Won't Boot Up in Safe Mode (Dell Latitude D610)

[ATLSwimGuy]

I've recently come across a problem that I haven't experienced before.

My PC was running very, very slow yesterday....all symptoms of a virus or malware. I also noticed that I could not get any of my browsers to open.

I ran Malwarebytes Anti-malware which found a few entries. I then ran Spybot S&D which found quite a few more. I removed all of them.

Also of note is that during this process, I did try to boot in Safe Mode but got the BSoD (Stop: 0x0000007B).

Now, the computer runs much faster. However, when I try to open a browser, none will open (Firefox, Chrome, IE). I have also noticed that when I do try to open a browser that the CPU usage goes to 100% and stays there. I finally have to manually kill the process to continue.

I also still cannot boot in Safe Mode.

Unfortunately, I disabled System Restore a while back due to another virus issue and so I don't have a Restore point to go back to.

 

[raybay]

That computer is four years old, is it not? It is likely that your hard drive is bad, or at least needs a reformat and reinstall to fix the problems you have.

 

[ATLSwimGuy]

Yes, I was a bit concerned about that. I bought it second hand but it has worked well until a couple of days ago. It just seemed coincidental that this all happened pretty much after I found (what I thought at the time) was a small virus problem. Didn't know if the two were related or not.

Anyway, thanks for the thought as I won't feel like I jumped the gun if I have to go that route.

 

[raybay]

The D610 has quite a history of unusual problems, so it is difficult to say where you are. I would spend some time on the Dell forums website where you can find a variety of posts regarding the D610 most of the time.
I would spend some time cleaning the keyboard... you can remove the keyboard by placing the computer upsdie on a cloth and removing all the screws that have those funning little marks next to the holes.... be very careful not to twist or lift the keyboard too high, as there is a very fragile ribbon cable under the keyboard connection to the back of the case.