Quote:
Originally Posted by MasterOfMagic
What happens when you reboot with an XP install disk in your drive, exactly?
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The windows installer gave a blue error screen in relation to setupdd.sys with a STOP code of 0xf7416f3e. A buddy of mine researched this online and found it is commonly related to problems with failing hardware (RAM, processor L2, etc).
However that seems strange to both of us cos my computer had performed so far without any real issue or hardware burping at all. So to have the hardware "fail" the same time I get a virus is either a case of extremely bad luck for me or something else. I didn't even get an option to format the hard-drive or mess w/ any windows partitions or anything when I put in the XP install disk.
However, instead of taking it into Geek Squad, some very kick-ass and nice tech people who work at the County Courthouse (my Dad is a Judge) offered to look it over and do what they can with it for free. At worst they say they'll just put in some new parts (which I'll pay 'em for), and at best they think they can bypass all this stuff with Windows not being installed, reformat the HD and give me the comp all clean again.
Either way I'd be starting over with my computer, but I've backed up all the critical stuff and so it'd just be a matter of putting all that back on and getting some of my old programs reinstalled like my Wacom and my art program.
However I STILL might get a new computer. I want one to be 100% offline, and I'm not sure if I will get a new one for that. I found one that seems pretty good and very powerful, like 2-4 times better than the one I have now (my computer that got this trouble was about 3-4 years old). That would be cool cos I could run the newer art programs and maybe work on bigger and more detailed images. Also it'd run games pretty well which is a nice perk.
I'd keep the old one as the 100% online computer, to avoid this virus shit in the future
I tried using restore points, but they didn't work in Safe Mode. I don't know why, seems kinda obnoxious really if your restore points don't even work. I also tried running various Malware removal/searching tools like Malware Bytes and Super Anti-Spyware and neither program would work on my computer in Safe Mode.
However another buddy recommended a program called "Combo Fix" which he said would have done everything, but I got this from him about the time I heard from my Dad in regards to the techies at the Courthouse so I figured I'd just turn the sucker over to them. They're experienced guys and I figure if they can't fix it no one can (at least locally that I know of) and it's a lost cause.