not valid Win32 application ???

[G-Man]

brother asked me to look at his pc and i cant open anything. tried to start at CMD and cant even get started to look at his system. His norton apperantly was turned off by 'outside' source. Does this sound like only solution is to wipe HD and re-install OS ? If so, how hard is it to wipe. Has a mass produced HPpavilion 523n.( i know, i told him to chuck it :lol: )

 

[hubbardt]

Does it work in Safemode ?

If yes, try opening a DOS promp (Start - Run - CMD) and type:
SFC /SCANNOW

This will make sure all operating system files have not been tampered with.

 

[amd-x-bit]

Note The Reason For the error "not valid Win32 application ???" is that the program you are probably trying to run is for 64-bit systems or for ARM; Sparc or whatever others there are.

Secondly it could be a virus preventing you from running programs.

To resolve the problem:

Ok if you can get into safe mode follow what hubbardt posted before

If not try one the following solutions:

Option 1- When you computer is about to load the Windows Splash Screen press F8 and choose "Last Known Good Configuration" see if you can run the program now if that doesn`t work proceed to option 2

Option 2- Get your Windows XP Cd and pop it in and boot from the cd.
Then when it shows you "To recover windows using the windows recovery console press r" you should press "r" to repair.
Wait 5 seconds then type the number of the installation of the Windows folder (ex. 1 for C:Windows) then type in the administrator password for that computer then type in:
[code:1:261c541012]chkdsk /p[/code:1:261c541012] or [code:1:261c541012]chkdsk /r[/code:1:261c541012]

/p is to force it to fix file errors and /r is to perform a full repair(I think)
wait for it to repair and leave the xp cd in your cd rom so if a file is broken it will copy it from the cd

now when it says "Windows Has Found One Or More Errors" then you probably had file errors type exit and reboot and boot from the hd not the cd

if it says anything else type exit or if windows still doesn`t work after repairing the errors and proceed to option 3

option 3 - *Warning Backup all files on CD/DVD before proceeding!*

Load the cd and boot from it. Then punch in enter when it says welcome! then push F8 to agree to the EULA and delete all partitions and install windows the way you would normally install it.