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splaitFlag for United States of America

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Windows Vista PC boots "normally" to CMD window

A Vista PC was infected with the FBI virus.  I was able to remove it.  After that, it booted to a command window trying to run the virus application, which could not be found.

Ran regedit and removed the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor.

Now, it boots to a blank command window. I can run Task Manager and type explorer at the prompt and everything starts up just fine.  I then have to exit the command window.

How can I change the registry so that it runs explorer without manual intervention?
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John
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First, you may not have gotten rid of the virus. Be prepared for that.

Next, you should be able to run System File Checker from the command window.

Run SFC /SCANNOW and allow to complete. If it runs, restart and see what happens. I normally suggest running SFC a second time but this is not a normal situation.

Please let us know what happens.

.... Thinkpads_User
If the above suggestion does not work, try a repair install.

If instructions are needed, use:

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88236-repair-install-vista.html >
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David Johnson, CD
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since this is a Vista system - running for 6 or more years, i suggest to backup everything, and do a fresh install
it takes time, but guarantees you a clean, fast running system in the end

**you may be able to run a factory reset - depending on the system
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@ve3ofa, while this would have been the quickest solution, that variable was already set correctly.  However, the shell setting under HKEY_CURRENT_USER was "cmd.exe".  I changed that to "explorer.exe" and all is well.  Thank you! (I wish there was an "A-" selection in the grading!)

And thank you to all who responded here.  You are the vertebrae that comprise the backbone of this site!