Your only other option will be to reinstall th OS ...
In some instances an infection may have caused so much damage to your system that it cannot be completely cleaned or repaired. Wiping your drive, reformatting, and performing a clean install of the OS or doing a factory restore removes everything and is the safest action but I cannot make that decision for you.
Reformatting a hard disk deletes all data. If you decide to reformat, you can back up all your important documents, data files and photos. The safest practice is not to backup any autorun.ini or .exe files because they may be infected. Some types of malware may disguise itself by adding and hiding its extension to the existing extension of files so be sure you take a close look at the full name. After reformatting, as a precaution, make sure you scan these files with your anti-virus prior to copying them back to your hard drive.
2 guidelines/rules when backing up
1) Backup all your important data files, pictures, music, work etc... and save it onto an external hard-drive. These files usually include .doc, .txt, .mp3, .jpg etc...
2) Do not backup any executables files or any window files. These include .exe/.scr/.htm/.html/.xml/.zip/.rar files as they may contain traces of malware. Also, .html or .htm files that are webpages should also be avoided.
If you're not sure how to reformat or need help with reformatting, please review:
- How to partition and format a hard disk in Windows XP
- Prepping for a Clean Install Windows XP.
These links include step-by-step instructions with screenshots:
- XP Clean Install Interactive Setup
- How to reformat your computer in case of a severe malware infection
- Reformat & Clean Install Windows XP
Vista users can refer to these instructions:
- Windows Vista Clean Install
- How to Do a Clean Install and Setup with a Full Version of Vista
- How to Do a Clean Install with a Upgrade Version of Vista
Don't forget you will have to go to
Microsoft Update and apply all Windows security patches after reformatting.
Note: If you're using an IBM, Sony, HP, Compaq or Dell machine, you may not have an original XP CD Disk. By policy Microsoft no longer allows OEM manufactures to include the original Windows XP CD-ROM on computers sold with Windows preinstalled. Instead, most computers manufactured and sold by OEM vendors come with a vendor-specific Recovery Disk or Recovery Partition for performing a clean "factory restore" that will reformat your hard drive, remove all data and restore the computer to the state it was in when you first purchased it. See Technology Advisory Recovery Media. If the recovery partition has become infected, you will need to contact the manufacturer, explain what happened and ask them to send full recovery disks to use instead..
If you need additional assistance with reformatting or partitioning, you can start a new topic in the
Windows XP Home and Professional forum.