Hello Geeks - activating XP in Safe Mode???

k.

Client's computer had had NO AV protection for at LEAST one month. Malwarebytes found over 400 bad guys, most of them with the first name of Trojan.

Browsers would still time out on a search of a click or two - which was a pain as I wanted to activate one of the AVs purchased.

So...debated whether to run Spinrite to check/repair sectors overnight, or do a repair install of XP Home.

Did the repair install. All went well...at the last window where it said Windows and "please wait" I waited about 15 minutes. At least.

Force quit and rebooted. All seemed well - all the user accounts came up. When I clicked on any of them, I was told to activate Windows before logging in, yes or no. Of course, I selected Yes.

Now, I know all the desktop icons exist for the accounts - but once I clicked on Yes to activate, the account was logged into with NO icons and NO activation.

I can get into Safe mode, but no activation there!

I've Googled a couple of solutions - enabling VGA in Safe Mode, starting the Wizard, then starting XP again.

There are more steps, installing the oobe.inf file, and using the XP cd I have (boot OEM CD).

Anything else I should consider?

Thanks.

Speaking English? (Sorry, stupid joke.) I'm just amazed at how much there is to know about computers. My second language is "cat" and that's it.

Only thing I can think of is to backup the files and reinstall. That's probably the simplest solution, too.

Yeah, Reggie, that's what I thought too. "Shoulda, coulda, woulda." I've spent almost as much time on this as I would have on a wipe and reload. But backing up about 5 user accounts was a bit daunting.

I do have instructions on reinstalling registry files, or replacing missing files from the Microsoft Support pages. Because I didn't leave the "please wait" for long enough, I figure something got missed.

Will keep ya posted.

c