Hey all, I'm new to the forum so I apologize if this problem has been posted somewhere else before...
I'm actually not a Vista user (I use Windows 7 & Mac), but I'm attempting to fix a Vista Laptop for a co-worker (apparently because I'm a programmer, she thinks I can fix any issue)
Anyway, I figured I'd give it a shot, and what I found was unlike any problem I've tried to troubleshoot before.
Symptoms in regular boot mode:
Half of the time when you log on, it just shows a light blue blank desktop, however you can use ctrl+alt+delete to get to the task mgr.
It's unable to start any anti-virus programs.
Unable to connect to the internet.
BITS service (and dependancy services) throw an error when you try to start them manually.
Doesn't detect any removable media.
I can boot in safe mode, but then I have the following issues. I'm unable to install most anti-virus programs.
I can connect to the internet, but cannot connect to any windows update services (windows defender, windows update, etc...)
I was able to install malware bytes, but could not connect to their update service.
Steps I've taken:
I ran the un-updated version of malwarebytes, but only caught 2 or 3 adware items and nothing else
Ran sophos anti-rootkit and came up empty handed.
I tried creating a separate account (to see if the problem was specific to her profile) but when I try to log in to the new account I just created, the whole machine freezes on the welcome screen.
Any thoughts? If you need more info, I'll be happy to provide it.
I'm actually not a Vista user (I use Windows 7 & Mac), but I'm attempting to fix a Vista Laptop for a co-worker (apparently because I'm a programmer, she thinks I can fix any issue)
Anyway, I figured I'd give it a shot, and what I found was unlike any problem I've tried to troubleshoot before.
Symptoms in regular boot mode:
Half of the time when you log on, it just shows a light blue blank desktop, however you can use ctrl+alt+delete to get to the task mgr.
It's unable to start any anti-virus programs.
Unable to connect to the internet.
BITS service (and dependancy services) throw an error when you try to start them manually.
Doesn't detect any removable media.
I can boot in safe mode, but then I have the following issues. I'm unable to install most anti-virus programs.
I can connect to the internet, but cannot connect to any windows update services (windows defender, windows update, etc...)
I was able to install malware bytes, but could not connect to their update service.
Steps I've taken:
I ran the un-updated version of malwarebytes, but only caught 2 or 3 adware items and nothing else
Ran sophos anti-rootkit and came up empty handed.
I tried creating a separate account (to see if the problem was specific to her profile) but when I try to log in to the new account I just created, the whole machine freezes on the welcome screen.
Any thoughts? If you need more info, I'll be happy to provide it.