I stupidly got a virus (my own fault) from a P2P network called DC++ (fantastic program, btw). I recognized its presence immediately, as it created a folder called "msview" in my system32 directory full of bogus "keygens" and "cracks", and modified my DC++ settings so this was the only folder I was sharing. It also created a file called magnet.exe in my DC++ directory. I tried manually deleting all the bad files and registry entries I could find, but they kept coming back. At this time, my entire O/S ran fine, only DC++ was affected. On a friend's advice, I downloaded Norton AVG Free and ran it. It immediately detected a "PSW Banker" trojan horse and a "Tibick.E" worm. It automatically "healed" them and prompted me for a reboot. Upon reboot, XP did an interesting little dance where it logs me in for about 2 seconds, then logs me back out, then repeats the cycle infinitely. Reboot again, same results - stuck at the "login shuffle". Safe mode - same result. At some point in all my reboots, my HDD became unrecognizable as a boot device, and then completely. I was toying with BIOS settings for some reason and honestly can't say if this was before or after the HDD recognition issues. I managed to get the hard drive recognized again, booted Windows to "last known settings that worked", got into Windows, and repeated the whole process again (healed virus with AVG, to infinite login/logout shuffle). This time, even if I choose "boot to last known working configuration", I still can't get into the O/S. There is an AVG forum for support, but you can only get a login account from inside your AVG software. Great, I cannot USE my AVG software (or my O/S). And I'm on a work PC now where I do not have admin right and am sure I cannot install AVG. I really wish I could get this issue posted in their forums... I searched and it's not there. Any ideas???

... just to clarify, AVG isn't Norton. DerekW

1) As your computer starts but before Windows launches, press F8. On a computer that is configured for booting to multiple operating systems, you can press F8 when the boot menu appears. 2) Use the arrow keys to highlight the appropriate safe mode option, and then press ENTER. run system restore to before the infection. if that works then run avg again, if it doesn't then run avg in safemode. (when all else fails reinstall windows)