random reboots and missing files

Hi, My dad is having serious problems with his computer. I've tried to do all the things I know with no results and it's getting worse. (He has xp)
THe problem started with random reboots several times a day, now it reboots about every 10 minutes or more. I scanned for viruses with AVG yesterday with no viruses found but i didn't check for updates first. Also I ran adaware and deleted some things it found I tried to run some other spyware programs he had on the computer but they wouldn't work, I got missing file messeages and lots of reboots. I uninstalled spywareblaster and some other spyware programs he had and downloaded spybot, was able to run it and fix some problems it found. I got updates for AVG but when I tried to scan for viruses I get some missing file error messages. I downloaded it again from different places, reinstalled it several times with the same results. Then I downloaded AVAST (?) installed, checked for updates and when I tried to scan I get the same kinds of missing file messages. Every time it reboots and runs check disk it finds missing or bad files.

I tried to run the virus scan in safe mode but still got the same missing file errors.

Does this sound like a virus? What do I so now??
Any help appreciated!

 

My initial reaction is that you need to repair XP. It's a reasonably uncomplicated thing to do and one of the clever people on here gave a graphic description of how to go about it but for the life of me I can't find the article. Doubtless the Geek concerned will read this idc and come to your rescue.
That said it's very important to keep your AV program current (I check Avast at least once per week) and also adAware and Spybot.
In your case however I think the start point is Repair XP but even before you do that it would be a good idea to scan disk if you are able to. You might have an unwell hard drive.
Hope this helps and also that some more advice flows in to you.
Regards
Robert

 

Next chance you get to run scan disk, do the surface check this will let you know if you have bad sectors physically and not just bad software.

 

Thanks for the input about this. Apparently after I left his house last night, my brother turned it back on and messed with it until it won't even boot up. I think part of his problem is that so many people meddle with his
computer. ARRRRRRGh! The only thing I know for sure my brother did with it was to unplug the cable modem.

I haven't a clue how to proceed, my dad will probably just say the heck with it and go buy a new one.
Do you have any good suggestions where to start to recover this one or is it a lost cause now? He doesn't have the original software for windows, it just came with the computer and they wouldn't give us a disk.

 

Will the BIOS post and can you access it?

If you can, check to see if it's reading the hard drives.

 

My DH can get it to boot now, took off the wireless mouse and used a different kind and now things are running without the random reboots so far but there is still a problem with installing any software. He downloaded mozilla okay but when installing it gets a missing or corrupted file message. This is the same problem I had with the Anti virus softwares. Could this missing and corrupted files problem be a virus??

There is a restore disk with the computer and we will probably just use that to start over fresh. Is there any reason to continue to trouble shoot?
Thanks for all help. I don't know a lot but I know you guys are the best.

 

Sounds like you have a bad Windows Installer file. I had a similar problem recently with Win98 and had to download and replace my installer files. Someone here should be able to help you with that. I would but I'm not sure what the file names are in XP.

 

tigerray00, what part of this problem would make it sound like a bad installer fiile???

If you aren't sure, its better just to say, Hey, I don 't know for sure! Misleading advice can be as bad, or worse, than the problem.

A Windows installer problem in any OS will do one thing--stop programs from installing.

As for the random reboots, I don't have an answer, but the first step is to stop the reboots, and reveal the error.

Right click My Computer, Properties.

Go to advanced tab, choose settings under Startup and Recovery.

Under system failure, uncheck automatic restart.

Click apply, and ok, all the way out.

Next time a major failure happens, there will be a blue screen error.

Write everything down, and post it here, word for word.

You will have to manually restart the computer at that point.

 

Sorry, Adrynalyne, I thought he meant the reboot problem stopped and he was just having trouble installing.

 

Don't apologize. I'm just trying to help people like everyone else here.

I may have misunderstood what you were referring to. I apologize as well.

 

thanks all for your suggestions, i will check the start up and recovery settings and see what happens......

 

I changed the settings and worked on the computer for a few hours with no reboots! yeah!! BUT, there are still problems...I tried to run scan disk but got messages about missing or unaccessable files....same as with any virus scan I have tried....
I think we are just going to start over with a new hardisk since we have one and all data is backed up. What should I do with the old one?
thanks for all help!

 

You sure you just want to start over?

As for the old one, most people will format it, and slave it for extra data storage.

 

there is a windows restore disk for his computer. I guess we will use that to start over and use it for the back up drive. Should we reformat the hard disk first? I never got scan disk to run so should I suspect a problem with the disk? FYI, I finally got a virus scan to run from Panda and found no viruses.
thanks all for helping me with this.

 

I would reformat first, yes.