Downgrade Vista to XP

If you long for the good old days of XP and still have your install CD, this step-by-step guide will help you revert to Vista’s predecessor.

These days, you have to work to find a new computer that comes with XP installed. Many PC users who upgraded their XP systems to Vista are disappointed with the newer OS’s performance and other problems. In either case, as long as you have an XP installation CD, you can kiss Vista good-bye.

“Downgrading” from Vista to XP is not as difficult as you may think, but it does entail some time-consuming operations. Many online sources claim to offer techniques for reinstalling XP without having to reformat your hard disk. Based on my research, however, deleting the Vista partition and installing XP in its place is arguably the easiest approach. Moreover, this method ensures a clean install that is uncontaminated by Vista leftovers.

Note: In certain cases, you may be able to undo an XP-to-Vista upgrade, even without an XP installation CD, by following the instructions in Microsoft article 933168. The article takes a command-line approach to the XP restoration, and also requires that you have a windows.old folder on your root drive.

Make a pot of coffee and a new, clean XP machine

With your XP installation CD and your application discs in hand (and maybe a cup o’ Joe), you’re ready to begin:

Step 1. Back up your data. Unfortunately, you can’t restore in XP a backup that you created using Vista’s Backup and Restore Center. That means you have to either back up your data files manually or use a third-party backup tool that works in both XP and Vista. One such program is 2BrightSparks’ SyncBack (more info), which is available in free and paid versions.

Don’t bother backing up your applications; you’ll need to reinstall them from their installation CDs after XP is back in place.

Do back up the folders that your portable apps use to store their data. The portable apps themselves won’t need to be reinstalled, but you’ll have to restore their data files from the backup.

Step 2. If necessary, configure your BIOS to boot your computer from a CD, if one is present. Insert your XP installation disk and reboot.

Step 3. When XP setup loads, follow the on-screen prompts to accept the license agreement and continue installing XP. When you get to the screen prompting you for the partition on which to install XP, select the one containing Vista and press D to delete the partition. You’ll need to press Enter and then L to confirm that you want to delete all data and software on the partition.

Step 4. Once you’ve returned to the partitioning screen, select the unpartitioned space that used to be Vista. You may see that this space has been selected for you automatically. Next, press C to create a partition. Specify the desired partition size, or press Enter to accept the default allotment, which is the maximum possible partition. (Simply pressing Enter instead of C also creates a new partition of the default size.)

Step 5. If you’re still seeing the partition screen, make sure the desired partition is selected and press Enter. Choose the option that formats the disk as NTFS and press Enter again.

Step 6. Follow the prompts on-screen to continue the XP installation.

Step 7. Reinstall your applications and restore your data from your backup.

That’s all there is to it. If you ever change your mind, you can always insert your Vista DVD and upgrade from XP to Vista all over again

Can’t open drive by double click

There is a problem remained after virus clearance and registry correction:- corrupted autonrun.inf, where the infected drives, on My Computer, can’t be Open by double click or Open in Explorer mode by right click option.

It is due to the corrupted autorun.inf created by the virus is remain on the drive, hidden as system file.

Deletion is the simplest way to fix it. First, we need to enable the view of the file.


On My Computer, click the menu Options -> Folder Options


On View Tab -> Advanced Setting textbox, untick “Hide protected operation system files (Recommended)“, and click Yes for the pop up warming.


On all infected drive, delete the file autorun.inf

Since the autorun.inf(s) have been loaded into system memory upon booting, you need restart the PC to get the work done!

Of course, after the reboot, don’t forget to tick back “Hide protected operation system files (Recommended)” checkbox on Options menu -> Options -> Advanced Setting textbox. You won’t want to see a lot of annoying system files floating around your folders and taking the risk of deleting them accidentally in the future, these consequences may worth re-installing the OS and all applications!!

How to remove autorun.inf from USB Drive

Worms spreads by creating a copy of itself and starts by autorun.inf files. It is essential to remove the malicious and autorun.inf files not only from computers but also from the source, and that is the USB Drive. PreciseSecurity have created a procedure to delete the malicious files on infected drives.

PROCEDURE:

1. While the computer is still off;

2. Plugin the USB Drive

3. Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive. It must be the bootable Windows XP Installer

4. Start the computer from the CD-ROM drive. It will start Windows Setup screen

5. When the “Welcome to Setup” prompt appears.Press “R” to start the Recovery Console


6. If asked “Which Window installation would you like to logon to” select the number. Type “1? then Enter, if only one installation of Windows is present

7. Enter the administrator password, press Enter

8. It will bring you to command prompt, C:\Windows>

9. Proceed with the following command:
- Type d: (This is the drive letter of USB. It can be e: or f: defending on how many hard disk or cd drive is installed)
- Type attrib -h -r -s autorun.inf
- Type “edit autorun.inf” it will open DOS Editor and display contents as follows

==========================
[autorun]
open=file.exe
shell\Open\Command=file.exe
shell\open\Default=1
shell\Explore\Command=file.exe
shell\Autoplay\command=file.exe
==========================

Take note on the file that it called to open (in above example it is file.exe)

10. Exit DOS Editor and return to command prompt, D:\>

11. Delete the file that was called to open on DOS Editor
- Type del /f /a file.exe

12. Delete autorun.inf file
- Type del /f /a autorun.inf

13. Exit Recovery Console by typing exit.

How to Fix Rundll32.exe Errors

Rundll32.exe errors typically occur in response to the inability of Windows to access an application, program or file as the result of a corrupted or missing DLL (Dynamic Link Library) file or in response to a rundll32.exe virus that has been designed to look like a normal Windows process. Here are the easiest ways to fix rundll32.exe errors.


Step 1
Click "Ctrl + Alt + Delete" on your computer's keyboard to open the Task Manager window. Click the "Processes" tab and search for a rundll32.exe program. If one is running and appears to be accessing a lot of your system's resources, click "End Process" as it is likely a malicious program and not a true Windows program.

Step 2
Run software to seek out, detain and remove viruses, malware, spyware and adware. Often these malicious programs corrupt DLL files or cause them to be deleted or moved and, as mentioned, some rundll32.exe programs may in fact be viruses on your system. You can run Malwarebyte ( http://malwarebytes.org/mbam.php) antimalware to remove any kind of viruses infection.

Step 3
Reboot your computer to update any changes you may have made recently to your files and programs. Many programs and applications require a reboot for successful installation.

Step 4
Uninstall a recently installed or changed program or application and then reinstall it using the default settings. An installed program may not have loaded properly, an installation via the Internet may have been interrupted enough to create errors or the program may have a bug. If you uninstalled a program and see a rundll32.exe error, reinstall the program and then uninstall once more.

Step 5
Retain the services of a Microsoft certified technician, if all else fails, to review and fix your system's Registry