Don't even know where to start

My brother's computer started going really slow the other day. It took forever to boot up and slow when he ran programs too. Doesn't make any sense because it's not even a year old, 3.00 GHz Pentium 4, 1GB RAM. I posted this in the software forum first and TimW suggested that I try removing malware/spyware. I've done that before on my computer, so I knew what I was doing. But in the middle of the Windows Malicious Software Removal scan (I was in Safe Mode too) the computer shut down and restarted and came to the screen where it asks "Sorry for the inconvenience. Windows did not start normally... would you like to start in Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, Last Known Good Configuration, etc" and no matter what I choose it shuts down and restarts in the middle of the boot and comes back to the same screen. Please help. I don't know what to do!

 

Like I said, I can't boot Windows so running any of those programs for scans is not possible. It automatically goes to the screen asking which version to start and then automatically restarts in the booting process.

 

He is running Windows XP and no, the computer did not come with a Windows CD.

 

No, I'm pretty sure he said it didn't come with any disc.

 

I would double check that because that is highly unlikely. But! You can make a boot disk. Do you know how to do that? (I'm assuming no?)

Sorry, let me get a link for you.

Read through this and let us know if you have any questions. http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=305595 Also, I have a feeling that the installation CD is still going to be needed at some point. But hopefully the boot disk will get you back into Windows.

 

Ok I will double check and make sure he doesn't have a disk. Otherwise, I'll keep you updated. Thanks guys and gals.

 

Sorry. He said that when he bought it they told him it doesn't come with any restore disk. So, I don't know if that's possible to make one if I can't even boot up the computer without it shutting down and restarting... but please give me some advice.

 

Before suggesting what I want to...are you an advanced pc user? And is this Home or Pro...SP1 or SP1?

 

I'm pretty good with computers... don't know how to take one apart or assemble one or anything like that but in general yeah I'm pretty good.

 

Is this Home or Pro...SP1 or SP2?

 

Not sure but I think it's Home... and it's pretty new so most likely SP2

 

Can you find out for sure? Sorry, but it matters. If your wrong in your assumption then my idea could land you in a worse situation than you are in now.

 

How can I find out? By the way, my AIM screen name is Strider1722 if that makes this any faster.

 

Doing this defeats the purpose of the forum and you having started this thread in the first place. There are many reasons why it's a bad idea to do this. Let me explain...

- You are limiting yourself to working with one person and no one person knows it all.

- Nothing against krit86lr, there have been situations on many forums where a user takes it private with a member and said member messes up the users computer even worse. This likely could have been avoided had it been kept in the thread b/c the post would have been corrected by a more knowledgeable user or removed completely.

- Others who may have expertise in this area will be hesitant to reply or will not reply at all and it is quite possible that one of those people could have the answer you seek. The old analogy two heads are better than one is quite true.

- Others following this thread out of simple curiosity or to learn more will now be left hanging.

- Members searching for answers to similar issues will not be able to find a resolution in this thread, because....

Get the idea? The members here at MajorGeeks want to help but it's in your best interest to keep the support IN the forum.

 

What brand of computer is it and is it a desktop?

1. You might try removing any extra devices hooked up to the computer, usb, printer, etc. Remove any CD's from drives.

2. If it is a desktop, physically unplug it and let it sit for a little while, plug it back in and try to start.

3. You might also try waiting a few minutes before choosing Safe Mode or Last Known when the boot options screen comes up.

Steve

 

Agreed. Maybe it is unnecessary to post this (I'm not sure), but the convo was very brief.

There isn't any certainty about the OS on the comp.

He said that it's more work than what he wanted to put into it and would rather take it to a shop.

You never know tho, people change their minds.

However, I did suggest that his brother contact the place where he purchased the pc to ask if they will supply a CD incase he can't boot the pc again in the future.

 

Alright everyone. Here's the latest update. We figured out that if you hold on F10 during the boot, it brings you to the System Recovery. So the computer is currently running through that, recovering the C:\ drive. We tried this once before, my brother said he was trying to install some of the drivers, I think the one for his wireless USB device, and it shut down and started doing the same thing as before. So when this second try at restoring is all done, what are the first steps I should take? Start into safe mode and run all the scans that I can?

 

Ok I started doing the scans in safe mode and came up with nothing. Then in order to do the online virus scans, I was going to hook up his netgear wireless usb adapter. So I installed the driver and software, and as soon as I plugged in the adapter a blue screen came up with the message:

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

BAD_POOL_HEADER

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer... etc. etc.

Technical information:
***STOP 0x00000019 (0x00000020, 0x86421DF0, 0x86421E20, 0x1A060006)
Beginning dump of physical memory
Physical memory dump complete.

Alright so it seems like maybe it's just a problem with the wireless adapter. Time to go buy a new adapter?

 

Hello? Can't anyone help me?