Windows XP freezes after start-up

[am304]

Hi,

My dad brought me his laptop and asked me to fix it He did a complete
system clean using ad-aware and since then, the windows XP freezes right
after startup. The laptop will boot up in safe mode. In normal mode, there's
normally no user selection screen and password entering, it goes straight to
his profile. He is using Win XP SP3.

Beyond checking that it boots in safe mode, I haven't managed to do much. I
searched on the internet and while many people seem to have this problem, I
have yet to find a solution for it. I have tried running "chkdsk /f" in safe
mode at the command prompt, but of course it tells me that the (NTFS) volume
is being used by another process and asks me whether I would it to run after
the next reboot. I say yes, but it never happens.

I will try a system repair with the windows xp startup disk next, but I was
wondering whether anybody had any suggestion?

Many thanks in advance

Arnaud

 

[am304]

Actually, I don't have the windows startup disk. The laptop is a toshiba one
and it came with windows pre-loaded on it (as they do). Toshiba provided a
system restore CD, but as far as I can tell, this will format the hard drive
and re-install windows, which I would rather not do.

Any other suggestion?

Thanks,

Arnaud

 

[Daave]

It has been a while since I used AdAware, but hopefully it has the
equivalent of an undo feature. Or if there is a quarantine folder, you
can hopefully restore its contents to their previous locations.

Afterwards, I would run a System Restore (assuming your dad didn't
delete the restore points!). Or just run System Restore, period, if you
can't undo what AdAware did. You can do this in Safe Mode, if necessary.

Then again if your Dad had contracted massive malware infections, you
would be best advised to copy all the data and perform a Clean Install
(or its manufacturer-provided equivalent).