programs won't run

[jgkhoury]

Hello,
No programs in Windows XP Professional will run (except for Windows
Explorer, and then I can enter a web address in the address bar). In
safe mode everything seems to work fine. But fully booted programs show
the little timer for a half second and that's it. I can't even do
Ctrl+Alt+Delete to see what's running. This problem is 2 days old. For
some reason I can't do a system restore in safe mode either. It just
says "Cannot restore system from this date".

I've tried anti-virus, spyware, adware, and clean booting, but nothing
seems to cure it. Any other potential solutions before I reinstall
Windows? Many thanks in advance.

John

 

[Andrew Murray]

Have you tried the start up options like "Start with Last Known Good
Configuration" or doing a repair install from the CD?

Have you read the log files to see if it lists any problems (you can
probably access these from the safe mode, it will show the logs for the
normal boot-cycle).

 

[John]

Andrew, thanks very much for your reply. I did not try what you
recommended. Just a couple of questions if I do.
1. how will "Start with Last Known Good Configuration" know what the
last good config was? It seems it might think that the current config
is fine since there are no errors
2. If I repair from a CD, will that have consequences for installed
programs (not like they're doing so great now anyway)
3. just in general, do this sound like a Windows problem or some sort
of malware problem??

Thanks in advance,
John

 

[John]

Just found out some more info:
You know how on start up, it's busy for a while (so the hard drive is
spinning and it's loading all kinds of stuff) but you can already start
launching programs. For like 10 seconds once I see my desktop, I can
launch programs. As many different ones as I can. But then at some
point, something gets loaded (don't know what) and I can't launch any
more programs. I can hit Ctrl+N in IE and a new window opens... So what
could be loading? When I look in TaskMGr, I don't see anything strange.
I try to kill some things that may cuase it, but it says it's a
critical process and I can't close it. Any ideas?
Thanks
John

 

[John]

Andrew, I took your advice and booted to the last known working config,
but no joy. I logged the boot but I really don't know what's good or
bad. I get a huge list of Driver did not load, but then followed by a
shorter list of Driver loaded. No idea what to make of all that. Does
someone have any ideas?

Thanks a lot!
John

 

[Malke]

Andrew, I took your advice and booted to the last known working
config, but no joy. I logged the boot but I really don't know what's
good or bad. I get a huge list of Driver did not load, but then
followed by a shorter list of Driver loaded. No idea what to make of
all that. Does someone have any ideas?

There really is no way that people who can't see this computer are going
to be able to pinpoint the issue for you. You seem to have done the
classic malware troubleshooting so it is quite possible that:

1. You missed something and the computer is in fact infected and beyond
simple repair.

2. You have hardware problems and attempting a software solution
(clean-install Windows) for a hardware issue is futile.

3. Some combination of the above.

Here are some general suggestions:

1. Do hardware testing. Here are some steps to take:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Troubleshooting

2. If the hardware is good, boot with Knoppix (a Linux distro that runs
from cd) to see how the computer behaves under another operating
system. If all is well, then the problem lies with Windows.

3. You can attempt a Repair Install, but based on your previous posts my
guess is that it will not work and a Clean Install will be required.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm - Repair Install
How-To
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#reinstall_Windows - What
you will need on-hand

If any of this looks too complex - and there is no shame in admitting
this isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local version of BigStoreUSA).

Malke

 

[John]

I'm gonna give your suggestions a try. I really appreciate you taking
the time to write!

 

[Malke]

I'm gonna give your suggestions a try. I really appreciate you taking
the time to write!
John

No problem, John. Post back if you need more help and good luck.

Malke