Virus Damaged Windows XP logon

Alright I'll try to write this as clearly as possible. My brothers old Inspirion 8600 got a virus. I successfully removed it, but there appears to be damaged or removed files. Once you log in it immediately logs you out.

He has a lot of pictures on there including his wedding pictures so I don't want to try to repair it without making some attempt to get the files off first. I've taken the hard drive out and tried to use a 2.5 in IDE to USB adapter but for some reason Disk Management in Windows 7 says the drive is unallocated. I put it back into his computer and it successfully boots to the log in screen, so the hard drive isn't damaged as far as I can tell.

His computer is running XP Home. I looked up the hard drive specs and it shows how to set the jumpers to slave.

So I guess my question is, do I need to set the jumper or is there some reason Windows 7 can't recognize an older allocation table from XP Home? I can get my hands on an XP system if that's what I need to do but I thought I'd get some input from everyone first.

 

there is a way to fix it, but its very advanced stuff, best thing you could do is use a windows live cd ( like bartPE or Hiren ) and backup all the important data. then do a fresh install, whatever you do, dont initialize the disk in win7, it will wipe the drive !!

 

here's the hard solution

That nasty worm have changed userinit value in Registry...

<long post>


"
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon"
Value: Userinit
Data: %system32%\wsaupdater.exe
"


%system32% represents the path to the System32 folder. For example, if the path is C:\Windows\System32, then the data would be: "C:\Windows\System32\wsaupdater.exe"

Instead of "wsaupdater.exe", the data should contain "userinit.exe,".
Using the example above, the data would be "C:\Windows\System32\userinit.exe,"
(!Note! the comma following the file path information.)

Using the XP's recovery console, copy userinit.exe to wsaupdater.exe to allow log on capability to be restored, and correct the registry data manually.

In the following instructions, C:\Windows\System32 shall be used as the System32 location. Change the path accordingly to accommodate for your installation directory.

Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.
Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted to do so.

When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console.
When you are prompted to do so, type the Administrator password.

If the administrator password is blank (which is likely the case if Windows XP was preinstalled by your computer manufacturer), just press ENTER.

You should now be in the Windows installation folder ("C:\Windows").
At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:


"
cd system32
copy userinit.exe wsaupdater.exe
exit
"


At this time, remove the startup floppy or CD-ROM from your system, and boot into Windows XP. Log on to the system using an account with administrator-level privileges, and edit the registry using this information. It is recommeded that a registry backup be created prior to continuing.

Click start, then run. Enter

regedit

and click OK. Using RegEdit, expand

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
+Software
+Microsoft
+Windows NT
+CurrentVersion
+Winlogon

Locate Userinit in the value column, right-click this item, and choose modify. Replace
"wsaupdater.exe" with "userinit.exe," (do not use quotes, and ensure the trailing comma is present as shown) and click OK.
Exit RegEdit.

Restart your computer, and log on to the system using an account with administrator-level privileges.

Go to My Computer, then to the System32 folder (usually C:, then Windows, then System32). If Explorer prompts that removing files from these areas is not recommended, click to continue. Locate and remove wsaupdater.exe, and delete this file.

</long post>

 

Thanks for replying so quickly. The problem is I don't have an XP Home installation disk. All I have is XP Pro that I used to have on my computer. Will copying those files from Pro to Home screw anything up?

 

It shouldn't... with some windows tech called easy transfer...

 

I just realized this should probably be in the windows section. Anyway, I've tried what psyloid recommended and it didn't fix anything. I also tried doing a repair install but it wasn't an option. I even tried BartPE but there is no way for me to get the information off the hard drive. I can see it in the file manager but I can't connect to a network or connect a usb drive. Is there any Preinstalled Environments that let me connect usb drives?

Edit: Sorry I got the external drive to work. I'm getting all the important files off of it right now. Thanks for all the advice guys. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. +reps