My computer was off all day today, i came home from school, turn it on, and no programs on my desktop work. The only things that work are "my computer, documents, and internet explorer. Any other program i click on says it cant find how to open it, and gives me a choice on how to find a way, but it doesnt end up working. I am about to install and run mcafee, if that will even work. Please put any input.

 

Well for starters look at your C:\Program Files\ directory and see if theres anything there. Dont forget to look in your recycle bin

 

I know this is dumb question but have you tried restarting the system?

If so and it still does this you're probably on the right track thinking it might be a virus. Spyware will do crazy stuff too. I like Microsoft's
Anti-Spyware program even though it's still in Beta.

 

What is the OS? Have you tried chkdsk?

 

well, my mcaffee is too old to find anything. Its windows xp. Yes, under C/Program files/ there is everything that should be there, yet none of it works. I am about to run scan disk now, please god let it be a minor problem. Thanks for the quick replies guys.

 

Quick fix would be to use the system restore built into XP. You don't lose your documents.

Click Start -->Help and Support and on the left side you should see System Restore under Additional Resources.

Might do it for you.

 

http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2

Go down to the orange box and click on avg free edition download files. This is a good anti-virus.

 

thanks for all the replies guys. I've done chkdsk, restart sevedral times, and when i tried to go to that restore opetion under "help and support", it wont even open up help and support. This is beginning to be ridiculous.

 

What is the exact message you get when you try to launch something? you could always boot to your XP cd and try a repair installation.

 

It's possible that you have a virus. From what it sounds like, it's hooked itself into memory to monitor any actions you make on the computer. This is to prevent you from taking steps in removing it.

Restart the computer, and start tapping F8. You'll be given a menu with different boot options, choose Safe Mode. If you're able to open the programs while you're in Safe Mode, chance are you have a virus. If this is the case, I would recommend obtaining new Anti-Virus software and updated virus definitions and scan from Safe Mode.

If you are still unable to run programs in Safe Mode, one could boot from your XP CD as mentioned in a previous post and try to recover via that method. If you are still unable to succeed, you may need to backup all of your important documents, and format your computer, followed by a re-installation of your operating system.

If you need help, please feel free to PM me and I would be glad to help you.

Good luck, and put on a pot of coffee.

 

Ha, thanks for the help, ima give that a try. I dont get it tho, my computer was off all day, worked perfectly before i turned it off. I will reply after i try these things.

 

Corrupted registry?

have a recent backup tucked away?

 

nah, i dont have anything tucked away. I am getting the xp disc from my brother today, will be re-doing my whole computer because of this beast of a virus. First thing im installing is virus scanner/protector.(then counterstrike immediately after that hehe). If anyone can give me a super quick overview of how to go about reinstalling windows, that would be great. thanks for all the help guys, this is a great forum.

 

Throw the disk in and restart. Using the del, or F8, or F12 should get you to XP's repair windows screen and then just follow along.

Adrianspeeder

 

Gotta close up the chicken coop after the fox done killed all the chickens.

Maybe next time you won't disable/ ignore your antivirus program. Good luck getting back up and running. I've heard that the typical unprotected web surfer can last about 18 minutes before picking up a bug. If all your McAfee stuff was expired, you've been surfing 'commando' for a long time.