Please help, My computer won't even go into windows xp anymore..

RoyalZealot

well, everything was fine yesterday, i was playing counter-strike when all of a sudden my computer just crashed.

I said "okay" and just restarted my computer. Next thing i know, zone alarm was all out of wack giving me unlimited errors on how "vamon.exe" couldn't be validated, i then looked at my norton anti virus and found out my auto protection was disabled and i couldn't enable it again.

I then lost internet connection and it seemed more and more things just started breaking. My computer then started to restart without warning.

This afternoon, i reinstalled windows xp and i had to restart my computer a couple times cause the installation kept freezing. Well i got it installed and started installing everything then all of a sudden my computer started to restart again. I used anti virus to search my computer and it was clean.

After about 4 random restarts, it won't even go into windows xp anymore.

I'm running memtest as i type this. I got some more ram put into my computer a couple months back, and i remember that after he inserted the ram, he turned on the computer and it was running good, until he touched it and it randomly restarted. He then kinda hit the computer and it worked again.
he said "there must have been something loose"

Please, can someone help me? i have been trying to fix my computer the whole day and nothing seems to work.

(i'm on my fathers computer)

RoyalZealot

I'm thinking about running the sasser repair file. But i'm not sure how i'm supposed to run it because i can't get into windows.
Do you think i can just put it on a floppy and boot it up?

thanks for your help in advance guys! lol i'm hoping to get knowledgeable in computers so i can help people on these forums for a change.

profdlp

RoyalZealot wrote:

...Next thing i know, zone alarm was all out of wack giving me unlimited errors on how "vamon.exe" couldn't be validated...

Did you mean vsmon.exe? That file is part of zone alarm. The reason I ask is that some viruses masquerade behind a file name similar to something you're used to seeing all the time. The fact that your Norton has been disabled is not a good sign, either. I'd try booting from the NAV CD and running a virus scan.

As far as banging on the computer and having it start working, I'd say it might be a good time to check all your connections, reseat your memory, video card, and any other cards you have installed, and check to make sure that the MB isn't shorting out against the case (or anything else).

It would be a good idea to run a Hard Drive test, too. A failing drive can cause all sorts of errors, since Windows can't find the files it needs to start itself and your other programs. You can download a diagnostic program from your HD manufacturers website.

Can you get into Safe Mode?

RoyalZealot

yes, i can get into safe mode. I also did a virus scan before when i could access windows. Nothing came up. oh and yes, it was vsmon.

I'm sorry, i'm just pretty flustered about this situation.

muddocktor

See what make of hard drive you have in your computer and then to to the manufacturer's webiste and dlownload and run their diagnostics program. I've seen that kind of stuff happen with a failing hard drive before. It sounds like clusters are being dropped on the hard drive at a fast rate to me.

RoyalZealot

My father just recommended that i check the bios file to make sure it didn't get changed with all the restarts.

RoyalZealot

The memtest has been running for about 1 hour now, i looked at it and the same numbers and letters are appearing. Did it crash?

As i recall, when i first started to run it, new numbers and letters appearing.

profdlp

Does memtest refer to errors? Or just the hex memory range being tested?

RoyalZealot

it just got finished, i was watching the game when it just restarted and its doing the test all over again. should i stop it?

profdlp

If it's started the second pass you can stop. Were there any errors?

RoyalZealot

okay, it boot up into windows but this error keeps popping up,

"validation failed for c:\windows\system32\usutil.dll"

RoyalZealot

no, they're wasn't any errors. I'm guessing if there was some, it would have alerted me of it.

well i went into the system 32 folder, and i noticed alot of suspicious looking folders. There were some where the name were a bunch of squares, and right when i went into the folder, it crashed my computer.

I don't get it

profdlp

RoyalZealot wrote:

okay, it boot up into windows but this error keeps popping up,

"validation failed for c:\windows\system32\usutil.dll"

Could that be vsutil.dll? That's another part of Zone Alarm.

Before I got my router I used Zone Alarm and was pretty happy with it. My one complaint would be that if it got messed up (and it did several times), I would have to uninstall it and clean any references to it out of the registry.

I would try doing that in Safe Mode and try again. But first - Do that Hard Drive test!

RoyalZealot

a couple of people told me its a virus. I'm doing a clean format of my C: drive and just gonna reinstall xp.

cradlecorpse

i see its a old thread but here is your solution. I had the same problem and followed these steps i found.

http://www.dental.umaryland.edu/dentaloffices/it/VPN/ZoneAlarm.htm


Uninstalling Zone Labs "Zone Alarm" or "Zone Alarm Pro"

SUMMARY

I’m getting a validation failed message with filename.dll
or
When I load Integrity it still runs Zone Alarm / Zone Alarm Pro
or
When I re-boot Zone Alarm displays a registration page for Zone Alarm not Integrity

SOLUTION

Please choose the directions for your operating and make sure you complete all three steps.

In order to protect our software client from being tampered with, we sign our dll’s. Every time a dll is loaded, we check if it has our certificate.

In order to do certificate checking, the machine needs to have a root certificate on it. If the root certificate in missing, we can’t validate the dll and the client will not start.

We have determined that on systems with a validation error the root certificates were missing.

The Zone Labs client has 100% nothing to do with any kind of certificate removals and we can only assume that something malicious has removed them from effected machines.

The following 4 STEPS will fix your system if followed very closely.


STEP1: UNINSTALL ZONEALARM
Please follow the steps below to manually uninstall ZoneAlarm from your system. Please make sure to follow the steps for whichever operating system you may have. After ZoneAlarm is uninstalled, please make sure you have all of the Windows Updates installed and run a complete virus scan on your system to make sure there is not a virus on the system. You can run a free virus scan from the link below.

http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx

==============
Windows 2000/XP
==============
01.) Restart your computer
02.) When you see the screen go black and it starts booting back up keep tapping the "F8" key (at the top of your keyboard)
03.) This should bring up a menu. Choose Safe Mode off the menu by using the arrow keys on the keyboard to highlight Safe Mode and press Enter
04.) If you get a message asking to go to Safe Mode, choose Yes. If you get a help and support window, close this.
05.) Once you are at the desktop, Click Start, My Computer
06.) Click Tools, Folder Options, View Tab
07.) Place a dot next to "Show Hidden Files and Folders"
08.) Remove the check from "Hide Protected Operating System Files (Recommended)"
09.) Choose Yes to the warning
10.) Click OK
11.) Double click C:

Note: In the future steps if you do not see any files or folders, please click the "Show Files" link to view them.

12.) Double Click the Program Files Folder
13.) Right Click the Zone Labs Folder, click Delete, and choose Yes
14.) Close this window
15.) Click Start, My Computer
16.) Double Click the C:
17.) Double Click the Windows Folder (It may say WinNT if you have Windows 2000)
18.) Right Click the Internet Logs Folder, click Delete, and choose Yes
19.) Double Click the System32 Folder
20.) Right Click the Zone Labs Folder, click Delete, and choose Yes
21.) Right Click the file Vsdatant.sys, click Delete, and choose Yes
22.) Right Click the file VSUtil.dll, click Delete, and choose Yes
23.) Right Click the file VSInit.dll, click Delete, and choose Yes
24.) Restart the computer.

==================================================
============
Windows 98/ME
============
01.) Click Start, Run
02.) In the Run box type in MSConfig
03.) Click OK
04.) Click the Advanced Button
05.) Place a check in Enable Startup Menu
06.) Click OK, then OK again
07.) Restart your computer
08.) Upon restart choose Safe Mode off the menu by using the arrow keys on the
keyboard and pressing Enter
09.) Once in Safe Mode close the help and support screen
10.) Double Click My Computer
11.) Click View, Folder Options, View Tab
12.) Place a dot next to "Show Hidden Files and Folders" or “Show All Files”
13.) Remove the check from "Hide Protected Operating System Files (Recommended)"
14.) Choose Yes to the warning
15.) Click OK
16.) Double click "C:"

Note: In the future steps if you do not see any files or folders, please click the
"Show Files" link to view them.

17.) Double Click the Program Files Folder
18.) Right Click the Zone Labs Folder, click Delete, and choose Yes
19.) Close this window
20.) Click Start, My Computer
21.) Double Click the C:
22.) Double Click the Windows Folder
23.) Right Click the Internet Logs Folder, click Delete, and choose Yes
24.) Double Click the System Folder
25.) Click View, Details
26.) Right Click the Zone Labs Folder, click Delete, and choose Yes
27.) Right Click the file VSData95.VxD, click Delete, and choose Yes
28.) Right Click the file VSUtil.dll, click Delete, and choose Yes
29.) Right Click the file VSInit.dll, click Delete, and choose Yes
30.) Close this window
31.) Click Start, Run
32.) In the Run box type in RegEdit
33.) Click OK
34.) Click the + next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
35.) Click the + next to SYSTEM
36.) Click the + next to CurrentControlSet
37.) Click the + next to Services
38.) Click the + next to VxD
39.) Highlight the "VSData95" folder
40.) Press Delete, click Yes
41.) close the registry Editor
42.) Click Start, Run
43.) In the Run box type in MSConfig
44.) Click OK
45.) Click the Advanced Button
46.) Remove check in Enable Startup Menu
47.) Click OK, then OK again
48.) Restart your computer



STEP 2: FIX THE ROOT CERTIFICATES ON YOUR SYSTEM
Open Your browser and navigate to the following URL.
Once at the web page follow the directions to reset your root certificates.

https://getca.verisign.com/

STEP 3: DOWNLOAD AND REINSTALL INTEGRITY

Once the installer has been downloaded to your desktop you can double click on the installer to install the software back on your computer.

NOTE: If you receive the Validation errors again proceed to STEP 4.


STEP 4: RUN BACKUP ROOT CERTIFICATE REPAIR UTILITY
Open your browser and navigate to the following URL.
You will need to download the file and SAVE it to your desktop. Once downloaded double click on the program on your desktop to repair your root certificates.

http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3/static/trustedr/en/rootsupd.exe


Follow directions in STEP3 to install ZoneAlarm.

I hope this will help others down the road that have this same problem like i did.

Leonardo

Good research, Cradlecorpse. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

cradlecorpse

Actually it wasnt to research intensive. I did a google search dont recall what words i used, but it had to do with that same issue. The first to websights were deleted zone alarm websight post. The second was this sight and that same problem i was having. The forth site was the websight with all the info on how to remove zone alarm manualy.