windows shut down

I'm helping a friend with their computer. They have a situation where the computer shuts down as soon as it comes up. The message is "This shutdown was initiated by NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM" , and "Windows must now restart because the REmote Procxedure Call (RPC) service terminated unexpectedly." It's Windows XP, on a Compaq. AMD Anthlon processor, 33 gig mem. speed? no clue right now

 

thought it might be that

so I'll download it off of this lap top and transfer it there under safe mode and see if that helps. thanks

 

but...

the problem is that we can't get the internet up and running on that computer. the computer won't up long enough to run the net. It gives you 30 seconds to close and then restarts. So how to fix it? If anyone can remember what virus might do that, I can find the fix for it on Tech TV or somewhere else, download it to a floppy, and then install it on the infected/corrupted computer. thanks for all the help, guys. this site is still great.

 

you can get on the net without the system shuting down by doing the following :

Start -> Run -> services.msc
Find Remote Procedure Call (RPC) and then, right click on it and go to properties.

Then, navigate to the "Recovery" tab.

Then, change the first option to "Restart the service", and the other two to "Take no action"

This will stop your computer from restarting while you are downloading the update. However this still means you have the virus, so get the update and removal tool (which is available here actually) ASAP

Symantec Blaster Removal Tool
Another removal tool


EDIT : its the blaster worm, if you go to the windows update website you should get a whole loada thingamies saying "uurgh, youre not protected, quick, get this update!!" etc. etc. If you use the above method, you wont need your floppy disk

 

blasted

Thanks, guys. It was the blaster worm. I was able to change the RPC settings, and get the worm removed, and the updates downloaded onto the computer, and the RPC patch repair from Microsoft in place. Now it seems to be working great again. At least I hope so. The computer is about 60 miles away from here, so I have to wait until the call today to let me know if it's still okay.