Re: Can't boot

*((( wrote:

My desktop is XP Home SP2. I just reformatted the C drive and
reinstalled software. I was using Outlook 2000, hit Ctrl+Alt+Delete
to see if another instance was running, and Bam! The system crashed!

I have not been able to get it to boot up since. I have tried booting
from the XP CD; I chose "repair." In just one second, it said the
repair was finished. No joy.

Sometimes when I turn the system on, it immediately loads the BIOS
menu. Other times it loads a black screen with some information about
PCI configuration. No prompt.

I have two internal hard drives. I've tried changing the BIOS to boot
from the other hard drive. No joy.

Of course, I have AVG and Zone Alarm. I run a virus test and also run
Spybot S&D (updated) daily. (I have turned off Windows Firewall for
the time being).

Some of the error messages have included:
CPU frequency mismatch.
NTDLR missing
sparrow.sys missing

QUESTION: Is there any malware going around that would cause this?

I very much doubt that you have malware or at least that malware is
causing these problems. Since you are having issues even before the
operating system boots, it is far more likely that you have hardware
failure. Here are some general hardware troubleshooting steps:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Troubleshooting

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of BigStoreUSA).

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
.

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