Hey everyone,
I am stuck in quite a pickle. My parents' computer, an old Dell Dimension 4600 running Windows XP Service Pack 3 is totally broken. Here is the order of what happened:
- A few days ago, they apparently picked up a virus/malware called Security Tools. This thing is absolutely annoying, it doesn't let you run task manager, msconfig or any utility as a matter of fact. It keeps giving error messages saying there is a virus, and those windows are always on top, so after a certain amount of time your screen is covered with fake error messages. I managed to get it off using Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware software, which is the recommended removal tool for that particular malware.
- Yesterday, the computer was functioning fine and my parents left it on for a bit. When they came back, the had the BSOD. At that point, the error code was 0x0000008e. According to them, when they tried to restart several times, the error code changed between the previous one and 0x0000007e. Now, the error code is always 0x00000044. The computer never starts up at all. It goes to the Windows XP loading screen and gives the BSOD. The error message is standard, you can view it on google images.
- The problem is that Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking and Last Known Good Configuration boot options don't work, they give the same BSOD error message with error code 0x00000044. This means that I can't even view the minidump files. I even tried booting with Windows Recovery Mode from the XP Installation CD, and fixed the boot sector, but that doesn't work. I read somewhere that it may be caused by Rustock Rootkit v1.2, and tried disabling that from Recovery Mode and that doesn't seem to be the cause, because there is no such registry entry.
I've ordered a new laptop for them, but it'll take a couple of weeks to arrive. And in the meantime, they REALLY need access to a computer.
There has been no change in hardware, all peripherals are the same as they have been ever since this thing was functioning.
I'm not really sure how to go about fixing this thing now, any opinions?
