expolorer problem/ restarting loop

Hey guys.

My friend has a major laptop problem.

On the first of January the dvd/cd player stopped reading discs – it just spins them and says no disc. He restored it yesterday to this date (1/1/09) – the earliest available and with no success.(this date was a firefox update.)

However as of today the computer started to say that explorer has stopped working then says windows explorer is restarting. It repeats this in a loop from when you log in and does not stop.

Obviously the second problem is the biggest issue and a re-installation of windows (Vista I think? – laptop is 14 months old?) may not be possible if the DVD drive is busted.

Any input would be much appreciated. Is there a connection between the two?

Neither of us know a great deal about computers so dummy terms would be great.

Thanks for you time.

Mark

Sounds suspiciously like a virus or some form of malware
Does this only happen after opening Explorer? Does it still happen if you boot into Safe Mode?

Ideally you want to boot into Safe Mode, and then install and run some anti virus / anti spyware / malware programs to firstly identify what there is, and then be rid of it. A couple of trusty programs I have used before to be rid of such things include:
An anti virus product. Personally I use Kaspersky, but many out there that don't like to pay $ enjoy using AVG. At any rate, you need something to aid in protecting the system.

I also recommend some anti spyware products, such as SpyBot (doesn't always get rid of the problem, but is pretty good at identifying the problem), Super Anti Spyware, as well as Malware Bytes

SpyBot is quite simple to use and the method of removing such nasties can change depending on what virus / spyware you have, so to come back with the name of it (after installing and running a scan) would be helpful

You may need to think outside the box a little in getting these downloads onto the problem laptop in the first place, such as downloading onto one system, then using a USB key to transfer the setup exes onto the problematic machine, then installing. Some of this comes down to whether you can use the problematic machine to connect to the internet and download without it crashing on you, or not

Its likely that the drive has failed (as has mine recently) and you need to get it replaced. To do this you may need to send it in to the company or something. The explorer problem is tougher.

Try booting in safe mode. To do this, boot up the computer. When the BIOS is finished, you should have the black screen before the windows logo. Press F8 at that point, and select Safe Mode. Try running virus programs and such.

~Lordbob