about two days ago i would keep gettn errors in my internet browser about some plugin that wont install or whatever...n then afterwhile m computer would just shut off on me and restart....i know for sure that its not being over heated cuz i check the fan and vent in the computer and it was clean...but then the next day i turned on my computer and it would show up the options of loading the computer with "safe mode" "safe mode with networking" safe mode with command prompt" and the loading it the last time that the computer worked....so i tried the setting that the last time the computer worked and it went back to that screen with the options so that didnt work and then i tried safe mode and everything else and the same thing happen...the last thing i wanted to do was system restore or recovery or w.e but i guess i had to so i waited till the blue screen loaded up....pressed f10 and waited for the system recovery screen to load up and after that all i got was a blue screen with an error...so i couldnt even do that...bascially right now i think my computer is really screwed up and just cannot be fixed...i dont know what to do anymore and i really need help...what should i do now??

Its a Windows XP Home Edition

But try this though just go into safe mode, if you can get through safe mode and your computer starts up normally, check your computer out for anything that seems out of place. If nothing seems out of place do a soft restart of your computer and let it boot up normally if that doesn't work at all then get ahold of tech support for your type of ocmputer to help you walk through it.


Well if you get the blue screen of death that means you got a nasty error in your hard drive and if couldn't get a system restore to work that would only conclude that you have hard drive crash but their are other methods of which one of them call technical support for your computer and let them help you try to restore your system without the need to reinstall it again.

but with a system recovery it usually goes back a few days or the last time it automatically saved a system recovery file for the computer.

But by what I read in your post you either lost your os or the Hard drive is messed to the point that you have to replace it.

was the plugin flash or java at all that you could remember?

This is called a virus. Also Known as a Trojan or a Alcarta. You need to re-format before it can casue any more damage. And before it calls in more hosts as well. Trojans take over your computer in many ways, when ur computer is on you mightnot even know it but this virus can be hosting a network witch the hackers designed. And trust me, you dont want to be the host...

This post has been edited by savge17: Mar 23 2006, 07:34 PM

I'm not so sure thats the case here. If he had a virus that was using the host as a networking hub, then it would really rely on an active internet connection to send to other hosts. If he's unable to even load up windows or any OS this is probably not the case (although there may be other viruses active).

To check if your harddrive is on it's last throes it's best to enable SMART from your bios (if it's not already enabled). That will tell you on bootup if there is a problem with your Hard drive.

You may most likely need to format, as Saint_Michael and Savage17 suggested :/

Hm...I wouldn't call it a virus just yet. I've seen what viruses do (I was a wannabe hacker way back when) and most of them mess with the user while they use the computer, instead of just shutting them out completely.

Try posting up what your computer says at the blue screen, or at least the gist of it. That might gives some clues as to what's wrong.

From what I've seen the most common cases are caused from hard drive failure or a screwy program installation.

Like mike said, try running it in safe mode first, if that doesn't work, try booting from a windows disk (if you have one).

Reformatting should be a last resort.

There is a slight chance that it isnt a Virus. You might aswell jsut re-start and re-format. It could be anything.

There so many things that can go wrong with a computer. Maybe software is conflicting and maybe you didnt format your hard drives corretly.

Your best bet is just to re-format and if you still have a problem, take it to the next level by getting help by a professional.

This post has been edited by savge17: Mar 23 2006, 10:53 PM

Somehow it could be a virus because the whole thing started with his internet browser that fails to load or install a plugin. He could have visited sites that forced users to install a plugin or activeX stuffs before he can access their websites. Such websites could be a hackers site or a crack ware site. There are also chances that some sites that looked innocent be installed with such script to corrupt the computer when visited. BOAW must have installed a script to get the whole problem started.


If it is really true that he visited a site that is loaded with a virus or related scripts, it will definately not be the overheating of his computer that caused the system to automatically restart suddenly. He also checked the fan and vent for blockages. That doubles up that it isn't the overheating problem. Subsequently after the automatic restart, he was prompted with the boot options when he didn't activated that menu. That could be the cause where the virus or related script was activated since his last successful shutdown. Because Windows XP saves the user session before shutting down the computer, the script could have been saved into his boot records to prompt the boot menu on the next system bootup.


The whole process gets repeated and he was continuously prompted with the boot menu, without himself activating it. He tried to do a system recover but failed. Soon after, he receives the typical Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). Windows XP was made to a minimal BSOD that you will now seldom see BSOD in Windows XP as often as the previous versions of Windows. Usually when BSOD happens in Windows XP, it is due to the corrupted drivers or unrecognised command in Windows XP. That could be caused by a change of bit data, from "1" to "0", making Windows XP not to understand and get halted, resulting in the BSOD. Otherwise if it's a proper Windows XP internal code, Windows XP will not don't understand it's own commands, unless it's being changed by a virus or an unknown script.


Yes it is already screwed up. I'll consider that as a virus that has infected your computer. As you see the trend of your system, it's becoming worst since it started with just the internet explorer plugin or activex error to the state where you were receiving BSOD. Everything seemed organised in destruction of your Windows XP, and you got no control of it from the start.
I would suggest a reformat of your computer immediately, before it starts infecting your BIOS records. You won't know what that virus will do next, hence a reformat is required. It's safer than sorry. Once your BIOS gets infected, there goes your computer. You can then get a new computer and throw away this one.

I think..somethink wrong with your HDD..try chkdsk from other PC..