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When my PC starts it goes into the screen you would get if you had pressed F8, then whichever option is chosen takes it back to that screen, i cant get to a command prompt, or get uot of this loop.

Can any one help ?

Hi there nictaz Welcome to PCHF.

To start with I would like you to do this:

First boot into safe mode by tapping f8, untill you get some options come up, use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move down through the options and select Safe Mode.? Then follow the guide below.


First disable system restore to prevent re-infection.
(you can turn it back on when youre pc is clean).


How to disable system restore:

WinXP.

Click the Start button.
Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
On the System Restore tab, check Turn off System Restore or Turn off System Restore on all drives.

WinME.

Click Start > Settings > Control Panel.
Double-click the System icon.
If the System icon is not visible, click View all Control Panel options to display it.
On the Performance tab, click File System.
On the Troubleshooting tab check Disable System Restore.
Click OK. Click Yes, when you are prompted to restart Windows.


Then please delete your temporary files by deleting all files and folders that are in those folders:
(do not delete the temp folder itself)
(if there are "files in use" then empty these folders in safemode(hit f8 when booting up)

empty the C:\windows\prefetch folder ,
empty the C:\windows\temp folder ,
empty the C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp folder ,
empty the C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files folder EXCEPT the content.ie5 folder (may be hidden).
(replace administrator with youre user name)

And close all instances of IE and OE ,then go to: Control Panel / Internet Options / General tab.
Click the "Delete Files" button.
When prompted place a check in: "Delete all offline content", click OK. This removes the junk files such as downloaded files, zero byte files created by Outlook Express and many other hidden files that reside in your cache.


Do a virus scan here. Or select one here.
Also run Stinger - Trojan Remover.
If you get report of files that can?t be cleaned/deleted please write down the filenames and locations and post that in your reply.

Then please do this since it?s better to use automated tools to get rid of the bad stuff use these programs first before doing the final cleaning with HJT.


Spybot: Search And Destroy:


1.Download the new version (1.4) of 'Spybot: Search And Destroy'.

2. Install it according to the instructions in 'How To Setup Spybot SD'.

3. Next, 'Search for Updates' as the definitions are not likely to be up-to-date.

4. Close ALL windows except Spybot SD.

5. Click the "Check for Problems" button.

6. Click 'Fix Selected Problems' and fix only the RED items.

7. REBOOT to finish removing what Spybot SD found and clear memory.


Ad-Aware SE by Lavasoft:

1. Download 'Ad-Aware SE'.

2. Install according to the instructions in? "How To Setup Ad-Aware SE"

3. Next, 'Check for Updates' by clicking on the 'world globe' second from the right at the top of your Ad-Aware SE window.

4. Install the updates.

5. Close ALL windows except Ad-Aware SE.

6. Click on 'Start' and choose 'full scan' for a full scan.

7. Quarantine anything that it finds and SAVE the log file.

8.REBOOT to finish removing what Ad-Aware SE found and clear memory.

Then please post a new HJT log as a reply to this topic.? ?Welcome to PCHF.

To start with I would like you to do this:



Then please post a new HJT log as a reply to this topic.

Cant get into safe mode, it just takes me through windows start up back to the same screen and same options

@Madgamer , One wasn't enough? :-P


@nictaz , try to remove all external hardware that you can and see if the prob is still there. If it is then also try to remove all "unneeded" internal hardware.

It sounds like your boot sector is damaged, do you have your Windows XP CD handy? You can use the recovery console to reapir the boot sector.

If Ntldr is damaged or missing, or if the boot sector is corrupted, you can resolve either problem by using the Recovery Console.

To start the computer and use the Recovery Console to replace the boot sector

1. Insert the Windows XP Professional Setup CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive.
2. Restart the computer. If prompted to press a key to start the computer from the CD-ROM, press the appropriate key.
3. When the text-based part of Setup begins, follow the prompts. Press the R key to repair a Windows XP Professional installation.
4. If you are repairing a system that has more than one operating system installed, from the Recovery Console choose the Windows XP Professional installation that you need to repair.

Note
* If you press ENTER without typing a number, the Recovery Console quits and restarts the computer.
* The Recovery Console might also show valid installations of Windows NT 4.0. However, the results of attempting to access a Windows NT 4.0 installation can be unpredictable.
5. When prompted, type the Administrator password. If you do not have the correct password, or if the security database for the installation of Windows XP Professional that you are attempting to access is corrupted, Recovery Console does not allow access to the local disks and you cannot replace the boot sector.
6. To replace the boot sector, at the Recovery Console command prompt, type:
fixboot [drive:]

Thanks for the prompt replies

Its a windows Xp home system, i have tried booting with this disc in, but same result

If you can get into the recovery console, follow my instructions above and that should sort you out. :-)