Trapped in Repair Console, need full re-install XP ?

[Guest]

Hi, a friend had a load of viruses (don't know how) including I think
Trojan.Satiloler (Bluetooth.dll etc). I followed some instructions to clear
out some bad registry entries and we can login but it immediately logs out
again ( (cf. http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307654)

We tried doing a R(epair) from the XP CD and it got down to 13mins to go and
just froze - left it for 20mins or more to be sure. It said "installing
devices". Rather optimistically rebooted and retried - it again hung at
13mins, this time saying "registering components".

Decided to give up and try a FULL re-installation but every time we reboot,
it realises it was doing a setup and insists on restarting that (+failing at
13mins - who says 13 isn't unlucky!!?).

Any ideas ? What should we be doing ? If we need to do a full install,
how do we break out of the hanging Repair ? Help! Thanks, Gerry )

 

[chrispsg]

Is your PC set to boot from the CDROM Drive?
If it is you should see "Press any Key to Boot from CD."


psg

 

[Guest]

Make sure you are booting from the Win XP cd.

Sound like it's trying to boot from HDD.

Make sure you do a "clean" install.
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

Note: If an existing Windows XP installation is detected, you will be
prompted to repair it. At this point hit the ESC key (do not repair).

 

[Guest]

Hi Dennis, thanks.

Yep, I changed the BIOS to boot from CD which it is doing (lots of CD
whirring etc). I now want to do a clean install but, naively, we'd started a
Repair install and it doesn't seem to want to let that go coz it hung at
13mins to go. I'm pretty sure I've tried ESC and a few other keys to get out
when it realises it's part way through a repair install but nothing makes it
give up.
How can I abort the failed repair install in order to start a full install ?

Thanks, Gerry )

 

[Guest]

Hi Chris, thanks.

Yep, I changed the BIOS to boot from CD which it is doing (lots of CD
whirring etc). I now want to do a clean install but, naively, we'd started a
Repair install and it doesn't seem to want to let that go coz it hung at
13mins to go. I'm pretty sure I've tried ESC and a few other keys to get out
when it realises it's part way through a repair install but nothing makes it
give up.
How can I abort the failed repair install in order to start a full install ?

Yep, it did say "Press any key to boot from CD". Booting from HDD doesn't
work (= original problem) hence need to boot from CD and we tried to do a
Repair install but this just aborts - always at 13mins to go. Now I'd like
to do a clean/full install but can't get it to break out of the
partial/repair install. Everytime we boot, it realises that it was part-way
thru the previous "setup" and insists on re-starting that from 39mins to go
but then it trips over again at 13mins to go!

How can I abort the partial and start again with a full install ?

Do I need to worry about the F5 and HAL etc. ? Thanks, Gerry )

 

[Guest]

So you did press any any to boot to CD?
It appears that you're NOT following the procedure fro "Clean Install"
You do NOT want to 'repair" current install.
Delete the current partition , make new partition, and reformat HDD.

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp

What is F5? Do you mean F6?
What does the key function do (per the screen comments)?
What is HAL????

 

[Guest]

As Dixonian69 said, "Press ANY KEY..." will take you to the XP Setup dialog.
If you let it boot WITHOUT pressing a key, it will go to "Autorun" and
continue where it left off. I don't think you need to repartition/reformat,
though.

 

[Guest]

Best run ChkDsk, or find out how to.

 

[ANONYMOUS]

As soon as you have any attacks to your system, the best way to move
forward is to start a clean Install. Repair Install does not help as
some remnants of viruses remain in the HD and can easily be triggered by
somebody clicking on them.

Clean install means wiping everything from the HD and installing the
OS. This means you lose everything including your own documents and
emails. So make copies of everything you need before moving forward.

hth

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

As soon as you have any attacks to your system, the best way to move
forward is to start a clean Install.

I couldn't disagree more. That's way overkill for the great majority of
problems, whether or not virus-related. It's like killing a fly with an
elephant gun.

The way to get rid of a virus is to use appropriate anti-virus software.

 

[ANONYMOUS]

You have the right to disagree with anybody on an open Newsgroup but the
OP has a system which is completely screwed up. Repair install didn't
do anything him and you didn't have the workable solution but to
disagree with me. Scanning with an Anti-virus is not going to solve
his problem because his system is now completely screwed up for not
seeking the advice earlier. As soon as he started Repair-Install, that
was the beginning of end of his working system.

Are you just knit-picking on what people write?

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

You have the right to disagree with anybody on an open Newsgroup but
the OP has a system which is completely screwed up.

I didn't respond to the original poster, I responded to you. How screwed up
the OP's system is isn't releavant to the point I was making. You made an
unequivical statement "As soon as you have any attacks to your system, the
best way to move forward is to start a clean Install." That's simply wrong
and very poor advice. There are *occasionally* times when the system is
screwed up badly enough that that's the appropraite response, but it
certainly shouldn't be done "as soon as you have any attacks to your
system."

Repair install
didn't do anything him and you didn't have the workable solution but
to disagree with me. Scanning with an Anti-virus is not going to
solve his problem because his system is now completely screwed up for
not seeking the advice earlier. As soon as he started
Repair-Install, that was the beginning of end of his working system.

The OP didn't describe his situation very well ("A load of viruses" and
"some instructions to clear out some bad registry entries" aren't very
specific), so it's hard to be sure what his best course of action is.
However, it may be well be that a clean installation is his best course. I
didn't disagree with that; I disagreed with your claim that : "As soon as
you have any attacks to your system, the best way to move forward is to
start a clean Install."

Are you just knit-picking on what people write?

No, I'm not "knit-picking" [sic], I'm correcting very poor advice, lest
anyone read it and believe it.

 

[ANONYMOUS]

I didn't respond to the original poster, I responded to you. How screwed up
the OP's system is isn't releavant to the point I was making. You made an
unequivical statement "As soon as you have any attacks to your system, the
best way to move forward is to start a clean Install." That's simply wrong
and very poor advice. There are *occasionally* times when the system is
screwed up badly enough that that's the appropraite response, but it
certainly shouldn't be done "as soon as you have any attacks to your
system."

Well, I was reponding to the original poster. A troll like you just
gate crashed because you felt left out!. Do you think I was making a
general statement to wind you up? I was making a specific statement
relevant to the problem at hand. Nobody in their right mind could make
a general statement when there are idiots like you who are hell bent in
taking sentences out of context and twist them just to poke fun at the
expense of people prepared to give solutions to Windows problems.

It is common knowledge that Windows isn't as robust as it could be but
people can still get by if they take the necessary precautions before
disasters strikes.

So are you in a position now to give Gerry any specific advice from the
bottom of your tiny brain? If not have fun trolling!!

Good bye.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Well, I was reponding to the original poster. A troll like you just
gate crashed because you felt left out!. Do you think I was making a
general statement to wind you up?

No, I think you were making an incorrect general statement because you
didn't know any better.

But have it your way. You may respond to this message or not, as you choose.
If you do, you'll have the satisfaction of having the last word. The thread
is over, as far as I'm concerned, and I won't respond further.

 

[Harry Monster]

But have it your way. You may respond to this message or not, as you choose.
If you do, you'll have the satisfaction of having the last word. The thread
is over, as far as I'm concerned, and I won't respond further.

So why did you respond in the first place?

 

[Rock]

ANONYMOUS wrote:

Well, I was reponding to the original poster.

<snip> It was clear who you were responding to, but your statement,

"As soon as you have any attacks to your system, the best way to move
forward is to start a clean Install."

is a general one, with no caveats to indicate you meant it only in this
case because of how messed up the system was.

And as such it's not overall sound advice. Ken was pointing that out,
and you got all wound up. If anyone is trolling it seems to be you.

 

[Guest]

ok, can't help feeling my post has been accidentally hijacked re good+bad
advice on re-installing. So, ...

Summary of outstanding problem in case anybody can help further ...

My friend had several nasty viruses - I don't know how they got there, he
had Norton but by the time I saw his PC, it had been knobbled/disabled. There
were several malwares at once and some we managed to clear out ok. One of the
worst seems to be Trojan.Satiloler (Bluetooth.dll); also UnSpyPC and WareOut.
Possibly implicated also were ibm00010.dll, ibm00003.exe. We had problems
getting rid of everything and fixing his registry - apparently
Trojan.Satiloler messes up Userinit & ctfmon and other stuff so that now we
cannot log in on any account, including in safe mode.
One piece of advice was to do a R(epair) Install which we started but it
keeps freezing at 13mins to go. Since then I've had conflicting advice to go
for a full clean install but we can't seem to get out of the Repair install
-- everytime we boot from the CD, it wants to restart the R(epair) Install!

So, my current Q's are ...
1. How can I abort the R(epair) Install to change to a full one? (Or any
better ideas on how to progress ?)
2. Can I make up a DOS-bootable floppy somehow and boot from that so we
can at least login or get at the filespace again ?
3. Why does the R(epair) abort at 13mins ?

Thanks for any help. Gerry )

 

[Guest]

Latest update: I made a DOS boot disk and that's the only way to boot @mo
without it insisting on restarting the R(epair) Install.
However, I can't run very much when I boot that way - I suppose it will
allow me to do a format but that seems a bit drastic!

Anybody have any ideas on Q's 1 & 3 ? Thanks, Gerry )

 

[Guest]

Heloo All, please see my latest updates (near top) dated 11/18/05 - any ideas
please ?

Thanks, Gerry )

PS: If I don't hear anything, I'm probably going to suggest a format c: and
total reinstall coz my friend is getting antsy about his email etc. and I
don't know what else to suggest. btw, Does format these days offer NTFS as
well as FAT ? Thx.

 

[Rock]

Heloo All, please see my latest updates (near top) dated 11/18/05 - any ideas
please ?

Thanks, Gerry )

PS: If I don't hear anything, I'm probably going to suggest a format c: and
total reinstall coz my friend is getting antsy about his email etc. and I
don't know what else to suggest. btw, Does format these days offer NTFS as
well as FAT ? Thx.

Yes you can format in either.