Randon Posted July 3, 2005 CID Share Posted July 3, 2005 I'm trying to help my sister fix her Dell laptop... She was downloading spybot to her laptop, and now it's all messed up. It just keeps rebooting. It will only go to the main screen, and then will shut down and reboot. It will just keep doing this over and over. I assume something must have went wrong with her spybot thing, but I can't even get into the programs thing to delete or fix anything. I can get it to go into safemode...but all of those options seem to be doing nothing. It's running XP ...any suggestions... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cak46 Posted July 3, 2005 CID Share Posted July 3, 2005 Do you get a message saying something like "Your machinge is going to shut down in 30 seconds" from the NT/Authority/System and mentions the lsass.exe process? If you do, you kost likely have a variant of the Sasser virus. Download stinger from McAfee and run this in safe mode. Here is the link.... http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Posted July 3, 2005 CID Share Posted July 3, 2005 Once you get it fixed, you should tell her to run anti-spyware program regularly, like Lavasoft Ad-aware SE, Spybot Search & Destroy, or Microsoft Anti-Spyware, or all three. Running them once a month at least should keep her laptop working properly. I run mine around every two weeks, and my computer runs pretty well (despite it being a pretty crappy computer in the first place ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cholla Posted July 3, 2005 CID Share Posted July 3, 2005 Hi Randon:Go to safe mode try to uninstall the spybot program.Then reinstall it .Your sister should have saved the install program when she Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randon Posted July 4, 2005 Author CID Share Posted July 4, 2005 Hi Cholla...nice to hear from you again I can't get anything to work on the safe mode...I've tried all the different options in safemode,and it doesn't do anything. It doesn't give me any type of messages...just starts to load windows, and then shuts down and reboots...no messages. I don't think she has the spybot on a disk, I think she downloaded it from the internet???? Not sure...so she wouldn't have the disk to uninstall it???? I only get on here once in a while since I'm back in Pennsylvania on vacation...but I'll check back tomorrow...thanks.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cholla Posted July 4, 2005 CID Share Posted July 4, 2005 Hi Randon Good to hear from you .I thought in the start of the topic you could get into safe mode with the laptop.I 'm not as good with XP since I don't have it.She should try to uninstall it anyway. Sometimes with a bad download the uninstall doesn't work correctly either & you end up with an incomplete uninstall.I meant when you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resijs Posted July 4, 2005 CID Share Posted July 4, 2005 My bet is a corrupt important system process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitbull481 Posted July 4, 2005 CID Share Posted July 4, 2005 best thing to do REFORMAT your sis laptop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randon Posted July 5, 2005 Author CID Share Posted July 5, 2005 How do you "reformat" the laptop? I thought it was XP...but it's actually Windows 2000 Professional. What it's doing is loading the windows page, the shuts down, reboots, and then freezes while loading the windows page...EVERY time. Cholla....I went into safemode, and did safemode networking, but it doesn't do anything...still shuts down and reboots. She DOES have the disk, so today I will try to load it and uninstall it. In the safe mode, I have tried every option on there, networking, command prompt, last known good configuration, boot normally...all of them do the same thing...shut back down and reboot. How can I get past all that, to get into programs to delete that, or will that automatically pull up when I put that disk back in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cholla Posted July 5, 2005 CID Share Posted July 5, 2005 Randon : A reformat is basically a new install.You may lose some or all of any stored information or programs on the hard drive.It will give you a new clean windows.But I have some other things to try first.I had to find some information on Windows 2000 it does have some simularities to XP.First we need to get it stable enough to not shut down & reboot continously. If you are unable to start your computer, you can run the Recovery Console from your Windows 2000 Setup disks, or from the Windows 2000 Professional CD (if you can start your computer from your CD drive). You may have to go into the BIOS & select CDROM as the primary start. In this link It shows more on using Recovery. Read & try the fixboot &fixmbr you will find in the link. http://www.usbfireinfo.com/windowsnetworking/regusers/wxprcons.htm The Windows 98 boot disk might let you do some DOS commands if the above doesn't help. http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm There are also setup disks for 2000 & a make boot disk if you can download them with another PC. The link below gives information in using SFC in windows 2000 .If you can get to a command prompt even the one with the 98 startup disk.When you use it C: may not be the hard drive letter test D: &E: Test the letter by typing dir /w/p by each drive letter this will give you the directory of that drive. You need to find the regular C: directory of your hard drive. You change the drive letters in DOS by typing the new letter followed by a colon & hitting enter.Example A:>C: try to go to windows if C: or the letter of your hard drive doesn't have SFC /scannow. Example C:>cdwindows http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;222471 It wouldn't hurt to check this too. I have a question, did she recently drop the laptop (it happens often). If so a connection or stick of memory may be loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netmasta Posted July 6, 2005 CID Share Posted July 6, 2005 I have a question, did she recently drop the laptop (it happens often). If so a connection or stick of memory may be loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FallowEarth Posted July 6, 2005 CID Share Posted July 6, 2005 Pitbull's right about the formatting bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randon Posted July 6, 2005 Author CID Share Posted July 6, 2005 She gave me the spybot disk...but I can't even get it to run...it'll make sounds as if it's trying to load, but then does that shut down/reboot thing. I'm not sure if she has an original disk for the Windows or not...here's the kicker..and I'm sure you'll say "what was she thinking"...she bought it off E-bay for 350.00. Beings that is how she got it...I'm thinking there is no chance of having the original disk....but I'll ask. She bought it off a private party, about 6 months, and is just now getting around to using it. It worked for about a month,then started this. I know, I know...who in their right mind would buy a used computer from E-bay...but I guess she didn't know any better. I'll ask her tonight if she has the disk.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cholla Posted July 6, 2005 CID Share Posted July 6, 2005 Randon: Forget about the spybot disk for now.I am just going to assume that she doesn't have the origional disk so going to recovery is probably not going to be possible.At least if it can be accessed another way I don't know how. After you open the case & look for loose RAM or anything that looks loose or broken.Try to remove the RAM stick (VERY CAREFULLY) if you don't feel comfortable doing that don't for now. Then make sure the RAM feels tight in its socket.You need to make sure the PC is off & ground yourself to the chassis to something metal in it before touching the RAM stick.If ther doesn't seem to be anything wrong put the case back togather. Since you probably won't have an origional instalation disk the best thing to do would be to buy an XP home edition ,install it, & loose any data in the laptop.That being said if you still want to try to use it with the windows 2000 in it.Then read my post before this one .You will need a PC that you can connect to the internet with.Download the win 98 start up disk so you can get into DOS & maybe run the FixMBR read the MS link I put in about this.You will also need to DL the setup disks from the link so you can try them.I'm not sure just how these work. You are going to need to get into DOS unless the setup disks help you use recovery.Read the links in my last post they should tell you how to do some of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sintar Posted July 6, 2005 CID Share Posted July 6, 2005 Heres my take. sounds like a corrupt NTLDR or a registry problem my suggestion would be to try and install windows over the old copy alot of the time this will fix the problem you also keep all installed software and most settings i havent found a way to fix this problem yet i have had this happen several times so far mostly on dell computers so i found it intresting that this is a dell laptop the only other systems other than dell i found that have had this problem is a Toshiba A35-1591 the others have been a Dell optiplex gx 260, Dell optiplex gx 270, Dell insp 5100 series, Dell Deminsion 5100 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cak46 Posted July 7, 2005 CID Share Posted July 7, 2005 Randon: Forget about the spybot disk for now.I am just going to assume that she doesn't have the origional disk so going to recovery is probably not going to be possible.At least if it can be accessed another way I don't know how. After you open the case & look for loose RAM or anything that looks loose or broken.Try to remove the RAM stick (VERY CAREFULLY) if you don't feel comfortable doing that don't for now. Then make sure the RAM feels tight in its socket.You need to make sure the PC is off & ground yourself to the chassis to something metal in it before touching the RAM stick.If ther doesn't seem to be anything wrong put the case back togather. Since you probably won't have an origional instalation disk the best thing to do would be to buy an XP home edition ,install it, & loose any data in the laptop.That being said if you still want to try to use it with the windows 2000 in it.Then read my post before this one .You will need a PC that you can connect to the internet with.Download the win 98 start up disk so you can get into DOS & maybe run the FixMBR read the MS link I put in about this.You will also need to DL the setup disks from the link so you can try them.I'm not sure just how these work. You are going to need to get into DOS unless the setup disks help you use recovery.Read the links in my last post they should tell you how to do some of this. If she doesn't have the original disks, she can contact the manufacturer of the laptop and request replacement disks. She will need serial numbers and such, and may pay a fee, but its worth it to have the disks in the long run. Got the disks for an older ME HP machine for about 30 bucks. Op. sys and preinstalled software recovery disks. Good investment and save you a good amount of bucks. What is the model of laptop that she has from Dell? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randon Posted July 8, 2005 Author CID Share Posted July 8, 2005 I only have a couple more days here...I think I will try and take her laptop back home with me, and maybe be able to work on it, while connected to my internet at home. I asked her, and she doesn't have any original disk....it just came "as is". Cholla...I will try to take it apart and look for the RAM thing...I'm not exactly sure how to take a laptop apart...but how hard can it be....????? I'll let you know how I do..thanks so much... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FallowEarth Posted July 8, 2005 CID Share Posted July 8, 2005 I tried to find a guide on the net for working with RAM in laptops, but I couldn't bring anything up. Ok, laptop Ram sticks are VERY finicky. You have to be careful when working with them because they are much more fragile than normal DIMM sticks. You will want to remove the power supply AND the battery before touching them. Basically, there will be a little hatch on the back/bottom of the laptop where you can access the RAM sticks. On either side of the stick are little catch releases. Once these are released, the stick will pop out a little bit. Try to angle it up and pull out at the same time (very gently) to remove the stick. Check it for imperfections. Put it back in on a bit of an angle and apply some gentle pressure to ensure that the connectors are in all the way. Once the connectors are fully in, push the RAM stick back down to the catches. It will click into place. Make sure that the catches on both sides are in place by pushing down gently right next to them. Replace the cover, battery and power supply, in that order. When Windows boots back up, check the system properties (right-click on my computer, click properties) to ensure that all RAM has been registered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cholla Posted July 8, 2005 CID Share Posted July 8, 2005 Randon on the RAM at first Just look & see if its clipped Or locked in place securley.FallowEarths instructions for checking it are good.Since she doesn't have any origional disks try & download some of the disks at the links in my previous posts.Specially the 4 setup disks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cak46 Posted July 8, 2005 CID Share Posted July 8, 2005 Cholla: Here is a deinately clean set of boot disks: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=E8FE6868-6E4F-471C-B455-BD5AFEE126D8&displaylang=en Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cholla Posted July 8, 2005 CID Share Posted July 8, 2005 cak46 : I checked the link to MS out.Unless I missed something those disks are for XP home edition.Thats what Randon thought it was at first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cak46 Posted July 9, 2005 CID Share Posted July 9, 2005 cak46 : I checked the link to MS out.Unless I missed something those disks are for XP home edition.Thats what Randon thought it was at first but it turned out to be Windows 2000 pro. So Randon before you download the disks in cak46's link he can let you know if those will work . my stupid And I actually read the posts. Must be getting senile.... :haha: Haven't tried it but am tied up tonite. I downloaded the disks and will try it out on this virused up POS I've been working on for 2 weeks. Will let you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sintar Posted July 9, 2005 CID Share Posted July 9, 2005 Hey, whats going on on dell laptops if you flip the laptop over there is a access pannel for the RAM on the bottom slightly off center, There will be a chip on the access pannel. Depenending on the model there will be one or two screws open that pannel REMEMBER TO GROUND YOUR SELF BEFORE TOUCHING ANY CHIPS there will be 1 to 4 slots depending on the model of laptop to remove these chips there are two clips on each side of of the sodimm's some are horizontal insertion some are 45 deg insertion. if you remove the clips and the module slightly pops up then it is a 45 deg insertion module these need to be inserted into the sodimm socket at a 45 deg angle to the board the contacts should not be showing more than 1/16th of a inch after that run memtest86 to verify that the ram is good and addressable memtest86 will write then read patterns to the ram let it run though 5 tests *this can take a while* IF pass then the ram is fine and it is a problem with windows install or something else IF fail then ram is bad or incorrectly seated *some laptops have two different places for ram mostly Compaq and HP laptops -Sintar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cak46 Posted July 9, 2005 CID Share Posted July 9, 2005 Hey, whats going on on dell laptops if you flip the laptop over there is a access pannel for the RAM on the bottom slightly off center, There will be a chip on the access pannel. Depenending on the model there will be one or two screws open that pannel REMEMBER TO GROUND YOUR SELF BEFORE TOUCHING ANY CHIPS there will be 1 to 4 slots depending on the model of laptop to remove these chips there are two clips on each side of of the sodimm's some are horizontal insertion some are 45 deg insertion. if you remove the clips and the module slightly pops up then it is a 45 deg insertion module these need to be inserted into the sodimm socket at a 45 deg angle to the board the contacts should not be showing more than 1/16th of a inch after that run memtest86 to verify that the ram is good and addressable memtest86 will write then read patterns to the ram let it run though 5 tests *this can take a while* IF pass then the ram is fine and it is a problem with windows install or something else IF fail then ram is bad or incorrectly seated *some laptops have two different places for ram mostly Compaq and HP laptops -Sintar Sounds about right to me.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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