I’m fixing a friend’s PC and the 1st thing I noticed was it was infected with viruses because Firefox and the IE 6 browser were getting hijacked and the PC was running erratic. Also there was a lapse of the McAfee virus protection license for about a week.
So I did the following:
1) Tried to launch Malwarebytes that I had installed months previously and it wouldn’t launch, and the browsers were popping up to strange web sites
2) Went to download.com and downloaded a fresh copy of Malwarebytes and the install program wouldn’t launch
3) Tried to boot into Safe Mode, but when it did there were no icons on the desktop
4) Re-Booted into Normal mode and used Autoruns by Winternals and methodically checked and removed every suspicious module being loaded
5) Tried to boot Normally but got BSOD, and since I’m doing this remotely I didn’t see the actual message but my friend said it was “XP shutting down to prevent further damage”
6) Tried to boot into command prompt, but got BSOD, and since I’m doing this remotely I didn’t see the actual message but my friend said it was “XP shutting down to prevent further damage”
7) Using a XP SP2 CD (not the original) I booted to the Repair Console and did CHKDSK C: /R, and that ran without any errors
8) Re-booted and still got BSOD, and since I’m doing this remotely I didn’t see the actual message but my friend said it was “XP shutting down to prevent further damage”
9) Then I used the Avira Emergency Boot ISO that runs a virus scan and we still get the BSOD
So now I’m at the “crossroads” of what to do and I’m asking for advice.
I’m considering the following:
1) Booting with ERD Commander to do a System Restore, but I think this won’t accomplish much.
2) I have heard of booting from the c:\I386 directory and restoring the Registry
Is there a way to repair the Registry using a bootable ISO, or is there some program or technique to fix this without reloading a new copy of XP/SP2 or is it possible to load a new copy of XP/SP2 and retain all of the programs and settings?
Thanks
