Re: BSOD troubles on WINXP system

Oh my friend...there was no need to hack the password to retrieve those files. You merely had to take ownership. It's okay - no harm, no foul. But for the next time:

"How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

If you're really intent on cleaning the original hard drive, I shouldn't discourage you. But think of all the time you've already spent and have yet to spend, with no clear indication that you'll be able to totally clean the hard drive. After a while, you need to at least consider throwing in the towel. It's not your fault that the computer got infected.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare Humanum Est

zipzit wrote:
Leonard Grey;4031741 Wrote:
To be sure you are ridding the computer of all installed malware you
need to erase the hard disk. Re-installing Windows over itself does not
remove a malware infection.

Yes, I realize that. I need to get a clean copy of the data that is on
that hard drive now. The hard drive is in NTFS. When I first tried to
install that hard drive in another computer, I couldn't see all
directory locations.. only a few. At the time I did that, I did not
have the administrator password. I've since hacked that password to
(null). Its not clear if I will be able to copy the data or not next
time I go in there. I'm rather nervous that I won't be able to make a
wholesome back up of the users My_documents folders... I've not seen
these combinations of problems. When I tried to look at the hard drive
from a linux box, it gave me mount errors. When I tried to look at that
hard drive from a WIN box, it wouldn't see all the directories. No
errors at all, just no data. I'm very comfortable with FTP backups over
local network.

I wanted to fix the computer long enough to do a FTP over my local
network to make a back up of the users data.

You can use a different, same-type Windows CD to install Windows, so
long as you have a valid product key. The product key is on a sticker
that should be attached to the computer. I think I can nibble the key off of hard drive using the ntuser.dat
trick referenced in my edit above. Again, I was really hoping to do the
Jelly Bean Keyfinder graphically in a "temporarily repaired" computer.
The problem with using an anti-malware install CD to remove malware is
that the CD will not have the latest signatures needed to identify
malware. To get updated signatures the software has to be installed -
which requires a valid license for the software - and then updated
from
the company's website. Yes, I realize that.. big sigh. Again, I just wanted to go live
(er... go graphical OS) long enough to FTP My_documents data to backup
and obtain a copy of the WinXP key.

thanks for your ideas on this one.
--zip


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