XP Boot errors - exclamation marks everywhere!!

[JezzaHyde]

Hey folks!

Seem to have run in to a bit of a pickle on this one.

This afternoon i was browsing the web, when a brief error msg appeared (not sure of the exact contents because it only flashed on the screen, but i'm pretty certain it involved something about "drivers&quot Straight after this, my system rebooted.

This is when the fun starts. Nothing appears on my screen except of exclamation marks. Rows and rows of them.

I can barely see the status bar that appears when XP is booting, and a fraction of the way through, an error msg appears. More fun stuff here. The letters are all jumbled up, so i have no idea what it is saying.

This screen full of exclamation marks also appears when trying to run BIOS setup and when trying to boot of the XP cd.

I'm not sure what sort of issue this is, as i've never come across a virus that acts in this way.

Anybody have any thoughts?

Thanks

-J

 

[arrs]

It seems like the driver set by default by WinXP for your monitor does not support the refresh rate. Try booting in safe mode by pressing F8 at startup, if it loads, then change your monitor or display settings to a default monitor and reboot. If it loads ok, then reinstall your monitor drivers.

Regards
Roberto

 

[JezzaHyde]

Thanks for that Roberto

I should have stated that i had tried running in safe mode, but the problem with the exclamation marks and mixed up characters appears straight after the manufacturers logo during the boot up sequence.

I can start the boot in safe mode, but the problem is already present by the time i press F8. Further to this, once get the safe mode boot happening, the error i described earlier occurs and i am forced to restart.

I've tried deciphering the error message provided and i think it says something along the lines of:

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt".

I can't make out what the actual file name provided is...yet.

Thanks

-J

 

[Bobg1]

SOunds like either corrupt bios or bad video card, since it is happening before xp even loads.

 

[Nuqe]

I've heard of this happening before, and was traced back to the fact that the video card just wasn't compatible with the O.S. we were trying to install. I suggest getting the make of your video card and checking its site to see if you can find information on what it's compatible with.

NUQE

We all know about the "stupid user" don't we...

 

[bcastner]

There are several viri that overwrite the BIOS floating around at the moment. The worst overwrites the BIOS on your hard disk.

Go to your manufacturers web site from a different machine and download the latest BIOS upgrade. You want a vesion, if given a choice, that creates a floppy disk image to boot from.

Refresh the BIOS image. Check through and reset your BIOS settings. If it was my machine I would then boot from the XP CD and pretend it was a new install. You can try just a maintenance install, and then immediately run a web-based virus checker.

For information about a maintenance install of XP:

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul.../41.asp&NoWebContent=1id=kb;en-us;Q329170SMB

signing hotfix


For on-line virus scans, look at either the Symantec site, or Panda. Or do both.