[jnblz316]

My other CPU I guess had a virus from what mu brother told me and all I see is the background with no task bar, start up bar, desktops, basically you name it it's not there on my desktop except the wallpaper. Would anyone have any advice as to how I can fix that.

[ChronoLink]

I've had a similar problem, but that wasn't the work of a virus.
(For your information, I'm using windows) What I did was: press ctrl+shift+esc. You'll get the taskbar thingie, select "new task" from the "file"-menu and type in "explorer". If we're talking about the same problem, it should be fixed.
Names of menus might be different, I'm not using an english version.
This is all I can do. Probably, someone else will come with a better solution soon.

[jnblz316]

I tried that and all I get are these error messeges of along the line "failed to initialize properly"

[Ketchup345]

There are a few ways to go:
1) Try to get an AV going from within Windows. Also if you can get a few Spy/Adware removal programs going (Spybot: Search and Destroy and AdAware are both linked to in the "Free for All" thread)
2) Do a reinstall. You'll lose all data, but the computer will be in original condition or better (less initial useless programs such as "Sign up for 6 months of AOL free!")
3) Use Knoppix (free, legal download; also there are books out on Knoppix Linux and many include the disk) (or other LiveCD OS) to copy any necessary data and then do a reinstall.
4) Use Knoppix (or other LiveCD OS) to run an Antivirus and Ad/Spyware removal (again, books or online will provide you with a disk and probably instructions).

If you download and burn the disks at home, you'll need an .ISO burner. The thread linked to above has a few choices.

[Getintothegame]

Also, try and boot into safe mode. (I believe it's by tapping F6 while your computer is turning on until you see the safe mode screen)

See if anything loads then, and try a few antiviruses/adaware-ish type programs.

[Ketchup345]

On 2006-01-14 11:04, Getintothegame wrote:
Also, try and boot into safe mode. (I believe it's by tapping F6 while your computer is turning on until you see the safe mode screen)

See if anything loads then, and try a few antiviruses/adaware-ish type programs.

I think safemode button depends on the motherboard, just pay attention at startup to see your options (often computers on startup show 2 possible commands in the top right of one of the first screens, one should be for BIOS options and the other should be boot choice; you will want the boot menu).

[BahnKnakyu]

The universal way to get into Safe Mode:

During the boot process where you see the "Microsoft Windows XP" (I assume this is XP) logo with a small progress bar below it, simply turn off the computer. When you start up, Windows will complain it wasn't shut off properly and bring up a prompt - you can select "Boot into Safe Mode" from there.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: BahnKnakyu on 2006-01-14 12:24 ]</font>

[VioletSkye]

heh, there is a much better way to get into safemode, restart your pc and hit the F8 during startup (takes you to the boot menu.) Works for Win 98, Win ME, Win 2000 and Win XP.

Also a better way to go then Knoppix would be BartPE. I've used this many, many times to run virus scans or rescue documents on pcs that won't boot.

I should expound on that, with BartPE you can have a bootable Windows enironment with the following plugins which help repairing, scaaning, browsing the web, rescuing documents etc, easier: (copied and pasted from the website.)

* Plugin included with PE Builder, no additional file download required:
o Nu2menu by Henk de Jong.
o BARTPE: Network Support by Bart Lagerweij.
o Bart's Stuff Test v5 by Bart Lagerweij.
o PENETCFG: PE Network configurator (theTruth) by Pierre Mounir (TheTruth).
o Boot Fix (Enabling "Press any key to boot from CD") by Bart Lagerweij.
o Check Disk (chkdsk.exe) by Bart Lagerweij.
o Custom by Bart Lagerweij.
o Profiles by Bart Lagerweij.
o Nu2 Ramdisk by Nu2 Productions.
o Remote Desktop Client by Microsoft.
o Startup Group (autorun) by Erwin Veermans.
o Dos support for BartPE by Erwin Veermans.
o Keyboard Layout by Boris Mebarek.
o A43 File Management Utility by B.G. Miller.
o BartPE Installer v2 by Bart Lagerweij.
o Serial Mouse by Bart Lagerweij.
o Drive Snapshot by Tom Ehlert.

* Plugin not included with PE Builder, but available as a separate download:
o Firefox web browser by Mozilla.

* Plugin included with PE Builder, but the user needs to download some files from the internet before using it:
o Total Commander by Christian Ghisler.
o Deep Burner Free by Astonsoft Ltd.
o BGInfo by Jeff Black.
o Ad-Aware SE by Lavasoft.
o IrfanView by Irfan Skiljan.
o McAfee commandline virus scanner by Network Associates.
o PuTTY by Simon Tatham.
o McAfee AVERT Stinger by Network Associates.
o UltraVNC by UltraVNC Team.
o Adaptec ASPI by Bart Lagerweij.
o RPCSS Service Security Patch (KB824146) by Bart Lagerweij.

* Plugin included with PE Builder, but the user needs to buy the program:
o Disk Commander by Winternals.
o ERD Commander 2002 by Winternals.
o Ghost v8.0 by Symantec.
o Nero Burning Rom by Ahead Software.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: VioletSkye on 2006-01-14 13:15 ]</font>

[jnblz316]

I did a system restore but now I'm having trouble installing or running my old games. I can't even install some games and the ones that I did I can't get them to run.

[VioletSkye]

did you reinstall your video drivers and the latest version of directx?