Yet another "computer is dying" thread

[Paper Carnival]

Hey,

I am actually writing this with my mobile phone while I am waiting for System Restore to finish.

I have this weird problem: when I booted into windows a couple of days ago, the vast majority of my applications would simply refuse to run; not including -thank God - System Restore, which is one of the first things I tried and worked. Or did it really?

Next time I wanted to turn on my computer, I had the exact same problem. And again, System Restore did the trick. The only things I did both times was that I installed divx, vcl media player and vob sub, which I thought was ridiculous to actually be the real cause. So all is well, I used my computer to only do the usual simple things and made no changes. However, the problem still appeared for the next boot, and I am currently restoring again.

Does this sound familiar somehow? I did try scanning after the first restore, with no results. Then again, if it's a virus clever enough to disable half my applications (including my anti-virus) why didn't it disable system restore?

If you have any ideas, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

[GarageGothic]

Actually some viruses cleverly use system restore to restore themselves after being deleted. You should try running a boot-time virus scan rather than scan from inside Windows, if you haven't done so already. You may find nasties that manage to hide themselves while Windows is running.

[Khris]

What happens if you try to start one of the apps? Just nothing? Error message?

[m0ds]

LOL you typed SO much on a mobile phone!

And y'know, today I spent HOURS trying to fix a problem with my notebook!

And you know HOW frustrating it can get!

Circulating several websites with BIOS techniques...

And WinXP solutions......

And all the forum threads you come across...

And everyone gives a different answer, and all YOU want is one, QUICK, coherent f*****g ANSWER!

But it's not there.

And everyone that's trying to help out is really just a c**p piece of information.

Because the best answer is the first answer on Google.

But it's so hard to get your head around it feels like you're being mentally tightened with a screwdriver.

My point is...

I feel your pain.

good f*****g luck!!!

[InCreator]

Get it working
Back everything up
Nuke windows
Reinstall all

That's your one, coherent answer.

[Paper Carnival]

Okay okay, I was hasty starting this thread before trying 100% everything, but I did try things around. System Restore takes a very long time to finish and I didn't want to waste time restarting/restoring/restarting every time I want to try something (I do have work to do too), so I asked if anyone knows a certain way around it.

Anyway, I'm sorry.

Get it working
Back everything up
Nuke windows
Reinstall all

That's your one, coherent answer.

That's too troubling. I bought a new computer, problem's fixed! Actually, I didn't, but I'll work this out when I have more time.

What happens if you try to start one of the apps?

Just nothing.

Now, let's turn this into a useful and productive thread, like complain about how much Windows sucks but you still use it anyway because some mysterious force wants you to.

[LUniqueDan]

Like G-Goth said, intelligent viruses can play it that way. So take care when transferring your file to your new machine. System Backup IS a .exe too and if it's the olny one who works that's a very *bad* sign.

When you'll have time or need to transfert your files / pix / prOn, run on boot all the viruses scan you can. Nuke everything useless - all those free codec sh** / new torrent you may while on F8-mode and Nuke - Nuke - Nuke.

It's bad you needed a new machine olny for this.

Good Luck with term papers. 

[Tuomas]

I noticed, that the latest update of zoneAlarm doesn't like the newest update of windows XP, and the GUI won't load if the internet cable is connected. That's a plus for both the programs. Made change my firewall settings

[Khris]

ZoneAlarm is teh evil anyway. Not recommended.

Get a Linux Live CD from a friend, boot it and scan the whole hard drive.

[Sam.]

Not wanting to start ANOTHER of these threads, i thought i'd hijack this one.

My laptop is a year old, and is running fine. However, I connect to the internet using a LAN cable. Also fine.

When this LAN cable is unplugged, my touchpad mouse starts acting all wonky, permanently clicking, not responding. THe only way to solve this seems to be plugging back in the LAN, or a USB optical mouse.

My AVG brings up no viruses, and I can't seem to find the right string to type into google to get any helpful results. Has anyone heard of a virus that can do this? Is my hardware dying? I don't want to believe this since it runs fine, as long as the LAN is connected.

Any ideas?

(Laptop is a Toshiba Satellite L40 running Vista Home Premium, dual core processor, 2 gig of ram)

[Nikolas]

I'm not sure if it's the same thing but I had a virus which changed all file extensions, so I couldn't run ANY exe file. It could be your case, don't really know? In case it is: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=26426.0

Gosh Don was such a helpful guy... I miss him! 

[Paper Carnival]

As for me, I managed to find and get rid of the virus after all. Thanks everyone for your help.

Zooty: That's a really strange problem you are having. What happens if you plug a "dead" cable in? If your touch pad still works, it's probably some weird short-circuit issue, the kind that happened to me when I spilled a drop of sprite on my keyboard.

[GarageGothic]

Zooty, in a discussion at another forum some people have solved touchpad issues on the Toshiba Sattelite by simply removing the power cord and battery and holding the ON button for 30 seconds. No mention of LAN cable, but it's worth a try.

[LimpingFish]

ZoneAlarm is teh evil anyway. Not recommended.

People don't seem to like ZoneAlarm. It's the only firewall I've ever run and it seems to work fine. Never caused any system malfunctions, anyhow.

To paraphrase what I've just posted in the other virus-related thread, I've only ever used a minimal amount of (free) security software, and, to my knowledge, I've never had any virus/malware problems (seven years and counting).