Solved: Repair install on XP that had IE7/8

[ddrueding]

Problem:

XP SP3 with IE8 installed
Severe malware infection prevented any form of access (BSOD in Safe Mode, etc)


Solution:
Repair install from disk
Prompted for activation before logon - crash to blank desktop
Safe mode also prompts for activation - crash to blank desktop
Boot to recovery console
Uninstall IE7/8
Restart into Safe Mode
Run the following command "rundll32.exe syssetup,SetupOobeBnk"
Reboot, login

What a PITA.

 

[Mercutio]

You could just slipstream IE8 into an XP disc, you know.

 

[CougTek]

Damn, you guys complicate your lives for dumb people. Once I've tried chkdsk /r and a system restore to a previous check point and it still doesn't boot to let me perform malware scans, I call the customer and I tell him or her that it's time to reinstall. I used to try a Windows repair, but often it leaves some programs crippled and I get negative feedback from the customer afterward (for trying to help them). I have so many jobs waiting in line, I can't try every trick in the hat.

"rundll32.exe syssetup,SetupOobeBnk", where did you get that anyway? Have you learn every possible combo and string out of every executable in the Windows directory or what?

 

[LunarMist]

Even I know rundll32.exe syssetup,SetupOobeBnk.

 

[ddrueding]

You could just slipstream IE8 into an XP disc, you know.

Hadn't even thought of it.

 

[ddrueding]

Damn, you guys complicate your lives for dumb people. Once I've tried chkdsk /r and a system restore to a previous check point and it still doesn't boot to let me perform malware scans, I call the customer and I tell him or her that it's time to reinstall. I used to try a Windows repair, but often it leaves some programs crippled and I get negative feedback from the customer afterward (for trying to help them). I have so many jobs waiting in line, I can't try every trick in the hat.

"rundll32.exe syssetup,SetupOobeBnk", where did you get that anyway? Have you learn every possible combo and string out of every executable in the Windows directory or what?

This user is one of mine at work. If I did a nuke and pave, I would have to reinstall all the apps as well. That is at least a day's work, as some of the installs are a real PITA.

"rundll32.exe syssetup,SetupOobeBnk" came from a Google search. Pretty neat.

 

[Mercutio]

I don't think I've ever (EVER!) fixed an XP machine from System Restore, but I have a whole CD wallet full of different permutations of XP for doing repair installs.

 

[ddrueding]

Ditto on system restore. In fact, I disable it these days.

 

[Bozo]

Ditto on system restore. In fact, I disable it these days.

I also disable system restore in XP. But in Windows 7 I leave it enabled as that is about the only way to repair a system. There is no 'repair install'.

 

[Mercutio]

Yep.

Which really makes me wonder how effect spyware removal is on those systems, but c'est la vie.

 

[LunarMist]

Does True Image work correctly on 7 or not?

 

[Mercutio]

Yes

 

[LunarMist]

I don't know why more people don't use it and simply turn off the MS restore stuff.

 

[Mercutio]

System Restore in Vista and 7 works better than XP's version. And some people think TrueImage is buggy. I suspect those people are using the gimicky "Try it Out" feature or using the program incorrectly.

TrueImage 2010 has a very different UI from previous versions. It kind of pisses me off that they changed the Windows version but not the boot-time Linux version, which is identical to the 2010 version's.