Ugh - what new horror is this. Can't copy or paste, can't run system restore, can't install SP2...

[Bill S.]

I'm working on an XP-Home system for a user here and I have to say
it's broken in a most peculiar manner. When I right-click on a file,
folder, shortcut, etc. and select "cut" or "copy" and then right click
in another folder, or on the desktop, or wherever, the "paste" option
is totally greyed out. I can see it in the menu, but I can't select
the Paste option at all.

Control-X or Control-C followed by Control-V have the same negative
result. Copying and deleting through the command line works.

When I try to run a System Restore, the process flatly refuses to
start. Ctrl-Alt-Del shows it "running", but no System Restore panel
opens. If I double-click on the rstrui.exe icon in
%SystemRoot%\System32\restore , a blank window opens up - nothing
inside. No icons, buttons or dialogues. I can only kill it via
Ctrl-Alt-Del.

Installing XP SP2 is fruitless as well; it abends with "The specified
file could not be located."

I thought I'd run an install of Norton AV 2003 (then patch with new
defs.), but XP reports that the Windows Installer Service cannot be
located!

I used the shell to move SpyBot S&D and AdAware over to the system, I
updated their defs and they had a field day - THOUSANDS of entries
were catalogued. I cleaned them up in due course (please note that
the abovementioned peculiarities were already going on BEFORE I ran
the spyware removal programs). I ran Hijackthis.exe and
cwshredder.exe and cleaned up more junk.

Still, copying and pasting is unusable. I hooked the drive in the
offending system up as a slave on a known good system and ran Norton
from the new master system's C: drive, but only one virus was found
(and removed), a virus common to P2P networking.

It's really come down to this: I'm prepared to tell the customer that
I'm going to nuke the HD and reinstall, but I'd rather not if there's
something I'm just overlooking in my tiredness and frustration. Can
anyone help with this one? Or am I just stuck?

 

[wayne]

you need to put the hard drive in a different system and run an up to date
AV program. Once you have done this reinstall the drive boot in safe mode
delete all temp files as well as cookies etc.. Copy paste problems is
usually blaster virus.

Run antivirus software as well as adaware programs again. If the system
does not run properly boot from XP disk and do an upgrade in place that
should fix it. I spent over 6 hours fixing a friends computers over 1000
infected files. Also check the windows and system32 folders for odd looking
..exe programs. If the adaware programs find any at all you need look for
others with a similar date. I had one user that somehow got adaware that
put files in both the windows and system32 folders. Deleting from one
caused the program in the other folder to reinstall them. Safe mode stopped
the programs from running. That should fix the computer.

 

[Bill S.]

you need to put the hard drive in a different system and run an up to date
AV program. Once you have done this reinstall the drive boot in safe mode
delete all temp files as well as cookies etc.. Copy paste problems is
usually blaster virus.

Run antivirus software as well as adaware programs again. If the system
does not run properly boot from XP disk and do an upgrade in place that
should fix it. I spent over 6 hours fixing a friends computers over 1000
infected files. Also check the windows and system32 folders for odd looking
.exe programs. If the adaware programs find any at all you need look for
others with a similar date. I had one user that somehow got adaware that
put files in both the windows and system32 folders. Deleting from one
caused the program in the other folder to reinstall them. Safe mode stopped
the programs from running. That should fix the computer.

Thanks wayne, I did just those things. System's "fresh" again and I'm
going to mentor the user on how to not get reinfected.