That would be terrific. Note that I did uninstall Symantec before I installed Avast. The Symantec folder is actually empty, but clearly there are still startup commands around.
The new file is attached.
Download the attached fixlist.txt to the same location as FRST
Run FRST as before and press fix
On completion try a reboot to normal windows.
Perform the in-place-repair as I said.
Nope. That didn’t work. I am attaching the log of the fix, as well as part of ntbtlog.txt, which shows an Avast driver as the last one being loaded, which should not have happened if the program was uninstalled, right?
I could not attach the entire ntbtlog.txt…it’s too big.
First part of boot log.
Last part of boot log
Just some FYIs on Norton (Symantec)…their stuff is really hard to get off PC…directory may not be “empty” (ie, hidden files) as well as registry items…who knows.
Here is one tool: https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/kb20080710133834EN_EndUserProfile_en_us
Another 3rd party: http://www.appremover.com/
Not sure which Symantec you had but here is list: http://www.appremover.com/supported-applications#security-applications?windows-xp
I’ll leave it up to the experts on the thread but how about Windows O/S CD and get to command prompt and uninstall Norton & Avast using the EXEs ?
Yeah, I know. I shall wait for the Big Brain here to get back to me before I do anything else.
It was a very very old copy of Symantec…I’ve been using Avast for more than a year. No complaints until last week.
Try to delete these files manually which located in WINDOWS\system32\drivers\ folder:
aswVmm.sys
aswRvrt.sys
aswNdis2.sys
aswFW.sys
AswRdr.SYS
aswTdi.SYS
aswSP.SYS
aswSnx.SYS
aswMonFlt.sys
aswFsBlk.sys
In case you do not have a XP CD: http://c2nsoft.blogspot.com/2013/06/free-download-windows-xp-professional.html
I did that. I also ran Avastclear.exe from the USB.
No change. It’s doing something with the hard drive, but I can’t figure out what.
In case you do not have a XP CD: http://c2nsoft.blogspot.com/2013/06/free-download-windows-xp-professional.html
I have one. That’s how I’ve been able to run recovery mode.
OK, let’s try one trick.
In the “config” folder at C:\Windows\System32\config, locate the current registry hive files …
system
software
security
sam
default
re-name them by appending .old to the filename
In C:\Windows\System32\config\RegBack folder you can find registry backup files:
system
software
security
sam
default
Copy them into C:\Windows\System32\config folder
On completion try a reboot to normal windows.
I’ll give it a try in a sec. I did run Avastclear and ran a bootlog session. The last two commands before stuff stops loading…
Loaded driver aswVmm.sys
Loaded driver aswRvrt.sys
This would seem impossible, as I searched the drive for all asw files. So these are clearly hidden from me.
And then we still have the mysterious…
Loaded driver ??\C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\aswFW.sys
Which would also seem to be impossible…
I don’t have a C:\Windows\System32\config\RegBack folder.
In the C:\Windows\System32\config\ folder, there is a set of files with a .SAV extension.
system.sav
software.sav
security.sav
sam.sav
default.sav
These are dated 1/1/14; that is, after the problem surfaced. Should I swap them anyway?
yes, in the “config” folder at C:\Windows\System32\config, locate the current registry hive files …
system
software
security
sam
default
re-name them by appending .old to the filename
re-name files with .SAV extension by deleting “.SAV”, so that they now look like this
system
software
security
sam
default
On completion try a reboot to normal windows.
I get the error message…
Windows could not start because the following file is corrupt:
system.sav
Then it said I could attempt a repair via the CD-ROM
I think it’s time to reinstall windows…
I’ll try another restore point if it’ll fail you need to reinstall windows
Download the attached fixlist.txt to the same location as FRST
Run FRST as before and press fix
On completion try a reboot to normal windows.
A repair install…not a new install that blows away your HDD… 
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
Also, prior to the above another thing to try is SFC /scannow …this can repair O/S issue.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/ht/sfc-scannow.htm
No files prior to the issue ?..obviously you want to restore to prior…
Also, here is good link on the process
http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/show/214-perform-a-system-restore-manually-when-windows-is-not-bootable