[GregorDonkey]

Hello all who are helpful and knowledgeable (and those who like to read about other peoples problems.) I have the psguard disease, I know this isn't the place for that, but unfortunately, before I can address that problem there is another that needs some solving.
One of the bits I suspect I have to do in order to rid my machine of the psguard involves going into safemode. Unfortunately, a while back I started to install Windows 2000 and then changed my mind. So now, when I start up I get a menu that lets me pick (with only 3 seconds to decide) if I want to go into the 2000 failure or start up Windows 98, which works. The upshot is, this prevents me from going into safe mode and thus ridding myself of the psguard, and is also slightly annoying. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Does anyone know how I can tell my computer to forget about Windows 2000? Help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Advertisements]

Have you tried tappping on the F8 key during boot? It gives you a menu and might work.

[Tyger]

Have you tried tappping on the F8 key during boot? It gives you a menu and might work.

[GregorDonkey]

Yes, I did try that. It brings up the menu for safe mode, and I choose safe mode, then it gives me the operating system meny and I choose 98 and it won't let me rechoose safe mode (even after pushing F8 again.) It just goes to regular windows 98. That's why I have to get rid of the 2000 so it stops giving me the option. Thanks for the idea, though, all suggestions are welcome.

[Tyger]

Have you explored the hard drive to find the win2000 intstallation folder? It may be hidden so you may have to go into folder options and unhide things. I'm assuming that it's using the fat32 file format that win98 uses. You may be able to delete the folder, and you may have to remove some registry entries too. This just sounds like a problem that will take a a bit of exploration to find the answer.

[GregorDonkey]

Thanks, I appreciate the ideas. I've done a bit of checking, and I'm not sure which folder is the right one. I'm also a bit hesitant to delete anything unless I know for sure as it may cause even more damage. I'm also not sure which registry items to get rid of.... Oh, and I realized that it was Windows XP not 2000 that is partially installed... I think I'll go to the hijack this forum and try to get some trojan advice. Thanks again, let me know if you come up with anything else.

[peterm]

Have you tried to edit your boot.ini file
1st thing to do is to copy it so you have a fall back. Either copy and rename or just copy to a floppy disc

[GregorDonkey]

That's a great idea. Here it is below:

[Boot Loader]
Timeout=5
Default=C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT
[Operating Systems]
C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows XP Professional Setup"
C:\="Microsoft Windows"

It looks like the final 3 lines are causing the problem, and that I should probably just delete them, yes? I'm not going to yet in respect to your second rule. I'm definitely in doubt, and I definitely don't want to start this computer from scratch... What do you think?

[peterm]

Sorry about the long delay
Step 1 can you copy the boot.ini file and name it boot.bak or copy to a floppy
Then rename boot.ini to boot.old (do you know how to do this?)
Reboot what happens
Cheers
peterm

[peterm]

If renameing the boot.ini file and it still won’t boot
Look for and remove the following files
Ntldr
• Ntdetect.com
• Boot.ini
• The %windir% (The directory where Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 resides. It is usually in C:\winnt.)
NOTE: If you were dual booting Windows 95 or Windows 98 and Windows 2000, you may also need to remove the information in the C:\Program Files\Uninstall folder.

[GregorDonkey]

Peterm,
No worries on any reply delay, I'm grateful for whatever help you can give.
Over the past week, thanks to your boot.ini lead, I successfully edited boot.ini so that it no longer requires me to choose between 98 and the partially installed XP. It still won't let me enter safe mode (when I select safemode, it then goes to the screen where I must choose my operating system- I have only one option now instead of two- it then boots normal windows 98.) Oh, one of the things I think I tried earlier was booting without boot.ini at all and no windows will boot as a result, so I think that renaming boot.ini would have the same effect, yeah?
My current boot.ini is as follows:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=C:\
[operating systems]
C:\ = "Microsoft Windows"
Also, I have reason to believe that the XP partially installed stuff is located in:
$WIN_NT$.~BT
Is this information helpful?
I'm not sure if I should delete anything until I here back from you. Thanks so much for all your help.

[peterm]

Xp does install stuff in 2 folders normally $WIN_NT$.~BT and $WIN_NT$.~LS
It depends how far you got wether you have both folders or not.
These folders are temp folders that windows removes after an install.
If you are worried you can rename them and see what happens and if all works then delete them.
They should be safe to delete.
For the program you are trying to uninstall have you looked in C:\Program Files\Uninstall folder
Did you also look for the other fiiles I suggested.
Ntldr
• Ntdetect.com
• Boot.ini
• The %windir% (The directory where Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 resides. It is usually in C:\winnt.)
Once again If you have doubts rename reboot then delete this way if something goes wrong you should be able to just rename back again. In your 1st post you said 2000 then later you said xp which one were you loading ?
98 really does not use a boot.ini file as such its a matter of getting rid of all the left overs 1st

Edited by peterm, 28 October 2005 - 08:18 PM.

[GregorDonkey]

Ok, I'll give the renaming a shot. I was wrong about the 2000, it was a memory error on my part, it's XP that's partially installed.
The program I'm trying to get rid of is a piece of malware called psguard. I've found methods that people claim work, but they all involve entering safe mode, hence, this problem needs to be fixed first.
Oh, and I can't seem to find the %windir% or winnt, could that stuff be in $WIN_NT$.~BT instead? I never had 2000 or NT, so maybe it doesn't exist on my system and we're both just confused because I said it was 2000 instead of XP earlier... Anyway, I'll post how things go tonight. If you don't read from me, I made a mistake. Thanks again for all your help.

[peterm]

Ok the winnt is not there then don't worry.
Before trying to remove psgaurd by yourself I would take a trip to our Malware forum
and have them take a look If you remove somethings wrongly you could end up with bigger trouble.
I thought psgaurd was a program you installed But my research shows it is malware related. I would go there before trying it by yourself

Edited by peterm, 28 October 2005 - 09:54 PM.

[GregorDonkey]

Hey, I just tried your suggestion. I'm sorry to say I had no success. The computer wanted the ntldr specifically before it would start, so I had to give in and give it back.
I do have a file called $LDR$, could that be xp related?
I did post on the malware area a while back, I've yet to get a response, which is understandable as it seems to be pretty busy over there.
Another option for my current safe mode difficulty may be to add it as an option to the boot.ini. I think I remember seeing something about that on the internet. I think I'll check it out. What do you think?

[GregorDonkey]

Ok, I've done a bit of checking and it is possible to add a safe mode to the system select boot menu. It does, however, require an XP computer to do- so I'll have to wait until my XP friend is around to give that a shot. If you have any other ideas, I'm all eyes...