G
Guest
Hi,
It's been a rough couple of days, but I think I've learned a ton. Since the
dreaded message almost two months ago regarding the missing or corrupted
config file, I've tried every which way but loose to fix my sick system's
corrupted registry, only to find my way back to square one with more problems.
Yesterday I took a blind stab at a clean install with my friend's XP Pro SP1
OEM CD. Not a good idea...I did indeed get a clean copy of XP Pro on my sys
after the formatting (I think), but since it was designed for his system --
duh -- I had lots of new stuff that I had never seen in the Device Manager,
like a DELL fax modem! AND NO DRIVERS!!
An earlier call in the day to M$ (yes, I finally gave in and spent my
thirty-five bucks) got nowhere except to identify FOUR WORMS (labeled "severe
threats" and "not disinfected"), 2 hacking tools, and 2 spyware cookies
(Atlas DMT and Hitbox). Various other ".sys" files (24 of them) were
identified as "bad." Incidentally, the four worms had attached themselves to
C:\WINDOWS\atigraphics.exe, \ipconfg32.exe, \nvidGUIv.exe, and \system32\i
and were variations of W32/Sdbot: .GBZ.worm, .FKI.worm, .GAJ.worm, and .ftp,
respectively. My phone call to M$ ended with my $35 credited back to me!
Their experts basically threw up their hands and told me that I basically had
to start over with a retail purchase of XP Pro. Huh??
Undaunted, I reasoned that even though I could not use my friend's XP Pro CD
with SP1, I could make yet another try with my two PowerSpec Recovery CDs
because a good system would be recovered (or restored) to the now-clean
system. Also not a good idea, because I think I also recovered or restored
the worm problems and other nasties as well. So I was at a turning point and
decided to invest in an OEM XP Pro system builders' CD which includes SP2,
all for $139.95. I threw in eTrust virus and pest patrol OEM version CDs.
So now I'll only reconnect to the Net to leave this post on LurkHere.
And now for the critical questions:
The PC Club store salesman told me the ORDER of installing the new O/S and
stressed how important that order is...Pro CD, drivers, virus and spyware
protection, et al.
I know that of paramount importance is that I NOT BE CONNECTED to the Net
while installing?? I'd really appreciate a very specific primer, link, etc,
for how to do this 'cuz this is a one-shot CD and I don't want to have any
nasties lurking (no pun intended) around to screw it up. Hell, I'll format my
system down to zeroes if I have to -- yep, I've done that before, too, with
another friend's system and it did bring it back to life. Or am I facing a
boot-sector virus infection and can now consider my PC an expensive doorstop?
Finally, if you don't think I made the right investment in the CD purchase,
I still haven't broken the seals of the package and can return it for a full
refund unless and until I do break them.
Please help with any tips you can give!! What are the first things first?
I'd rather go slowly and deliberately than rush it. I'm just over having a
compromised system
THANKS SO MUCH!!!!
Goob
It's been a rough couple of days, but I think I've learned a ton. Since the
dreaded message almost two months ago regarding the missing or corrupted
config file, I've tried every which way but loose to fix my sick system's
corrupted registry, only to find my way back to square one with more problems.
Yesterday I took a blind stab at a clean install with my friend's XP Pro SP1
OEM CD. Not a good idea...I did indeed get a clean copy of XP Pro on my sys
after the formatting (I think), but since it was designed for his system --
duh -- I had lots of new stuff that I had never seen in the Device Manager,
like a DELL fax modem! AND NO DRIVERS!!
An earlier call in the day to M$ (yes, I finally gave in and spent my
thirty-five bucks) got nowhere except to identify FOUR WORMS (labeled "severe
threats" and "not disinfected"), 2 hacking tools, and 2 spyware cookies
(Atlas DMT and Hitbox). Various other ".sys" files (24 of them) were
identified as "bad." Incidentally, the four worms had attached themselves to
C:\WINDOWS\atigraphics.exe, \ipconfg32.exe, \nvidGUIv.exe, and \system32\i
and were variations of W32/Sdbot: .GBZ.worm, .FKI.worm, .GAJ.worm, and .ftp,
respectively. My phone call to M$ ended with my $35 credited back to me!
Their experts basically threw up their hands and told me that I basically had
to start over with a retail purchase of XP Pro. Huh??
Undaunted, I reasoned that even though I could not use my friend's XP Pro CD
with SP1, I could make yet another try with my two PowerSpec Recovery CDs
because a good system would be recovered (or restored) to the now-clean
system. Also not a good idea, because I think I also recovered or restored
the worm problems and other nasties as well. So I was at a turning point and
decided to invest in an OEM XP Pro system builders' CD which includes SP2,
all for $139.95. I threw in eTrust virus and pest patrol OEM version CDs.
So now I'll only reconnect to the Net to leave this post on LurkHere.
And now for the critical questions:
The PC Club store salesman told me the ORDER of installing the new O/S and
stressed how important that order is...Pro CD, drivers, virus and spyware
protection, et al.
I know that of paramount importance is that I NOT BE CONNECTED to the Net
while installing?? I'd really appreciate a very specific primer, link, etc,
for how to do this 'cuz this is a one-shot CD and I don't want to have any
nasties lurking (no pun intended) around to screw it up. Hell, I'll format my
system down to zeroes if I have to -- yep, I've done that before, too, with
another friend's system and it did bring it back to life. Or am I facing a
boot-sector virus infection and can now consider my PC an expensive doorstop?
Finally, if you don't think I made the right investment in the CD purchase,
I still haven't broken the seals of the package and can return it for a full
refund unless and until I do break them.
Please help with any tips you can give!! What are the first things first?
I'd rather go slowly and deliberately than rush it. I'm just over having a
compromised system
THANKS SO MUCH!!!!
Goob