Boot problem with validation error in XP Pro
I have a legal copy of XP Pro Windows which has been running on my desktop for several years now. This morning when I booted, the process stopped showing only my desktop background. In the icon tray there was a star, and when I right clicked it, it said "Validation error". I tried to reboot and ever since, Windows stops at a point showing only my background and the command bar empty. None of my desktop icons show, and the Start button shows only black rectangle.
I tried to boot using my XP Pro CD, and it got as far as showing some, not all, of the desktop icons. The Start button still does not show anything. I have to use the hardware reset to reboot.
Can anyone tell me what this means and how to fix it?
I tried to boot using my XP Pro CD, and it got as far as showing some, not all, of the desktop icons. The Start button still does not show anything. I have to use the hardware reset to reboot.
Can anyone tell me what this means and how to fix it?
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Actually, I have a little more than that to work with. I am posting now from my laptop, and I could download things here a put them on a CD or USB stick.
I also can boot the desktop with the problem using a second harddrive that was installed out of a previous computer about 5 years ago. It has a very old version of XP on it, and I managed to use that to boot. I am currently copying backup files of the most critical stuff from the main drive to this drive, and that seems to be working.
So is there a way to run my Norton AntiVirus program on the main drive from having booted on the secondary drive?
I also can boot the desktop with the problem using a second harddrive that was installed out of a previous computer about 5 years ago. It has a very old version of XP on it, and I managed to use that to boot. I am currently copying backup files of the most critical stuff from the main drive to this drive, and that seems to be working.
So is there a way to run my Norton AntiVirus program on the main drive from having booted on the secondary drive?
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I have Norton on my laptop too. Is there any way to use this to scan the desktop computer drives?
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I finally managed to get into Safe mode, ran Norton AV, Malwarebytes, and SuperAntiSpyware. Norton found 77 tracking cookies and nothing else. Malwarebytes found nothing additional. SuperAntiSpyware then found 30 more tracking cookies (I was not connected to the internet at all during this). None of that looked like anything special, but when I rebooted, everything seems normal!
Thanks so much to all of you for the help in what was for me a scary situation.
Thanks so much to all of you for the help in what was for me a scary situation.
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