new info: Upon waking my computer from hibernation today, (the only time I've done so since I got this problem), it gave me a black screen that said something like:

Code:
Your computer can't come out of hibernation.
Status: 0xc0000242
Info: A fatal error occurred processing the restoration data.
File: \hiberfil.sys
Info that's not saved will be lost blah blah blah
and then it restarted.. Google says I should
Boot into safe mode by pressing f8 as you power up. Delete hiberfil.sys. It is corrupt. Windows will replace it with a fresh one when you reboot and you should be able to hibernate.
Do you agree with this?

wanchoo said:
You can do that by simply restoring the changes that you have made, working backwards (latest first and the oldest last).
Well, (and yes, I am facepalming at myself for this), but uh, well I didn't keep a backup. Luckily I still have access to all of my files, so it's not really a big deal if I have to wipe and reload.


sreedhav said:
Dear leviww,
I read your thread-starter post again, and you mentioned using McAfee AV for scanning. Here and in other reputed forums, McAfee does not score high! So, kindly do a scan using housecall. Download site:HouseCall - Free Online Virus Scan - Trend Micro USA
Well, McAfee was the only one I used regularly, but upon getting this problem I also scanned with Spybot S&D, SUPERAntiSpyware, PCPitStop Exterminate2, and Malwarebytes, and all of those scans were clean, excepting cookies. But I went ahead and did a Housecall scan just now, and it was completely clean...

sreedhav said:
To answer your query as to what to do if the reg. is corrupted, here's my take on the issue: Wipe and Reload. That seems drastic but I can assure you that it is the only method to ensure that the problem is fixed and the PC is stable. Feel free to try a Registry Cleaner if you like but be prepared to reload the computer.


regards,
sreedhav
I will probably backup my files, then wipe and reload, since I've hit a dead end.. I'd really like to be able to access the log (mentioned in my last post) of the sfc /scannow I ran, if anyone knows how I can do that.

sreedhav said:
PS: cracked.com!WOW!
I love cracked!!