So my niece's computer has a virus....

[CharlieMac]

She blames it on the Time-Warner people, but I doubt.....

Anyways, I'm on the Norton Ghost screen trying to do a factory restore, and when I choose that option, or any option that screen, it does absolutely nothing.

What's my next option?

[PM5K]

Why don't you try to clean it off instead?

Give Mouse a twelve pack and he'll do it...

[mouse]

I stopped working on PC/notebooks with Norton. It's like trying to clean someones teeth when they have herpes on their lips.

Download this and when it ask if you want to do a boot up scan say yes.
When it finds the infection press 2 Delete all

http://files.avast.com/iavs4pro/setupeng.exe

[PM5K]

Yeah Avast and AVG are so much better...

[CharlieMac]

I stopped working on PC/notebooks with Norton. It's like trying to clean someones teeth when they have herpes on their lips.

Download this and when it ask if you want to do a boot up scan say yes.
When it finds the infection press 2 Delete all

http://files.avast.com/iavs4pro/setupeng.exe

Well, after the windows screen it goes straight to a blue screen that says "Unamountable boot volume ***stop: 0x000000ED".

Maybe this isn't a virus?

[PM5K]

No it sounds like some type of hard drive problem.

I'd get some software to test the disk, the manufacturer of the disk is one place to start..

[Newton]

Concur with mouse that the avast boot up scanner is mint.

Also would do some hardware diagnostics. If you have an old fashioned floppy, or can burn to a bootable disc/flash key, go to the HD manufacturers website and download their utility (usual Data Lifeguard Tools for Western Digital, SeaTools for Seagate, not sure of other manufacturers, but they all will have similar tools). Extract on a floppy and run the utility to see if the hard drive is hosed.

Another frequent problem is ed up memory:

http://www.memtest86.com/

That will give you an .iso you can burn to disk to check to see if your memory is bad. Clearly, you'll need another computer to do this, since you can't get to desktop.

If you can't use the floppy option, you'll need to enter BIOS, usually by holding down DEL or sometimes F8, when the computer first starts to boot. In there, you will find boot up options. Specify the CD, floppy, or external flash to boot first (before the hard drive) and you can run the utilities.

Post back if you have any questions. Better to investigate the integrity of the hardware first before wiping the drive, which could be ed anyway.

And, yeah, Norton is very much like herpes.

[mouse]

Bring your HD over to my place I will take all your data off it so you can do a reinstall of Windows. if not then..........
1.
Start the computer with the XP Operating System disc in the CD or DVD drive.
2.
Press any key when prompted to boot from the CD or DVD.
3.
A blue screen will appear and several files will load. This process takes about 30 seconds to complete. You should not have to select anything from the keyboard.
4.
At the blue setup menu, press R to Repair a Windows XP installation.
5.
At the C: prompt, type chkdsk /r . This repair process may take 30 - 60 minutes depending on the size of the hard drive and repairs needed.
6.
After the chkdsk completes, type Exit at the C: prompt.
7.
Windows will restart. Eject the CD or DVD and it should continue normally.

http://support.dell.com/support/topi...n&toggle=false

[CharlieMac]

I will try that tonight. Thanks!

[mouse]

Any updates?

[Re-Animator]

This poster gets banned from the Tech forum if his pocket protector ass can't gives us an update.

[ducks]

what the heck no update?

[mouse]

^

I hate that also.............Like when people want a name for their softball team 50 posters reply and they never get back to you on what name they chose.