desk top won't load/ task manager disabled.. malware issues..?? can you heLp..??

[zehdekiel]

I am suspecting some kind of malware infection perhaps..??

I am not entirely sure but I have been researching all day to no avail.. well ladies and gents,.. heres my situation, i have the Windows XP Home edition on an Inspiron 6000 and when i turn the dang thing on i get as far as signing in.. then when the screen gets to the main screen, the only thing that shows is my background. My desktop is completely blank, there are no icons, no start menu, no task bars, and i cant right-click.

If I alt + ctrl + del, i can get the following message stating that my "Task Manager has been disabled by my administrator" .. but i am the administrator..!!!! grr..

I have preceeded to read up on that particular issues and found only ways to enable the task manager by way of using the START button which i do not have access to..

I have also tried and FAILED running it in any safe modes..
also i tried to re-install XP with the Dell issued purple OS disk with no response..

can you help me..?? any suggestions..??

signed

just a dumb girl O_o

[PhilliePhan]

also i tried to re-install XP with the Dell issued purple OS disk with no response..
can you help me..?? any suggestions..??

-- Can you explain more as to what you tried to do with XP Disk?
Did the drive recognize the disk? Did you try to boot to the XP Disk itself to access the recovery console?

-- Also, what happens when you try to boot to Safe Mode?

PP:)

[zehdekiel]

i am not sure if this helps at all either,.. but just prior to the problem i was simply responding to an email.. i had youtube open and then some box popped up from McAfee stating there was a registry change detected.. it asked if it should allow it.. and i clicked NO

then it froze up.. i unplugged it and started it back up and wham O..

the CD..

well i have had to use the XP disk once before as per the instruction of a DELL technician.. but that was 2 years ago i think..

thinking that it was the same problem i experienced before.. i just popped it in there to see.. but this time aNd unlike before i popped it in and absolutely nothing happened.. just my blank desktop.. i mean the DELL screen pops up for a sec and then the windows xp screen is up for a while,.. as does the McAfee logo box,.. then the logon screen.. I put in my password it claims to be loading my personal settings,... then nothing happens.. just the blank desktop with no task bars,.. or icons of any kind

for the safemode.. I am gunna try it again to be sure I accurately recall the scenario..

ok..

powered on pressing f8 key.. advanced options window is popping up..
choosing 'safe mode'..
hitting enter..
says select OS to start.. options are MicrosoftWindows XP Home
pressing enter..
it shows a whole lotta stuff on the screen as it scrolls down.. then the error message states:
"Sorry 4 the inconvenience windows did not start sucessfully,.. a recent hardware/software change might have caused this" blah blah blah..

and i choose safe mode and it repeats itself.. all the while it is counting down from 30 seconds..

I have tried this and the networking start up.. also the last known good configuration as well.. with no luck

i was reading that purchasing some antivirus software may help.. I am not sure which kind to get aNd "if" it will even be of any help for my situation..

at this point i am looking into just taking it into GeekSquad.. as I don't know where else to turn..

i am concerned with getting my files recovered mostly..
i am a photographer,.. also a writer,.. my life is locked in there,.. and unfortunately I was dumb enough to never back up anything I kept in there.. *sigh* so getting these items back is very important for me.. :(

please let me know if you have any other questions or should need any further information..

Thanx

kadeN.. O_o

[PhilliePhan]

i was reading that purchasing some antivirus software may help.. I am not sure which kind to get aNd "if" it will even be of any help for my situation..

NO - that is not going to help at this point.

at this point i am looking into just taking it into GeekSquad.. as I don't know where else to turn..

That should be your last resort - I doubt they will do anything more than wipe your hard drive and reinstall Windows. You'll lose all your important data.

i am concerned with getting my files recovered mostly..
i am a photographer,.. also a writer,.. my life is locked in there,.. and unfortunately I was dumb enough to never back up anything I kept in there.. *sigh* so getting these items back is very important for me.. :(

Yup - always gotta back your stuff up! Lots of people learn the hard way - you're not the first and certainly won't be the last....

andplease let me know if you have any other questions or should need any further information..

We may be able to salvage your compy if you are able to do this:

Boot to the Recovery Console from your Windows XP CD

-- Let me know if you are able to do that and we'll see what we can do.

Best Luck :)
PP

[asaness]

Enabler-Disabler Tool created by me...

[zehdekiel]

okay... got it

i do appreciate all of this information and guidance..!!

actually lastnight i was messing around and realized that i did not have the BIOS set up for the cd drive to run.. after i formatted the sequence i was able to run the XP Disk..!!

Yay..!!

I have bee trying at least several different methods of recovery according to what i printed off from the web.. with no luck..
hopefully i have not done any further damage to the poor thing..

i have also purchased an external hard drive just in case i am able to access my photos and such.. lesson deffinately learned here..!!!

I am going to print this out (the Recovery Console Instructions) and take it home to be sure i can get thru every part of it.. I will check back here afterwards and await your reply..

Thank You Again..

Kaden

[PhilliePhan]

i have also purchased an external hard drive just in case i am able to access my photos and such.. lesson deffinately learned here..!!!
I am going to print this out (the Recovery Console Instructions) and take it home to be sure i can get thru every part of it.. I will check back here afterwards and await your reply..

Great!
Once you get recovery console running, there are a number of options that will be open to you. I think the first would be to carefully copy your photos and other data to the external drive. Don't copy any programs or files you didn't create yourself for the time being - gotta be sure they are not infected.
Your photos and documents should be fine.

Then we'll poke around and see if we can get the compy up and running.

Thank You Again..

Happy to help :)
PP

[zehdekiel]

Great!
Once you get recovery console running, there are a number of options that will be open to you. I think the first would be to carefully copy your photos and other data to the external drive. Don't copy any programs or files you didn't create yourself for the time being - gotta be sure they are not infected.
Your photos and documents should be fine.

Then we'll poke around and see if we can get the compy up and running.

Happy to help :)
PP

how exactly do i access the area to copy my photos & such..?? Most of what i have read talks about typing "r" to start a recovery.. i am kinda lost now.. i mean after i get it up should i plug in my external hd or ???

[PhilliePhan]

how exactly do i access the area to copy my photos & such..?? Most of what i have read talks about typing "r" to start a recovery.. i am kinda lost now.. i mean after i get it up should i plug in my external hd or ???

Yeah - make sure your external hard drive is formatted properly and then connect it to the ill compy.

Once you are able to boot to recovery console, you will have access to a command prompt and basic DOS commands.

Then, say for instance the following:
External Hard Drive ----> G:\
Your photos are in a folder ---> C:\My Documents\My Photos

You then use the copy command to move them:

At the command prompt, type copy C:\My Documents\My Photos G:\My Photos ENTER

And that should do the trick.

There are other commands we can use as well to address some other issues.
Frankly, there are other bootable disks that would give us more options such as Hiren's Boot CD

If you are able to create that, then we'll be cooking with gas......

Cheers :)
PP

[zehdekiel]

well i managed to get 2the recovery console.. after connecting the external hd usb,.. i tried typing in the command as you suggested only to get the following: 'the parameter is not valid try /? for help'

but when i type /? nothing happens..

another thing different that might be worth noting is that when i power off and restart it and don't press a button to boot from cd it is asking to select an operating system to start:

Windows XP
Windows XP

should that be listed twice..?? *shrugz*

no matter which i click on it takes me to the screen where it says:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the origional Setup CD-ROM.
Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair.

i am hoping that in my angst i didn't mess things up for the worse or something.. i may have inadvertently taken two steps back.. at this point i seem to be spinning my wheels.. but i promise nOt to touch anything on the dell again until i hear from you.. *pinkyswear*

as far as cooking with gas... is that something i can burn onto a disk and feed to the dell or..?? aNd if so which cd might i need to attempt that..

O_o

[zehdekiel]

Enabler-Disabler Tool created by me...

is this something which will work as well perhaps..????? :-/

[PhilliePhan]

is this something which will work as well perhaps..?????

I have no idea what that is - might have helped if the poster left some sort of explanation....

well i managed to get 2the recovery console.. after connecting the external hd usb,.. i tried typing in the command as you suggested only to get the following: 'the parameter is not valid try /? for help'
but when i type /? nothing happens..

There are a number of reasons for this - everything has to be done properly (+ there are spaces in the command that are hard to see) or the command will fail. The drive labels and the folder paths need to be exact.

--- Does your compy recognize the external hard drive?
--- What is its drive label? (C:\ , G:\, etc...)
--- Are you able to locate the folders with the files and pictures you want to copy? Do you know the paths for them?
Example: C:\Documents and Settings\My photos
That's just an example.
If you do not know the exact path, then we'll need to locate them.

as far as cooking with gas... is that something i can burn onto a disk and feed to the dell or..?? aNd if so which cd might i need to attempt that..

There are ISOs for Hiren's CD and others. If you are able to burn an ISO, then you can create these boot disks.
Hiren's and the Avira Rescue disk are good - if you can burn them, great. But let's wait before using them for now.

PP:)

[zehdekiel]

There are a number of reasons for this - everything has to be done properly (+ there are spaces in the command that are hard to see) or the command will fail. The drive labels and the folder paths need to be exact.

yes i was thinking that might have been an issue.. i am not quite sure where to add a space and where to keep them close.. like my eyes are playing tricks on meh.. ha..!!

--- Does your compy recognize the external hard drive?
--- What is its drive label? (C:\ , G:\, etc...)
--- Are you able to locate the folders with the files and pictures you want to copy? Do you know the paths for them?
Example: C:\Documents and Settings\My photos
That's just an example.
If you do not know the exact path, then we'll need to locate them.

unfortunately i do NOT know what the individual paths might be.. i never changed any locations tho,.. it has always been the same location as originally came with the Dell.. all the fodos are in my pictures but my two stories i need to retreive are located on the desktop.. so perhaps we should just start from scratch..??

i really wish i knew more abouddet all.. i hate being sucha pain in the arse.. grr

There are ISOs for Hiren's CD and others. If you are able to burn an ISO, then you can create these boot disks.
Hiren's and the Avira Rescue disk are good - if you can burn them, great. But let's wait before using them for now.

aye aye captain.. if we need them i will pester you about that process then.. lalz

:?: another question.. i recently purchased a new SONY vaio with windows 7 on it.. i was reading something about an EasyTransferCable i can purchase which claims to move documents and photos and the like from your old computer transferring them onto the new one.. might this be another option..??

O_o

[zehdekiel]

:$ i totally forgot to mention that when i plug in the xhd w/ the usb.. nothing pops up or anything.. i can hear the hd running and revving,.. but nothing happens that i can see..

so i am guessing that it isn't recognizing the harddrive.. *shrugz*

[PhilliePhan]

:?: another question.. i recently purchased a new SONY vaio with windows 7 on it.. i was reading something about an EasyTransferCable i can purchase which claims to move documents and photos and the like from your old computer transferring them onto the new one.. might this be another option..??

I am not sure that would work given the state of the ill compy.
I suppose you could try.

BTW - Do you have a USB thumb drive?

What I'd like to try is this:

Attach the external hard drive.
Attach a thumb drive, if you can.

--- Boot to Recovery Console and access the command prompt.
-- At the prompt, type:
CD <space> D:\ ENTER
CD <space> E:\ ENTER
CD <space> F:\ ENTER
CD <space> G:\ ENTER
CD <space> H:\ ENTER

Tell me the results.

Then, at the command prompt, type:
CD <space> "%userprofile%\desktop" ENTER

at the new command prompt, type: DIR ENTER
Locate the stories you want to save and let me know the names.
For example: My Story.doc

Then, at the command prompt, type:
CD <space> system~1\_resto~1 ENTER
Then, type: DIR ENTER

Let me know if there are any Restore Point Folders listed.
They will look like RP203 RP204 etc....
Basically, RP and a number.

Let me know if those exist and then exit out of Recovery Console and we'll go from there.

PP:)

[zehdekiel]

I am not sure that would work given the state of the ill compy.
I suppose you could try.

yeah.. you were totally right.. the DeLL doesn't even recognize the eZ transfer startup cd..

BTW - Do you have a USB thumb drive?

just went out and purchased an 8gb usb flashdrive (radioshack dude said it's be fine)

What I'd like to try is this:

Attach the external hard drive.
Attach a thumb drive, if you can.

check aNd CHECK..!!

--- Boot to Recovery Console and access the command prompt.
-- At the prompt, type:
CD <space> D:\ ENTER
CD <space> E:\ ENTER
CD <space> F:\ ENTER
CD <space> G:\ ENTER
CD <space> H:\ ENTER

Tell me the results.

at the c prompt (c:WINDOWS) I started typing each command.. after the last one it tells me

The Path or File Specified is not valid

Then, at the command prompt, type:
CD <space> "%userprofile%\desktop" ENTER

it tells me: The system cannot find the file or directory specified

at the new command prompt, type: DIR ENTER
Locate the stories you want to save and let me know the names.
For example: My Story.doc

boy was there a lot to sift thru there..!! well i looked very carefully but was unable to locate anything even resembling either of my stories.. i saved one as today and not tomorrow.. aNd the other was simply saved as turtle.. I did see something that said WORDPAD.INI but i am not sure if that would be one of them or not..??

Then, at the command prompt, type:
CD <space> system~1\_resto~1 ENTER

i did this and it says: system cannot find the file or directory specified

Then, type: DIR ENTER

a lot pops up here as well.. but i didn't see anything with the letters RP tho.. discouraging i am sure.. *sigh*

[PhilliePhan]

OK - I figured that was a bit of a long shot via recovery console.

Let's do this:

Remove the external Hard Drive.
Attach the USB thumb drive.

Boot to recovery console and at the command prompt, type the following in bold very carefully:

DIR <space> "%userprofile%\" >> E:\Peek.txt ENTER

DIR <space> "%userprofile%\Desktop" >> E:\Peek.txt ENTER

DIR <space> "%userprofile%\My Documents" >> E:\Peek.txt ENTER

Be sure to use the quotation marks - basically everything in bold needs to be typed.

Let me know if you have any error messages. If not, there will be a file called Peek.txt on the USB drive. Please post that for me.

Best Luck :)
PP

[zehdekiel]

I removed the HD and used only the flash like you requested..

Boot to recovery console and at the command prompt, type the following in bold very carefully:

DIR <space> "%userprofile%\" >> E:\Peek.txt ENTER

DIR <space> "%userprofile%\Desktop" >> E:\Peek.txt ENTER

DIR <space> "%userprofile%\My Documents" >> E:\Peek.txt ENTER

Be sure to use the quotation marks - basically everything in bold needs to be typed.

Let me know if you have any error messages. If not, there will be a file called Peek.txt on the USB drive. Please post that for me.

okay.. after each of those command prompts i am getting the following:

The volume in drive C has no label
The volume Serial Number is cce7-70a0

Directory of C:\WINDOWS\%userprofile%\MyDocuments">>E:\Peek.txt
The file name, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.

when i was all done..
i tried pulling the flash off and putting it into my new computer but it was all empty :sad:

i tried the entire process twice.. just to be sure.. being very careful to type is all in ever so slowly so i didn't mess it all up..;(

it is very nerveracking.. i truly don't know where you get the patience for it all.. lalz
:X

[PhilliePhan]

Yeah - it can be frustrating..... No worries:)

It looks like we won't be able to accomplish what we need to do via the Recovery Console.

We need a better option. Can you burn an ISO?
If so, download Ubuntu Live CD and burn it to a CD.

Let me know if you have any trouble.

PP:)

[zehdekiel]

i have started the dl on my new viao.. but what kind of cd do i use for this burn..??

(sorry i am a total moron at this stuff.. i have CD-R 80minutes 700MB, DVD-R 120minutes 4.7GB, CD-R Pro 80minutes 700MB & DVD-RW 120minutes 4.7GB..)

Thank Yew..!!

O_o

[PhilliePhan]

i have started the dl on my new viao.. but what kind of cd do i use for this burn..??

A regular CD-R or a DVD will work.
It's a large distro, but should fit on a CD.

When burning ISOs, I use ImgBurn - it's one of those "can't do without it" freewares.....

With any luck, we can boot this up and it will recognize all of your drives - that way, we can get away from command line and just "point and click."
I'll keep my fingers crossed.......

PP:)

[zehdekiel]

okay.. i just used the 1st one.. it's burning now.. 4 minutes remaining it says..

i am not sure bout the freeware.. but i will deffinately check it out..!!

in the meantime..

*fingers crossed as well and much tighter than yours..!!*

[PhilliePhan]

*fingers crossed as well and much tighter than yours..!!*

LOL!

Let me know when you're good to go.

[zehdekiel]

:) alright..!! is says the disk was created successfully..!!! Yay..!!

just let me know what to do next..

[PhilliePhan]

:) alright..!! is says the disk was created successfully..!!! Yay..!!

just let me know what to do next..

OK - Attach the Thumb Drive and the External Hard Drive to the ill computer.

Pop in the Ubuntu Live CD and boot to it and select the option to Try Ubuntu without any change to your computer

Good so far?

Then, click the Places tab and select Computer.
It should list all of the drives connected to your compy.

Let me know what they are.

PP:)

[zehdekiel]

wow that was pretty easy..!!

but duDe.. it was making all kindsa racket..!!

Then, click the Places tab and select Computer.
It should list all of the drives connected to your compy.

Let me know what they are.

alrighty..

it has 4 icons..

1st says: 60GB Hard Disk: 56 GB Filesystem
2nd says: 500GB Hard Disk: Expansion Drive
3rd says: Gigaware: 8.0GB Filesystem
4th says Filesystem

does that sound right..?? am i in the right place..??

[PhilliePhan]

1st says: 60GB Hard Disk: 56 GB Filesystem
2nd says: 500GB Hard Disk: Expansion Drive
3rd says: Gigaware: 8.0GB Filesystem
4th says Filesystem

does that sound right..?? am i in the right place..??

Yeah - that's great . . . . . And now the moment of truth. It's either going to let us do this the easy way or the hard way..........

DoubleClick on the 60GB Hard Disk and let me know what happens. Either you will get access or an error message will pop up.

Let me know.

[zehdekiel]

Yeah - that's great . . . . . And now the moment of truth. It's either going to let us do this the easy way or the hard way..........

DoubleClick on the 60GB Hard Disk and let me know what happens. Either you will get access or an error message will pop up.

Let me know.

double click'd euit.. :sweat: i am biting my bottom lip and praying to the hard drive gods..

it is an excruciating wait.. .. ..
..
..
..

at the bottom of the browser it says "60 GB Hard Disk: 56GB Filesystem" selected

should it be taking this long..??

[PhilliePhan]

should it be taking this long..??

Hard to say - depends on a number of different factors.

With any luck, it'll give you access and you can just copy and paste the stuff you want the save to the external drives.

Otherwise, it's back to command line for a bit.

Either the drive will open or you'll get the error "cannot mount volume" - if you get that error, click Details and let me know what it says.

[zehdekiel]

Either the drive will open or you'll get the error "cannot mount volume" - if you get that error, click Details and let me know what it says.

well i got impatient and double clicked it adin.. and duDe..!! i see all kinds of files here now..!!!

at the top it says 50CCE792CCE770A0 - File Browser
and at the botom of the browser it says 95 items, Free space: 4.7GB

so is this success..??
aNd if so how now..??
what can i do to copy them (if that's what i am supposed 2do)
can i open the files listed or..??

@_o