Windows Xp will not boot normally. It will boot in safe mode but that is it. What do I do?

Question

I think there may be a virus. A thing called dl.exe starts itself even in safe mode and was the last thing I shut down before Windows XP refused to boot normally. However, I am not sure of this.

Answer 1

Msconfig (per Marvinator's posting) is a good first step. If that does not work:

Boot and safe mode and then run a virus scan and also a spyware scan. (You can download the AVG Free Edition virus scanner or the spyware scanner Ad-Aware both for free from download.com)

If that does not work, do a system restore. start button > all programs > System tools > system restore. Select a date from before the problem began and restore to there.

Answer 2

Hi,

Your having a problem with a driver or a bad or corrupt file. There are several things you can do to aleviate this problem:

1. Once in Safemode, right click on MY COMPUTER, then click PROPERTIES, then DEVICE MANAGER

2. Click the "+" signs next to your PC components and check for any yellow or red exclamation points or similar symbols. If you see any, click on it and it will tell you what's wrong. You may have a bad driver, in which case
a. make note of any bad drivers
b. Reboot
c. get into safemode as before, but choose
SAFEMODE WITH NETWORKING
3. Get back into device manager, and right click on the offending components. Click UPDATE DRIVER. Windows will take over from here. If it asks you to install a new driver, click YES.
------------------------------...
1. You may have spyware or a virus. In that case, do the following:

Boot into SAFEMODE WITH NETWORKING

If you have not done so, download and install:

Adaware
http://www.download.com/ad-aware-se-pers...

Spybot Search and Destroy
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/spy...

AVG Antivirus
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/avg...

Make sure to update each with the lastest definitions. Run all three (consecutively, not at the same time!) Remove any spyware or viruses that are found.

Try to boot normal

If these don't work, you may have to "dumping system and reloading" = Reformat Windows

Let me know

Answer 3

You can use the confuguration utility to turn off some things which start automatically.

Start - Run - type msconfig[enter]
Go to the Start-up Tab.
Disable a program by Clicking to clear the box.
Enable a program by clicking to put a check in the box.
Reboot.

Use this carefully as some items in here may be important parts of programs you use.

Answer 4

had the same issue on my last computer. i had over 25.000 viruses on it