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Post by brian on May 25, 2013 13:11:24 GMT
Why is an upgrade not a good idea? The thought of having to spend even more hours to restore all the software without losing any data really worries me.
Did a bit more research yesterday, and ran SFC.exe. Then had problems accessing the CBS.log file, but got there in the end. Still none the wiser, though it said it had fixed some problems, but not all. I was expecting it to ask for the OS disc, but it didn't. It restarted in the process and I had to type in explorer.exe again. Looking at the log, I found two entries at the time I typed in the DOS box, you will see there was a time delay between the two, I wasn't watching so it was a little later when I reacted.
2013-05-24 18:56:29, Info CBS Startup: Waiting for SC autostart event 2013-05-24 18:58:56, Info CBS Startup: SC autostart event signaled
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Post by Lighthouse on May 25, 2013 13:37:40 GMT
What sort of price were you thinking of for an Upgrade ? ( and I guess it is to W7)
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Post by Admin_Vistamike on May 25, 2013 13:42:01 GMT
Hi Brian. Following a few incidents some years ago I found ( from XP to Vista ) remaining problems fro the previous OS and I did this on a few machines. So I never went down that road again. Too many XP registry files were left over and not always certain apps would work. And you make a very valid point installing everything again is time consuming and frustrating for sure. Tis important to keep copies of software and the keys. My reason / preference for clean install is that the HDD is formatted / reformatted to really ensure previous records are lost. Then I make an image of the new install, apps installed, everything happily working etc and that image I can bring back in a disaster situation. That image is a day one install but you can reimage anytime so you always have an image to fall back on. Once a week I do this, saves just so much stress! Software used is www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspxMike
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Post by brian on May 25, 2013 20:14:52 GMT
Thanks, what you say makes total sense. I do have a set of image discs which I made when I bought this as suggested by the manual. I have later backups too, but need to save lots of stuff before I go back to the OEM state. I do also have a W7 Pro disc, bought for another purpose but not used. Can't upgrade from this Vista but can of course do a clean install. Again need to make sure I don't lose anything.
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Post by brian on May 29, 2013 16:21:01 GMT
Well I get more confused. I created a new user with admin control since this affair. I now find that it boots up perfectly when the new user is selected, but not when my original user is.
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Post by Lighthouse on May 29, 2013 16:39:53 GMT
That is definitely a re-install job. You can remove a virus, but not repair the damage it has left behind !
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Post by brian on May 31, 2013 9:38:22 GMT
A reinstall would be best, this PC has been runninbg slower for some time anyway, and a move to W7 was on the cards. Now I need to ensure - with a clean install - that I don't lose anything. More difficult than it first seems. Windows Easy Transfer is what MS suggest, but on checking, though they say it transfers emails, it does not if you use anything but Windows mail, I use Outlook. OK so that's the .pst files to copy as well, but as this is a Sony, I will also have to look for all the special drivers, and the Sony website is not the best. My method of working is to take things slowly, do the research first and try to get it right. No point in rushing in to a clean install to find nothing works thereafter, and all the emails etc have dissapeared.
Thinking about it, this virus changes the boot sequence (amongst other things), so that instead of running explorer, it runs the Ukash page. I now realise where I made a mistake which could have got me out of this. The virus file was called 214ee4a3.exe, I did a registry search for this and found an autorun entry for it which I removed. Prior to this I had the DOS box come up saying that the file was not valid. I removed the entry, which was the mistake, as I should have replaced it with explorer.exe. Course I have no idea where it was now. I now have the DOS box coming up waiting for me to type explorer.exe. Where is the emoticon for banging my head against a brick wall?
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