PC Stuck in Boot Loop. Firefox Redirect Issue.

Hello again everyone!

Ok.. this problem is now for my OWN PC which i very rarely have a problem on even though its old But i am stuck on this one. PC is a DELL with Windows XP SP2......

About 2 weeks ago, i was doing some scans with Antivirus (Trend Micro Pro), SUPERAntiSpyware, Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware... well after it had to reboot.......i wasnt able to.. I get a very quick blue screen at boot which is impossible to see.. so i had to use one of my camera to snap a pic of it (See attached photo below)......I was and still am u nable to boot up into safe mode..... The only way i can successfully use my computer is if i hit F8 and choose "Debugging mode"....and then it works fine.......The reason i started doing the scans that day was because of a few reasons

1.) neither my CD Rom Drive or my DVD Burner Drive is working. If i have a CD/DVD in either drive during startup. The light on those drives are continously flickering fast.....i have to remove the discs from the drives to get PC to continue bootup.... My bootup config is correct though, so dunno why that is happening. Also, if i attempt to double click my Nero Express or something.. My PC completely locks up...

2.) my other problem is.. with the web.. I use firefox and i have been getting redirected to some sites like http://66.230.188.67/click.php?c=eNodk8mus...I5Eg3Q8PiLEARGU and what not.....If i am on a search engine and i click one of the results.. Every other time i click a link i get redirected some spam site.....i have to go back again and hit the link again.. I have researched this and it sounded like something the "GooredFix.exe" thing could repair.....when i tried it this past weekend.. it found something and removed it.. ...i still have the logs.

Now finally, i am off for the holidays. I am using my brand new laptop to post here with.... and like i did a few weeks ago...... this morning i ran the following..

*SUPERAntiSpyware
*Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
*HJT Scan
*Gooredfix

The stuff that it has found (during last weeks scans and this mornings scans).. has not helped my situation of either of the 2 problems i described above......Any one have any suggestions how i can get things back to normal? I am trying to avoid having to reformat since i have alot of data i need to back up, and i cant until i get my burner working again. The burner issue has been going on over a month before my other issues started....i am guessing thats a seperate issue i can work on later......


This is the blue screen that comes up for like a split second..



Thanks in advance for any of your replies and your help If you want me to post any logs. let me know if u want the current logs from this morning, or the ones from last weeks scans...

thx. max

Per http://www.aumha.org/a/stop.htm

"0x00000024: NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM
A problem occurred within NTFS.SYS, the driver file that allows the system to read and write to NTFS file system drives. There may be a physical problem with the disk, or an Interrupt Request Packet (IRP) may be corrupted. Other common causes include heavy hard drive fragmentation, heavy file I/O, problems with some types of drive-mirroring software, or some antivirus software. I suggest running ChkDsk or ScanDisk as a first step; then disable all file system filters such as virus scanners, firewall software, or backup utilities. Check the file properties of NTFS.SYS to ensure it matches the current OS or SP version. Update all disk, tape backup, CD-ROM, or removable device drivers to the most current versions."

I tend to expect the worst when I see any error message where NTFS is a possible scene of the crime....I mentally prepare to do a format/clean install, since I know of no way to repair NTFS if the file system is the real problem.

If the hard drive is the problem, I will probably wind up having to do the same thing, if the drive is useable.

I suppose that I would try the chkdsk /r command as an initial effort.

How to use CHKDSK in the XP Recovery Console - http://pirules3.14.googlepages.com/recovery_console_chkdsk

FWIW: STOP errors can be hardware...can be malware...can be other things. Since yours points to the NTFS.sys file, that ought to be useful. But, IMO, it's not so useful because of the varying number of things that could be causing the read of that particular error.

That's my take on it...all those other items you mentioned...I suggest you treat them as of secondary importance...problems with NTFS can make a system behave in unexpected ways.

Louis

thanks for the reply Louis....... I have tried a CHKDSK already last week.......took a long time and at the end it rebooted and went right back into the boot loop.

I am unable to use the CHKDSK in the XP Recovery Console option since i cant use either of my CD rom drives.. i am aware the hd is heavily fragmented..... i can to defrag later on then maybe run another chkdsk after?

You can initiate the chkdsk from within XP, see Starting Check Disk at CHKDSK Utility - http://www.hard-drive-help.com/chkdsk.html.

What is described (checking both boxes) is the equivalent of the chkdsk /r command from prompt or RC.

I would run the chkdsk...and defrag after that. That's always been my chosen sequence based on something I read long ago .

Chkdsk will normally take some time if it has not been run in some time...or the partition is exceptionally large.

Louis

gooredfix will only fix one type of redirect in my experience. Several different trojans and rootkits use variations now.

Which Dell is this?
If it is still a stock dell desktop, pre 2005, the hard drive is primary master and the cd or dvd or combo drive is secondary master. Two stock optical drives are usually both on the secondary.

If it is new enough to have sata, it will probably have all sata but a couple of models had ide CD/dvd and sata hard drives.

The point being, you should be able to boot to the Dell diagnostic partition and do hardware testing. If you cannot, then something is wrong with the drive chain subsystem or the way the bios sees it. (or you deleted the partition at some point)

If you cannot boot to the diag partition (f-12?) you can at least take power off of the hard drive (and the ribbon cable if ide) and see if your cannot boot the cd at that point. You can't really do anything with it but the fact that you can boot the cd is what will tell you something.

If not, and you have tested the boot cd in another machine, this points to a problem with the bios.

If you have another computer, mount the drive as either a slave or and external in a usb2.0 enclosure. This will allow you to run an av/am scan while the infection is not active in memory (hopefully) and do chkdsk from the tools menu.

If a spare hard drive and a recovery cd fix yer problem then you have narrowed the issue down to drive and software.

If a ubuntu live cd works flawlessly, you have eliminated the hardware other than the drive, bios, and ide or sata chipset