I downloaded a game Sim City 4 and I think my resolution was set up too high so it went OOR on my screen.

However, my computer got worse after that happened. I could only get online with safe mode, which is what i am doing right now. None of my desk icon would work when I click on them. Pulling up all the program files by hitting the menu button it will not work. I tried to run some viruses scan and spyware softwares and it got some viruses and spywares but I "think" i got rid of them but there is something weird that I never seen happening before.

I have AVG 7.0 Free Edition and when I ran it this time everything looked ok BUT it said " user32.dll" , "shell32.dll", "ntoskrnl.exe" changed instead of showing ok. I dont know why none of my normal desk icons or program files will not work and I tried to run a CD and my CD-Rom but it will not work either. At this moment I dont know what to know. I have Window XP Service Pack 2. Geforce 3 video card. Would anyone happen to know how to solve this problem? This whole problem happened after the OOR happend and whole bunch of pop-ups came up and I got viruses. I deleted SM4 from my computer. If anyone would know how to fix it please reply here. Thanks so much.

Oh btw I also tried to retore the computer but it couldnt be done so..

Sincerely yours

Formatting is the solution to every problem! If you can't format, and don't get an answer here, I suggest you ask on a computer tech support forum.

Sounds fun. Good luck with that.

Wait a second, you "downloaded" Sim City 4? You mean pirated it?! As a result you got spyware and viruses?

No no I bought the game and installed it.

Oh, OK! Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more!

You'll have to provide a little information about what happens when you try to run something.

I couldnt get rid of the spywares on my computer and I can only access internet on safe mode because my normal desktop will not work. None of the desk icon works, pull up the start meu and try to run any program on there, it wont work. I went into safe mode and turned off system restore in order to delete the check point but i couldnt turn it back on because it asks me to turn it back on with normal desktop, which wont work.

I keep running AVG, Spywares and spybot etc and got rid of them all but everytime I restart my computer those spywares and viruses are there again. I dont know what to do at this point.

I hate to admit this, but I've had very good look with Microsoft's beta anti-spyware.

Not that MS would use any operating system secrets to get rid of spyware better than anyone else, of course...

The sad part is....I have that too. :( It wouldnt load...

Nice board name there, LachrymologyJunkie (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=lachrymology).

LachrymologyJunkie -- I'm sorry, but I got your PM, IM, and posts... You're going to have to provide a little more information. WHAT happens when they don't run? WHAT programs do your anti-spyware programs remove and then have reappear? Provide details.

I just re-installed the window XP on my computer but it did NOT ask me to back up any file in the process, is there any kind of sofrware that will recover a reformatted driver so I could get all my important files back?

I chose partition suring setup, I "think".

Original I was trying to run the CD and fix some problems I had so I emailed Microsoft and here was the instruction she told me to do:

1) Make sure you have set your CD-ROM as the first priority boot device. You may refer to your computer manual for information on how to do this.

2) Insert the Windows XP CD into your CD-ROM and reboot your computer.

3) When you see "Press any key to boot from CD?/...>" on the screen, press a key to let your computer boot from the Windows XP CD.

4) When the computer boots from the CD-ROM, it will check your hardware and then prompt you the following options.

* To set up Windows XP now, press Enter.

* To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

* To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

Please press Enter. (Note: please do not press R at this step)5) Press the F8 key to agree the Licensing Agreement.

6) You will see your current Windows XP installation listed in a box and get the following options:

* To repair the selected Windows XP installation, press R.

* To continue installing a fresh copy of Windows XP without repairing, press Esc.

Please press "R".

7) Then the setup program will repair Windows XP automatically.

After repairing Windows XP, you may need to re-activate it. You can call the following number to activate Windows XP

Then BAM, I lost everything because it didnt ask me for backing up any file. I lost SO many important files. http://www.cybertechhelp.com/forums/images/smilies/frown.gif I am so screwed.

I was using AVG 7.0 Free Edition, Spyware Doctor, Spybot and Lavasoft Ad SE Adware Personel.

So you 'repaired' it and lost your stuff or you accidentally reformatted?

Backing up files can really only take place with the OS when it's running, which is why I for example back up all of my important files onto DVD, external hard drive, etc., *while* it's working so that I am prepared for the bad times (blue screens, crashes, etc.).

It sounds like you had some major virus/spyware problems while your Windows was working.

If it has been reformatted then you can't really recover anything.

Probably wouldn't cost you more than a $1000:

http://www.adrdatarecovery.com/

Good Luck! ;)

Some days I look at my harddrive paperweight and wonder if my old HOMM2 saved games are worth $1k to recover...

Ok I found a software that can recover most of my files and its only cost 70 bucks, whew comapring to 1000 bucks! Yuck! Thanks for everyone thats replied here and helped me. :)

I seriously thought that this was some kind of prank, I appologize. :(

Anyway, if you haven't purchased the $70 software, try this > RUndelete (http://www.softwaremirror.com/download/rundelete.html) it's free.

Edit: Correction - It's not free, but a demo. Full version is $29.99 USD.

Thanks a lot Tranzure :) I might run it to see if its better than the 70 bucks software ;)