If I turn it on normally, nothing happens. The power light is on, but the screen is black.

If I turn it on and hit F8, I get the Advanced Options menu allowing me to go to Safe Mode, etc.

If I go to Safe Mode, select the OS, I get a list of drivers and such and then it stops with the last one being System32\Drviers\VolSnap.sys and then nothing ever happens beyond that...it just sits on that screen.

Hmmm... well it's possible that Volsnap.sys is either a Malware file masquerading as the actual file, which would cause your problem... or your actual Volsnap.sys file is corrupted.

It's obviously an important file, so you may need Recovery Console to check it out. This would be located on your OS installation CD. If you don't have yours, find a friend who does. What Recovery Console will allow you to do is access the file system and delete/copy/etc. any files within the file system.

The best thing to do, albeit the most tedious, is get your OS installation CD and boot to it, selecting Recovery Console when the option becomes available.. then once Recovery Console is booted, (will look like a DOS shell) navigate to the CD drive and locate the Volsnap.sys file on the installation cd.. take note of the path and copy that down. Then go back to your root C: drive and navigate to your windows/system32 folder and delete any instances of that file that are there. Then copy the file from the CD to your system32 folder.

If you end up doing that and need help with the commands, let me know.

Phew...sounds complicated. :D But thanks. I will look for an OS installation CD when I get home, but from I recall, I didn't get one when I bought my PC. That's why I've been digging around the Dell site (in my account) for any options to get a CD or otherwise download things, but haven't found an answer. I'll dig up any documentation I have.

When I was running ComboFix, the last thing that was working before the fatal reboot, it was asking me to install Recovery Console. Since I wasn't connected to the internet, I wasn't able to. Being at work, I was afraid to plug it into the network, fearing I could spread something. Anyway then the reboot prompt came...and you know the rest.

So I'll see what I have at home and ask around for an XP install disc if I don't have it. Thanks!

My itunes wont open. It's really starting to piss me off now :(

I've never used iTunes so I don't know the first thing about it, but my first suggestion would be to re-start your computer.

Is it giving you an error message?
Or is it just not doing anything when you click the icon?

No Windows install disc at home...simply found a cardboard CD from Dell saying something like "no CD required...just do this or this..." so I requested one from Dell. Should have it in 3-5 business days. Better late than never.

Kaleigh:
If restarting doesn't help, follow the steps in this article: iTunes for Windows: Doesn't open after upgrading in Windows Vista or Windows 7

Hey Freebase, I got my CDs from Dell. Is there something specific I should be doing to boot from the CD? I inserted it into my drive, turned off the computer and turned it back on (this is because I have no way to reboot if I'm not already in the boot menu) and nothing happens. I still see the Dell load screen and I can go to setup or boot menu, but if I do nothing, nothing ever appears (just as was happening last time I posted). I get no prompt for the CD. Any ideas?

Edit:
(I just noticed you said "CDs" as in plural. Did they give you recovery CDs or the actual licensed XP installation disk? It matters. If it's the recovery CDs, then disregard everything below unless you want to boot from the first recovery CD to see if recovery console is included... in my experience, it never is. Recovery console is a feature of the Windows operating system... a recovery CD is an installable image. If this is the case, DO NOT select "restore" or whatever other option the recovery CD tells you... unless you're ok with losing everything on the harddrive. If it's the actual XP installation disk, read on.)


Your boot order isn't set so that you boot from CD before booting from the hard drive in the BIOS. You don't have to worry about changing it if you already know how to get to your boot menu. Just go to your boot menu and select the option to boot from your CD drive after you've inserted the XP disk.

After it starts booting, you'll see a blue screen with a bunch of stuff loading from the CD. Let it go through all that (usually takes a minute or two) and then you'll see some options like "press enter to install XP" or something to that effect, and "Press R to enter recovery console". That's the one you want. Press R and a black box will pop up, which looks just like command console. It will ask you to log into the administrator account, and you'll need the password. If you never set a password, just hit enter.

I used to have problems with that step sometimes with it not accepting any passwords, regardless of them being right. If that happens, you'll need another program and will have to do more steps, but the program you'll need can be found on the net as a .torrent but it's a little more complicated because you have to make a bootable CD out of it... so lets hope you have no problems with your administrator password.

If all's well with the password, you'll get a c:\ prompt in the recovery console. When you get to that point, let me know.

Here are the discs I got:

- "Operating System" - Reinstallation CD Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP3
- "Application" - For Reinstalling Dell Tolls System Software
- "Drivers and Utilities" = For reinstalling Dell Inspiron Computer Software (device drivers, diagnostics and utilities)

Sounds like the first one is the actual licensed installation disc, right? It's the one I've been trying to use. Haven't read the rest of your post yet...will read after my meeting.

Ok I'm stuck here, when I select the Boot Menu and then select the CD-ROM drive, it says it's not available - and to either strike F1 to retry boot, or F2 for setup utility. The first time, I went to setup utility and changed the boot order so the drive was first. Then I went back the boot menu to retry, same message. I turned off the PC, turned it back on, still not booting from CD. Turn off and on again, hit F12 to access boot menu, select CD drive, same thing...F1 to try again or F2 for setup utility. And F1 does nothing but repeat the message.

:confused:

If you're sure that everything is right in the BIOS as far as boot order and any particular items are checked off regarding to booting from CD, including the BIOS recognizing the drive, and you're still not booting from the CD, then there's either a problem with your CD drive or the CD itself. Is it a DVD, CD, CDRW, etc? Look at the format of the CD itself then make sure that your drive can actually read that particular media.
If the media is compatible with the drive, then it's probably the drive itself... in which case you may want to borrow someone's external usb CD drive. Otherwise, if you can't boot from CD then your computer is effectively a boat anchor.

Well I hadn't experienced any problems with the drive prior to my virus/malware issues, and it's most definitely a CD and not a DVD. Luckily I have an internal DVD drive too and just tried that, with luck! I had tried it already yesterday, but that was prior to figuring out how to force it to boot from the drive. Now I'm in the blue screen with a bunch of stuff loading from the CD...this is a good sign.

Just pressed R for Recovery Console...didn't get an option to log in to the admin account, though. It says I can type EXIT to quit Recovery Console and restart the computer, and below that it says exactly this:

There is a white square after the question mark, and that's it...I don't see any installation options. If I hit enter, it shows the Dell logo with loading bar (like when you first turn it on) then goes to a blank black screen forever.

Thanks for your continued assistance. :)

Press 1 and then hit enter

After that, you should get your password prompt. Let me know if it accepts your password, or lack thereof, and brings you to the >C:\ prompt.

Doh...I was expecting options below the question, not above. :o:

password entered and apparently accepted, now I have the C:\WINDOWS> prompt.

I went back to your previous post for the next step...but I don't know how to do this:

Ok. Phew. The rest is just a little tedious, but at least you're over the potentially dead-in-water problems.

Ok I'll start typing out the commands but I need to get my XP cd and find the location of the file first, so I'll get right back to you. Just hold tight for a bit.

Ok type the commands below and press enter after each line. If at any point you enter one of the commands and it says something was incorrect, let me know. I haven't done this kind of thing in a while so it's possible I could get some syntax wrong, but it's pretty simple.
Also, I'm going to use the standard CDrom drive letter, D: but yours may be different. You need to know what drive letter the drive your CD is on. To do this, first type:

CD.. (This will back you out of the Windows directory and bring you to the root of C)
CD D: (Changes directory to D)
DIR (Will list the files and directories of the D drive. If you see I386, Setup, Support...that's the XP cd drive and this will be the drive letter you'll use. If not, then try CD E: then enter the DIR command and keep doing this until you find that you're in the XP CD.)

I'll assume by this point you've found what your drive letter is. For the sake of the rest of these commands, I'll assume your CD drive with the XP CD in it is the D: drive.

Do the following. (each line is a separate command. Press enter after each line)

CD C:
CD WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS
DIR (Locate volsnap.sys to verify it's there)
DEL volsnap.sys
DIR (Ensure volsnap.sys is gone)
COPY D:\I386\volsnap.sys C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\volsnap.sys
DIR (Locate volsnap.sys to verify it's there)


If that all goes off without a hitch, I think you can type EXIT or END or something to get out of Recovery Console. When you're out of recovery console, restart your computer and while that's happening go ahead and kick the CD out so it doesn't try to boot to it again.
See if Windows will start normally. Let me know what happens.

Problem with the first one. After I type CD.. it says the command is not recognized. If I type just CD it still gives me the C:\WINDOWS> prompt, so I'm guessing it's not backing out of Windows.

edit: never mind, progressing...

Ok after I type in CD WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS and hit enter, it says "the system cannot find the file or directory specified."

Ok, I'm used to backing out of directories on command console... I think in Recovery Console there needs to be a space between the CD and the two periods. Here's the revised version:

CD .. (This will back you out of the Windows directory and bring you to the root of C)
CD D: (Changes directory to D)
DIR (Will list the files and directories of the D drive. If you see I386, Setup, Support...that's the XP cd drive and this will be the drive letter you'll use. If not, then try CD E: then enter the DIR command and keep doing this until you find that you're in the XP CD.)

I'll assume by this point you've found what your drive letter is. For the sake of the rest of these commands, I'll assume your CD drive with the XP CD in it is the D: drive.

Do the following. (each line is a separate command. Press enter after each line)

CD C:
CD WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS
DIR (Locate volsnap.sys to verify it's there)
DEL volsnap.sys
DIR (Ensure volsnap.sys is gone)
COPY D:\I386\volsnap.sys C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\volsnap.sys
DIR (Locate volsnap.sys to verify it's there)

I'm assuming you've already ascertained your CDROM drive letter, correct?
If so, you either need to be back in the C: directory before you CD to the windows\system32\drivers directory... Or you could simply do:

CD C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS

If that doesn't work, then just do:

CD C:
CD WINDOWS
CD SYSTEM32
CD DRIVERS

H: is my disc drive.

Now when I type CD C: and hit enter, it shows C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS and then an H:\> prompt. So if I type DIR I just get what's on the CD. Seems like it won't back out to C. If I type CD WINDOWS it says it cannot find the file or directory specified.

That's weird.
Try any the following:

CD C:\
CHDIR C:
CHDIR C:\

One of those HAS to work... They're all acceptable commands in the Windows console environment. Maybe including the backslash might make a difference, but honestly I know I've used CD C: with success.

We just need to get you into the drivers directory of your C drive so you can delete the file and copy the new file into it from the H drive.

If none of those work, we'll see if we can just do the full operation in two commands from where you're currently sitting.
I just wanted you to actually get into the drivers directory to see how many instances of the file there were... because if it's a virus that copied it or renamed it, we might not catch it without seeing the directory and its files. But that's just operating from a theory.

each one returns the H:\> prompt, the only difference being that CHDIR C: displayed C:\ before giving me the H:\> prompt again.

Ok just go ahead with this and see if it lets you do it:

DEL C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\volsnap.sys

COPY H:\I386\volsnap.sys C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\volsnap.sys

No errors with the first line, only it returned the H:\> prompt.

Second line returned the error "the system cannot find the file specified." :(

Ok. Your corrupt volsnap.sys is deleted and gone. Part 1 done. Smiley face!
Now, we just need to make sure my path is right for copying the file. On my XP pro CD, it's as I listed... let's just check that your CD has it in the same place.

Do:

DIR (verify that you're in the CD.. locate I386)
CD I386
DIR (look through the long list of files and see if you can locate volsnap.sys)

Let me know if you find it in there.

It's listed as VOLSNAP.SY_ and there's also a VOLSNAP.IN_

Not sure what all the underscores mean, but all files have an underscore as the 3rd character of the file extensions. It may not mean anything.

Ahhh.. Ok... Yea that's why. I don't know why it's an underscore, but yea that's part of the file name. I think the OS changes it to .sys during the installation. Don't worry about the INI file.

Do:

COPY H:\I386\volsnap.sy_ C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\volsnap.sys

If that goes through, type EXIT and recovery console should close and your computer should start rebooting. Hurry up and kick out the CD and see if windows starts normally. If not, let me know.
As far as I know, the file needs to be saved with the .sys extension... if you still can't boot, we'll try copying it to your drivers folder as a .sy_ but I really doubt that's a valid file extension. The .sys should work fine. As far as the .ini file, I don't have one in my system32\drivers folder so it's obviously not needed. Probably something for installation.

Ok the line went through and it said 1 file copied. So I typed EXIT, hit enter, and quickly ejected the CD. Got the Dell startup screen, then the screen went blank...and nothing.

:(

Ok maybe we actually do have to copy the file as a .sy_

Sorry. Go ahead and boot from the CD again and do the same thing you did up until you get to the C:\ prompt then do:

REN C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\volsnap.sys volsnap.sy_

Then EXIT and see if it boots normally.
If not, we haves ourselves a problem that I may need to research, although we could try and copy the .in_ file as well to see if that makes a difference. One step at a time.

Hmm, after typing in that line and enter it says the system cannot find the file.

Oh crap...

Sorry, I forgot to add the DRIVERS directory...

REN C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\volsnap.sys volsnap.sy_

Oops, I overlooked it too. Ok it returned the C prompt, so I'll hit EXIT. I didn't take the CD out this time, but let it do it's thing and didn't type a key when asked to if I wanted to boot from CD. Blank screen.

Ejected CD, shut off and back on, nothing but a blank screen.

Could it be that my boot order still says CD drive first? Or I guess it would automatically go the the next option if there's no disc? Dunno, just throwing out ideas.

Nah, if you don't choose to boot from the CD by pressing any key, it will go to the next option, which would be your hard drive presumably.

The only other thing I can suggest at this point is to put all possible versions of the file into your driver directory. Since you already have the .sy_ in there, let's go ahead and and throw in the rest. If they're not actually used, it won't matter that they're there unnecessarily. Do:

COPY H:\I386\volsnap.in_ C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\volsnap.in_
COPY H:\I386\volsnap.in_ C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\volsnap.ini
COPY H:\I386\volsnap.sy_ C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\volsnap.sys

Exit and reboot.
If that doesn't give you results, I'll be needing to do some research. But off the top of my head, I do know that you can back up any files or directories with files in it you may want to save... to another drive like a USB key or external drive, using command console, in case you have to reinstall the operating system. Hopefully we can resolve this without having to do that though. But just know that you won't lose everything.

There also might be another set of commands that might work.. I used to have to do them a lot because I had a laptop who's system files got corrupted all the time. We'll do that if you're not booting normally.

Sorry man been on a phone call...I can normally multi-task but this is tedious and I don't want to mess up...

No prob. Just let me know if those last commands do the trick or not. Whenever you need. I'll be here a while.

Well they seemed to copy properly, but no good news on reboot.

I think it's time to call it a night, been at the office 13 hours already today, time to chill out. Thanks again, I'll be back in tomorrow.

I think I mentioned it already that I have probably 99% of my files backed up on an external, so it wouldn't be too bad if I have to reinstall the OS. I'll do a bit of research myself but I think after this weekend if I can't get it resolved, I'll go for a reinstall or pass it off to someone locally, because I really can't afford to spend more time on it myself...I've got some crucial projects to work on (rebuilding my website/portfolio asap for a job search, that I should be done with by now).

Cheers, have a good night. :beer:

Alright man.
Although I'm interested to find out why this didn't work, I understand your constraints. Let me know if you need anything.