Computer boot problems....

zxcv784

Hi,

This weekend I was round our neighbours and they said their computer was being really slow, so being the good samaritan I downloaded malwarebytes antimalware and ran a full scan and after 3 hours it came back with 7 infections inc. trojans ad-aware etc which I removed and it asked to restart.

Upon restart the computer boots and gets to the windows xp logo screen (where the bar goes across) then gives a black screen saying there was a boot problem and gives option to start up in safe mode, sm with command prompt, last good config which I have all tried and just restarts the comp and the same thing happens, which I'm guessing is a result of removing the virus it has taken a necessary file/object necessary for windows to boot....

Upon restart I saw an option F9 xpress recovery console which I have tried but it then says "please install xpress recovery from gigabyte cd title". I'm guessing this is software that came with their comp (presumably having a gigabyte motherboard). Unsuprisingly they have lost this recovery disc and their original win xp cd, and wait for it....they have not backed up their files either!

I have looked online to try and find somewhere where I can download the gigabyte xpress recovery disc but all i can find is xpress recovery2 on the gigabyte website but it says it is not compatible with xpress recovery.

Can I download any old boot recovery software and burn it disc? any reccomendations of software I could use?

I don't want to restore the comp to factory settings as they will lose their data....

Any other suggestions?

I was only trying to be helpful but now their comp is in a worse state than before!

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

damoandclaire

What version of windows is it?

Can you still get to the menu where it mentions safemode? (F8 at start up).

If so to the 2nd question, try the "Last Known Good Configuration". A long shot but sometimes works.

Depending on the version of windows, you could try a repair of Windows using an original Windows disc, that way the data is preserved (providing the repair is done properly).

I doubt you would be able to download the restore CD (if this is what you are referring to) from the manufacturer - the majority of them charge about 40 quid to send another copy to you.

fwor

If they have a COA sticker or some other record of their XP licence key and you can get hold of an XP install CD which is the same version as they have (Home or Pro), the best approach in this situation is to do a "Repair install" as described here. This will reinstall all of the Windows system files but leave the user data intact.

Before doing that, it may be worth booting the PC from a linux LiveCD and copying their data onto a pendrive or writeable CD/DVD, just in case the reinstall goes horribly wrong...

asininity

Sounds like the trojans infected some important files of windows which were deleted along with the viruses etc. By fixing their computer you've knacker it. Ouch.

glosman555

I know you said you have tried safe mode with command prompt but have a look at tip 3 here. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13554_3-9750693-33.html

zxcv784

fwor wrote: »

If they have a COA sticker or some other record of their XP licence key and you can get hold of an XP install CD which is the same version as they have (Home or Pro), the best approach in this situation is to do a "Repair install" as described here. This will reinstall all of the Windows system files but leave the user data intact.

Before doing that, it may be worth booting the PC from a linux LiveCD and copying their data onto a pendrive or writeable CD/DVD, just in case the reinstall goes horribly wrong...

I thought this would be the best solution, however I'm not sure if they have their XP license key, I'm hoping they have a COA stuck on their monitor/tower - will check....

If I can't get hold of the XP license key that way, is there a method of viewing it through a start up option when the computer boots? as I obviously can't get into desktop to view the license key.

To the other poster - yes I have tried safe mode , safe mode with command prompt, and last known good configuration option without success.

I've seen their are lots of cd's sold on ebay for a couple of quid advertised as "boot disc recover repair cd's" that advertise that they solve boot problems - could this be worth a try?

If I can't get anything to work, would the only other option be to buy a new version of xp? would I be able to override and repair the lost files this way? would this lose all their docs etc?

Thanks for your replies,
I hope I can get this sorted!

Laz123

Some lessons in life are harder than others. You can spend days trying to sort this out. The 1st rule of computing is BACK UP YOUR DATA.

Personally I'd tell them the only way out is to reload to factory settings and they'll have to lose the data.

Alternatively you can make a boot disc with Ubuntu http://www.ubuntu.com/ and take off the data then reload to factory settings.

zxcv784

UPDATE:

they have COA sticker on their tower, so all I need now is an xp cd....

I'll then follow the instructions in fwor's post

thanks