I went to go start up my wife's desktop computer today and it was all screwed up. Windows XP went to go load then a screen came up that said something to the effect of "Sorry for the inconvenience but your system has previously shut down. If you do not know why this happened please start Windows normally. Blah blah blah." Then it listed 4 options: start in safe mode, start in safe mode with network, start windows normally and then one other option.

I tried to start normally. Windows started to load (the part with the blue progress bar that goes back and forth). When it got to the part where you normally see your desktop come on, a blue screen quickly flashed on the screen then the computer rebooted itself.

I thought that was weird, so I tried starting it a bunch of different ways and nothing worked (including the F8 option). So I popped in my Windows XP cd and thought I would reinstall Windows using the repair Windows option. I went to do that and it said my hard drive wasn't formatted properly. It basically said my hard drive was empty. SO I had to format my hard drive and reinstall windows. I lost everything. NOthing important but still.

Why did this happen? How could Windows even begin to boot when it said the hard drive was empty. I don't get it. The only thing that my wife did was last time when she was done using the computer she just turned it off and didn't go to Start, Shutdown computer, turnoff computer. But I have never heard of this happening because of that. Just need some info so I know what is going on. Thanks

-Matt

P.S. I have NEVER had a problem with WinXP so I don't want to hear "Get Lunix" or some other comment. I love WinXP!

 

Do you have a current Virus scanner? Some of the viruses out there will delete everything on your hard drive, or selected parts of it.
Did you get any weird emails that may have had an attachment that you or your wife executed?
I keep my software (purchased annually) and definitions (updated weekly) current.
So far never a problem with viruses. I know part of that is being lucky as I could have been one of the early ones to get a virus.
If you are still able to use your hard drive, I would think a virus is the most likely cause.

 

Wonder if you picked up mydoom somewhere? I read a little blurb today that said the variant will delete files causing system crashes etc. Just a thought. I think it was mydoom F, if I recall correctly.

 

Maybe. All my virus scanners update themselves. Kinda weird. Probably time to format computer anyways to start clean. Kind of like changing your oil!

-Matt

 

in win2k or XP, setup user accounts as restricted accounts, keep the administrator account only for installing software. users cause more harm to themselves far more often then a virus.

Firewall "software" such as MacAfee or ZoneAlarm is good for dialup accounts, for those with cable or DSL a goood router with firewall capabilities would work best for home. remember, every time you install software like that it runs in the background taxing the system.

 

Beast12, have you verified that your scanners are updating themselves? I know some people who thought they had set it up that way, and something happened and they weren't getting updates,
Also a lot of companies now charge after 1 year for the definitions. Is your scanner over a year old?
I know I'm harping in the AV software, but your problem is classical virus problems.

 

it could have been a virus but I don't think so. I know it updates regularly, i make sure I check. Oh well.....must have slipped through....

-Matt