PLEASE HELP: 2 ERROR MESSAGES

[Guest]

My learned friends,

My sincere apologies, this post was accidentally sent to the wrong newsgroup
so I
have posted it again here.

I have two problems I require your help with.

1. When I sign into windows, I am greeted with the error message: windows
cannot find ‘C:WINDOWS\system\Isass.exe’. Make sure that you typed the name
correctly, and then try again. To search for a file, click the start button,
and then click search.

How can I solve this problem?

2. I have an external hard drive and I believe it was shut down improperly
during a chkdsk. Now, when I try to access it I get the error message: F:\ is
not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable.

I have tried running a chkdsk on it (chkdsk F:/f) but there is no change.

Please advise as to 1 and 2. Thank you.

-Joe.

 

[Guest]

based on the search of the filename it
appears your computer contracted an
infection:

http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=Isass.exe’&src=IE-SearchBox

and the bugaboo is likely to be the cause of
your problems mentioned in 1 & 2.

however, the error message suggests the
virus is no longer found on your system.


---------------------

what i would suggest is to boot
with a windows setup cd and go
into the recovery console.

once you get to the dos prompt
via the recovery console run:

chkdsk /f
fixboot
fixmbr

afterwards type exit and boot
without your cd.

once you get back into the o.s.
you need to run an antivirus program.

it seems that if you had one installed,
the virus would not have been able
to transfer over to your system.

however, you can go here to
scan and disinfect your system:

http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/purchase/trial.htm?sc_cid=mscom_hp

there are other antivirals as well.
however, i am only providing one
suggestion here of many available

if after you successfully remove the
infection you are still experiencing
a dysfunctional o.s., then you may
have to repair it.

this is due to the fact that eventhough
you removed the malicious file/virus, the
system files may have been corrupted and
dysfunctional. so a simply repair of the
o.s. may be in order.

keep in mind that if you cannot
get back into your o.s. after using
the recovery console method, then
it is likely the o.s. needs to be repaired
to replace the corrupted system files.

so let us know your status.....

- db

 

[Guest]

My Learned friend db,

Thank you for your assistance in this matter and my previous ones. I tried
to boot with the windows setup CD but nothing happened. In other words, no
prompts came up, except that I was prompted to perform a chkdsk on the f
drive. Should I let it run the chkdsk with the CD inside? Will that make a
difference at all, since I tried a chkdsk before and it did nothing? Or
should I select one of the options from the CD when it is autostarted by XP?
If so, which one?

-Install windows XP
-Install optional windows components
-Perform additional tasks
-Check system compatibility

Also, may I add that I have no msconfig ability? I am told that windows
cannot find msconfig.

I did have a virus called viva TermeX. But I followed the instructions given
by another learned friend and removed it yesterday (I hope).

Please advise.

-Joe

 

[Guest]

ok,

it seems that since nothing happened
when you inserted the windows cd
then your computer is booting from
the harddrive instead of the cd device.

you should double check your bios/cmos
settings and ensure that the cd is set
to be "the boot" device instead of the
disk/harddrive.

there should also be a setting inside
the cmos/bios that asks if you want
to check for additional boot devices.
you will need to say yes or enable or
on, that way if your pc starts without
a bootable cd then it will check for
other ways to boot up - in this case
it would be your harddrives.

check your pc manual or manufacturers
website to get the instructions with
accessing the bios/cmos menu. however
it basically entails pressing and holding
down a key at the same time you press
the power button that turns on the computer.

one thing to keep in mind is that if after
you set the cd to be the boot drive or if
it is already set as the boot drive according
to the cmos, then you have three problems.

1) the cd is faulty. this could be due to
either loose connections to the powersupply
and or the motherboard.

2) or the cd device simply burned out and
requires replacement.

3) or the cd drive could be dirty
as well

4) the cd you are using to boot up
is not a valid windows cd or may be
damaged or dirty.

from my perspective, i can not tell
from the above what you are experiencing.

remember you will have to use due diligence
to logical determine what you think is
happening with the booting issue.

----------------

if you are finally able to boot up with
your windows cd, then you need to
let it run a setup program and it will
examine your system.

the setup program will then ask you
if you want to install windows or go
into recovery console.

at this point you will need to go
into the "recovery console" and
it will give you access to the harddrive
file system and a dos prompt will be
provided.

at the dos prompt follow the steps
i provided previously.

if you run a chkdsk via the recovery
console and directly from the dos prompt,
then it should repair the file system on
the harddisk as the message you
have been receiving is begging you to do.....

- db


ps: did you get that issue with the monitor
resolved?

 

[Guest]

My learned friend db,

I did indeed resolve the issue with my display. It appears that the problem
was with the graphics card. Yesterday, my new AGP card finally arrived and
the display was better immediately upon installing it. In fact, owing to the
fact that it is a more advanced card, the display is better than it was
before even when operating normally. Thank you again for your help with that.

As to my current issue, I got into BIOS by holding down F2. There, I had to
disable booting from the hard drive. There were three options; 1. Diskette 2.
Hard Drive and 3. CD. It seems as though it would not boot from the CD unless
I forced it to so I disabled booting from the hard drive.

It booted from the CD and a menu came up where I selected recovery console.
There I am asked:

1:C\WINDOWS
Which windows installation would you like to log onto (To cancel, press
ENTER)?

I must type a number, but I do not know which one. However it seems that
only the number “1†works.

Then it asks for administrator password. I do not know this.

What am I doing wrong?

Please advise

-Joe

 

[Guest]

that is good,
and you are seemingly are becoming
a learned one as well.

the selections you have made
so far are proceeding well.

the admin password request
can be by ignored by simply
pressing the enter key....

 

[Guest]

My learned friend db,

Indeed I am learning a lot whilst resolving these issues. I was able to
bypass the password by pressing ENTER. Then I typed in CHKDSK (it would not
recognise CHKDSK/F or CHKDSK /F), then I type in FIXBOOT and it asks: The
target partition is C: Are you sure you want to write a new boot sector to
the partition C:?

What should my next move be? Bearing in mind that it is my External hard
drive (F that is apparently corrupt.

Please advise

-Joe

PS. Please forgive these play by play posts.

 

[Guest]

at the prompts you
can include a question mark
for example you can
type chkdsk /?

the above will provide
additional information on
any command and there
should also be a space in between
the last k and the slash.

here is a link with more info:

http://search.microsoft.com/results...OME&setlang=en-US&q=recovery+console+commands

i suggest to rerun the chkdsk /f
to make double sure that this
command has done its job on
the default drive the recovery
console logged you into.

-----------------

all the commands that
i provided repair the
areas that are deficient.

however, you don't have
to run all of the commands
at one time and can see
if the chkdsk command helped
bypass the problem. like the
system was asking you


but if there is still a problem that
prevents you from getting into
the desktop, then the only option
is to resort to using the tools via
the windows cd, which include
the recovery console commands or
reinstalling / repairing the o.s.

---------------------

in regards to an external harddrive
you mentioned; this seemingly is a new
factor that has been included into this equation.

typically, you want to boot from
the master harddrive that has on o.s.
on it. But there are advanced configurations
that can boot from other devices as well.

at this time it is unclear how the drive f came into
this equation, unless it also has
an operating system.

if it is possible i would disconnect
the external drive and all other external
devices, except your monitor, keyboard and mouse
and work only with the internal devices
and the above peripherals.

later when the system is fully
operational and error free and
you have backed up the o.s., then
you can fiddle with external devices.

however, this is only a suggestion
and I really do not know how or
why your system is configured as
the way you have explained to date.

- db

 

[Guest]

My learned friend db,

I am not prevented from getting into my desktop. It is simply that when I
log in to windows. The only issues I have with the main drive is that
1. I get the error message saying that windows cannot find
‘C:WINDOWS\system\Isass.exe’, and
2. I also get the error message windows cannot find msconfig when I type
that into the Run function.

The error message “F:\ is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted
and unreadableâ€. Comes only when I try to access the external hard drive
which is drive F on my system.

Should I still go through the steps you gave me for recovery console?

Please advise.

I will wait to hear from you before I proceed.

-Joe

 

[Guest]

My learned friend db,

In the recovery console, when prompted C:\WINDPWS> I typed in CHKDSK /F I am
told that the parameter is not valid. Try /? for help.

When I type CHKDSK

I am told that the volume appears to be in good condition and was not
checked. Use /p if you want to check the volume anyway.

I ran CHKDSK /p

The results only told me how much kilobytes of total disk space I had and
how many were available, also, how many bites in each allocation unit, units
in disk and units available on disk.

I light of this post and the last one. Please advise.

-Joe

 

[Guest]

ok,

so it seems you no longer
get a "request for chkdsk" message
and you are now able to
log into your desktop which
is "GOOOOD".

as you may recall, we researched
that file Isass.exe and the results
indicated that it is a malware.

firstly, lets understand that at
one time this malicious file was on
the system because the message
is letting you know that the files
cannot be found on your system.
..

however, the message may also
be a subsequent virus which is
trying to convince you to find
this file somewhere and install
it again. or the file is still some
where on the system awaiting for
you to inadverdently initiate it
by an installed program.

something else to consider is
that since your system appears to
have contracted one infection, then
it is highly likely it contracted
many more. The infections may be
active and some may be dormant.
Also they may have corrupted system files as
well.

Another thing to keep in mind is that
copies of the malicious files and
the corrupted system files
may have been stored in
any backups or restore points
that may have been done prior
to this point.

therefore there are 2 things that
need to be done regardless of
anything else.

(1) remove the infections with an
wide spectrum antiviral

and / or

2) repair the o.s with the
windows setup cd or 2a) "run" sfc /scannow.


however, because you seemingly have access
to the desktop, go this website and
try option (1) first and
install the following from:

http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/purchase/trial.htm?sc_cid=mscom_hp

the above program can run the
antivirals (option 1) and basically check the
o.s. for a variety of things for your system
to regain some degree of functionality. This
is bascially a fraction of option(2) above.

if by chance option (1) above
proves successful then maybe
a manual repair of the o.s. option(2)
above won't be necessary.

however, don't be surprised or
reluctant to perform option (2)
above anyways.

by repairing the o.s. you basically
reset it. And it would be better
to do repair the o.s. after the system is proven
clean and basically functional via option (1).

here is a link for the above:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx


- db

 

[Guest]

i forgot to mention a tip
for the repair installation method.

sometimes, people accidently
reinstall the o.s. into a new
folder or partition.

what you need to take a bit
of time to do is to wait for
the setup program to provide
you with a table of statistics
of your drives, space and the
o.s..

you need to manually select the
o.s. line item so that the setup
program can overwrite it with
the genuine files.

if you do not select the existing
o.s., the setup will install a secondary
o.s. somewhere on your drives.

so the purpose of this tip is to
ensure you "repair the existing o.s."

- db

 

[Guest]

My learned friend db,

The advice to do a repair install, turned out to be a grievous and expensive
error. The repair install caused a corruption and windows became
inaccessible. I was advised my dell (the manufacturer) that I had to take my
PC to a local professional to back up my data and format the drive (All a bit
serious for what started off as a mere error message?). The repair install, I
was told, corrupted the system because my CD is a Windows Home Ed CD and, my
system has moved on since then, for example, I have been using XP SP2. All in
all it cost me what would be about $270 US. In an effort to save me money the
technician simply put in another hard drive so that I could back up my data
in my own time, and thus, save on the expense of having a professional do it,
a later format the drive. Needless to say, I could have done without all the
hassle.

-Joe

 

[Rock]

My learned friend db,

The advice to do a repair install, turned out to be a grievous and
expensive
error. The repair install caused a corruption and windows became
inaccessible. I was advised my dell (the manufacturer) that I had to take
my
PC to a local professional to back up my data and format the drive (All a
bit
serious for what started off as a mere error message?). The repair
install, I
was told, corrupted the system because my CD is a Windows Home Ed CD and,
my
system has moved on since then, for example, I have been using XP SP2. All
in
all it cost me what would be about $270 US. In an effort to save me money
the
technician simply put in another hard drive so that I could back up my
data
in my own time, and thus, save on the expense of having a professional do
it,
a later format the drive. Needless to say, I could have done without all
the
hassle.

Joe, I don't want to get into the history of the problems that got you into
this state or the advice given. I do suggest though, once you get the
system running again, that you use a drive imaging program to image the
system to an external drive. Image regularly, then if a problem occurs that
you can't otherwise fix, you can restore the most recent working image and
be back running in an hour or so.

Acronis True Image Home, version 10 works well in Vista. An image is a
compressed file that contains an exact record of all that's on the drive.
After a full image, subsequent images can be incremental or differential
saving time and space. Images can be done on a partition or drive basis,
and restores can be done on a file, folder, partition or drive basis. ATI
also does file backup and disk cloning. In a worse case scenario booting
from the rescue CD that you can make within ATI allows for a restore on a
bare drive.

You can get ATI direct from Acronis for $49.99, but you can get a much
better price from a discount software seller such as Newegg.com. I have
seen it for as low as $21.99. This plus an external drive is low cost
insurance against hardware and software problems.

I use ATI to do a full image to an external drive on a weekly basis, and a
nightly incremental image. All this can be scheduled from within ATI. I
alternate between two external drives on a weekly basis so one can be stored
off site. This gives a measure of protection against the inevitable
problems than can happen with a computer.

Good luck.