OH BOY DID I SCREW UP!

Hi all,
I'm not sure what to do because I can't even get to windows to run Hi Jack this, and I'm not sure this is the right forum for my problem so any help would be great.
I was at a site today that I don't normally visit and Trend Micro popped a screen up that said suspicious changes had been detected. I clicked on manage changes instead of allow changes. Then a screen popped up that looked like a Microsoft screen saying to restart computer. My bad. Now windows will only go to a screen saying it was shut down and cannot start. The screen is the one that allows you to start at last known good, safe mode and such.
If I try to start in safe mode I get what looks like dos script checking the partition and the likes. Then the computer shuts down and tries to start but ends up back at that screen again.
I think I'm fubar. I can't even start in last known good.
Thanks for any help,
B

P.S the screen also says that this problem could have been caused by a hardware or software change, but I can't get in to reverse any changes. Is there some way to hook this drive up as a slave and find and correct the change?

This may or may not have anything to do with malware. Regardless, you can't very well work on resolving any malware issues unless you can get into Windows.

You did not mention your operating system, however, Vista will usually offer you an option to repair it when it gets into situations like you describe, so I'm presuming your OS is probably XP. Therefore, you should be able to use the Recovery Console if you have, or can borrow, an XP installation disk that is the same XP version as what you have installed, e.g., Home or Pro.

Change your boot options in the BIOS to allow your system to boot from CD, then, when offered, select the "Repair" option by depressing the "R" key. Once you have accessed the Recovery Console, enter the command, "chkdsk /r" (without the quotes) and then let it do its work. This process will most likely take several hours to complete. Just leave it alone until it has finished.

Here's a link to the Microsoft KB article on using the Recovery Console. To start the Recovery Console from a CD use the method described in option #2:

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

Hopefully, that will get you back up and running again. If you then feel you have malware issues, please come back, open a new topic, explain what problems you're experiencing, and include your HijackThis log.

If this doesn't get your system back up and running, then I would suggest you try a general troubleshooting forum, like those that can be found at the following sites:

http://forums.whatthetech.com/forums.html

http://www.techsupportforum.com/

http://forums.pcpitstop.com

For a Dell computer, try here:

http://en.community.dell.com/?~ck=ln&lnki=0&nav=true

If push comes to shove, you can always slave the drive to another computer so you can make a backup of your documents, pictures, etc. Then, reinstall the drive and do a clean installation of your operating system.

Thank you nonsuch for your quick reply. From what I've been reading it looks as if it could be a hard drive malfunction.
B

You're very welcome.

Yes, it could be a HD malfunction. It would still be worth trying chkdsk /r in the Recovery Console. If that doesn't bring it back up for you, then you could see if the HD manufacturer has a software tool that will allow you to test the integrity of the HD.

Even if the HD is dying, you still may be able to slave it and pull your data off. I would probably do that before trying too much else, just in case the HD is dying.

As this issue does not involve malware and therefore falls outside the scope of this forum, this topic is now closed.

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