Probably the simplest thing to try would be a system restore to a date prior to all this happening.  It may or may not work, but its worth a shot.  If lil sis is downloading this stuff, make her a limited user and she wont be able to download.  If its just by pages she is visitng you might consider an active spy blocker that will prevent it from being installed.  You can get more advice on that by posting in the virus board.  Kip

Go to your start button, click on All Programs, click on Accessories, click on System Tools, click on System Restore.  Kip

Well, the problem is that I cannot use any of the kind of things like Start in Windows. After I enter the information in the log in screen and try to continue, it just logs right back out, and I can't do anything or use anything.

How would I perform a system restore?

Well phooy, I forgot about that.   Well hang on and lets see what others in the forum think your next move should be.  Kip

Restart your computer, and then press F8 to start your computer in Safe Mode with a command prompt.

Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has administrator rights.
Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to an earlier state.

Respectfully,

haggardarmy,

One thing to try before reinstalling Windows is booting to Safe Mode and at the Welcome screen press Ctrl-Alt-Delete twice. At the logon screen enter Administrator as the user name, leave the password block blank, and press . If you are able to log on as Administrator you can then use System Restore to try to recover the system. If you cannot, reinstalling Windows is probably your best course of action. Instructions for this are here.

A reinstall will remove all the contents of your C:\ partition.

Once XP is reinstalled I'd strongly recommend you place a password on your administrator account and give your sibling a Limited Account.

Message Edited by Denny Denham on 06-03-2004 07:18 PM

Message Edited by Denny Denham on 06-03-2004 07:18 PM

I only have one account set up, and that one has administrative authority. I tried entering under safe mode, but the problem I'm having is that I cannot log in at all without being kicked off immediately...
Tech Support from Dell recomended a repair reinstallation of Windows XP. Would this delete all of the files and programs in Windows now?

Thanks for all of the responses and if you've got any more suggestions that'd be great!

Message Edited by haggardarmy on 06-03-2004 03:18 PM

Well,you might try this first

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_install.htm

So what is the difference between a repair installation and a fresh installation of Win XP?

You keep all your docs,if it only works a littel bit ,you can at least back em up

haggardarmy,

My apologies, I misread the Dell recommendation for Repair Reinstall (which schootre's link gives directions for). It should not disturb your data nor your installed applications. After you do it, however, you will have to reinstall all the Windows Updates you have installed since you received the computer.

I tried the repair installation, but it was unsuccessful... After I tried the repair, I couldn't even get past the Windows Loading screen and I couldn't enter in safe mode or anything. So I did a fresh installation and everything's all right other than losing my old file etc.

Thanks, everyone, for your help!