Windows Vista Safe Mode not working....

My computer had a trojan downloader generic7.AUDU dropper, which was resolved on a last thread thanks to Broni!

But now my Safe Mode will not start up???
I click enter for Safe Mode and the computer looks like it will load safe mode and comes up with a black screen with the fat Safe Mode looking mouse in the middle... Then it just restarts and boots normally?

This is weird, never had it happen before but Vista is the most pathetic OS ever....

 

Your system has recovered from a "serious illness ", perfect recovery? Either that or you may have recovered from other infections (like automatic repair using anti-malware).

I would consider reformatting after an infection that leaves the system crippled.

I won't get sarcastic, suffice it to say that I only run anti-malware every few months. I don't think my system could run any faster (original install). Find out how to avoid malware.

BTW, have you turned User Account Control off? Vista works with UAC. Get Windows 7 if you like, it has a watered-down version of UAC.

Invite malware onto your system, that's up to you.

Matt

 

Hi Arie

I tried CMD... sfc /SCANALL and it did what it did but still I cannot get into safemode.

Is it really neccessary to reformat the HDD just to get it working again???

Cheers,
James

 

No, it's not necessary - but you'll spend a lot of time and effort trying to figure out exactly where the problem lies. And still may not be able to fix it.

There are numerous reasons for this sort of error in a normal Windows system (hard drive, file system, registry, drivers, windows corruptions, other hardware, etc). Then add the non-standard things that the virus did to it and you could be still looking for it when Windows 8 comes out.

I agree that you should save your stuff, wipe the hard drive (with KillDisk or DBAN), and then reinstall Windows.

 

Hi

I was thinking maybe I should reload windows once university has finished just incase if I lost anything important. I did back up files with acer and i saved it to my external. If I format the HDD in my laptop will windows and everything still be there?

 

If you format, everything is gone.
If you format using the recovery disks that either came with the Acer or they had you make - then everything will be as it was the day the computer left the factory.

In short, all of your files will be gone - but Windows and the original stuff will be there.

 

Hi

Thanks. I will do that for sure. I have noticed that the files I save for backup on my external HDD are in zip form. Do you know how to have all these files back to how I have it on my computer now?

Would I just extract all and they would come up somewhere?

I have made recovery disks when I first got my computer so I should be fine

 

Hi everyone

Anyone else got an opinion...

 

What backup program do you use? I doubt your method would have a "restore files" selection. Yes, you would need to extract them, that may mean manually extracting each one and browsing to where you want to restore them. Could be very time consuming if you have a lot of Zip files. "Zipping" is a good method of compressing files (for transport or storage), but I would not use it for general backup.

I like the program SyncBack (freeware). You just synchronise files between two drives, although it depends on how much space is available on the backup drive. You could also look at Vista's Sync Center (see Help and Support). If you can organise two methods of backup (say, Zip and "sync "), that could be a life-saver after "wiping" your drive, I have had one method fail and was saved by having second method (so don't delete your Zip files).

Matt

 

Hi

hi I use acer recovery management, it backs up the files on the computer cd or external HDD, but was in Zip files... I would hate to unzip all that ****!

 

There must be a way to resolve safemode not working????
U cant just wipe you hard drive everytime you get a virus or what not...

 

Haha

Yeah, ok seems like a good Idea then. I will do that

 

If it gives you any solace, not being able to boot into Safe Mode is very serious in my opinion. It means the basic system is sick. It should be just that, a place you can boot where the system is safe. If I cannot boot into safe mode I consider that the system is a "goner" (if there were "tricks" to get it back, I, at least, wouldn't trust them).

Matt

 

Ok cool. I will reformat the drive. If I make back up CDs will that have the documents and settings i have on my computer now?

 

What program would you use to "make backup CDs "? If it a program supplied by the computer manufacturer it might not back up your data or you might sit there forever making disks of multi-gigabyte folders only to find it won't work when you try to restore.

CDs don't hold much data (~700MB), DVDs hold over 4GB (or 8GB if you can burn dual layer disks). Look at how much data you want to back up (? the size of your Documents folder).

You need to look at the different methods of backup...and if it is applicable to your situation. You don't want to back up your whole system in it's current status, because your current system doesn't work correctly. Back up your data, reformat the drive, reinstall Windows, then restore your data.

I don't like backup programs that turn your data into their "file ", they might say the backup file is corrupt when you want to restore it (obviously, your fault ).

Matt

 

Hi

I will back up just documents and settings with music inside... prob 8GB max... So Idk, what program do you recommend

 

Vista does basic burning

Read in Help and Support. The Mastered disk is the type I would choose.

If you are interested in making dual-layer DVDs, your burner needs to have that capability.

If you want dedicated burning software, they are pay-for. Burning programs usually come with the burner (drive) or with the computer. Check if you have burning software already, programs usually supplied are Ahead Nero, Sonic Record Now, Adaptec DVD Creator, etc. A freeware program I would recommend is CDBurnerXP.

After you have burnt the disk/s, test that you can access the files.

Read about Vista's File and Settings Transfer Wizard (Easy Transfer), I only use it to transfer/backup settings, but you might like to try it as another backup method. [Edit: I was using Windows XP Settings Transfer wizard yesterday and it looks like it was backing up the e-mail, but I have not restored it yet. Remember though, that e-mail is a main source of malware/viruses.]

Matt

 

Hi mattman

How do you test if you can access files?