System Shutdown

[Ally71]

A girl at my work is a computer newbie,and I try to help her out as much as possible but this time I have no idea what the computers problem is,she keeps getting a message that says this.....

System shutdown
This system is shutting down.Please save
all work in progress and log off.Any unsaved
changes will be lost.The shut down was initiated by NT Authority/system

Time before shut down 0:59

MESSAGE
Windows must now restart beacuse the
remote procedure call(RPC) service
Terminated unexpectly.

She has let it do its thing and when it starts back up,she runs Norton anti-virus,and ad-aware,and it says there is no virus's or anything like that,I have not had this problem before or seen it before,so if anyone could give some advice on what maybe wrong that would be great.
'
Thanks,
Ally :D

[dlh6213]

This is most likely due to a virus or worm. Follow the suggestions in this thread:
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread5690.html
(Don't leave out the trend micro link in the last post of the thread)
Find the instructions for Hijackthis (also in that thread) and post the log you get when you scan with it in the Virus forum.
Also, try scanning with Stinger (http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/)

[hexonflux]

dlh6213
You have said that more then once man.
The guy needs you to answer it in that Box. Not give him links.

Look man.
The computer's Boot files are obvisly Infected with a virus. Goto Setup (press Del when starting up) and setup to boot from a Disk. Then I would reformat. This is a long and hard process, but it seems to be the only way if you cannot make the compyter stay on for more then a Minute

[frrossk]

Look man.
The computer's Boot files are obvisly Infected with a virus. Goto Setup (press Del when starting up) and setup to boot from a Disk. Then I would reformat. This is a long and hard process, but it seems to be the only way if you cannot make the compyter stay on for more then a Minute

Don't be in such a hurry. That kind of problems are made by Blaster or Sasser viruses (I delt with them sometimes); they can be removed with stinger, no need to format the HDD. Also, there can be some other virus, but also there should be a removal tool for it.

[alc6379]

dlh6213
You have said that more then once man.
The guy needs you to answer it in that Box. Not give him links.

Look man.
The computer's Boot files are obvisly Infected with a virus. Goto Setup (press Del when starting up) and setup to boot from a Disk. Then I would reformat. This is a long and hard process, but it seems to be the only way if you cannot make the compyter stay on for more then a Minute

He has said that more than once, and he should say it as many times as he possibly can, because it's so true. Some virus has attacked the RPC service, and is screwing things up. There is no need to reformat the PC, as you can use Stinger to remove the two most common viruses that cause this, Sasser and MSBLAST.

It might not be a bad idea to reformat, but out of the hundreds (literally hundreds) of cases like this I've seen in the past year, there's not been but 1 or 2 cases where I haven't been able to fix it with Stinger. In those two cases, there was other software that was wrecking things, too.

[Ally71]

Great!! thanks everyone I will try the stinger program first if that does not work then she will have to take it in to a shop, I do not want to get into reformatting thats for sure,I have no idea how to do it lol.

Thanks again,
Ally :)

[Sphyenx]

Wait, it couldnt be sasser, lol. Every AV picks it up. Also I dont thinmk sasser is a boot sector virus. It could be a problem with some hardware, (maybe). but Definatly windows. Well thats BOD for you. Good luck removing the problem. Hint, i know formatings a bit*h, but heres what you do, make a DOS boot up disk on another PC, and stick it in that bad boy on reboot, type this FORMAT $driveletter: and then type Y to question, get out windows disks and your good to go!

[caperjack]

Wait, it couldnt be sasser, lol. Every AV picks it up. Also I dont thinmk sasser is a boot sector virus. It could be a problem with some hardware, (maybe). but Definatly windows. Well thats BOD for you. Good luck removing the problem. Hint, i know formatings a bit*h, but heres what you do, make a DOS boot up disk on another PC, and stick it in that bad boy on reboot, type this FORMAT $driveletter: and then type Y to question, get out windows disks and your good to go!

You should change you nicname to FORMAT ,seems to be your favoite topic!:) LOL

[Ally71]

Wait, it couldnt be sasser, lol. Every AV picks it up. Also I dont thinmk sasser is a boot sector virus. It could be a problem with some hardware, (maybe). but Definatly windows. Well thats BOD for you. Good luck removing the problem. Hint, i know formatings a bit*h, but heres what you do, make a DOS boot up disk on another PC, and stick it in that bad boy on reboot, type this FORMAT $driveletter: and then type Y to question, get out windows disks and your good to go!

Sounds good but how do you make the DOS boot disk? I could do it on my computer and then take it to hers but I have no idea what to do to make the DOS boot disk.

Ally

[caperjack]

Sounds good but how do you make the DOS boot disk? I could do it on my computer and then take it to hers but I have no idea what to do to make the DOS boot disk.

Ally

go into mycomputer /control panel /add and remove programs ,and you will see create boot disk ,just put a clean floppy in you drive and click OK

[dlh6213]

Ally, if Stinger (and the other suggestions in the Helping Yourself thread) don't work and you decide to reinstall Windows, you can find complete instructions here:
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread6632.html
(Yes Hexonflux, another link; maybe I just think 'outside the box' :) )

[Ally71]

And once again,I must say thanks you to everyone that has given me ideas as to what to do to get the computer fixed,it is a great help,and I,m glad I found this website!!!

Thanks,
Ally

[Sphyenx]

lol, ya formats are fun, also sorry i didn't mention how to make one. (dos disk)

[guest]

theres a simple solution for this problem. go into control panel. then go onto administrative tools or whatever it is. then go onto services. scroll down and find remote procedure call and right click then choose properties. then i think its the 2nd or last tab, in the drop down boxes change them all to take no action. then go back to services and do the same for the 1 below remote procedure call. you pc should not shut down after 1 minute anymore. worked for me anyway.

[alc6379]

theres a simple solution for this problem. go into control panel. then go onto administrative tools or whatever it is. then go onto services. scroll down and find remote procedure call and right click then choose properties. then i think its the 2nd or last tab, in the drop down boxes change them all to take no action. then go back to services and do the same for the 1 below remote procedure call. you pc should not shut down after 1 minute anymore. worked for me anyway.

That's a great temporary fix, but you're still infected.

The RPC service is used by tons of stuff. One of the most notable things is that Lexmark printers use the Remote Procedure Call services to make their printer drivers work.

So, if you do that, you just get more time to do your troubleshooting and get the appropriate fixes applied. If you don't follow through with something like the Stinger tool or some other antivirus, your system is still active, and can even still be infecting other systems.

I know this is an old thread, but...

Wait, it couldnt be sasser, lol. Every AV picks it up. Also I dont thinmk sasser is a boot sector virus. It could be a problem with some hardware, (maybe). but Definatly windows. Well thats BOD for you. Good luck removing the problem. Hint, i know formatings a bit*h, but heres what you do, make a DOS boot up disk on another PC, and stick it in that bad boy on reboot, type this FORMAT $driveletter: and then type Y to question, get out windows disks and your good to go!

You'd be surprised how many people don't update their antivirus software and run Windows updates. If you haven't updated since March of last year, you could still get it. Downloading Stinger is definitely a good thing.

Also, one note on using the DOS bootdisk to reformat your system: many XP systems ship by default with NTFS as the filesystem on the hard drive. You have to do some gruntwork to reformat a drive like that, because format c: just won't work. An NTFS partition is rightly labeled as Non-DOS, and even the DOS fdisk program won't delete it. If you do have an NTFS partition, then you'll want to boot from the Windows installation CD and format the hard drive during the installation.

[JANINE]

Wait, it couldnt be sasser, lol. Every AV picks it up. Also I dont thinmk sasser is a boot sector virus. It could be a problem with some hardware, (maybe). but Definatly windows. Well thats BOD for you. Good luck removing the problem. Hint, i know formatings a bit*h, but heres what you do, make a DOS boot up disk on another PC, and stick it in that bad boy on reboot, type this FORMAT $driveletter: and then type Y to question, get out windows disks and your good to go!

how do you make a Dos boot up disk? i would like to make 1. also i would like to make a DOS Partition disk but i have no idea on how to do that either.
:confused:

[JANINE]

go into mycomputer /control panel /add and remove programs ,and you will see create boot disk ,just put a clean floppy in you drive and click OK

it doesnt have that facility on my computer. im running xp home, is that why? :?:

[dlh6213]

How to create an MS-DOS startup disk:

Insert a floppy disk into your computer's floppy drive.
Open My Computer, and then click the floppy disk drive to select it.
On the File menu, point to the name of the floppy drive, and then click Format.
Under Format options, click Create an MS-DOS startup disk.
Click Start.

Note: The MS-DOS startup disk only allows the system to boot into an MS-DOS prompt, the disk contains no additional tools.

Please clarify what you mean by a 'DOS Partition disk'

[JANINE]

i think its something that can be used whereby you can format and partition the hard disk drive by using a floppy disk to do so before installing the operating system. A friend of mine had one that he used when putting the o.s onto my pc. he said it was a higher and more secure level of format.

[dlh6213]

A Windows 98 Startup disk can format and partition a drive; I don't know of anything that would offer a "higher and more secure level of format."

Are you trying to install an OS or what? If so, which one? For Win98 and prior, you should use a Win98 Startup disk; if Win2K or later, just boot with the CD and it will format and partition however you want it to.

[JANINE]

i will be trying to install an o.s very soon. dont worry i'll try and ask my friend if he can make me 1.

[UncleJohn]

That's a great temporary fix, but you're still infected.

The RPC service is used by tons of stuff. One of the most notable things is that Lexmark printers use the Remote Procedure Call services to make their printer drivers work.

So, if you do that, you just get more time to do your troubleshooting and get the appropriate fixes applied. If you don't follow through with something like the Stinger tool or some other antivirus, your system is still active, and can even still be infecting other systems.

I know this is an old thread, but...

You'd be surprised how many people don't update their antivirus software and run Windows updates. If you haven't updated since March of last year, you could still get it. Downloading Stinger is definitely a good thing.

Also, one note on using the DOS bootdisk to reformat your system: many XP systems ship by default with NTFS as the filesystem on the hard drive. You have to do some gruntwork to reformat a drive like that, because format c: just won't work. An NTFS partition is rightly labeled as Non-DOS, and even the DOS fdisk program won't delete it. If you do have an NTFS partition, then you'll want to boot from the Windows installation CD and format the hard drive during the installation.

Just as a note to properly fix a case of saeser infection you must first turn off your system back up as it is also infected most likely, and anti virus software can not remove a virus while system back up is turned on, once you have gotten rid of the virus then you may turn it back on. I had both msblast and saeser at one time. That was the only way to remove it, otherwise mcafee would pop up a message that would say. "Found a virus in windows system restore files, these files can not be entered." Or somethin similar. Anywho yup just further note on this.

[JANINE]

Does anybody know where or how i can convert a FAT File system into a NTFS file system. i know i have not made it clear before but this is exactly what i want. from what i believe the 98 Startup Disk boots to FAT but i want to change the startup so that it boots to NTFS. I want to do this before putting the Operating System on. this is what i meant earlier on by saying about the higher level of formatting the hard disk. can someone offer any guidance.

thanks :cool:

[JANINE]

How to create an MS-DOS startup disk:

Insert a floppy disk into your computer's floppy drive.
Open My Computer, and then click the floppy disk drive to select it.
On the File menu, point to the name of the floppy drive, and then click Format.
Under Format options, click Create an MS-DOS startup disk.
Click Start.

Note: The MS-DOS startup disk only allows the system to boot into an MS-DOS prompt, the disk contains no additional tools.

Please clarify what you mean by a 'DOS Partition disk'

thankyou for the information provided here. i successfully made a working DOS startup disk this morning. ;)

[dlh6213]

Windows 2000 and Windows XP (as well as Server 2003) are the only operating systems that use NTFS; if you are going to be installing one of those OS's, you don't need a startup disk at all, just set your BIOS to boot from CD first, put the CD in the drive, and start up the computer. You will be given options to format and define the file system you prefer (FAT or NTFS) during the setup process.

You can find complete instructions for installing XP here:
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread6632.html

[JANINE]

ok i'll have a go at that. thanks