Windows XP Recovery

Hey Crossfire!

I require some assistance here ;p
My uncle had a trojan on his laptop and he asked me to remove it. I found it and put it into quarantine.
Just to be sure I wanted to boot into safe mode and check again. So I activated /SAFEBOOT via msconfig and rebooted. Didn't work, XP crashed. Then I tried „last known good configuration“ and it crashed again. „Safe mode with command prompt“ and all other options didn't work either, it always restarts while trying to boot Windows.
The next thing I tried was to run the recovery console from the XP installation CD in order to load a restore point. It finds the current XP installation but while I'm navigating to the restore points the Laptop simply goes black (turns off).
Now I presume it may be a hardware problem (overheating, broken RAM/hard drive) but before I send my uncle to a computer repair shop I want to be sure.
So what do you think, anything else I could try?
Comments
41
you fucked up the laptop of ur uncle :D
indirectly, yes ;D
Parent
cry and sit in a dark corner always works for me!
I prefer to solve the problem, but thanks for the useful advise!
Parent
sit on your uncles lap
Maybe I should give him a bj, so he won't be angry…
Parent
trying wont hurt!
Parent
i am drinking tea!
Parent
tea is great.
Parent
formatting is out of the question.
Parent
had the same error, its the only option actually.
Parent
What do you think they will do at a repair shop? There are programs to recover most data if you just do a "quick" format
Parent
It's not the hardware. In case your uncle doesn't kill you, format and install a fresh os and all problems will be gone.
negative. He's doesn't know anything about computers and there's no backup of his files ;(
Oh did I already mention, all the important stuff is on C:\ ":D"

If it's not the hardware, then why does it turn off after some time while I'm still typing?
Parent
gf is having the same prob, I guessed she fuck'd up the battery
Parent
hmm I'm using a power cable atm, so I don't think this is the source of the problem.
Parent
There a couple of possible causes. I just could make a guess, that wouldn't help at all. But I'm pretty sure it's not the hardware itself. Get a bootable OS such as BartPE, try to access the harddisk, backup ur files and format.
Parent
first useful comment here,
thanks a lot!
Parent
Did it crash and reboot or what ever before you tried to start in safemode?
Nope, only after I activated safemode. That's what I find so weird…
Parent
Hmmm does not look like a hard ware problem then ....
Parent
try getting the files with linux live cd
good suggestion, thanks! :)
Parent
Do you have an external hd or something where you could put windows to get it running?
That surely isn't hardware prob, the xp on the hd is just badly corrupted. So if you can't format it, try to put there external hd and put windows there, or take the hd out and attach it to another pc where you can copy the data and then format it
its a laptop, why bother.

insert linux cd
insert usb memstick
copy files
format
Parent
what you laughing at, faggot?
Parent
does someone still use it
Parent
Yeah I've got one.
Thanks to you guys I have some options to back up the files now :)
Parent
nice fail there :=D
yep uberfail ;)
Parent
insert linux cd
start gparted
resize C:\
create D:\
install XP on D:\
backup important files
I have a similar prob on my desktop and have yet to fix it since i'm away at university, lemme know how these suggestions work so i know which to try.
Lazy bastard :P
Ok atm I'm using ubuntu to copy all the files to the external hard drive. It's quite similar to Windows so it's really comfortable.
Parent
fastest way will be PeterPans advice. Install linux, create a new partition and move all backup files onto it. Then normally format you windows partition and install it again.

btw. about that shutdowns. Is it some old HP laptop? My friend had the same.. the problem was in bad battery but i somehow managed to install OS after zillion trys. The problem never occured in windows after that, just in boot menu so it was kinda weird.
There's only 3GB left on C. D and E are almost full too (it's only a 80GB HD, though). I've got a 1TB external HD and can use BartPE to access and move all files.
I have little knowledge about linux but I'm gonna try this way, too - just to see what works best in case something similar happens again.

Regarding the shutdowns: It's a Medion OEM PC, so it's quite possible that there's a similar reason for the shutdowns.

E: Removed the battery: still won't boot.

E2: ubuntu works great. Oh and thanks btw =)
Parent
use any random live linux pendrive/cd boot distribution
save ur uncles shit
format
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