laptop stuck on welcome screen

Figment

Myser wrote: »

Just ask him where he has stored all his important documents, music, photos etc. Navigate to that folder: Documents & Settings/Users etc.

Copy to an external drive. Verify they have copied successfully by opening them on another computer.

Then you can proceed to do a factory restore/format.

Note: If you do open any files from his computer on another computer, make sure the anti-virus is up-to-date on the other computer. Otherwise you could end up spreading viruses.

Copying to an external hard drive isn't usually an option in safe mode, due to USB drivers not being loaded.

It can be done over the LAN using Safe Mode with Networking, but that is more complicated.

bright_side

Thank you for all your help.......it was a virus, so all sorted now!!
Hopefully he'll not turn the AV off again :mad:
As for backing up, his main concern is his itunes file, am I right in thinking I need to buy a memory stick to put it on?

Myser

You can backup to anything. CD, DVD, memory stick, external hard-drive or another computer.

It's always handy to have a memory stick. Try and get a solid state one - choose a reliable brand such as SanDisk, Kingston, Verbatim or Play.com

Figment

Glad it's all sorted.

I suggest you take a few minutes to create the System Recovery disc as insurance against future problems. You should find the utility in System Tools (Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools )

closed

external drive may be better

how did you clear the virus, and which one - they can do damage that an AV can't repair

The Windows disc is createable from the machine, using Dell datasafe

macman

A flash drive is not a reliable means of backing up. They are fine for file transfer or short term archiving only. Get a USB external hard drive.
But if he's daft enough to switch off a (good) working AV program, then he's probably beyond redemption.

Myser

I think you have much more of a chance of losing data on an external hard-drive due to it being knocked/dropped or the heads failing.

gonzo127

since avast is very low on system resources and you can turn gaming mode on to stop any voices etc, i do wonder what 'his stuf' actually involves

i would seriously suggest going through the sticky at the top of this forum called how to fix a slow or infected pc - now that you can get in to the main system

johnmc

Now that you've got it up and running start by setting up an Administrator password. Somethimg complex with numbers and special characters.

Now give him a user account without Admin privileges.

If he can't behave like an adult, then don't trust him like one.

bright_side

Can I ask you guys another question please? For a few weeks now I've been receiving 'failed delivery' emails for emails that I haven't sent. I've googled to see if I could find a solution, but couldn't find anything that made any sense to me. Is there an easy solution to this? I've ran malwarebytes and adaware and obviously have avast running on my laptop.