System Crash because Virus Scan Interrupted?

[Twila]

Can a computer completely crash if you shut the computer down while it's in the middle of a virus scan? I did that to our computer at home and it's error message states that due to a missing system file it can no longer start up. You can enter bios but nothing else.

Can this happen?

 

[eh1eh]

That's weird. You should be able to run chkdsk, but if not maybe you actually have a virus. BTW is it Norton?

 

[DurkaDurka]

If it was scanning a system dll and you shut the pc down, it is possible the file is pooched.

Put your XP cd in the drive and try doing a recovery... it will basically repair the dll's etc.

Do you have your personal files backed up?

 

[#juan]

I don't know why shutting the computer down should cause any serious problems. When we lived on Gabriola Island we had a power outage at least three or four times a week. I seems to me that hard drives didn't last as long on Gabriola but shutting the power down once shouldn't be a problem. Durka Durka is the one to ask on this kind of thing.

BTW, which version of Windows are you using?

 

[Twila]

XP home. We have the disk but (damn Murphy and his laws) there's a lovely ring of scratches on it from our cd reader/burner.

The virus scan is/was AVG free home edition.

 

[DurkaDurka]

Does the PC come from a Dell, HP etc, or is it a home build style?

Will the drive read the windows disc at all?

 

[Twila]

Not Dell. I don't believe it's an HP. I have no idea what type of comp it is...how sad...

It won't read the disc at all.

 

[Unforgiven]

Can a computer completely crash if you shut the computer down while it's in the middle of a virus scan? I did that to our computer at home and it's error message states that due to a missing system file it can no longer start up. You can enter bios but nothing else.

Can this happen?

Where do you get the message that it has a missing system file?

 

[DurkaDurka]

before the windows- loading animation I reckon.

I think a "repair" will fix the problem, bit of a moot point without a readable disc though.

 

[DurkaDurka]

Not Dell. I don't believe it's an HP. I have no idea what type of comp it is...how sad...

It won't read the disc at all.

Well, if you have a valid Windows XP key, go to ISOhunt or something and download a copy of XP. Legally, it's not theft as you own a licenese to the OS.

 

[Unforgiven]

before the windows- loading animation I reckon.

I think a "repair" will fix the problem, bit of a moot point without a readable disc though.

If it's booting to the windows loading animation then it's reading the disk.
No command prompt from the F8 interrupt? Might be able to use scanreg from there to recall a recovery from a previous backup?

 

[Twila]

Well, if you have a valid Windows XP key, go to ISOhunt or something and download a copy of XP. Legally, it's not theft as you own a licenese to the OS.

How do I make sure it's the right key?

 

[eh1eh]

How do I make sure it's the right key?

You can use a freinds disc of XP but it is the sticker on the side of your comp that has your key, I call it the liscense plate. Just get a good copy of XP and you can run the repair thingy like Durka said. If you need to reload your computer in the end, all you need is that number on your sticker to activate XP again. I reload people's computers for $100 bucks. LOL They don't have Durka to help them.:lol:

 

[JBeee]

Try booting in `safe mode` and once there, restoring the pc to an earlier date (before the crash occured).

 

[libj]

This might help...

Hi,

There seems to be a few strange goings on with your PC. This could be a result of a corrupted registry that may or may not be due to a virus. Might be worth trying to repair your registry. There are many tools and Microsoft offer one, but I think its recently been removed (could be wrong) but search thier website.

Or you could just try and download a couple of registry fix products, most will scan for free then you should be able to view the results of the scan to determine if any of the problems are indeed due to a corrupted key or virus, trojan etc. However, be warned, don't tamper with your registry unless you know what you are doing. Also, some tools will find thousands of errors which does necessarily mean they are actually errors as such (confusing I know) as some inflate the actual errors found.

However, the good news is, you can just scan the registry and not actually fix anything but just use them as a way to see what they find.

I tired a few, some really do work and some are just cheap nasty things. One I found (and the only reason I am mentioning it is because you can actually fix ALL your errors for free - unlike others that only fix 50 for free and charge you for the rest) is advanced registry fix. You can download a copy, run the scan and fix all the errors for free. Then you can see if that fixes your problem, you have nothing to lose really. Oh, just make sure you back up your registry first before doing any fixes. This tool will do that as well.

http://www.advancedregistryfix.com you can also download it from download.com too which is where I found it.

Another option, if you suspect it is a virus, just download a virus scanner as most will allow you to scan your PC for free for 30 days and it also includes all the latest virus definitions.

Vet is pretty good from CA (Computer Associates) - http://www.ca-store.com.au/virus/antivirus.aspx?sc_lang=en-AU

Both of these options wont cost you anything and you can see if any of them work for you. :smile:

Anyway, I hope that helps.

 

[Kreskin]

McAfee sent me an update a couple days ago. Ever since then when, I first start using IE it takes it about 5 minutes to think before I actually get on the internet. Anyone know what that's all about? Firefox is no problem. But I'd rather use IE.

 

[libj]

I can only imagine that IE is loading the McAfee Anti virus utility into the browser or something similar, so basically, it will be some utility that scans webpages whilst you using IE, that is all I can think of. The reason this wont happen with FireFox is probably because McAfee has not yet made it work with FireFox or it simply handles the McAfee better.

I could be wrong I am pretty sure its something related to the above.