Windows XP Home reinstall problems

[TCool]

Here's the story, my dads computer was getting loaded with viruses and adware/spyware. It was bad to the point where I told him he should format and reinstall windows. First what he did was pop in the restore disk and use it to put a fresh copy of windows on, I wasn't all to suprised when that didn't work because I've seen that happen many times. So I decided to take it and try, I used the windows xp repair command line to format using the format command. I then reinstalled Win XP with his restore disks, it seemed to be working ok, but all the microsoft updates kept failing to install and on an attempt to restart I got the "Windows didn't shut down properly screen" and when I chose any option it would just restart. After this, I formated again and installed win xp using my windows xp home edition cd and the exact same thing happened. I've tried multiple times to format and reinstall, I've even deleted the partition and recreated it and I get the same type of error everytime. Is it possible that somehow there is still a virus on there? If thats the case, how can I get rid of it? Or, I was thinking it might just be the hard drive going bad, is that a possibility?

I would appreciate any help anyone here can give me, I've never had a problem quite like this before. If you need any more information from me I'd be happy to give it.

Thanks in advance,

Tim

 

[AMDIsTheBest010]

well, im not sure, if you can use that retail WinXP CD, since your OEM veriosn is locked to your motherboard???

As far as the Windows Updates go, i've never had an issue like that b4, so i dont think i can really help you there. sorry

...AMD

 

[fastco]

Hi you can try downloading a BartPE disk or an Ultimate Boot CD and use the tools on the cd's to runa virus scan and check for disk errors.

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

Or if you have a Norton or McAfee anti-virus cd they are bootable also so you can run a virus scan.

 

[Liquidlen]

You should stick to the installation you have with the OEM version of XP

The problems you are having after installation sounds like some software/firmware update is needed.You do not mention the Brand of computer, but if it like a dell/hp make sure you obtain and install all the latest Driver/firmware or even Bios updates that are availible from the manufacturer. Even some software programs can cause your error. I have seen this with Norton.
Also if you reformatted the whole HDD there can be no Virus left. Just be careful after installation when you go online to update. Unless you think you have a Bios/CMOS virus(very rare) which can be fixed with a flash of the Bios file.

 

[TCool]

It is an emachines w2785, you can view the specs here.

I'm positive its not a bios issue, I took the hard drive out and tried in another computer and got the same thing. I did reinstall winxp again using the system restore disks that came with the computer and windows was running good I just couldn't get the windows update to work. I did however go to the download page and download some updates off of there, and after I downloaded the update for windows installer it would start up and just stop right after the welcome screen. Also, what kind of upgrades would be needed? What I'm trying to do is revert it back to its orginal settings basically, I'm using all the same hardware and software that the computer originally came with. So, I don't see why any upgrades would be needed.

 

[TCool]

TTT, still having major problems. Everything was running ok for a while, but then after installing xp's service pack 2 I started getting memory errors and after start up explorer.exe would fail and the computer would lock up. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[tipstir]

Yep that's what happens with XP Home and SP2.. I've wipe out that and using XP Pro with SP2 integrated. It's the only way to go. Home XP is limted, but is good if you don't plane on running a home network.

 

[TCool]

Well, I have win xp pro, only problem is i lost my cd key for it. However, I don't see why I would keep getting these problems. I've had many windows errors before, and a format and a fresh install was always the way to fix it if all else failed, now all else failed and the format + reinstall failed too. I've tried formatting and reinstalling a few different times already.

 

[tipstir]

The best bet is the wipe the HDD with a program called Wipe IT will destroy everything on the HDD though. There is a free one online somewhere? That's what we use at work before systems can leave the building. Now I use it myself to rebuild a system with only one drive though.

Are you getting HDD errors or just Windows OS errors. If you're getting HDD errors then the HDD could be bad. To solve that just replace it with a new one. They're not hard to install anymore.

 

[TCool]

Ya, I know how to replace hard drives and all that. Was hoping it wouldn't come to that tho. I'm not really getting much for errors other than corrupt files, and one time after installing service pack 2 I got some memory errors. I know its not the memory in the computer because I've stuck the hard drive in 2 other systems that work just fine and still couldn't get windows to work. I'll look around for that wipeit program, but I doubt its going to help, something tells me that after about 5 or 6 formats if it were a problem that a format could fix then it would've been fixed. Do you know if there would be a constant problem with file corruption on a hdd that is starting to die?

 

[TCool]

Ok, I think I was wrong, and it is a memory problem. I realized that the hdd wouldn't work in other computers because it was already corrupted, but what I didn't try was formating and reinstalling windows while it was in another computer. I did this and it worked flawlessly, then I ran memtest-86 v3.2 on my dads computer and its about 40% done with one pass and it has about 40,000 errors. I'm no expert with this, but I'm assuming that means the ram is no good. If you think I'm reading those results wrong please let me know, otherwise thanks everyone for the help.