[em-j]

Okay, first, I am not good at this, so I really need step by step help. I provide free advocacy services to patients with chronic disease, and I'm willing to barter if someone is willing to help me.

I started out fine this morning. Then I got a usual bubble that said there were Windows updates and I ran them as always, rebooted, and after that, I'm a basket case. I did not accept Windows updates from anybody but Windows. It looked exactly like every other Windows update I've ever gotten.

Anyway, I get the error message "Windows Explorer needs to close, sorry for the inconvenience." I press "don't send" the error message to Microsoft. This happens 3 times. The 4th time, the message is Dr. Watson Postmortem Debugger needs to close, sorry for the inconvenience," and then the computer shuts down on its own.

I went into safe mode and tried system restore. No go. I'm currently doing a full system virus scan in safe mode. I tried to go onto Symantec's website in safe mode, but every time I got to the website, Internet Explorer closed immediately.

Assuming I finish the full system scan without any virus being picked up -- and that seems to be the case since it's almost finished and hasn't found anything, what next?

Can someone help a poor sick lawyer who spends her entire life doing work for free for other sick people? Please keep it simple. If you tell me to go to Hijack whatever, I'm already lost -- I don't know what that is. I'm writing this from my laptop, but my laptop doesn't have my entire life's worth of documents, including my book, on it. PLEASE HELP. J

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Hello and welcome to Geeks to Go.

Here's what I want you to do, step by step. If you need anything explained better, let me know:


1. Download HijackThis at the following address: http://www.merijn.org/downloads.html.

2. Save it to a floppy disk.

3. Start the computer that has the problem. Get it into Safe Mode. To get it into Safe Mode, tap F8 while the computer is starting. When a list of the different modes appears, choose Safe Mode.

4. Put the floppy with HijackThis into the computer and copy it to the Desktop.

5. Double-click on HijackThis. When the startup screen pops up, click on None of the above, just start the program.

6. In the section at the bottom-right that says "Other stuff", click on Config.

7. At the top, click on Misc Tools.

8. Scroll down untill you see Open Uninstall Manager. Click on it.

9. Now click on Save list... Save the list to the floppy disk.

10. Post that list in a response to me.


This will show me what programs are installed on your computer, as well as what updates are installed. This will help me determine what to do next, which will most likely be either to uninstall a certain update or to do a windows repair.

[computerwiz12890]

Hello and welcome to Geeks to Go.

Here's what I want you to do, step by step. If you need anything explained better, let me know:


1. Download HijackThis at the following address: http://www.merijn.org/downloads.html.

2. Save it to a floppy disk.

3. Start the computer that has the problem. Get it into Safe Mode. To get it into Safe Mode, tap F8 while the computer is starting. When a list of the different modes appears, choose Safe Mode.

4. Put the floppy with HijackThis into the computer and copy it to the Desktop.

5. Double-click on HijackThis. When the startup screen pops up, click on None of the above, just start the program.

6. In the section at the bottom-right that says "Other stuff", click on Config.

7. At the top, click on Misc Tools.

8. Scroll down untill you see Open Uninstall Manager. Click on it.

9. Now click on Save list... Save the list to the floppy disk.

10. Post that list in a response to me.


This will show me what programs are installed on your computer, as well as what updates are installed. This will help me determine what to do next, which will most likely be either to uninstall a certain update or to do a windows repair.

[em-j]

I can't even get Hijeck this downloaded to a CD and all I have on my laptop is a CD drive. I have to go to the dentist for 2 hours for 2 crowns. Life is a bowl of coal. I will try this again when I get back.

[wadeb_21]

Hello and welcome to Geeks to Go.

Here's what I want you to do, step by step. If you need anything explained better, let me know:
1. Download HijackThis at the following address: http://www.merijn.org/downloads.html.

2. Save it to a floppy disk.

3. Start the computer that has the problem. Get it into Safe Mode. To get it into Safe Mode, tap F8 while the computer is starting. When a list of the different modes appears, choose Safe Mode.

4. Put the floppy with HijackThis into the computer and copy it to the Desktop.

5. Double-click on HijackThis. When the startup screen pops up, click on None of the above, just start the program.

6. In the section at the bottom-right that says "Other stuff", click on Config.

7. At the top, click on Misc Tools.

8. Scroll down untill you see Open Uninstall Manager. Click on it.

9. Now click on Save list... Save the list to the floppy disk.

10. Post that list in a response to me.
This will show me what programs are installed on your computer, as well as what updates are installed. This will help me determine what to do next, which will most likely be either to uninstall a certain update or to do a windows repair.

If I don't have a Floppy drive on my lap top can I use a cd?

[em-j]

Here's what I got from Hijack This. Next? J

Adobe Acrobat 5.0
Adobe Photoshop 7.0
BCM V.92 56K Modem
Britannica Ready Reference
Broadcom Advanced Control Suite
CleanUp!
DAO
Dell Picture Studio - Dell Image Expert
Dell Solution Center
Dell Support 5.0.0 (766)
DivX Codec
DVDSentry
Earthlink Installer - uninstall 'Earthlink 5.0' entry first if present
Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum
HighMAT Extension to Microsoft Windows XP CD Writing Wizard
HijackThis 1.99.1
hp LaserJet 3300 Uninstaller
Intel® Extreme Graphics Driver
L&H TTS3000 British English
LiveReg (Symantec Corporation)
LiveUpdate 2.6 (Symantec Corporation)
Macromedia Flash Player 8
Microsoft .NET Framework (English)
Microsoft .NET Framework (English) v1.0.3705
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.0 Hotfix (KB886906)
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Hotfix (KB886903)
Microsoft Data Access Components KB870669
Microsoft Office 2000 SR-1 Disc 2
Microsoft Office 2000 SR-1 Professional
Microsoft Windows Journal Viewer
Modem Helper
Musicmatch® Jukebox
Norton AntiVirus 2003 Professional Edition
Norton Utilities 2002 for Windows
Norton WMI Update
OmniPage Pro 11.0
Paint Shop Pro 7
PowerDVD
Quicken 2002 Deluxe
QuickTime
RealOne Player
SBC Self Support Tool
SBC Yahoo! Applications
SBC Yahoo! DSL Activation
Security Update for Step By Step Interactive Training (KB898458)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB883939)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB890046)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB893756)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB896358)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB896422)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB896423)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB896424)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB896428)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB899587)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB899591)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB900725)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB901017)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB901214)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB902400)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB904706)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB905414)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB905749)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB905915)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB912919)
Update for Windows XP (KB894391)
Update for Windows XP (KB898461)
Update for Windows XP (KB910437)
Viewpoint Media Player (Remove Only)
WestMate
Windows Genuine Advantage v1.3.0254.0
Windows Installer 3.1 (KB893803)
Windows Installer 3.1 (KB893803)
Windows Media Format Runtime
Windows XP Hotfix - KB834707
Windows XP Hotfix - KB867282
Windows XP Hotfix - KB873333
Windows XP Hotfix - KB873339
Windows XP Hotfix - KB885250
Windows XP Hotfix - KB885835
Windows XP Hotfix - KB885836
Windows XP Hotfix - KB886185
Windows XP Hotfix - KB887472
Windows XP Hotfix - KB887742
Windows XP Hotfix - KB888113
Windows XP Hotfix - KB888302
Windows XP Hotfix - KB890047
Windows XP Hotfix - KB890175
Windows XP Hotfix - KB890859
Windows XP Hotfix - KB890923
Windows XP Hotfix - KB891781
Windows XP Hotfix - KB893066
Windows XP Hotfix - KB893086
Windows XP Service Pack 2
WinZip
WordPerfect Office 2002
WordPerfect Office 2002

Can someone tell me what to do next?

Edited by em-j, 06 January 2006 - 02:33 PM.

[em-j]

I got abandoned. Can anybody help me. Hijack this is as far as I got. Please help. I run a nonprofit and I can't work without this computer operational. Please. J

[computerwiz12890]

Don't worry em-j, you were not abandoned. I'm here for ya.

You've got a ton of updates, it would be heck to go through each one to see which one is giving the problems. I think we'll try something simpler. Do you have a Windows XP CD?

[em-j]

I have an operating system CD, but it keeps saying I can't use it because it's an older version than what I have. They're both XP -- the disc is Service Pack 1 and I have Service Pack 2. Can we work with that? J
By the way, I did not just sit around all day. I have downloaded 2 spyware programs. One found a trojan horse called my doom, but it said it quarantined and eliminated it. The other found 3 infected cookies, including the one to geekstogo, so I corrected it but I don't think that's the problem

I'll tell you which update it was, though. Everything worked today until this morning I got an auto update message that sure looked like every other auto update from Windows. I'm willing to bet that had the problem in it. J

Edited by em-j, 06 January 2006 - 08:27 PM.

[computerwiz12890]

You should be able to. What I want you to try is a Windows repair. If I remember correctly, it will automatically get rid of the updates, and repair any corrupt windows files.

To do this, insert the CD and restart your computer. As your computer is starting up, it will say "Press any key to boot from CD..." Press a key.

It will load the XP CD, and you will be give 3 options. Choose "R", which will cause it to repair. Follow the on-screen instructions to do the repair.


If I have not been clear enough, or if you'd like to see screenshots of what you will see, check out this link:

http://www.geekstogo...ws-XP-t138.html

[em-j]

I have the disc in but it didn't stop and ask if I wanted it to boot from the CD. Tried twice. J

[computerwiz12890]

Many computers are not configured to boot from the CDROM. If you cannot boot from the CDROM, this is probably due to the boot order of your devices being incorrect. You can change this in the BIOS.

You enter the BIOS from the first screen you see when you turn your computer on. To enter your BIOS, most users here will press the DEL key.

Most Dell, Toshiba, Gateway, Sony & HP systems will press F2.

Compaq users will usually have to press F10.

IBM typically uses F1 or F2.

Other brands may have different keys to press to enter setup, F1, F2, Del, Tab and CTRL+S. If possible see the manual for your computer or motherboard. Also, the BIOS will usually display which button to press to "enter setup" during POST (if it flashes by too fast, press the Pause key).

When you enter the BIOS setup, you need to change the boot order. The CDROM should be setup before the Hard Drive. Each BIOS is different, but here is an example:

[em-j]

I have a Dell. I'm at the right screen. I can't figure out how to change the book device priority, though. Just the up and down arrows don't do it. J

[computerwiz12890]

Try + or -

Or even <- or -> arrows

Edited by computerwiz12890, 06 January 2006 - 08:47 PM.

[em-j]

Wow. It's booting from the cd I don't know if this will solve the problem yet, but you are either my new best friend or a saint or both.

It wants to know which Windows installation I would like to log onto.
What do I tell it? It just says to cancel, press enter. I don't know what other options there are. I already hit R for repair. Now, it wants a number. What should I do? J

[computerwiz12890]

What are the names of the windows installations?