Hello everyone,
First please allow me to state that I do use Avast on both of my computers, my destop and my laptop. Second I will admit that the problem which is occuring on my laptop is not Avast’s fault because it simply did as I, in my ignorance and stupidity, told it too.
Now to the problem: I ran the virus scan with Avast on my laptop, a Gateway with Windows XP Media Center Edition on it. To my shock and alarm it found quite a few infected files, including quite a few System32 and other system files. Previously I had told Avast to put all infected files into the (virus) chest, which it proceeded to do. I then, without thinking, performed a boot-time scan and put even more system files into the chest. Now my laptop boots up to the log on screen for Windows and when the enter button is pressed (I did not put in a password because the laptop /never/ leaves my home and is only connected wirelessly when I was on it), the laptop logs in, saves user settings, and promptly logs out again without even changing the background screen.
Any advice as to how I would be able to repair the damage I inadvertantly caused without losing the data stored on the machine would be much appreciated, but if the best solution is to simply take it to a dealership and have the entire system wiped and reinstalled, so be it.
Thanks,
Rich W.