How to rescue my OS

I have a PC on a network that is running Win2K and will not start up. It reaches the point of startup where the desktop wallpaper appears but then it freezes. I can alt/ctrl/del and get the task manager up and CPU usage indicates 100%. Now the PC was riddled with spyware and probably a virus or two, although I ran McAffee virus scan every day and had a couple of spyware programs I could not manage to erradicate the spyware. The problem is that I have programs on it that I cannot loose so I want to avoid re-installing the OS. I've tried re-booting in safe mode etc., but no luck. Any suggestions?

 

Personally,
I would remove the drive, install it as a slave in a machine with current virus defs and clean it. Then I would also scann with Trend Micros House Call because it seems to catch some Trojans others ignore.
And I would do a deep scan of the drive with AdAware.

Second I would place Ad-Aware, Spybot S&D, Hijack this, and CW Schredder install images to a folder on that drive.

Then I would replace the drive in your machine, fire it up in safe mode W/ networking. Install Adaware, yada yada update and clean.

 

Thanks for the response. That is a bit beyond my tech skills. There is nothing that I could do through the DOS screen?

 

Where are you located?

 

Queens, NY

 

well shoot. I figured with a screen name like FrankBama you were in my neck of the woods.
Roll Tide

 

BTW:
I get an error message during boot:
PC Anywhere has has a compatability problem...............
AW_HOST.SYS has been disabled.
Not sure if that is important or not

 

W2K doesn't have DOS except as an app you can run while windows is running.

First thing I'd try at this point is a boot to the Recovery Console and when you get to a command line prompt, chkdsk /r and ENTER. The repair may allow the PC to boot.

Otherwise, since the data on there is important to you, I'd certainly try having the drive cleaned while it was out of the PC. If you aren't comfortable doing the job (and lots of folks are not) you pretty much have two choices
- take the CPU section (no need for monitor, kbd, etc.) to a shop and let them do the job for you.
- power it down, remove the power cord, open the case, and ..... nope. Just take the whole case to a shop.

If you don't have a repair shop/person you have worked with and trust, try locating a computer group in your area and asking for recommendations. The process is fairly simple for any decent tech but you can find some real idiots passing themselves off as PC techs and you want to avoid those.

 

My local shop is closed today and this thing is driving me nuts. So here I go. I have the HD out of the maching. Now how do I plug it into the second machine?

 

Virus scan is whirring away as I type. I opened the box and figured it out! What a feeling! I also found the software that you mentioned earlier (AdAware, House Call etc.) The only thing I don't get is how to put images of those programs you mentioned in a folder and which folder would that be?

 

Ad-aware and Spybot Search & Destroy will install themselves under Program files if you take the defaults.

The online scans put all their stuff in a temp folder I think but they take care of the housekeeping.

And excellent to hear you've done the hardware piece yourself. Always a good feeling.