When I try to start or restart, this machine will proceed past POST and configuration screens, past W98 screen and will display wallpaper, but will not load task bar or desktop icons. It just stops at that point. CTRL-ALT-DEL shows two tasks, RUNONCE and HIDSERV, By doing an End Task on both of these, the machine will load the task bar and icons, but then I get a separate Fatal Error box for each of the startup items in the SysTray. All other apps will launch, but then will not close successfully without doing an End Task.
Similar results when starting in Safe Mode. Boot proceeds to the same point and CTRL-ALT-DEL shows RUNONCE only. By doing an End Task, the icons will then load.
I know there's a bunch of adware and/or malware on this machine, but I can't get AdAware to complete successfully, even in Safe Mode. It completes its scan, I select all, it days Deleting... and then it hangs and never completes the removal process.
I would appreciate anyone's thoughts on how to proceed from here. Thanks.