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So i think i ruined my computer... help!!!

cheetaprowlerDH

cheetaprowlerDH

Turbo Monkey
May 24, 2006
1,001
0
surviving the hell of the living deceased... VIST
yesterday i went into my computer in my room to try and fix the problem i've been having with my internet by simply uninstalling and reinstalling internet explorer...
so i uninstalled internet explorer 6 and restarted my computer... when i restarted it, everthing seemed fine until the time where my desktop was supposed to show up and it didnt...
i waited, allowed the computer to do some processes that popped up on the screen, and waited some more, but still no desktop.. not even a taskbar! all that shows up is the default background picture and i cant make anything show up....
my computer got infected by some trojan spyware bull**** awhile ago and the "warning" pop ups still come up on the screen, but nothing else is there...

what the hell did i do?
any help would be insanely appreciated! that computer has so many precious things on there!
:help::help::help:
:cheers:
 
ultraNoob

ultraNoob

Yoshinoya Destroyer
Jan 20, 2007
4,504
1
Hills of Paradise
did you just delete it? or did you uninstall it? I think Windows 2000, ME, XP are dependent upon IE. If you took it out, you may have to reload your operating system. Maybe if the mods move this to the computer forum, a more knowledgable monkey can chime in.
 
maddog17

maddog17

Turbo Monkey
Jan 20, 2008
2,817
106
Methuen, Mass. U.S.A.
try and start the comp in safe mode and run your antivirus stuff, restart and see if that helps. did you try going back to a restore point earlier than when you think you got the virus?
 
Wumpus

Wumpus

makes avatars better
Dec 25, 2003
8,161
153
Six Shooter Junction
Prior to Windows XP, you could physically remove IE from a computer (though it wasn't always easy), but with XP, to satisfy various antitrust rulings, Microsoft changed this while making it easy to "disable" IE without actually removing any of the files it uses. Why? Because all sorts of programs and OS functions use various pieces of IE. Deleting the files that comprise it, as you mentioned late in your message, is actually quite dangerous to your computer's stability.




You might have just rolled back to a previous version of IE if you have been keeping current on your updates, but I have never had luck the few times I tried to uninstall it(never tried with XP).

Secret squirrel's advice is probably the best...C:\>c:FORMAT /U/S


edit(good luck): http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318378
 
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cheetaprowlerDH

cheetaprowlerDH

Turbo Monkey
May 24, 2006
1,001
0
surviving the hell of the living deceased... VIST
i have windows 2000 on that one...

i uninstalled internet exporer 6, so unless windows explorer and internet explorer are the same, i thought i wold just be able to reinstll it from a flash drive... i have it all ready to go...

but it sounds and looks like my whole system was dependent on that?
s**t...

is there some way i can extract the files i have on my hard drive?
geez i've got thousands of pictures and just installed Photoshop CS3 two days ago! i need all that stuff!

i tried starting in safe mode, but nothing happened, i tried every other mode too... expecting either safe mode or "last succesful logon mode" to owrk, but nothing did...

wow i'm a dumbass
 
H8R

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
Just re-install Windows. Don't format, just re-install over the old copy.

After you get it back, BACK EVERYTHING UP and THEN format and re-install.


Or go Linux, because Win 2K sucks immortal donkey ass.
 
cheetaprowlerDH

cheetaprowlerDH

Turbo Monkey
May 24, 2006
1,001
0
surviving the hell of the living deceased... VIST
SkaredShtles said:
Did you try CTRL-ALT-DEL? You might be able to get to the option to "Run" an application and manually start explorer.exe
Click to expand...
i have tried that, but it wont let me open the task manager to manually start a program...

i've clicked on the links in the antivirus popups ith no internet connection, but it pops up and says that there was a problem with explore.exe and the application needs to be terminated...


i there a way to get my files off of my drive? i am getting another computer along with an external hard drive already, and i really need to have all my files...
s**t and all my music too? geez i've got stuff digitized from now ruined vinyl on there!
 
cheetaprowlerDH

cheetaprowlerDH

Turbo Monkey
May 24, 2006
1,001
0
surviving the hell of the living deceased... VIST
you know i think all i really want to do is get all of my files off of that HD and just put them on an external drive to transfer them to my new computer...
if reinstalling windows without formattg will allow me to getall of my files off that drive and then leave it, i will try that, but first i need to find the original disc... my neighbor gave me the computer about three years ago and its been working fine until this month...
and either way, i'm getting a brand new one from my aunt...
 
jimmydean

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
41,219
13,353
Portland, OR
The Ubuntu LiveCD will let you mount the NTFS partition and copy what ever you need off to something else (flash, external drive, network, whatever). Once copied, then toss everything and format/clean install windows.
 
H8R

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
jimmydean said:
The Ubuntu LiveCD will let you mount the NTFS partition and copy what ever you need off to something else (flash, external drive, network, whatever). Once copied, then toss everything and format/clean install windows.
Click to expand...


:stupid:
 
jimmydean

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
41,219
13,353
Portland, OR
MTBracer

MTBracer

Monkey
Nov 19, 2007
192
0
Massachusetts
You say you wanted to get all the files off of the old hard drive? I did that with my computer. All I did was take the old hard drive that had info I wanted, and connect it into my new computer as a slave hard drive. Than I used ACDsee to extract all the stuff I wanted. It worked for me. After that I formatted the old hard drive and it's now serving as storage for all my music and stuff. Of course the old hard drive did have a working OS on it. But that way I did it, my new computer didn't even recognize that there was an OS on it. It just made it look like a flash drive and I could just take files off it as needed.
 
johnbryanpeters

johnbryanpeters

Hero
Sep 27, 2001
36,104
16,553
Making moss sad in New Haven, Vermont
cheetaprowlerDH said:
interesting... its not a separate operating system?

ill definitley have to give that a try...
i just want to be extra cautious because i dont want anything else to go wrong ya know...
Click to expand...
Screw ubuntu and the rest of the unix crap, just another pit to get lost in.

Get your new computer, make sure that it's patched up and has a good anti-viral uti;ity installed and up to date.

Physically install the drive from your old computer in the new one as a second drive.

Scan the drive - it sounds as though it has major cooties.

Take the files you want.

If you're not familiar with this world, pay for some professional help.
 
Ciaran

Ciaran

Fear my banana
Apr 5, 2004
9,839
15
So Cal
johnbryanpeters said:
Screw ubuntu and the rest of the unix crap, just another pit to get lost in.

Get your new computer, make sure that it's patched up and has a good anti-viral uti;ity installed and up to date.

Physically install the drive from your old computer in the new one as a second drive.

Scan the drive - it sounds as though it has major cooties.

Take the files you want.

If you're not familiar with this world, pay for some professional help.
Click to expand...
Listen to this man. His mustache makes sense.
 
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H8R

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
johnbryanpeters said:
If you're not familiar with this world, pay for some professional help.
Click to expand...
:rolleyes:

You can install the drive on a Windows machine and get your files back without paying someone if you have half a brain. (free)

Or just pop in an Ubuntu live cd (free) and retrieve your files yourself (also free).

It's not a pit, it's a rope to get you out of the pit.
 
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