My father, who has had virus infections on his computer in the past,
currently has a major problem with his computer. When he turns on his
computer, he can get to the log-on screen and then no further. Any attempt
to log-on sees the computer start to load his settings, then swiftly return
to the log-on screen. When we go into DOS mode, we can access the floppy
drive, but cannot change to the hard drive or CD. CDs will not automatically
run. As software comes on CDs these days, we are therefore unable to run any
anti-virus or diagnostic software. He has Windows XP and has not loaded any
new software or devices in recent months. There is therefore no obvious
trigger for this. In addition, he uses the Internet but not email. We have
searched the internet and specialist magazines, but have not found any
reference to this problem. The computer seems to be completely locked.

Any suggestions as to what the problem is (virus? Windows failure?) and how
to solve it? Answers would be much appreciated.

Elisabeth

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