Windows XP SP3 Issues After Virus Removal

Software Forum Team,

We finished up in the Malware forum now and my logs are clean so I am ready to see if you have any ideas as to what to try to get XP acting nice again. I am listing below the things that I currently know are having troubles and they really seem to be related to XP registry corruption I am guessing.

1) I cannot get Internet Explorer 7.0 to work and cannot install a fresh IE 7.0 over the top. The installation errors out every time.

2) I cannot get the update waiting for the PC in “Automatic Updates” which is Internet Explorer 8.0 to install. It hangs during the “inspecting configuration” phase of the install package.

3) I tried to reinstall Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) over the top of the current install to try to fix some of the issues that are happening but it will not install. It errors out after getting pretty far along.

4) I tried to install a paid version of a Virus protection software – Symantec Endpoint Protection, and the installation gets to the final step or two and then errors out and reverses the changes made. The message says the installer was interrupted.

5) You cannot run Windows Update manually (although automatic updates are running as I was able to install several of them). I am assuming that this is related to Internet Explorer not working though.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is my 81 year old fathers computer and as soon as I have it back to normal I will be installing an Internet Security product with a good firewall.

Thank you!

Jeff

 

Well first if you are able to install this--->http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=5318
IObit SmartDefrag 2.7.0.1165

Watch the video on the site on how to use it.Lets make sure after doing all the scans and other options that the HDD is defraged so it runs better for the next steps.

 

Hi Jeff,
Just butting in to recommend an all in one security software that is very easy to use and is excellent in protecting your machine!!....

https://www.google.com/url?q=http:/...ds-cse&usg=AFQjCNEoTHNcchkDyEBHpY0tlaDyV0OFyg

i have this on all of my machines and have experienced no issues with infections/viruses/malware. Plus the bonus of it been **free**!!

 

If Windows XP is only running SP2, updates will not happen because support for XP SP2 ended July 13, 2010. That's why step 2 will never work. You can wait but eventually you will get "no updates available".

You keep saying you get errors but without the words and the numbers associated with the errors, we have no clue as to what is going on.
Please post the errors and numbers you see when you try #1 and #3.

 

Thanks for the responses team! Here is an update with more information. I did install the IO SmartDefrag program and the hard drive was fairly fragmented so I did defrag it. It certainly is booting and running better with less errors it seems. Thank you Goldenskull for that download link.

The PC is running Windows XP with SP3 installed. It had quite a bit of Malware and some trojan viruses that I was able to get cleaned up but these are the residual problems that still exist:

1 - I was able to get IE 7 to install over the top of my current IE 7 that does not work and it completed without any errors. I tried opening IE 7 then and it goes to load a "Customize Your Settings" page but the page is blank. IE 7 will not allow you to exit out at all so you have to go into Windows Task Manager to kill it.

2 - Automatic updates are on and it found that IE 8 is available so I tried to load that. It extracts the files and starts the installation but hangs up almost immediately. I have to use Windows Task Manager to kill that as well.

3 - I downloaded XP SP3 to try to install over the top of my current SP3 to see if it would fix my Windows issues. When I ran the installation package it extracted all the files and allowed me to run the Software Update Installation Wizard. It ran for a while and showed some progress on the progress bar and then all of a sudden closed and popped up an error box that said "Service Pack 3 Setup ... An Internal Error Occurred. I clicked OK and then a 2nd error box popped up that stated Service Pack 3 Setup Error - Service Pack 3 Installation did not complete. After clicking OK on that box it went away.

I was able to install Norton 360 Premier Edition now so really the main things I am still having issues with seem to be related to Windows and I would assume some corrupt registry entries.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Jeff

 

Jeff...do you have an xp installation disk to run the repair install option? Looks like a very good option for you here. You won't lose anything but updates, which can easily be re-installed. I really think this could solve all your problems.

I suspect that some elements such as .dlls from Windows Installer or the like were deleted during your malware episode. Repair is very much worth a try...

 

AltBo,

The unit has a restore partition (HP PC Recovery) but no Windows XP installation CDs. The PC Recovery utility says it will not delete data but that you would likely have to reinstall and reconfigure any programs that you have installed. Would that be similar to the regular Windows repair?

I am attaching the Service Pack 3 installation log in case that is helpful as well.

Thanks again!

Jeff

 

Jeff. No, it's not the same thing. From an XP installation disk you can run a "Repair" option that does not remove any of your programs...only XP updates.

Do you have many programs on the PC? If not, restoring from the recovery partition might be a good option for you. I think for most people keeping their files is the main thing, and the option you have would allow for that if I am reading it correctly.

I have an HP DC7700 machine that came with a recovery option and all kinds of associated HP software features. I opted to buy a copy of Windows XP and delete the recovery and backup partitons on the machine in favor of using the installation disk to run a repair in the case of an emergency. I like the repair option enough to go that route, but the recovery partition is sure nice for someone like your father I suppose...