Begging For Help...

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Im hoping that somewhere out there is the answer I need but I have trawled the net with very little success so far. Im using XP home ed SP2.

I recently had a trojan and malware infection after one of my kids ran some ActiveX prog and it was a right pain to get rid of. Since then my system has been running slowly and freezing on me - ctrl alt del doesnt work and nothing is useable, Im just left with control of the mouse pointer.

I have run several progs inc registry cleaners, spybot S&D plus a few others and no more errors are being returned but my system is still shaky at best.

I have tried rolling back to 'last working config' from the F8 menu on startup and that didnt help. I have tried running my OEM setup disk but get the error:
Stop: c0000218 (registry File Failure)
The registry couldnt load the hive (file)
\system\system32\config\SECURITY or its log or alternate
It is corrupt absent or not writable

I cannot use boot floppies as my system has no floppy drive. I do not have access to another hard drive to try methods suggested using an alternate.

Another attempt involved using UCBD4Win but again I got the above message on a blue screen. All methods relating to this error code seem to exclude users of OEM disks and only help those with original OS disks.

Im more than happy to try pretty much anything including a total reformat as all my important data has been recently backed up and software I can download again.

Anyone that helps is owed one big drink on me and the gratitude of my missus as it'll stop me from strangling the cat. Im already pulling out my almost non existent hair. Thanks people

 

Thanks for the reply Ken.

Ive tried going into safemode but it doesnt display ANY of my AV or spyware progs and only a very limited number of others.

I dont have any original XP disks - just the OEM restoration disk that came with the PC when I bought it.

 

When you do your scans are you leaving system restore on, if so take it off then scan and shut down restart.

What else are you using anti virus wise. Look to trenmicro as they do an online scan and also offer a 30 day trial etc.

Ed

 

AV wise I use Mcafee as it was pre-installed but I have also done an online scan at Trendmicro.

I forgot about the system restore settings so will go and have a go at that now. Thanks and I'll let you know if it helps.

 

Have turned off System Restore and ran another Registry scan which found 86 errors. Have fixed these and rebooted and the system does seem to be working a little better (Ive thought that 4 times today so far) but time will tell.

Thanks to everyone for the help but if anyone else has further suggestions Im happy to take them on board.

 

The system is STILL crashing on me at random points - can be when opening a window, hitting 'submit' on a post or even sat there idling. Im losing my mind with this guys

 

Go to:

Start -> Run

and in the dialogue box type in msconfig and a new little window should pop-up. In this window select 'Selective startup' and uncheck all ticked boxes. Click on apply and restart your system.

This way the system will be loading the bare minimum to make it functional enough to operate, but will disable any other functionality like launching many programs, including AV and firewalls (as I recall).

If your system still misbehaves when in this state I'd recommend restoring it from your provided CD, since the system is unable to function at its most basic level.

 

Thanks Mathematix - tried that one too Although thy system is crashing less now in full function mode it still had the probs in selective startup.

This leads me onto the second part of my problem - when trying to re-install windows from my OEM disc I get the message in my original post so I cant re-install either

 

I personally would do a clean install with your recovery CD. Its probably gonna be quicker and better in the long run and you have backed everything up already.

 

Are you actually booting from your CD? You need to make the CD drive your first boot device, and you normally need to press a key to boot from the CD when it asks.

 

Take a look here for possible solutions aswell.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=c0000218&meta=

 

Sorry to hear that, mate. Your only option is the suggestion that Raffaz made above as far as I can see.

If your are really having problems, all valuable data is back-up and your PC refuses to recover, I would suggest that you attempt a format of your harddrive using the very dangerous:

Start -> Run

then typing in format c:

This should take you at least to the point of being able to recover the system from the recovery CD without the malware kicking in, or the problems otherwise created by it.

 

Thanks guys - youve been great and you all deserve a beer from me (esp you Raffaz if youe name refers to Senior Benitez!)

Raffaz, Ive searched the net for different combos of the error message and tried all suggested but thanks very much for taking the time to help me. I am booting from CD too and double checked BIOS too.

Ive been on this on and off (mostly on) for the last 12-13 hours. Im gonna shut down for the night now and think of different ways to strangle the still-alive cat and finish my beer.

Will try once more in the morning to see if the system is more stable but if not I will be taking the Run->format c: touch. If need be I should be able to get hold of the XP OS on disc by tomorrow evening if my OEM software doesnt install to a clean drive.

 

According to this post by MS it could be a HDD problem. It might be worth going to the HDD manufacturers website and downloading their diagnostic utilities to test the drive with.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/830084

 

A good registry fix is Norton Utilities - this seems to help me with random crashes.

If there is an error with the HDD, as Raffas said, maybe try running a disk check?

Good luck!

 

Well this is a bit of a weird error to get when runing your OEM boot disk, normally it means the system hive files are corrupt, theres backups on the drive which you can manually restore. This is generally what the 'last good boot' option does but automatically.

Since you can boot i would say you can't have any major corruption as I've had my hive files go bad and the system wouldn't even boot.

I'd still say a reinstall is your best bet, once windows goes bad theres no way of getting it back really, theres too many dependencies between DLL's and registry entries to worry about. I'd backup the important stuff and reformat, maybe create a system and an apps/data partition this time. Possibly create a backup of the system in a clean state.

 

I agree you have a currupt registry.

This can be caused by hard drive errors.

Last known good only works if you are not able to log into windows, as soon as you do the registry will be overwritten with the currupt entries.

Back up your data!!

Boot from your XP CD and to a full format, not a quick format because quick does not check the drive for errors (chkdsk /r)

Re-install XP.. load the motherboard chipset drivers.. install any other third party drives like video etc.

Install your AV software.. now conect to the Internet.. go to windows update and install SP2 if it wasnt inclused on your XP disk.. then install all the latest critical updates.

Install all your applications.

Restore your data to the appropriate locations.

Done

 

Oh and once youve done all of the above perhaps a ghost image of the hdd disc in good working order and fully updated? would be a lot quicker to rebuld with one.
(As i regularly test software and download items from the net i keep a ghost thats at the most 2 weeks old as a backup.)

 

I agree with Bluerinse, but i would definately test the HDD first with a HDD utility, because if the drive is on its way out then your just gonna get more problems further down the line.