My computer (XP) keeps turning itself off, Please Help?

C

charisme

It keeps turning itself off and will not allow me to run the Microsoft
Malicious Software Removal Tool. It restarts itself right away. I also am not
able to use Mozilla Firefox to get my Yahoo email. I can only get my email
when using Internet Explorer. Can anyone PLEASE help me? Any suggestions
would be GREATLY Appreciated.
Thank you, Charlotte
 
S

Shenan Stanley

charisme said:
It keeps turning itself off and will not allow me to run the
Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool. It restarts itself right
away. I also am not able to use Mozilla Firefox to get my Yahoo
email. I can only get my email when using Internet Explorer. Can
anyone PLEASE help me? Any suggestions would be GREATLY Appreciated.

Please describe in detail what *you* mean by "turning itself off"...
Messages, etc.

Download, install, run, update and perform a full scan (separately) with the
following two applications (freeware versions are the ones to use for this):

SuperAntiSpyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/

MalwareBytes
http://www.malwarebytes.com/

After performing a full scan with one and then the other and removing
whatever they both find completely, you may uninstall these products,
if you wish.

Download and run the MSRT manually:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

Reboot.

Fix your file/registry permissions...

Ignore the title and follow the sub-section under "Advanced Troubleshooting"
titled, "Method 1: Reset the registry and the file permissions"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949377

Reboot and ...

Search your registry for %fystem and replace the "f" with an "s". May be
three or four matches, may be none. You may even have to take ownership
(even after doing the above) of the keys in order to make the change.

Download/Install the latest Windows Installer (for your OS):
( Windows XP 32-bit : WindowsXP-KB942288-v3-x86.exe )
http://www.microsoft.com/downloadS/...6F-60B6-4412-95B9-54D056D6F9F4&displaylang=en

Reboot.

and...

Download the latest version of the Windows Update agent from here (x86):
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=91237
.... and save it to the root of your C:\ drive. After saving it to the root
of the C:\ drive, do the following:

Close all Internet Explorer windows and other applications.

Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemDrive%\windowsupdateagent30-x86.exe /WUFORCE
--> Click OK.

(If asked, select "Run.) --> Click on NEXT --> Select "I agree" and click on
NEXT --> When it finishes installing, click on "Finish"...

Reboot.

Then follow the instructions here:

How do I reset Windows Update components?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058

Reboot.

and..

Log on as an user with administrative rights (assuming you are in this case
- given your problem) and open Internet Explorer and visit
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and select to do a CUSTOM scan...
(Every time you are about to click on something while at these web pages -
first press and hold down the CTRL key while you click on it. You can
release the CTRL key after clicking each time.)

Once the scan is done, select just _ONE_ of the high priority updates
(deselect any others) and install it.

Reboot again.

If it did work - try the web page again - selecting no more than 3-5 at a
time.

The Optional Software updates are generally safe - although I recommend
against the "Windows Search" one and any of the "Office Live" ones for
now. I would completely avoid the Optional Hardware updates. Also - I do
not see any urgent need to install Internet Explorer 8 at this time.
 
C

charisme

I downloaded SuperAntiSpyware, but it turns off every time that I try to run
ther program. I already had Malaware Byes, I was able to run a quick scan
using that program. The more complete scan turns off about 2 minutes into the
scan.
Now what?
Thanks for the suggestion... I hope that this gets resolved.
 
S

Shenan Stanley

charisme said:
I downloaded SuperAntiSpyware, but it turns off every time that I
try to run ther program. I already had Malaware Byes, I was able to
run a quick scan using that program. The more complete scan turns
off about 2 minutes into the scan.
Now what?
Thanks for the suggestion... I hope that this gets resolved.

Boot into Safe Mode - run MalwareBytes full scan.
 
R

RB

(currently lurking) Wow there is a wealth of information here. I'm going
to save this.
Why do you recommend freeware for spyware ?

By the way I had a similar problem with my boss's computer about
2yrs ago and we could not get it to boot safe mode, the virus or malware
had taken it over and we could not get to safe mode with the normal
key press. We ended up doing a full recovery and lost some data.
Lately I have seen software at
http://www.moonvalleysoft.com/safe-mode-fixer-p-29.html?osCsid=17e21h1mqbctgtudo0kh75b2h5
that (for $11.xx) guarantees to get your safe mode back again.
Do you know of a generic way to get it back ?
 
E

Elmo

charisme said:
It keeps turning itself off and will not allow me to run the Microsoft
Malicious Software Removal Tool. It restarts itself right away. I also am not
able to use Mozilla Firefox to get my Yahoo email. I can only get my email
when using Internet Explorer. Can anyone PLEASE help me? Any suggestions
would be GREATLY Appreciated.
Thank you, Charlotte

Burn BitDefender, or another program listed, to a CD (using a working
machine) and test the infected machine with it:

http://www.techmixer.com/free-bootable-antivirus-rescue-cds-download-list/

Then run these again:

Malwarebytes© Corporation
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam/program/mbam-setup.exe

SuperAntispyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html
 
S

Shenan Stanley

<snip>
(currently lurking) Wow there is a wealth of information here. I'm
going to save this.
Why do you recommend freeware for spyware ?

By the way I had a similar problem with my boss's computer about
2yrs ago and we could not get it to boot safe mode, the virus or
malware had taken it over and we could not get to safe mode with the
normal
key press. We ended up doing a full recovery and lost some data.
Lately I have seen software at
http://www.moonvalleysoft.com/safe-mode-fixer-p-29.html?osCsid=17e21h1mqbctgtudo0kh75b2h5
that (for $11.xx) guarantees to get your safe mode back again.
Do you know of a generic way to get it back ?

The freeware I recommended is the best out there right now at cleanup of
such things, IMO.

Not really enough information - but likely with a BartPE or Ultimate Boot CD
for Windows you could have saved all data in any case - perhaps even cleaned
it up enough with freeware to get it to allow you to boot/logon/etc.

After some cleanup - probably some more would be necessary - perhaps even a
repair installation - depending on the damage done by the malady.
 

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