Avast av quarantine option kills xp pro 1

[coonhound123]

Quarantine of malware caused blue screen, susequent reboot shows curser only. Is it possible that av ate a sys file and can it be fixed/replaced?
Thank you for your time
hank

 

[linney]

Can you boot into Safe Mode, and if you can, try using System Restore to undo what Avast has done? You could try launching Avast, in Safe Mode, and using that to restore Quarantined item, but Avast might not load in Safe Mode if its' Services fail to load.

You could also try the "Last known good configuration" option from Safe Mode.

 

[G0AOZ]

The answer is YES. An antivirus programme can quarantine or delete a system file that has become infected or has been replaced by a bogus file. Easy to say after the event of course, but always a good idea to check or print out WHAT exactly has been zapped out by your antivirus before rebooting. Try Linney's suggestions...

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[coonhound123]

I can get to the Dos prompt though the recovery console available w/install disc but that is all I can do. Nothing is available w/o external help I.e. boot disc etc. I'm considering a reinstall on top of current load but I do not wish to lose my files.

 

[tlcscousin]

Was system restore active on the drive? If it was then you should be able to restore the computer to before avast made the changes.

http://www.aitechsolutions.net/winxpnoboot.html

I usually just boot with a bartpe cd (so i can do the steps in a GUI)and follow the above links instructions except by using the bartpe cd i can copy the restore files to a temp directory and rename them there and then drag and drop them to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG
replacing the ones there. You can create two temp folders (temp 1 and temp2) copy the ones from C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG into temp2 before dropping the ones you edited and stored in temp1 to the config folder then restart the computer.

 

[linney]

If you knew what file AVG had grabbed then manually copying from some similar source and replacing it might work.

If nothing else works you could try repairing windows by running it over itself. You will lose all your windows updates (and any Service Pack since the date of the CD) but your data files and programs will be untouched.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341/en-us

 

[coonhound123]

Reinstall fails upon loading of temp install files machine reboots and I'm back to square one, also attempts to burn
Bartpe cd have so far failed however I'm no quitter.
My Thanks to all of you for your time and advice.
hank

 

[linney]

The hard drive manufacturer will have free diagnostic software that is bootable, or that may even run from within Windows, that will thoroughly check the condition of your hard drive.

This will give you some links to RAM testers.

XP PRO upgrade installation failed due to error
thread779-1295421

You could check out a Computer Repairer, or any friend, that could help you get a BartPE CD compiled.

Have you tried setting the Bios to Safe Defaults?

What is the BSOD error number, and are any files mentioned?

Some of these might need a Floppy Drive or converting to CD.

HOW TO: Create a Boot Disk for an NTFS or FAT Partition in Windows XP(Q305595)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q305/5/95.asp

How to Use System Files to Create a Boot Disk to Guard Against Being Unable to Start Windows XP (Q314079)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q314/0/79.asp

Error Message: Windows Could Not Start Because of a Computer Disk Hardware Configuration Problem

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314477#kb1

 

[BadBigBen]

I've seen similar problems...

many AV will, upon quarantine, just flag the file as being corrupt/infected, and leave it in the original folder on the drive...

one way to deal with the problem, was to rename the AV folder, so that upon boot the AV file is not found. also booting into the Recovery Console, and disabling the AV Service did the rest, if it did not, then an InPlace Upgrade Install would usually get you to boot into the OS...

Using the Recovery Console

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc938517.aspx

Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console for advanced users

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058

Disabling Services in Recovery Console

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/kb...Admin/DisablingServicesinRecoveryConsole.html

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[coonhound123]

I finally got the recovery console running however some of the files I was not able to copy for backup and chdsk worked well. Problem is I forgot to remove win cd on reboot and it jumped right in to a new install.Not wanting to damage anything I allowed it to finish. Is it too late to run restore now? I only see about 20 % of my photo files and none of the numerous files I had on the desktop. My primary concern is Outlook express because most of the emails needed for immigration proceedings were in an inbox sub folder.
Please be advised I am very grateful to all of you for your time and help. Thank you very much!

 

[linney]

Was this a repair install that began running, or resuming, and this time did the repair complete successfully (according to XP I mean)? OR did you run a clean install or similar?

Do any of your old user folders still exist?

You should find your E-mail folders somewhere similar to this location (you will need to show Hidden Files and System Files).... C:\Documents and Settings\UsernameXXXX\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{51DBC191-00D3-425D-9C4C-4E26B65BD4E1}\Microsoft\Outlook Express\Inbox.dbx. Copy and save them if they still exist for your old user.

If you have a running operating system then if they still exist you may be able to import them back in to Outlook Express. It is years since I used OE so I am guessing that any sub folder of the Inbox will be visible to you, or will become visible when you do any Import of the Inbox and other folders.

What restore are you talking about, if you have performed a repair install then you will only have restore points from when the repair completed.

Make sure you have both Hidden and also System files visible, and do not "hide known file types either, all those are done via Folder Options/ View. This will improve your chances of finding files if they still exist.

These are handy to know about if users have changed or been recreated by you.

HOW TO: Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP (or Vista)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421/en-us

Error Message: "Access Is Denied" When You Try to Open NTFS File System Folders

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q823306#appliesto

Add encrypted files to the list of possible reasons for Access Denied.


Here is a link to an E-mail recovery programs.

http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

http://www.phoenix360.com/tech/datadr/index2003.asp?did=4113