Help!! Unable to open applications...system running very slow

[Timon]

I'm currently operating under Windows XP Professional and
using SBC yahoo DSL. Booting up takes an abnormal amount
of time, and once Windows starts, I am unable to open most
applications, including my internet start-up. The only
thing that boots up after a long pause is Norton Antivirus
and the internet explorer(w/o connection. Even these
programs will not respond to commands after booting up.
When trying to restart in Safe Mode, it gets stuck on a
screen with a bunch of file names and will not start in
Safe Mode.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Doug Sherman [MVP]]

Most likely you are infested with spyware which is not addressed by Norton
and which is running so much junk at startup that you have no resources left
to do anything. You need to free up enough resources so that you can run
antispyware or do a system restore. Try this:

1. Shut down, disconnect your ethernet cable, and restart normally.

2. Click Start Run msconfig.

3. Click the Startup tab and uncheck the box (es) for Norton - it's not
helping you right now and it uses a lot of resources. Uncheck boxes for any
other entries you are sure you do not need. Be extremely careful, if you
disable something that is necessary for startup, you will have to use Last
known good or safe mode to restart, and last we knew safe mode wasn't
working.

4. Reboot. If you have now have enough resources to run programs, run your
antispyware. If you don't have any, try to get SpyBot Search and Destroy or
SpySweeper - both have free versions.

5. If you still can't run programs, right click on the Task Bar and select
Task Manager. Click the Processes tab. Right click on suspicious sounding
entries and select End Process Tree. If you manage to free up enough
resources, try running Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Restore -
select a restore point prior to commencement of your symptoms.

Doug Sherman
MCSE Win2k/NT4.0, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP