Use of SFC on HP Pavilion t124a

[ocar23]

PC has Win XP Home SP3 and is suspected of having Malware associated problems
that are difficult to locate.
How Safe is it to use sfc /scannow with these HP Pavilion computers that
have their own Recovery Partition (D built in. Will its use cause problems
and issues with these machines.
I do not want to use HP Recovery because this takes the PC back to when it
was first made, which may have been SP2. This PC is loaded with many Programs
and no Install Discs for most programs. Using HP Recovery could become a
disaster because of the need to Update Windows and Install Programs that do
have Discs.
If I can validate files first could be a good idea.
Can someone advise please on how to proceed.
Thank You.

 

[Bennett Marco]

PC has Win XP Home SP3 and is suspected of having Malware associated problems
that are difficult to locate.
How Safe is it to use sfc /scannow with these HP Pavilion computers that
have their own Recovery Partition (D built in. Will its use cause problems
and issues with these machines.

If it has a recovery partition, then it didn't come with a standard
installation disc... which means you can't do the System File Check
anyway.

 

[ocar23]

Thank you Bennett.
Is it Safe to use any XP Home SP3 disc to copy I386 Folder to C:\ and then
Run sfc /scannow, just like one would do on an IBM Clone.
Please advise.

 

[Bennett Marco]

Thank you Bennett.
Is it Safe to use any XP Home SP3 disc to copy I386 Folder to C:\ and then
Run sfc /scannow, just like one would do on an IBM Clone.
Please advise.

I would think it should be OK.

Read this article for info on the use of SFC.

http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html

 

[Jose]

PC has Win XP Home SP3 and is suspected of having Malware associated problems
that are difficult to locate.
How Safe is it to use sfc /scannow with these HP Pavilion computers that
have their own Recovery Partition (D built in. Will its use cause problems
and issues with these machines.
I do not want to use HP Recovery because this takes the PC back to when it
was first made, which may have been SP2. This PC is loaded with many Programs
and no Install Discs for most programs. Using HP Recovery could become a
disaster because of the need to Update Windows and Install Programs that do
have Discs.
If I can validate files first could be a good idea.
Can someone advise please on how to proceed.
Thank You.

I think it unlikely that sfc /scannow will help you with any of your
suspicious and unspecified malware infections and never a good first
step. Here's why:

It might do something positive, but you will have to go through a lot
of effort to get it to work properly without an XP Home SP3
installation CD which you are unlikely to have - unless you created it
yourself. If you have malware when it is done, you will probably
still have malware and wasted productivity.

Does your XP Home CD already have SP3 on it? Out of the box XP Home
only has SP2 and you said your computer has SP3 - this is a huge
mismatch for sfc /scannow, unless you like clicking "Retry and Skip
this file" a lot. If you have an XP Pro/Home with SP3 already on it,
somebody made it. Is that what you have?

If you are not prepared with a CD that matches the SP of the installed
OS, sfc /scannow will be very frustrating. In some cases it will work
without even having the CD, but unless you make those special
preparations first, you are in for a big time.

sfc /scannow is often offered as a first solution to a problem that it
may not even fix. "Run sfc /scannow first!".

Why do you think sfc will solve your unspecified issue?

What are the details of your issue?

"Suspected" is a hard clue to diagnose and lead to a solution that is
not based on trial and error.

Why not try to remove some malware first?

Download, install, update and do a full scan with these free malware
detection programs:

Malwarebytes (MBAM): http://malwarebytes.org/
SUPERAntiSpyware: (SAS): http://www.superantispyware.com/

They can be uninstalled later if desired.

 

[ocar23]

Hello Jose,
Please refer to my other Post "Google Search Page fills Desktop Screen,
Strange Behaviour.
I do have a XP Home SP3 CD that I can copy I386 to C:\ for use of sfc, if it
definitely considered Safe to do so and will not conflict with HP setup.
I am fairly confident PC is now Clean.
Thank You.

 

[Jose]

Hello Jose,
Please refer to my other Post "Google Search Page fills Desktop Screen,
Strange Behaviour.
I do have a XP Home SP3 CD that I can copy I386 to C:\ for use of sfc, ifit
definitely considered Safe to do so and will not conflict with HP setup.
I am fairly confident PC is now Clean.
Thank You.

Okay - well, all that copying of i386 and stuff just sounds creepy to
me. Why copy over the top of stuff that is probably working okay
(except for your one problem). If it screws up what are you going to
do?

It is not the way to run sfc /scannow. There are friendlier ways to
run sfc /scannow and if your CD and HDD really do match in SPs, just
run it normally. It it needs the CD, it will find it and do what it
does. No copying of i386.

Sounds to me you are still infected, or you chose to sign up for
something and it wants you to now finish, or something is luring you
into a trap. Sometimes a scan removes the malware but little pieces
linger. Sounds like an MSN signup or something. It may be fine based
on what happened in the past. Enter the email of a person you need to
get even with about something (don't do that).

Did you:

Download, install, update and do a full scan with these free malware
detection programs:

Malwarebytes (MBAM): http://malwarebytes.org/
SUPERAntiSpyware: (SAS): http://www.superantispyware.com/

They can be uninstalled later if desired.

Your original problem is hard to visualize resulting in speculation,
imagination and guessing.

Can you get a screen shot and post in up a free picture sharing site
like http://tinypic.com/ or someplace - you capture your screen (Print
Scrn), paste it into MS Paint, save it to a file, upload it and post
the link back here. Anybody can see it. You will need to create an
account, but it is free and you can always unsubscribe later. Put up
several pics and post back the URLs. No guessing what you are seeing.

More information is good. Maybe someone will say "Ah-ha!"

 

[ocar23]

Hello Jose,

I have now resolved this problem without taking drastic action.
Explanation: The last time this Google Search Page appeared, there was an
Icon like a Disc towards the right top of page. I clicked on it to see what
would happen.
It was an Options Dialog Box. One of the Options was "Do not Start
Automatically" plus Uninstall, Properties, etc. I selected "Do not Start
Automatically". Bingo, no more Google screen appearing two mins after bootup.
A search of Googles shows this exe file as being associated with a number of
Programs, none of which are on this PC.
I hope this is the last I see of this NASTY.
Thank you for your help.

 

[Jose]

Hello Jose,

I have now resolved this problem without taking drastic action.
Explanation: The last time this Google Search Page appeared, there was an
Icon like a Disc towards the right top of page. I clicked on it to see what
would happen.
It was an Options Dialog Box. One of the Options was "Do not Start
Automatically" plus Uninstall, Properties, etc. I selected "Do not Start
Automatically". Bingo, no more Google screen appearing two mins after bootup.
A search of Googles shows this exe file as being associated with a numberof
Programs, none of which are on this PC.
I hope this is the last I see of this NASTY.
Thank you for your help.

Good job!

I am glad there no drasticities or franticness involved. I am not a
fan of trial and error.

I wonder what that it was though...