my girlfriends computer has stopped working. it gets past the screen with the windows logo and the blue bars scrolling across the bottom and then it goes to a grey screen and stops. it will start in safe mode.

 

i know it was working as recently as christmas, but thats about it. they have a large family, so they cant tell me who was the last one to use it, much less what the most recent changes might have been. they also dont have the faintest idea where their windows install disc is, so windows repair isnt really an option. chkdsk didnt come back with any problems. they do have antivirus on the computer, although i havent managed to start the thing in anything but safe mode so i cant tell if its configured to start the scanner on startup.

 

im pretty much out of ideas here : P

If you get Avast set up, installed and updated (safe mode with networking) then you can schedule a boot time scan. This boot time scan should initate right after Windows loads (so at the same time the grey thing comes in).

 

A Windows XP instal or recovery disk would probably be the best bet (I know what you said... but not finding the solution doesn't change the solution!)

If you get Avast set up' date=' installed and updated (safe mode with networking) then you can schedule a boot time scan. This boot time scan should initate right after Windows loads (so at the same time the grey thing comes in).

 

A Windows XP instal or recovery disk would probably be the best bet (I know what you said... but not finding the solution doesn't change the solution!)[/quote']

 

 

and what do i do about mcafee? i remember when i installed avast on mine it didnt like the other AV software on my comp, i also remember it was kind of a pain to get the other stuff off my system. not to mention its not my computer so if they like their current stuff...

 

and yes, i agree that the best bet would be the install disc... aint that a b-

idk... can you access system restore is safe mode?

grey screen of mystery... thats a new one for me

 

If you go to windows search and check for files modified since 25-12-05, then you might be able to pin down the corrupt file (if a corrupt file is the problem).

 

On winXP, its start > search > for files/folders; select 'all files and folders', and then click on the 'when was it modified' drop-down.

 

also click on the 'more advanced options' drop-down and make sure 'search hidden/system/sub-folders' are checkd.

i used system restore to set it back a couple days, not quite till xmas. it has a small problem where windows restore requires a restart, then when you restart it tries to use normal mode : P

Ah. Windows and reboots.

 

When it reboots just go back to safe mode. It probably changed some configurations and might need to continue.