system shutdown issue please help

[donnierisk]

Hi there i've got a problem with my home pc.

I went to a lan a few days ago then I went home and my computer worked fine for a day or two, but then suddenly i booted my pc up 2 days ago and it doesn't want to start up. Right after I log in an error message appears which says that "services.exe could not be read" or something similiar, they reference to the code in the memory which they say cannot be read.

My options are click okay to terminate the application or cancel to debug it. i've tried both and they both lead to the same thing. after that error message another one appears and it's the same, except it's for another system application, so it goes on like this through quite a few applications (like explorer.exe, svchost.exe, supserv.exe, etc...).

After i've been through a few of those messages a dialog box appears that say the system will now shutdown in 60 seconds, then it starts the countdown. There are no buttons for me to click and there is no way to close it. i've tried opening the task manager to rerun those applications but then the error messages reappear.

Can someone please help me solve this issue without me having to lose any data?

 

[jp]

You can't do a shutdown -a from the "run" function?

 

[Sicron]

Have you tried booting into Safe mode?

 

[donnierisk]

I tried safe mode it does the same thing, should i maybe take a photo of the error and upload it?

Sorry jp what do you mean, I don't understand?

 

[Sicron]

If I remember correctly, if you go into the command prompt, and type "shutdown -a" (without the quotes), you can stop a shutdown of your pc. Worth a try, but it doesn't solve anything. At least if it works, you can backup your files.

 

[Skyrider]

Indeed, the shutdown -a will work if you receive a shutdown countdown message, which you are getting as you mentioned. Either your system files has been damaged or you have yourself a nasty virus. You should either clean up with a virus scanner, or start a fresh installation of windows which will really get rid of every single spyware/virus/adware you might have.

 

[jp]

Did you go with that same computer to that LAN party? did someone/you install software on that pc recently? updated your drivers? anything?

In any case, whenever you get that countdown timer, do the following.
In Windows XP go to Start => Run => and type into the box that comes up "shutdown -a" (without the quotes).
In Windows Vista or 7 go to Start, and type the same command into the search bar that's in the start menu.

Then backup your precious data on an external mass storage device (usb stick, or HD).
And then i'd recommend a clean installation of Windows, and installing a decent virus scanner like NOD32 (I use that lol).

 

[donnierisk]

Ya I was stupid, I disabled my AVG to copy a few files and that must've led to me getting a virus, cuz I picked up many viruses on the other computers at the lan and AVG kept on deleting all their files so I got a bit pissed off...won't be doing that again anytime soon.

Thing is I can't open up my explorer bar, my computer just shows the desktop background with the error messages, so if I could somehow get the start menu and command prompt i'm sure I would be able to fix it, but that's just it, I can't. I tried opening explorer.exe manually, it does open but I can't click on the start button it doesn't respond.

Say now I just do a clean installation of windows XP Pro, without formatting my hard drive, will I risk losing my files or would it just replace the windows files and leave the rest as it is? So far that's all I can think of.

Another thing maybe, what if I put the hard drive into another pc and copy the files I need while running on the pc's OS instead of the one on my HD, that would probably infect the new hard drive, unless the anti-virus picks it up first?

sorry for the essay, i'm going to res soon and I need my pc asap, i'm trying to figure out as many ways to do this as possible, studying IT and i'm already having problems with my pc :/

 

[Skyrider]

Say now I just do a clean installation of windows XP Pro, without formatting my hard drive, will I risk losing my files or would it just replace the windows files and leave the rest as it is? So far that's all I can think of.

It's never a good idea to re-install windows without a format. By doing so, you can leave copies of the virus on your partition for it to re-infect your windows once it is re-installed. As for the backup, if your anti virus is working properly, you should only copy over the files you really need. It's quite unlikely the virus would infect the backup files such as doc, txt, etc files.

 

[kam!]

Windows button + r also opens the run prompt.

Especially if you have viruses, a clean install with format is recommended. Putting the disk into another pc runs the risk of infecting it too.

 

[Sicron]

Wouldn't it help to put the harddisk in an external drive? Technically, Windows isn't running on the external drive that way, so it can't magically start copying virusses over to your PC...can it?

 

[Skyrider]

Wouldn't it help to put the harddisk in an external drive? Technically, Windows isn't running on the external drive that way, so it can't magically start copying virusses over to your PC...can it?

Yes it can. I had a virus on my external last time which screwed it up and viruses can hide anywhere, even on your external which in the end can copy itself back to your windows. Really, just format your windows and only backup the needed files. It's the only way to make sure you are virus free.

 

[donnierisk]

Thank you so much for the feedback guys.

I've decided to just format the drive, I just realised that the only thing I have on my C drive that is important to me is Warcraft Frozen Throne, just gonna have to buy another one I guess...ya i'm a freak.

I've learnt alot from this thread, I tried the windows button + r and it works, but as soon as I type shutdown -a the computer freezes in a way, so my only choice is to format the drive, i'm thinking of going over to Windows 7, do you guys think it's a good idea?

Oh and i'm never gonna disable anti-virus again, I guess we all learn from our mistakes?

 

[Skyrider]

Thank you so much for the feedback guys.

I've decided to just format the drive, I just realised that the only thing I have on my C drive that is important to me is Warcraft Frozen Throne, just gonna have to buy another one I guess...ya i'm a freak.

I've learnt alot from this thread, I tried the windows button + r and it works, but as soon as I type shutdown -a the computer freezes in a way, so my only choice is to format the drive, i'm thinking of going over to Windows 7, do you guys think it's a good idea?

Oh and i'm never gonna disable anti-virus again, I guess we all learn from our mistakes?

Indeed we do. If you want my suggestion, get multiple partitions. One partition (C for your windows, and (D for your games and data. That's how I do it. So you won't lose your games & downloads after a format. Virus on my computer? I format C, and I'm done with it! Sure, there can be viruses on my D partition, but I'm usually protected to make sure there are none.

 

[donnierisk]

ya that's actually what I did too, I used to have old school work but now that I have matriculated I guess I don't need it anymore. It helps alot, i've got a 40gb HD for my windows and the rest goes on my other. I found a guy who would install Windows 7 for me so it's all good. Thanks again for all the help again everyone, much appreciated.