My computer is destroying itself! Help!

[CaptainBill]

So there are millions of viruses going around, so I figured this could be the source of my problems...after several scans...nothing. I reformatted, and the problem is STILL there. So here it is. It's quirky. First, my WINNT folder is empty when viewed although it recognizes that there are 300+ files in there. My network places is also empty although it recognizes there are 3 objects in there. MY add/remove programs doesn't work, my search feature also doesn't work. Some windows when exploring, open with a vertical scrollbar on the side and some don't.

Now on to the internet, I can't install and updates. I go to windows update, but when clicking "Install Now" or hitting remove or add, nothing happens. Also, clicking "help>about internet explorer" yeilds the normal window, but it's blank. Also, on the forums here, when choosing a category from the Navigation drop-down box, nothing happens...no page loads, nada. This is starting to make me mad...because what would cause so much sparadic crap to go wrong? Anyone have any ideas?

BTW...Running Windows 2000....thanks everyone.

 

[mechBgon]

Does that change if you start up in Safe Mode? Is this a genuine Win2000 CD you're installing from? Maybe give a quick rundown of your hardware too, it couldn't hurt.

Regarding the virus suspicion: do you have an always-on connection to the Internet such as cable internet or DSL? If so, do you have some kind of hardware or software firewall? Did you make sure the virus definitions were up-to-date (very important) when you did your scan, or was it scanning with "old-news" definitions? Do you have any additional risk factors that would make you susceptible to viruses, such as warezed games, file trading, instant-messaging programs, etc?

 

[goshawk066]

Sounds like you might have 1 of a couple of probs...corrupt explorer (which would mean reinstall, but you tried that).

I would try checking for ad ware programs. do you use kazaa etc? try Ad-aware from lavasoft. its free.

adaware download

be sure to download the updated file before you start the scan.

 

[CaptainBill]

I found a pattern...everything works fine until I go to click a link on a site...the link doesn't open, and then if I go to the control panel, it's all messed up and things go down hill from there.

I am on a T1 line at school...I ran scans with ad-aware yesterday and norton as well...nothing.

 

[johnjkr1]

You might want to consider formatting again, this time without being connected to the net at all....format, install 2k, apply service pack 4 and the security updates before plugging it in...see if it works ok before you connect....sounds like you grabbing a virus from your network...we had a similar problem at Texas A&M...also, out of left field, video drivers?

 

[CaptainBill]

So I do think I found something, I had IE6 SP1 installed...I uninstalled it, and now none of the problems are here? Everything works...but the thing of it is, I had IE6 installed since I have been here in September with none of these issues. I also tried unistalling and reinstalling IE6 several times with no luck...the problems keep coming back. This, is by far one of the more weird problems I have encountered, which is why I turned to the people here

 

[CaptainBill]

Ok, so everything returned to normal, until I installed Media Player 9. I attempted to open it and got a "low memory error." After that, everything is back to how it was, the control panel is inaccessible, I can't go into my LAN properties (gives error messages). WINNT folder is shown as missing. I really don't know what all this is because it's so random. If it's a virus it's managed to hide from all detection. I've reformatted my hard drive that the OS is installed to several times, to no avail. I don't know...any ideas?

Oh and my CPU usage is stuck at 100%.