Unsuccessful Virus Erradication

[an8el]

My friend is completely clueless about her computer. I'm staying at her house and want to fix it for her so I can use it. 

What happens is that the computer works - slower than normally - for anywhere from between twenty minutes to three hours or so. Then unpredictability, the computer freezes and the "blue screen of death" pops up; the only choice is to to hit the power button to restart.

The message that pops up is:
Problem detected; windows has been shut down to prevent damage...
DRIVER_IRQL-NOT-LESS-OR-EQUAL (or the alternate notice was: KERNAL_STACK-INPAGE-ERROR)
then it says to disable BIOS memory options like caching or shadowing to deal with the problem, unless the program that has caused the problem could be uninstalled or get the proper updates.

The problem also happens in safe mode.

She first had problems when she downloaded a virus, which sucked her in because she had a package coming through UPS and the email gave some excuse to direct her to a link that downloaded a form she was to use to get her package - which was a virus.
A friend of hers ran a series of programs which improved some of the features, but obviously it did not clean up the problem. One friend of hers installed a paid version of Norton, which expired and did not work on the virus. So I deleted it and installed Microsoft Security Essentials instead. (BTW, when loading, you must manually "turn on" the Microsft Security Essen program - is this normal or part of the virus problem?) However, it will not allow a scan to finish - safe mode or not.

Then I downloaded Malwarebytes and managed to get it to run partway through on a "full scan" mode until it found a malicious down-loader...but this "blue screen of death" would come up before the scan could finish. So I declared the scan "finished" before the "blue screen of death" showed up and was able to eliminate that particular down loader. But I'm suspect that it will be re-created again.

This computer is a Dell XPS DXPO51 Pentium (R) D CPU  2.80 GHz, 2.79 GHz, 512 of RAM, running XP Media Ctr. Edition, Version 2002, Service pack 3.

My other friend has said it also could be an intermittent slowly failing power supply problem, because the 5-volt dc tends to fail on Dells. But I'd really like to know there isn't a hidden resurrecting file virus that re-creates the next down loader.

Any hints about how to clean this up would be really appreciated. I have her plea to please fix this problem while I am visiting for the holidays.

[JJ 3000]

Download BlueScreenView
No installation required.
Unzip downloaded file and double click on BlueScreenView.exe file to run the program.
When scanning is done, go Edit>Select All.
Go File>Save Selected Items, and save the report as BSOD.txt.
Open BSOD.txt in Notepad, copy all content, and paste it into your next reply.

[Allan]

1) That error message is usually generated because of a driver issue. Update all drivers (get them from the OEM websites, not Windows Update) and check for a bios flash. You can also run memtest to make sure ram is okay. Then:

2) Please follow the instructions in the following link and post your logs in the thread you create (NOT in this thread):
http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php/topic,46313.0.html

[an8el]

Allan, this thread is the one I'm supposed to post in, not the thread you referred me to, right? After I update these drivers, then I'll tackle the other things you mentioned.

JJ, here's the screen shot,  http://franis.blogspot.com/2005/12/fixing-for-tammy.html to see it larger, click on the image - (posted it with an old date so it wouldn't show up on my time line.)

JJ, last night on the chat you had me go to a site that showed documentation of blue screen events. It didn't have to be installed, so somehow I lost the link to it. Could you post that again for posterity? Evidently, I had ran cleaning programs that made this historic evidence go away, but I waited around last night until another blue screen event happened, so documentation is probably in there now. We may have already moved beyond checking out the blue screen event in our solutions, but thought that would be a cool link to include here.
 
Also later, (while I was waiting around to blue screen... again.) last night on the computerhope chat a really nice Kiwi named guitar_man found a whole list of drivers that needed to be updated for me after running this analysis at Driver Agent: http://spotsmail.us/current.php

The results of the scan for me was:  (scan ID 5b33670b)
from: http://driveragent.com/0/driveragent_results?hwid=5b33670bc63f39a1449c46c6f861e5b4&PHPSESSID=fu30n0qt1m8aluku3l9ia5hek0

As you can see, there were EIGHT drivers that are out of date. Undoubtedly, this is why my newbie friend's computer is blue screening. I've got my work cut out for me by installing these drivers from these links:

Intel(R) Chipset Device Software (9.1.1.1014) Driver http://us2.driveragent.com/download/c9303cb06e131ad5b5e98655ce2d2291/R225247.exe

Dell Sigmatel STAC92XX C-Major HD Audio Driver http://us2.driveragent.com/download/e8268708ef89d7b2b0613a1f9f3b8de8/R153908.exe

Dell Photo AIO Printer 924 Driver http://us2.driveragent.com/download/0231f83f0254a40f997ab25d9101d97b/R148378.exe
DELL Intel(R) PRO/1000 Gigabit Server Adapter Drive http://us2.driveragent.com/download/e653b8c80a4d31e6f0ebac0ad19a7444/R162323.exe

http://mibpaste.com/UU2YLw < INSTRUCTIONS http://driveragent.com/0/archive/a5332547/Dell-Inc.-monitor-software-update-released-on-June-22-2005./?hwid=5b33670bc63f39a1449c46c6f861e5b4&ix=2&sid=7gad1q04a2add059p31unk6004&full=1

Intel(R) ESB2 SATA AHCI Controller Driver http://us2.driveragent.com/download/58c52988baa905ba69c6538dd1eae9af/R263958.exe

http://mibpaste.com/99JI4o instructions TI TUSB3410 Application Firmware Loader Driver http://us2.driveragent.com/download/3583359d6da11e1c279021e98fd55bd3/R226476.zip

128MB ATI RADEON X600 SE Driver http://us2.driveragent.com/download/9a42f01f9625f1d82b4500813dea994a/R253949.exe

Then he also gave me the destructions on how to install each of the drivers from this link: http://mibpast.com UU2YLw

If I knew his forum name, I'd thank guitar_man for all that link-finding!

So, after I update these drivers, I'll report how the computer runs...

[Allan]

1) Is the system a Dell? If so go here: http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=288812

2) When you get advice in the chat area you have no idea if the person from whom you are getting it know any more than you do. You are always better off in the forums.

3) There is no such thing as an out of date driver and drivers should never be updated unless there is a specific reason to do so. You are having a blue screen error so in your case there is a reason - but that does not mean that utilities such as Driver Agent should ever be used - they should not.

[Computer_Commando]

Since you have a Dell, it's easy to get any software updates.
Go here:  http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
Enter your Service Tag & everything is there.

[an8el]

Good point about drive-by helpers. I'll go for the Dell updates first, I guess - since both of you recommend it.

Oh, I found that link for the program "Blue Screen View" that JJ3000 gave me - the tiny program that runs without installing is at: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

[JJ 3000]

This is either a problem with your hard drive or your disk controller driver (called the Intel Matrix Storage Manger). On the side of the computer there should be a Dell service tag (usually a small black sticker). Can you tell us what the service tag number is?

[JJ 3000]

click here

then click the blue download button on that site. Now SAVE it somewhere you can find it, like your desktop. Then:

Restart the computer. Then tap F2 as the computer is starting back up (before windows loads). This will take you into BIOS. Using the up and down arrow keys go to drives and press enter. Go to the the SATA Operation section and press enter. Then go to RAID Autodetect / ATA and press enter. Press esc to exit BIOS. Highlight save/exit and press enter to save your changes. The computer will restart.

Now install the driver.

Install

1.Double-click the new icon on the desktop labeled R130119.EXE.
2.The Self-Extracting window appears and prompts you to extract or
unzip to C:\DELL\DRIVERS\R130119. Write down this path so the executable (I.e.
Setup.exe) file can be found later.
3.The Self-Extractor window appears.
4.Click OK.
5.After completing the file extraction, if the Self-Extractor
window is still open, close it.
6.Click the Start button and then click Run.
7.Type C:\DELL\DRIVERS\R130119 in the Open textbox and then click OK.
8.Follow the on-screen installation instructions.

After you've installed the driver go back into BIOS by tapping F2 as the system starts up. Go back to Drives --> SATA Operation and highlight RAID Autodetect / AHCI and press enter. Now save changes and exit.

If the problem persists after you've followed these steps, post back for further instructions.

[an8el]

OK, JJ - it didn't work quite like you directed, but I think I did what you had in mind. The file downloaded fine & unzipped; the self extractor closed and then an installation window opened automatically (instead of me running it from the "Start" "run" command.) Got all these scary warnings that I couldn't uninstall the driver because it ran things that needed to work to do the uninstalling. It had to auto-create the directory of c://dell/driver/R130119 because that didn't exist. Then the computer needed a restart. So, we'll see how it works now and if it blue screens again as the next few hours passes...


OK, it blue-screened again, but with a different message about a kernal_stack_inpage_error  I took a photo of it and posted in on my blog at the same link, replacing the old screen shot:  http://franis.blogspot.com/2005/12/fixing-for-tammy.html

[JJ 3000]

It's looking more like its a problem with the hard drive itself.

Boot to your XP CD and press r to enter the recovery console. At the recovery console type chkdsk /r  (note the space between the k and the /).

If you don't have an XP CD you can download the recovery console here:

http://www.thecomputerparamedic.com/files/rc.iso

You will need an image burning program to burn it to a CD. If you don't have a program that can burn ISOs try ImgBurn. You can get it here:

http://www.imgburn.com/

If you are not sure how to burn the disk, there is a guide here:

http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/G/Burning+ISO+Images+with+ImgBurn

If you are not sure how to boot to a disk read here:

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000217.htm

[soybean]

Did this computer come with restore discs from Dell when new?  Many older Dell computers where shipped with restore discs which had everything needed (Windows and device drivers) needed to format the hard drive and reinstall Windows and device drivers.  If I was working on this computer and had those discs, I wouldn't waste another minute trying to get the system running by repairing it. 

Ask your friend about this.  This computer is getting some age on it, so your friend may have put those discs in storage somewhere and has forgotten about them.

And, if she truly does not have or can not find them, then I believe they can be obtained from Dell for a fee. 

[Computer_Commando]

It may not have restore disks:  Inside the Dell PC Restore Partition

[an8el]

There are no restore discs that came with the computer.
OK, by the time I got her to do the backup and get the information she wanted to have off the computer onto a flash drive, then the hard drive crashed permanently.
It still boots, but I only get a black screen with these two choices:
"Delete restoration data and proceed to system boot menu"  or
"Continue with system restart" 
If "system restart" is chosen, the blue screen comes up immediately with the KERNAL_STACK_PAGE error that I shot with my camera previously.
We haven't tried the "delete restoration data" option.
It's a 2.8 Ghz desktop w/ 512 RAM and an 128 ATI Hypermemory card that had an 80 GIG drive in it, (which is now toasted, I assume.)

Any suggestions?
Her solution would be to pull out her Dell credit card and order a new computer for $500. that she would spend about three years paying for, and she can't afford it because she really doesn't have the money because she lives on disability. For what she does with the computer, she doesn't need that much power.

My solution for her would be to buy her another used computer for $100. or a new hard drive for $50 or so new, but I really do not have the money to loan her in either case. Is it possible to get a used HD with XP already installed on it and have that work for her? Someone I know has one they would give us.

What are your suggestions?  Thanks.

[BC_Programmer]

Judging by the Blue screen Error codes that I can see here (None of which point to HD problems), your/their problem is unlikely to be caused by the hard drive "dying". It sounds like something else. I'd say to do a memtest (www.memtest86.com) and make sure the memory is good; also try a Repair Install of Windows XP.

Could be the power supply, Memory, etc. Still needs to be narrowed down.

But given the fact that you are still able to boot from the drive (the boot options are presented) I don't think it's a drive failure.