Help: Compaq Laptop shuts down after Login!

[Chapelle]

To all the TechSupport Forums Techies...

I need your help! Here's the deal:

My dad has a Compaq laptop, an old Presario, and recently we've been bugged with several problems. Before, it was the blue screen after the Windows XP Loading screen, then slow downs, and now this.

The laptop has 3 accounts active right now: 2 Admin Type Accounts, "Eric Badong" and "Safe Mode" and one limited account, "Pawee".

The problem is, all of a sudden, without anything being installed before the problem occured, the laptop suddenly begins to shutdown afrer logon to either admin accounts with the message:

"The System Is Shutting Down...Please Save Your Work..Authorized by Compaq/(Username of the account I'm using)...." I can't write all because it blinks so fast. Then error messages come out saying they failed to initialize due to Windows shutting down.

However, logging into the guest account does not lead to the shutdown, but it is, however, restricted from accessing admin protected stuff like tweaking the settings. So I practically can't fix the problem. Safe mode? Nope. In fact, even if an additional admin account, the "Administrator" account appears, it also shuts down after safe mode login.

I can't logon to the laptop at all, and the guest account seems to be plagued with a virus that prevents it from opening Task Manager, Registry Editor, Msconfig.....Someone help! I'd really appreciate it.

[Requimatic]

Does it give you that message and automatically shutdown X seconds later (X usually being 30 to 45 seconds or so)?

If so, before it finishes shutting down, click the start button, then "run..", and type in: shutdown /a (could be -a instead of /a, I haven't had to do this in a while).

Assuming it's giving you a timed shutdown, that will cancel it, and should allow you to look at things more. Typically, Windows doesn't give you a timed shutdown like that unless a critical system process was abruptly terminated for whatever reason.

Since you said there's some kind of virus/malware/etc. infection on the laptop, whatever it is could be killing a Windows process as soon as it starts, which in turn gives you the timed shutdown.

Now, if you need to deal with the viruses, I highly suggest using Malware Bytes' Anti-Malware. It's free, and VERY effective. There's a "Pro" version you can pay for, but to my knowledge all it offers is a RTM (real-time module, like Norton's auto-protect).

Additionally, you should also download Ad-Aware, and use a major AV program such as Norton, or AVG, to keep the system clean.

[Chapelle]

Thanks for replying. The problem, though, is that the shutdown isn't timed....Dialog box appears, then after 1 second, it closes and before I know it xp is shutting down.