From: Sohail on
Hi All,

I am having a problem running win XP on my HP Presario notebook.
Everything was fine until I tried to scan my system for root-kits
using regrun reanimator program. It asked me to restart now as it will
check for those root-kits at next restart.

Now the system starts up, win XP logo screen with progress bar comes
up and then the next screen comes up which is supposed to be the login
dialog. But, here, nothing comes up. only the mouse cursor is there
that can be moved. keyboard is not active, I have to use power button
to shut down.

I have searched many discussion threads and used all the schemes from
safemode and other startup options, to setup CD based repair of
windows. But, all result into the same blank screen with a movable
mouse cursor and that's all.

The last thing, that comes to mind is some problem because of that
reanimator software. I have used its earlier .exe versions and they
did do a good, smooth job. But the latest version actually installs on
the system.

Another clue, may or may not be of use, is that even before trying
anti-root-kit action by reanimator, I tried opening my simple text
file that I used to write few comments. It didn't open up in notepad
while in the process explorer, I could see the instance of notepad
running.

Thanks for your expert advice in advance.
From: PA Bear [MS MVP] on
Is WinXP SP3 installed?

Is KB979559 installed?

What anti-virus application or security suite is installed and is your
subscription current? What anti-spyware applications (other than Defender)?
What third-party firewall (if any)?

Has a(nother) Norton or McAfee application ever been installed on the
computer?

Did a Norton or McAfee free-trial come preinstalled on the computer when you
bought it? (Doesn't matter if you never used or Activated it.)


Sohail wrote:
> I am having a problem running win XP on my HP Presario notebook.
> Everything was fine until I tried to scan my system for root-kits
> using regrun reanimator program. It asked me to restart now as it will
> check for those root-kits at next restart.
>
> Now the system starts up, win XP logo screen with progress bar comes
> up and then the next screen comes up which is supposed to be the login
> dialog. But, here, nothing comes up. only the mouse cursor is there
> that can be moved. keyboard is not active, I have to use power button
> to shut down.
>
> I have searched many discussion threads and used all the schemes from
> safemode and other startup options, to setup CD based repair of
> windows. But, all result into the same blank screen with a movable
> mouse cursor and that's all.
>
> The last thing, that comes to mind is some problem because of that
> reanimator software. I have used its earlier .exe versions and they
> did do a good, smooth job. But the latest version actually installs on
> the system.
>
> Another clue, may or may not be of use, is that even before trying
> anti-root-kit action by reanimator, I tried opening my simple text
> file that I used to write few comments. It didn't open up in notepad
> while in the process explorer, I could see the instance of notepad
> running.
>
> Thanks for your expert advice in advance.

From: Sohail on
On Jul 28, 10:53 am, "PA Bear [MS MVP]" <PABear...(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> Is WinXP SP3 installed?

It is winXP SP2 that I have been using.


> Is KB979559 installed?

I don't think so...but will check again...by the way, what it is all
about

>
> What anti-virus application or security suite is installed and is your
> subscription current?  What anti-spyware applications (other than Defender)?
> What third-party firewall (if any)?

I have simple AVG 8.5 installed and has updated virus definitions. No
third party firewalls other than Windows.

>
> Has a(nother) Norton or McAfee application ever been installed on the
> computer?
>
> Did a Norton or McAfee free-trial come preinstalled on the computer when you
> bought it? (Doesn't matter if you never used or Activated it.)

No
From: Twayne on
In news:d3534541-11ac-4c58-9a4c-17137fbab3e0(a)x24g2000pro.googlegroups.com,
Sohail <sohail9697(a)yahoo.com> typed:
> Hi All,
>
> I am having a problem running win XP on my HP Presario
> notebook. Everything was fine until I tried to scan my
> system for root-kits using regrun reanimator program. It
> asked me to restart now as it will check for those
> root-kits at next restart.
>
> Now the system starts up, win XP logo screen with progress
> bar comes up and then the next screen comes up which is
> supposed to be the login dialog. But, here, nothing comes
> up. only the mouse cursor is there that can be moved.
> keyboard is not active, I have to use power button to shut
> down.
>
> I have searched many discussion threads and used all the
> schemes from safemode and other startup options, to setup
> CD based repair of windows. But, all result into the same
> blank screen with a movable mouse cursor and that's all.
>
> The last thing, that comes to mind is some problem because
> of that reanimator software. I have used its earlier .exe
> versions and they did do a good, smooth job. But the latest
> version actually installs on the system.
>
> Another clue, may or may not be of use, is that even before
> trying anti-root-kit action by reanimator, I tried opening
> my simple text file that I used to write few comments. It
> didn't open up in notepad while in the process explorer, I
> could see the instance of notepad running.

Did you switch to Notepad to see if it had your file open? Sometimes loading
it up takes a very long time for things lke this.

"A useful software for removing Trojans/Adware/Spyware and some of the
rootkits", so that's actually an admittedly weak program for root kits
anyway.

Overall it sounds like corrupted files are the problem and if files were
corrupted when you ran that program, the corruption may have gotten worse.
Or not, who knows? You should probably re-image or Restore from backup your
boot drive right about now, and fix any problems with it before going after
other problems.
> Thanks for your expert advice in advance.

How long are you waiting before you decide nothing is happenng?
That's a screen that sometimes can take a long time to complete. Give it
a good 3 minutes of iniactivity before you decide it's crashed; leave the
mouse alone for the duration.
What does Task Manager show w/r to anything named for the program?


HTH,

Twayne`


From: Sohail on
>
> Did you switch to Notepad to see if it had your file open? Sometimes loading
> it up takes a very long time for things lke this.

I had seen notepad process in process explorer (utility for task
manager) but it didn't show up on screen. the file size is very small.

>
> "A useful software for removing Trojans/Adware/Spyware and some of the
> rootkits", so that's actually an admittedly weak program for root kits
> anyway.
>
> Overall it sounds like corrupted files are the problem and if files were
> corrupted when you ran that program, the corruption may have gotten worse..
> Or not, who knows? You should probably re-image or Restore from backup your
> boot drive right about now, and fix any problems with it before going after
> other problems.

I don't have a backup image separately on other storage media and the
windows setup / restore had been used but to no luck.

>
> > Thanks for your expert advice in advance.
>
> How long are you waiting before you decide nothing is  happenng?
>    That's a screen that sometimes can take a long time to complete. Give it
> a good 3 minutes of iniactivity before you decide it's crashed; leave the
> mouse alone for the duration.

I had waited for more than 3 minutes though not at the first time.


> What does Task Manager show w/r to anything named for the program?

Now, there is nothing that can be seen askeyboard actions are not
operational and thus Task manager cannot be viewed.

It looks as if I have to do a clean re-install...

>
> HTH,
>
> Twayne`- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -