Malicious Registry Key Value (1 Viewer)

[ajetrumpet]

This has been a problem for a while now folks, so my last shot (before I restore my registry), is to ask about this problem.

I think I have a malicious file floating around on my system. I have run AVG, Norton, and TrendMicro in windows, and none of them found any spyware, or infectious file. The only "hint" I got about the registry being infected was when I installed AVG for the first time. I got an error regarding a registry key.

The only thing I know is that windows boot take way too long to process. And, as an added bonus to this problem, just today, for the first time, windows booted with a solid blue screen (instead of the desktop wallpaper), and it stayed that way for about 1 min until I finally saw the wallpaper start to fill in.

Does anyone have any good advice for me here? I already know how to restore the registry back to a certain point in time, but I would rather not do that if at all possible. I am also aware of the system backup, which I have already done, but I'm afraid it was too late. It wasn't that long ago that I did it, so restoring it back the way it was will just bring this "mysterious file" back to me....

 

[burrcm]

I suspect you may have some corruption in the system. The best method to restore XP to health is via a repair install. This will replace most of the registry but retain installed progs and data, however do of course back up anything critical first. Uninstall any virtual drive software first. Bung the XP disk in and boot to it. Proceed as if for a new installation, but late in the process it will find the existing XP installation. Take the option to repair. This is not the early option to repair using recovery console, much later.
All Windows updates will need to be reinstalled, as this operation brings the system back to a virtual clean state. Some issues may arise, but all are fixable. If anything odd occurs (e.g. Windows update fails) post back.

Chris B