[fletch11]

I am running windows 7 on a Toshiba Satellite. I use Avast for virus protection and it should be up to date. All of a sudden, I can no longer start most programs - including Firefox, Avast, Quicken, Itunes, MS Office products, Outlook, or many of the Windows/Toshiba utilities on my pc. I have tried to start the programs via the start-up menu and taskbar short-cuts and also by going directly to the executable and clicking on it. I had one exception - Internet Explorer - I couldn't start by clicking in the start menu or on the task bar but was able to start it by clicking on the .exe file in Windows Explorer. I can, however, run a few basic games (the stuff that comes standard with Win 7 - like minesweeper) and a few windows utilities. I can not run anything from the Control Panel.

I'm guessing something has messed with my registry but, since I can't run my anti-virus (Avast) or other malware tools, I can't see what is going on.

I tried to re-install avast and install one of your tools (Old timer) but can't run either of them once they are downloaded.

I manually looked on my computer for one virus that I read about called Pretty Pink virus but this doesn't seem to be affecting my computer.

I also tried to go do a system restore to a point a few days ago but the restore wouldn't take.

I'm not sure where to start trouble shooting. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks much! Jill

Edited by fletch11, 26 September 2011 - 10:47 PM.

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[Jacee]

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[fletch11]

Thanks Jaycee -

Gave it a shot - but no change. Other thoughts of things to try? Thanks - I am dead in the water right now and very worried. :-( Thanks - Jill

[Jacee]

If you have another computer to use, make a "Bootable" AntiVirus Rescue CD. http://www.techmixer...-download-list/

[fletch11]

It took me a while but I now have a back-up computer to work with. I created a bootable rescue cd from AVG. I ran the virus scanner at boot time but the only things that showed as alerts were files in my "Toshiba Games". I don't run these games and will go ahead and manually remove them. But, in doing some internet research it appears that some virus scanners give a false reading on these files and there is no real threat from Toshiba Games (which is good because these files came with my computer). I don't think that Toshiba games are the problem.

So, I'm really stumped and very frustrated. I've been searching to see if I could find the name of a virus/malware that might do this but can't find anything similar. It makes no sense that I can not open any .exe except for Internet Explorer. It seems like my registry has just gotten out of whack but the registry fixes (like the one you recommended) do not work.

Do you have any other suggestions? Would it do any good to try a rescue cd from a different vendor? If so, which would you recommend? Have you heard of this problem before?

Thank you much - Jill

[Jacee]

See if this might work ...

Go to Start/Search and type CMD In the Search box > right click Command Prompt and choose Run as Administrator. In the Command Prompt type (or copy/paste) SFC /Scannow. Once it's finished, corrupted files should be repaired and your .exe files should work again.