A real problem...

[Damien]

When i went to switch on my VAIO PCG-K115S yesterday...i could not get into Windows.

I have recently deleted my girlfriends account on Xp, leaving just mine, and so when i switched the computer on it used to go straight to my account and desktop.

However, now, when it is switched on...it shows the desktop background with no icons, then proceeds to log me off. it displays the 'welcome' screen, with the icon for my account. when i click on the account, it says, "loading you personal details', then 'opening network connections', then i just says 'logging off'...and stays on the welsome screen...

I just can't get in. I tried it in Safe Mode, where it showed my icon on the welcome screen along with an 'Administrator' icon. It does the same thing whichever icon i click...just logs straight off without opening in any way...

I spoke with a friend who suggested this may be a virus which has imported some sort of command to log off instantly...another friend suggested it is a 'Blaster' virus...

So i think i may have to do a system restore...does anyone think this is going to be the case?? Is there any other way around it?

I dont have a real problem with having to do a restore, as a lot of the stuff i want to save is on the 😧 drive...except the Norton Antivirus it came with...
This was pre-loaded and i have since purchased another year's worth...
I'm a bit concerned that i will lose my Norton stuff from the C: drive, as i have no disc to re-load it with...

Can anyone help with my problems??

Thanks in advance...

Damien.

[nick_pan]

sorry i cant be of more help but it sounds like you've answered your own problem by choosing to do a system restore. I mean, if you can't even get into windows through safe mode, that sounds like a serious problem and very virus like. My question is, how upset are you that you're losing Nortons, considering it let through a virus like this which has effectively made a mess of your computer?

cant think of any other reason why your startup sequence would do this sorry

[Damien]

I'm a little concerned as it gives me at least some protection, and i've just recently paid for another year!

Is there anything better out there? I was under the impression Norton was one of the best...?

I did do a back-up recently onto my external hard-drive, with Ace backup, hopefully i covered the Norton stuff and will be able to restore it...

[kee-lo_]

Damien,

Sounds like your user accounts got corrupted when you deleted your girlfriend's account.

The only thing you can do is a system restore or use the recovery console.

[nick_pan]

can u explain kee-lo how that happens?
is that a bug of xp or something?

damien, i use norton anti virus coroporate edition which i find is great. I really couldn't recomend any other antivirus software although everyone has their own opinion..

ive got friends who just wont use anything else except Kaspersky anti virus tho i found this program heavy on the system resources..

stick with norton, probably a user logon corruption as kee-lo said and not a virus

[TygerTyger]

Many people swear by Avast! as a free option, though I find it very unintuitive and pretty ugly to tell the truth. Norton is by far the most professional although it does have a tendency to let the odd one slip by.

[Damien]

So you think it may have been something i did rather than a virus Kee-Lo??

I was a little concerned that if it was a virus, it managed to get through, despite my protection...hopefully, it is what you suggest a corruption.

If so, by doing a restore and only having one account, do you think i'll experience the same problem again?

Or by only having one from the off, would this help...?

What is the recovery console Kee-Lo...??

[kee-lo_]

Well I've been doing a little reading into this - some say it's a virus (but don't say which one) and others say it's corruption of the users.ini file. As you can't boot in safe mode I'm thinking it's the user accounts which are corrupted, but something is ringing a bell somewhere that it could be a virus.

So, if you can boot up, do a virus scan.
Otherwise I'm afraid it's a case of doing the system restore.

The recovery console helps people fix things when they go wrong - and it's usually not on VAIO CDs which is a real pain. But if you make rescue disks you can actually get it.

[TygerTyger]

Take a look here Damien:

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/WinXP/Q_20972739.html

There are various solutions here, but all to basically do the same thing. it's pretty tough reading. You seem to be new to this kind of thing? So if you need a better explanation than they give, come back and ask here. But you almost certainly still need the recovery console, unless you have a LAN network.

[kee-lo_]

This has pictures to help you more: