[p.boyle]

I'm new to all this but think I've picked up a few terms from Reading through.I got caught out on bebo with a virus through the mail..the mediacodec one.I managed to get the browser but sorted using an antivirus and spybot but the computer kept shutting down every few minutes with a message saying 'critical error'...now the computer won't even stay on long enough for me to post on this.I'm posting from my phone.
The computer is running on vista..any tips on how to get it running long enough to post the hijack this log? I tried running in safe mode but same problem occurred.
The antivirus and spybot both found the Trojans but couldn't get rid of them and the computer crashed.
Any help would be great?

Edited by Transience, 09 November 2008 - 05:28 PM.

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Hi p.boyle and welcome to Geeks to Go! My name is Dave and I'll be helping you with your computer problems.

Please try rebooting your computer and going to the boot menu as you would to enter safe mode. Instead of picking safe mode, use your arrow keys to highlight Last Known Good Congifuration and press enter. If your computer doesn't crash this time then please post your HijackThis log here. If it crashes again try to get me as many details of what happens as possible, particularly any error messages you get as those will help me figure out our next step.

- Dave

[Transience]

Hi p.boyle and welcome to Geeks to Go! My name is Dave and I'll be helping you with your computer problems.

Please try rebooting your computer and going to the boot menu as you would to enter safe mode. Instead of picking safe mode, use your arrow keys to highlight Last Known Good Congifuration and press enter. If your computer doesn't crash this time then please post your HijackThis log here. If it crashes again try to get me as many details of what happens as possible, particularly any error messages you get as those will help me figure out our next step.

- Dave

[p.boyle]

hi dave.thanks for the reply.
I tried what you said but as soon as I got logged on I got the error message.the message is a yellow triangle wit an exclaimation mark on it.the heading is 'you are about to be logged off' with the message underneath saying a 'windows has encountered a critical problem/error and will restart automatically in one minute.please save any work.
Is there anything I can do? Or is it going to take a total restore? I can't even find my original windows disc and have a lot of work I wouldn't want to lose.

Thanks

[Transience]

Don't think we're at the stage of needing to reformat yet, I'm going to talk to a couple people and see what we can come up with for you, there's still some things we can try. Give me a little bit and I should have some instructions

- Dave

[p.boyle]

No problem.I'll keep giving it and go to see if I can get it on long enough to post the hijack this log.
Cheers dave.

[Transience]

Alright let's give this a shot:

Boot your computer up into normal mode. As soon as it boots up, open the run box (Start > All Programs > Accessories > Run) or Windows Key + r. Copy and paste this command into it:

shutdown -a

Then press OK. That should stop your computer from being shut down. If that works then please run a fresh HJT log and post it here for me to take a look at.

- Dave

[p.boyle]

Still no luck.more or less straight away after I hit ok..the black window popped up for the 'shutdown -a' thing and disappeared before I could read anything.then the error message came up straight away and the computer restarted.tried it a few times but with the same result.will I keep trying?

[Transience]

Just a double check - will you boot up one more time for me in safe mode (just regular safe mode, without networking or command prompt) and confirm for me that the error is the same? Usually with this error it's caused by something that doesn't start in safe mode, if it happens in safe mode as well then we can narrow down where we need to look.

- Dave

[p.boyle]

Just checked for u.it's definately the same error message in safe mode with the exact same outcome.
Do u think it's part of the Trojan that's causing the shutdown or an unrelated problem? Or is that a silly question as you're still trying to figure it out foe me? Lol

[Transience]

One more simple thing to try, then we'll get into some of the other recovery tools at our disposal:

Boot up your computer and repeatedly press F8 like you would for Safe Mode. At the Startup Menu, select Disable automatic restart on system failure with your arrow keys and press enter. Turning this option off may stop your system from forcing the reboots. If you log on and don't get the reboot message anymore, then please run a fresh HJT scan and post the log here. If not let me know what happens and we'll go from there .

- Dave

Edited by Transience, 30 October 2008 - 07:52 PM.

[p.boyle]

no luck.same problem..the first time I tried I got far enough to run the scan and save the log..but then the computer froze,that message came up and it rebooted.last few times I tried,the message came up more or less as soon as I logged on.

[p.boyle]

no luck.same problem..the first time I tried I got far enough to run the scan and save the log..but then the computer froze,that message came up and it rebooted.last few times I tried,the message came up more or less as soon as I logged on.

[Transience]

Hello -

The next thing we're going to try is System Restore. Hopefully this utility will allow us to restore your system drivers and hardware to a good configuration that will allow you to boot normally and continue to clean your computer. None of your other files should be affected by this process.

First, please reboot your computer and begin repeatedly pressing F8 just like you would to get into Safe Mode. If you see the Windows icon you've gone too far and will have to try again. At the startup options menu that pops up, use your arrow keys to highlight Repair Your Computer and press Enter.

After a minute or so, a dialogue box will appear.

• Select your language and keyboard layout of choice, then click Next.
• Log on using an account that has administrative privileges, if you don't know whether your account does you can find out in the User Accounts section of your Control Panel.
• A menu of the available recovery options should appear.
• Click on System Restore and follow the prompts.
• When are asked to select your restore point, pick the most recent restore point before you began experiencing the problem.
• Note: If you need, check the box next to "Show restore points older than 5 days" to see the full list of restore points.
• Continue to follow the prompts and allow the restore process to complete uninterrupted.

Once the restore is complete, reboot your computer into normal mode and let me know if anything has changed.

- Dave

[p.boyle]

gave that a try but when I chose the system restore part,it told me that I had no restore points..when I know I do because when I tried to restore a few days a go there was restore points.I've also
Been trying to get logged on long enough to post the scan log or try the restore the
Logged on.

[Transience]

Okay then. Let's try another of Vista's built-in recovery tools. Perform the same set of steps that you did to access the repair tools menu for system restore. At that menu select Startup Repair this time. This process will scan for corruptions in drivers and system files that could be stopping your computer from starting properly, and if it finds any, it will try to fix them. Give that a shot and let me know if there is any change.

- Dave