I had a client this week with a unique problem. When he starts his computer with WindowsXP Home with SP2, instead of loading his startup items, a series of Notepad windows containing unreadable text are opened and something attempts to access the internet. Each window is titled "Notepad-program or service name" and after the bootup is finished, he ends up with 31 of these windows. Each window is for a different startup item or service but has a common readable line near the beginning of each window which states "this program cannot be run in dos mode". Any attempt to open a program resulted in another notepad window being opened.
1. I ran Mcafee antivirus from a PE disc and found 1 virus with no improvement after the virus was cleaned.
2. I booted in safe mode and did system restores to Jan 1, Dec.1 and Oct. 23 and no improvement was found each time.
3. I did a repair installation of Windows and no improvement was found.
4. I did a clean installation of Windows and the problem was fixed.
Any idea what could have caused this problem?
Dennis H. A+
1. I ran Mcafee antivirus from a PE disc and found 1 virus with no improvement after the virus was cleaned.
2. I booted in safe mode and did system restores to Jan 1, Dec.1 and Oct. 23 and no improvement was found each time.
3. I did a repair installation of Windows and no improvement was found.
4. I did a clean installation of Windows and the problem was fixed.
Any idea what could have caused this problem?
Dennis H. A+