Total system crash, first time ever

highchronicles

First i would like to note that my problem is almost exact to this post here

http://icrontic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39430

I just wanted to specify what i did so i can get some help fixing it.

I was looking around at my task manager and looking up different tasks that i didn't know or recognize. I found a few that came up as possible spyware programs hiding as legitimate processes. i found everything was all good but i came across this link http://helpdeskgeek.com/windows-xp-tips/99-ways-to-make-your-computer-blazingly-fast/ and decided to try a few of them out

the tips i tried are the following (please note after my initial problem was done and windows booted up i did a system restore to the day before i tried all this, i had also undone all the startup options i fiddled with. It was after this that i am experiencing my real problem)

5. Speaking of startup programs, many of them are useless and can be turned off. Use the MSCONFIG utility to disable startup programs

7. In Windows XP and Vista, the Windows Search indexing service is turned on for all local hard drives. Turning off indexing is a simple way to increase performance.

8. If you don’t care about all the fancy visual effects in Windows, you can turn them off by going to Performance Options. (i'm leaving most of these off still)

10. Clean your registry by removing broken shortcuts, missing shared DLLs, invalid paths, invalid installer references and more. Read about the 10 best and free registry cleaners. (i'm trying to remember the name of the one i d/led but in my frustration i have forgotten it, will edit if i remember)

21. Disable the XP boot logo to speed up Windows boot time. (this was undone before my system restore)

42. Disable automatic Last Access Timestamp to speed up Windows XP.

74. One basic tweak that can help in performance is to disable error reporting in Windows XP

So what happened after that was my computer would go past the inital boot screen (HD logo, f9 for boot menu f10 for system menu etc.) it would just display a blank screen, i tried hitting F9 and chose the start with the last options that worked. BINGO everything starts up fine and dandy but i'm getting these pop up (program X did not run, program Y did not run) and i have a window that tells me my startup options are messed up. I hit OK and go to MSconfig and have it all set back to default. Then i proceed to do the system restore.

OK if you have read all that, thank you and congrats now we are at the HEART of my problem

So after that i would go through the regular boot up process but the second that the XP logo and load bar show up i get the blue screen of death

"a problem has been detected"
Disable anti-virus, disk defrag, backup utility - run checkdisk/ F
Stop: 0x00000024 (0x00190203, 0x897112B8, 0x00000102, 0x00000000)

I got to the BOIS and did an IDE DPS test but it just finished and that was it (isn't there supposed to be a report screen or something? i was writing this while the test ran so i might have missed it)

So thats where i am

Oh yes of course my computer
intel pent 4 3.2GHz
1.25GB RAM
80GB hard drive
Windows XP OS (i did not get a disc with this computer, yeah i should have asked but that was my stupidity)
video card: Geforce 5700 256MG

if you need anything else just let me know and i'll try and find it out for you. please note i'm not super literate with comps so if anything just go ahead and show me how to find this so we won't waste time

Please note i am in the middle of a job hunt and this is the computer with my resume and basically all the important job hunting stuff on it. I AM DESPERATE TO GET IT FIXED! any help will be greatly appreciated

RichD

Hi there,

Welcome to Icrontic. I have to be honest and say I am struggling to follow what has happened but am I right in saying you had some malware problems that yo cleaned up and you then utilised some of the performance enhancements listed above and now when you boot you get a blue screen of death (BSOD)?

The error sounds to me like a hard disk issue. can you still access windows in safe mode? Do you have the windows XP disk that you used to install the OS?

highchronicles

I thought it was malware but i played it safe and didn't end up touching the files, i looked them up and most of them came up as "this is a microsoft XXX file (licensing, processing etc.) even if it is a virus if you leave it alone you will not be affected only go after them if you are 100% sure that these files are viruses"

I didn't attempt to do anything directly myself so i d/led the registry scanner and had it scanned and cleaned, the only direct thing i did was run my AVG free on those two files but they came up clean (i had updated my AVG just that morning).

i did utilize those tips i listed but consequently restored my system to the day before. (the registry cleaner set a restore point but i did it for the day before that) The only thing i could think of that was different between my shut down the last time it was fine and the last time i shut down before it got all messed up is that i had it set to do a scandisk on boot up. So not only was my computer being restored in this shutdown/boot sequence but it was set to do a scan disk when it started up.

Unfortunately i do not have my windows XP disk, i was going to ask my downstairs neighbor but she is gone for the weekend (its the third day of a long weekend here in canada for anyone that doesn't know lol)

Now i AM going to the computer repair store tomorrow but i'm trying to save money right now. (not working, using this "dead" comp for job hunting) but if i do end up going then i'll make sure to grab the disk from them.

So long as i can at least save a few select files off this comp and stick them on a USB then my mind will be at ease.

i think this is what messed it up (below in bold) but i don't understand because i reset it to default when i shut down before the system restore, these options would have been set to default the day before

5. Speaking of startup programs, many of them are useless and can be turned off. Use the MSCONFIG utility to disable startup programs

when it scomes to BSOD i don't even really see it, the windows logo pops up and them blink blue, blink restart. i saw how to pause this and that is where i was able to copy down this part

"a problem has been detected"
Disable anti-virus, disk defrag, backup utility - run checkdisk/ F
Stop: 0x00000024 (0x00190203, 0x897112B8, 0x00000102, 0x00000000)

RichD

The error ou are suffering from results from a corrupt hard disk. That doesn't mean that your data is lost though. You need to try and get into safe mode or you need a windows disk. once you have these you can get into command prompt and run chkdisk /f on yur C: drive. this may fix corrupt file system.

highchronicles

Can't even get it into safe mode, no command prompt, no last setting that worked, nada. The only part that does work is getting it to choose where to boot from so i guess the boot disk is my only option.

RichD

if you had your original windows cd you could use the recovery options there. without it you are out of luck.

highchronicles

I got it fixed at the shop, turns out the thing was really messed up and i lost all my files. I'm back up and running on my computer but within an hour i've got some HARDCORE spyware, i'm running a scan with superantivirus cause my AVG kept reading the file as clean.

I noticed that i had two processes one fh1.exe (cannot be found when i search for it) and fzyqaa.exe (found and deleted it)

I was surfing around and i got a popup that said flash HD is required for this site, i hit the close button and backed out immediatly but i got a loading bar and a file just d/led on my comp. i scanned it with AVG, clean, so i just deleted it and the prefetch file, now i'm getting popups once every few min. I tried a system restore but at the end it just said the system cannot be restored.

Just and update i'm running a full system scan with avg and its shows viruses left right and center (some of them are showing in the avg files itself) superantivirus only showed one

new update, it scanned found 20, could only fix 10, new scan found 16 more within 1 second of the scan starting.

AlexDeGruven

Since you've already lost your data once, I would recommend doing a flatten and pave install (boot to XP media, completely format the drive, and start from scratch).

Also, if you don't already have one (I imagine you don't if you got hit again so quickly), I can't recommend enough getting a router with a firewall. An unpatched XP machine naked on the Internet is like releasing a naked woman onto a prison yard during exercise hours. Most of the time, a machine like that will get hit long before any significant portion of updates can be applied.

highchronicles

i have a TP-link router for my wireless, i use it cause i really can't run 30feet of network cable from our living room into my room but also because i have all my wireless stuff hooked into it and makes my life easier (xb360, ps3, my roommates use their wii through the router too) Is there a router brand or specific model you might recommend, i'm working on a budget though too so price is an issue for me these days? Sucks but what else can i do lol

AlexDeGruven

If you're running a router, then you should have at least a standard inbound packet filter.

highchronicles

thanks for the tip, i'm going to look that up. i think i need to make a new thread concerning this virus i have. its driving me nuts. Since my first post today i have been dealing with nothing else.