Winlogon.exe error message

[Guest]

I was updateds a friends computer. I installed Norton Internet Security 2007
it detect some downloader viruses and seid they were removed.

When I restarted the computer I got the message that Winlogon.exe had
encountered a problum and had shotdown. I time of the message was when the
computer was restarted. When I tried to turn off the computer the computer
did not power down. I had to manually power down the computer when it
restarted. I reruning the virus scan several times it detected nothing. I
ran Microsoft one care scan which dected some proublums. These were
corrected. When I tryed to do a system restore I got a message that the
computer had a problum shouting down and could not restore. This computer
has swervice pack 2 with the latest updates so I do not want to reload
windows from sratch.

What should I do to get this computer running correctly. I can supply more
information if that will help.

 

[Guest]

Under the circumstances your first duty is to explain to you friend that you
may be on the verge of losing that installation and that the DATA has to be
saved to another location. When I say another location I mean external to
that computer. Confirm that all of this person's data is safe before you try
to do anything else.

It sounds as though you may have more than one firewall and more than one
anti-virus product installed and operating on the computer simultaneously.
Furthermore, it sounds as though you chose the just about the worst possible
combination -- Symantec/Norton mixed with Windows Live OneCare. I wouldn't
put either of those on a computer I actually wanted to use. There are people
who use one or the other of those with little or no fuss, though why is
beyond me. I know of no one who would try to use them simultaneously.

System maintenance is a lot more demanding that just installing a favorite
software package and having at it and hoping for the best and depending upon
System Restore to save you if you screw up. If you have to resort to System
Restore you've already pretty much conceded the need for complete system
reconfiguration. (You said that it was WinXP SP2 with all of the latest
updates. You should know that System Restore may have changed all of that,
depending upon how far back you set the machine.) In my opinion a System
Restore is to be used to get a crippled computer up and running so that you
save the data off of it in preparation for a total reprep of the machine.

Be honest with your friend, admit that you didn't know as much as you
thought you did, then work with the friend to try to fix things. But save
that data FIRST.

I hope you get some good luck. You're going to need it.

 

[Guest]

BTW, in addition to what I said earlier --

It sounds as though your friend had already caused a mess on his/her own
system. So you don't actually need to fall on sword to make amends. At worst
(And this is bad enough.) you have merely complicated matters. If this person
asked for your help then you are guilty only of being misinformed. And,
believe me, we are all misinformed -- about many things. I couldn't tell you
how many times I've learned that something I "knew" turned out to be BS. But
you really need to keep foremost in mind, when working on other people's
systems (or your own, for that matter) that the data is what it's all about.
Safeguard the data BEFORE you ever do anything else.