Windows XP Boot problem / Virus infestation

[theknifemac]

Have just spoken to a friend with a virus problem on their XP system. Think its XP Home but she's not sure

Windows is refusing to boot because \windows\system32\config\system is missing or corrupted.

Can this be recovered using the original XP cd and the recoverey console or does she need to have made a recovery disk before hand ? She has a couple of weeks of data on the PC which she would love to recover. Is it possible to boot the PC from CD to get at this data and copy it elsewhere ?

She spoke to her "PC bloke" and he said it would be a complete re-install with complete loss of data. Not sure why this needs to be the case ?

Alternatively could the hard disk be stuck in another pc as a secondary drive and the data read off that way (assuming the data has not been wiped by the virus).

Any thoughts appreciated as I can see a trip round there might be called for soon.

Stew

 

[oatman]

Try typing sfc /scannow and hit run. It will ask for the CD. This will check that OS files are not corrupted. Worth a try

 

[kgs914]

XP Virus

Hi, There are a couple of things you/she can try. First try booting in Safe Mode. If you can get in, do a virus scan, run ad-aware and spy sweeper (removes spyware and other undesireables). If you can't even boot into Safe Mode, then use the Recovery Console solution off the XP CD. This way the dat will not be lost.

Good Luck

Have just spoken to a friend with a virus problem on their XP system. Think its XP Home but she's not sure

Windows is refusing to boot because \windows\system32\config\system is missing or corrupted.

Can this be recovered using the original XP cd and the recoverey console or does she need to have made a recovery disk before hand ? She has a couple of weeks of data on the PC which she would love to recover. Is it possible to boot the PC from CD to get at this data and copy it elsewhere ?

She spoke to her "PC bloke" and he said it would be a complete re-install with complete loss of data. Not sure why this needs to be the case ?

Alternatively could the hard disk be stuck in another pc as a secondary drive and the data read off that way (assuming the data has not been wiped by the virus).

Any thoughts appreciated as I can see a trip round there might be called for soon.

Stew

 

[theknifemac]

Hi, There are a couple of things you/she can try. First try booting in Safe Mode. If you can get in, do a virus scan, run ad-aware and spy sweeper (removes spyware and other undesireables). If you can't even boot into Safe Mode, then use the Recovery Console solution off the XP CD. This way the dat will not be lost.

Good Luck

kgs914

Thanks for that, I was worried that the recovery console would require a rescue disk to have been made. If thats not required then it should work a treat. I was going to introduce her to the wonders of AdAware, SpyBot and all the other essential tools.

Cheers

Stew

 

[oatman]

Sorry, wasn't thinking. Only if you're set to boot from disk in bios
I was going to suggest "safe" as well. Let us know.