Can't open anything

Well, my luck comes through again, Christmas Day and my computer decides to stop working. Any application I try to open I get an error message from internet explorerer to media player. I get the message

"Windoes cannot access the specified device, path, or file. ou may not have the permissions to access them"

I was just on the thing 5 minutes before it decided to do this...
Is this a hardware issue or a malware issue? The only thing I downloaded was a game update from the publishers site... Any help is very greatly appreciated.

Also, given I can't access anything would it be better to drag files from this computer to that one or to try and do a system restore? If I transfer files onto a flash drive will the flash drive carry whatever is messing my computer up and let it re-attack my computer? thanks.

 

I have had these problems when removing a slave drive that had programs on it, or when adding a user account and deleting the old one. In your case I would venture a guess that it is the game update you installed from the publishers site. What game? How and why did you update it? Have you rebooted? Windows needs a reboot from time to time, especially after installing new software, or updating an existing program, or, if for no other reason, than to refresh the RAM once in a while. Is there something else that makes you believe you are infected with malware other than the reasons you mention?

 

The game was Combat Arms from Nexon. It updates itself automatically as they update the game every month or so. I have restarted it but I recieved the same message.

It lags quite a bit and starts up slower than I would expect for being less than a half year old, although its more likely due to the multi gigs single programs take up, animation and video editing programs take a ton of memory. While at school we're on a network and we've been hit with a so called network virus, according to Trend Micro's dictionary, before and my computer has been freezing up when it shouldn't. I went after it for about 3 hours but im not exactly a tech savvy person so not sure if I got rid of it.

The only other thing I've installed is the ccleaner as suggested in the read this first post on how to speed up the computer. I kinda jump to malware when both my security and internet stops working. Figured if someone was looking to do the most damage to a computer those two would be the first things hit. Take out the guards and any chance of reinforcements...

 

Also, I forgot to mention that when it started Trend Micro classified two files as unknown files, the one I didn't know what it was but the second was windows explorer so maybe it's my security system gone haywire?
The computer is still under warrenty so next chance I get if it can't be fixed to Dell and see what they can do with it.

Do you need the OS? Its an XP. I'm still a newbie at this so I'm not sure all the info you guys need.

Sorry about the double post, just remembered that this morning.

 

A system Restore would probably be the simplest option if a restore point is available. Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore. See if there is a restore point prior to the update or from 12/24.

If everything works. Create a new restore point (called something like "Working Again-Pre-update" to keep confusion down)then try the game update again. This would tell you if the update is at fault.

 

I tried the system restore, I get the same message as I do for everything else. I've tried the system restore before everything refused to work and it couldn't restore no matter which restore point I selected.

 

Did you get the no permission error or "Unable to restore" message. What about safe mode (F8) at boot. Sign in as Administrator and Sys Restore.?

******
Or in safe mode My Computer can you rightclick on C: drive and Properties. Do you see a Security tab? Can you give your user Full Control?

 

On the other hand, we have Windows XP on another PC, will the system restore CD's for that computer work for the computer that isn't working? One is a desktop and the one thats not working is a laptop if that matters.

10 minutes expired... sorry again for the double post.

I got the no permission error now, ill try the admin thing.

 

A restore CD takes you back to factory settings. All programs you added yourself will disappear and have to be reloaded. A laptop restore CD is specific for that PC and has necessary drivers; best to look for that disk if you are considering a factory reset.

 

I talked to the tech support at Dell. I went through safe mode and disbaled all my startup and service options and went through and pinpointed what was causing it: Trend Micro's proxy service and Trend Micro's Firewall. I'm more than a little confused tho, the two have never been an issue before last night and should I be finding something to replace them? I think my computer comes with a firewall, would you suggest using that?