
 
yeah...maybe....right now i'm just trying to get windows to sort-of-work in regular mode though....thats my second-to-last resort
 
And disable system restore before you scan.....
But then again, you could try a system restore first, then disable system restore and do the scans anyway.
 
Originally posted by: montag451
And disable system restore before you scan.....
But then again, you could try a system restore first, then disable system restore and do the scans anyway.
Click to expand...

It's risky to disable system restore because if there is an issue that SR would've fixed, you've now removed that as an option.

Before removing system restore, I suggest fixing the problem, THEN if you think it wise to remove SR, *then* you can do it.

But I'd never suggest removing SR unless I saw no other way around the issue.
 
Problem is that if you are going to get rid of viriiiiii, then it is possible that they hide in the archived files.
Maybe, the best way round it is to try system restore, then if no luck, disable it.
If it does work, then scan to make sure that nothing has been hitching a lift with the SR.
 
Originally posted by: montag451
Problem is that if you are going to get rid of viriiiiii, then it is possible that they hide in the archived files.
Maybe, the best way round it is to try system restore, then if no luck, disable it.
If it does work, then scan to make sure that nothing has been hitching a lift with the SR.
Click to expand...

It's very easy to scan the SR folder - just open up permissions on it so your virus scanner and antispyware scanner will look there.

The problem with simply disabling it is that you kill an escape route you might've had in using it.

Just trying system restore isn't the be-all, end-all. I strongly suggest having SR around because it provides an easy way to recover previous versions of your registry, effortlessly, even if you don't want to recover anything else it has saved.
 
I clean spyware for a living. I NEVER nuke System Restore until AFTER the job is done. A cleaning may go badly leaving the system worse than when you started and you may need SR to go back and start again.

Any modern spyware and AV app will scan your System Restore folders anyway, but it's good policy to nuke them when you're finished with a cleaning.

Please refer to detailed spyware cleaning instructions: http://theflyingpenguin.com/spyware-removal.shtml

DCLIVE makes a good point about registry recovery, but I rarely use SR for that if I can help it. I can highly recommend ERUNT. It's a free utility that backs up your registry. I install it on all my client's systems. It'll backup the registry manually or every time you boot (similar to Win9x's old SCANREG app).

The registry can be restored from the recovery console or a BARTPE disc. Very handy.

Hope this helps...
 
I don't use SR itself to restore anything; I use SR to create the registry backups.

What resources does SR use that you notice? I'm shocked that anyone could notice it on anything faster than a P2/450 or so.
 
I looked at the utility. It looks good. I'm going to keep using SR since it offers quite a bit more (the ability to easily roll back driver changes and such) but for Win2000, it eliminates the need to script anything and handles the entire backup affair very well, from the looks of it! A good tool.
 
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:ZVxs...tore+is+a+resource+hog+use+erunt&hl=en

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:ZVxs...tore+is+a+resource+hog+use+erunt&hl=en

Just a couple of reasons I don't use system restore. If system restore were more consistantly reliable or ran pre Windows then I would use it. It uses enough resources (CPU cycles and RAM) that I wouldn't use it (source used to be www.blackviper.com but the page is down).

Another caption and source:

System Restore Service
Performs system restore functions. To stop service, turn off System Restore from the System Restore tab in My Computer->Properties

Comment: This is almost useless if you ever have a problem with damaged drives, corrupted data, or malware. It uses a lot of resources and isn't useful for most people. You can turn it on before you install a big piece of software. This service allows you to backup to a previous system should you mess your's up with an installation of software or a modification to your system settings, usually registry damage. To improve system performance and take the minor risk of not being able to make your computer work like it did yesterday, disable it.

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:Mael...s+blackviper.com+system+resource&hl=en
 
Blackviper's "points" have been so fully and completely destroyed that he has no credibility in this forum. If you've read anything he's written, assuming the opposite is probably the best path forward. Please search the AT forums for a marathon post started by various members all posting actual statistics showing, on old hardware, ancient hardware, and new hardware, there is no merit to his points. I'm guessing posts like this one, debunking the myths on his site, is why he took it down.

It only uses resources when it's actually in use. Since it's rarely in use, it rarely uses resources.

SR does exactly what it says it does - it takes you back to a previous point, using that driverset and that registry set. Third party programs and the like, of course, aren't monitored. The critical system components are.

SR also makes it very easy to go back to previous editions of the registry. Granted, you'll need to be able to boot into the OS first, or you'll need to open up permissions on the System Restore folder and then get in there with WinPE to move files around, but it's flawless when you need it and you know how to copy those four registry files to the right place.
 
SR would be what you claim if it were consistant and reliable and THAT is my ultimate point. I only referenced blackviper for an additional source of how to turn SR off. I work at the PC repair bench all day long and more often than not SR fails! So what you gonna say to THAT?! huh?!
 
Don't get excited; SR wasn't intended for what you're using it for, perhaps.

I'm just suggesting it's good at a very specific line of things, including driver rollbacks and system change rollbacks, and it's also excellent at automatic registry backups, which can then easily be put back into place with a variety of tools, including BartPE CDs.
 
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