Windows Firewall will not start

[Jacee]

Let's see if ESET finds any hidden malware.

1. Hold down Control and click on the following link to open ESET OnlineScan in a new window.
   ESET OnlineScan
2. Click the
   
   button.
3. For alternate browsers only: (Microsoft Internet Explorer users can skip these steps)
   1. Click on
      
      to download the ESET Smart Installer. Save it to your desktop.
   2. Double click on the
      
      icon on your desktop.
4. Check
   
5. Click the
   
   button.
6. Accept any security warnings from your browser.
7. Check
   
8. Push the Start button.
9. ESET will then download updates for itself, install itself, and begin scanning your computer. Please be patient as this can take some time.
10. When the scan completes, push
    
11. Push
    
    , and save the file to your desktop using a unique name, such as ESETScan. Include the contents of this report in your next reply.
12. Push the
    
    button.
13. Push
    

 

[Shiva64]

(sorry it took a while to reply; been busy.)

Again, ESET found nothing. I hardly suspect that this is the work of any sort of malware.

I've just about given up. Apparently, no one here can help me, even with all the info I've provided... so it looks like I'm just gonna have to cough up money somehow and buy a license just to fix one problem... *sigh*

 

[DBone]

Forgive me if I missed it, but what manufacturer is your machine from?

 

[Shiva64]

It's a Toshiba Qosmio x505-Q8100X (it's under my system specs on here). No discs were provided (and I'm not quite sure how to get into the recovery partition, if it even has one. When I tried out a Linux OS on this for a dualboot tryout, on the GRUB menu it has two Win7 entries as well as a Win Vista entry [I don't understand why...] but I don't know.. tried to test about booting into the other Win7 entry, but it didn't act like a recovery partition.) and I'm still under warranty as that doesn't expire until March next year.

Removed the linux OS and used EasyBCD to restore the MBR and all that good stuff, so I can use Windows like normal again. But I had the issue before then, so.

 

[DBone]

Since you are contemplating a re-install of W7, maybe try this...... I don't know how Toshiba works, but I have a Dell, and it is about 18months old and out of warranty. Last month, I had a fatal issue that required a reformat and re-install of W7. I called Dell, told them my situation and they sent me out my W7 disc, as well as my driver and application discs. I did not have to supply a receipt, just my service tag and personal info. I never registered my machine when I first bought it either..........I thought I was totally screwed before I called, but Dell overnighted my discs at no charge, and all is well now. It is definitely worth your time to call Toshiba's customer service center and see if they will send your discs.

 

[Shiva64]

Since you are contemplating a re-install of W7, maybe try this...... I don't know how Toshiba works, but I have a Dell, and it is about 18months old and out of warranty. Last month, I had a fatal issue that required a reformat and re-install of W7. I called Dell, told them my situation and they sent me out my W7 disc, as well as my driver and application discs. I did not have to supply a receipt, just my service tag and personal info. I never registered my machine when I first bought it either..........I thought I was totally screwed before I called, but Dell overnighted my discs at no charge, and all is well now. It is definitely worth your time to call Toshiba's customer service center and see if they will send your discs.

I guess I'll have to try... once I get phone service up and running again, unless I can get through to them through email.

I had a horrible experience with Dell, even worse when a rent-to-own place I was using since I was just starting this job and that was all I could afford, destroyed my battery in my Dell XPS M1330. I took in my laptop due to a hard drive failure, brought in the bag including the adapter... and they threw the computer bag away without checking it first to make sure there was no adapter in it...

Then they gave me a "replacement", which ended up frying my battery. Contacted Dell to see if something could be done, they offered to send me a replacement adapter, took them multiple tries to send it to the right address. Would love to get a new battery through them as well... but I just don't see it happening after that.

So I really hope Toshiba's customer support is up to par. I love this laptop, the build quality is great... I just hope the CS is just as good. x_x

 

[Shiva64]

Sorry it's been quite a while since I've updated with anything.

Recently, my computer took a dump. Graphics driver ended up corrupting itself, safe mode made no difference, so I tried to do a system restore so I could install the latest driver hoping to prevent it from happening again. I was actually in the process of downloading it when it happened... just my luck, eh?

Apparently the system restore didn't do it's job right, as it got stuck on the 'Black Screen of Death' after the reboot with only the mouse cursor in view. Same result in safe mode also. There was no fix for it and any I tried changed nothing (Including the Sticky Keys "fix" I came across that supposedly helped a few people).

So, I was forced to get recovery discs from Toshiba as it was my only choice. It sadly cost me $30 though... as there are no free options from them, unless you use their built-in recovery partition, which sadly, did not exist on my computer.

I used a Kubuntu Live CD and mounted the Windows partition so I could access all my files and backup whatever I needed to SD cards and my flash drive. I used my recovery discs and now Windows is running exactly as it should once again, firewall and all. Even Rosetta Stone installed just fine because the firewall was there.

I wish I was able to find a quicker fix for the issues I was having though, but at least you guys did try and I do appreciate it, even if I was starting to sound frustrated, because of all the info I managed to grab hoping it would give a clue of some kind. I also wish I knew what lead to the firewall issue... but I sadly don't. I've only ever hit one virus on this computer and it was a minor one and easily removed by Malwarebytes and the firewall worked fine for ages after that. So I have no clue.

Once again, thanks for trying! Hopefully there is some kind of info posted in this thread that could help someone else in some other way!