Windows won't load

[mewgirl]

Short version
My computer sometimes gets slow and requires a restart (FireFox doesn't always shut down all the way, which is a pretty common problem), but when I restarted it this time for that reason, it wouldn't load. I get a choice between XP or recovery console and then a blank screen, safe mode also gets a blank screen after visibly loading drivers.

I tried restoring the MBR but that did not change anything.

This is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT because it is not my computer, I am a geek, I have no other way to talk to my boyfriend, and I will be blamed for this problem (by a person who asked if Google was installed when I told him it wouldn't load =\) and never allowed to use the computer again if I cannot fix this problem without reformatting.

I desperately need your help so thank you in advance to any attempts.

Long version
My computer sometimes gets slow and requires a restart (FireFox doesn't always shut down all the way, which is a pretty common problem), but when I restarted it this time for that reason, it wouldn't load. I get a choice between XP or recovery console and then a blank screen, safe mode also gets a blank screen after visibly loading drivers.

I uninstalled some programs before last restart, including a codec which a software I was using said was required but still popped up the same dialog after installing the codec, however, the site I got it from was legitimate (though I don't have a link, it was obvioulsy legitimate and the codec even had a logo), I just don't know what a codec is so I probablay installed the wrong one and I don't know where it installed to to fill in the dialog prompt. Every software I uninstalled, however, was installed the day before. I did not install anything other then t@b S4 video editor, which is a program known not to be a virus.

It is also not the type of commercial, ad-heavy, error-causing software, such as Adobe, Windows, McAfee and AIM, that people tend to want to stay away from.

My system does seem to have a virus of some sort on it. Google.com does not load (hosts file is fine), system is slower then it was last time I was at this house, a dll error for a dll that Google doesn't know about usually shows up at restart, and opendns.com loads, but not properly, and one particular webpage (that hads nothing to do with yahoo) kept redirecting me to yahoo for no reason. This virus, if that's what it is, has been present the entire 2 months I've been here, and I have restarted the computer plenty of times.

I recently started to wonder if the virus had something to do with about.com, when many of the links I clicked in Yahoo! search seemed to be related to about.com, which usually tends to have articles I wouldn't click on, and when I saw an ad for about.com at the top of a page on sourceforge.net with ann option to "close this frame," I realiazed that might be what the virus was. So I did a Yahoo! search on that (I am unaware of any alternative to Google) but had not yet navigated to that tab when I restarted ("save session"). Spybot did not cath this virus, and I have sucessfully restarted the computer once since that scan was done.

I am not asking for help with the virus but rather with the fact that my computer will not load Windows anymore. This is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT because it is not my computer, I am a geek, I have no other way to talk to my boyfriend, and I will be blamed for this problem (by a person who asked if Google was installed when I told him it wouldn't load =\) and never allowed to use the computer again if I cannot fix this problem without reformatting.

The only suggested solution I have found so far is to try restoring the MBR table. I did this (it did not require a disc, as the person said that it did), and no different results have come from it. The Recovery Console asked me which installation I want to repair; D:/MiniNT, D:/I386, or C:/WINDOWS. C:/Windows was the third option, and I do not know what MiniNT is. I am also unsure why i386 was listed, since I believe the syatem should recognize what that is.

I desperately need your help so thank you in advance to any attempts.

[CompUfuss]

Short version
D:/MiniNT, D:/I386, or C:/WINDOWS. C:/Windows was the third option, and I do not know what MiniNT is. I am also unsure why i386 was listed, since I believe the syatem should recognize what that is.

I desperately need your help so thank you in advance to any attempts.

so ,what one did you chose ,for me the obvious one would be c:\windows,usually where windows is installed.
also for hte trojan/virus you could try cleaning with superantispyware ans ATF cleaner ,in my signature

[mewgirl]

Of course; if I didn't know which one I would have asked that too. Even so after 11 hours of trying to solve this problem I would have gone through all 3 by now if I didn't know.

[gerbil]

codec stands for coder/decoder. As an example, a music file will be encoded, possibly mp3.. the codec unpacks the music from the encoded file, and can also create an mp3 file.
Codecs install to [or should be placed in] the folder of the program which will use them. Windows standard codecs are in system32.
Boot.ini parameter, /MININT
This option is used by Windows PE (Preinstallation Environment) and causes the Configuration Manager to load the Registry SYSTEM hive as a volatile hive such that changes made to it in memory are not saved back to the hive image.
I do not know why your Recovery Console is listing D:\I386, which is the Recovery Console itself. Is there a C:\I386 also, by some chance?
Your problem was not a bad MBR because your sys is trying to boot, ie, going past that stage. Its failure comes at a stage when it is trying to initialise drivers and services.
I wonder if Minint is a leftover from a failed installation? It should have been removed by the installation process.
I would start RC in C:\Windows and run:
chkdsk /p -then try to restart.
{If it will not, go back into RC and run: chkdsk /r }
While you are in RC you should check your boot.ini file. Use :
bootcfg /list
As an example, mine looks like this:
[boot loader]
timeout=4
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons
_______________

bootcfg /rebuild -will give you the opportunity to repair boot.ini
And if that fails then use your installation cd to do a Windows Repair [when first asked for a response, choose to enter Setup by pressing Enter]. You will not lose settings, but some software may need to be installed. The bigger pest is reloading all Windows Updates.

[CompUfuss]

Of course; if I didn't know which one I would have asked that too. Even so after 11 hours of trying to solve this problem I would have gone through all 3 by now if I didn't know.

of course! good luck fixing you problem ,but i think you've fugged it so bad now a reinstall is your only fix.

[hotmatrixx]

pretty true, looks bad. but if all that doesn't fix it I might have another thing or two to try before a reinstall, and some suggestions on how to keep all your data if you do reinstall.