Debian :: Root Access And Desktop Disabled \ Couldn't Open The Root Terminal?

I was using the latest stable release of Debian, dual-booted alongside Windows Vista, with the GNOME desktop, installed via netinst, trying to build and install a library that I knew and trusted, when suddenly I couldn't open the Root Terminal. I clicked the link (in Applications->Accessories (I think, whatever the top one is)->Root Terminal), and in the taskbar I saw an item that said "Starting Root Terminal". A few seconds later, that went away, but the terminal still wasn't open. I tried the regular user terminal, to see the same thing happen. Unsure of what was happening, I tried restarting my computer, since that's always the first step you should take in computer problems.

When I restarted, GNOME wouldn't start. The screen would flash a bit for a few seconds, then a dialog box would appear over a background of static that said "The greeter application is crashing. Attempting another one...".t would then go back to the DOS-style kernel, wait a second, and then the same thing would happen. After several of that, I would get a blue screen which said something to the effect of "It has been detected that the desktop environment has crashed six times in the past 30 seconds.

Waiting two minutes before trying again." When it did that, I tried logging in as root to assess the problem. I gave it the correct password, but it said that it was an incorrect login. After several tries (to ensure I didn't mistype the password), I logged in as myself. Same problem. I tried the su command, with the correct password, and it said it couldn't authorise it.

After a lengthy conversation with a friend of mine who was very good with computers, he basically summarised that he had no clue, but that his best guess would be a virus. Upon running the Linux installer, I found the Repair option. Not being particularly familiar with Linux, I used it simply to backup my important files onto a flash drive. I then tried running the Install option, in an attempt to simply write over my existing Linux and make it new again. The installer, however, consistently froze up when trying to start the partitioner, on the "Checking disks..." stage. I figured it was a problem with my partition. In my naivete, I simply used the Windows tools to clear that partition... It destroyed GRUB too, so I couldn't run any OS. I figured my computer was pretty well screwed, and at that point just decided to bring it into the shop and have them completely wipe it.

my computer was backed up onto an external hard driven I brought it back, I reinstalled Windows. Upon restart, it said that it was still looking for GRUB, which made no sense to me. After messing around with it a bit, I decided to just reinstall Linux too. To my lack of surprise, that fixed the problem. Both OS' now ran just fine. The first thing I did on Debian was to install the Clam Anti-Virus, which I understood to be one of the best Linux anti-viruses. However, within about 10 hours, got the same problem as originally. I wasn't doing any of the same things, and between the lack of consistency in activities and the fact that I had an anti-virus running,figured it wasn't a virus. Not knowing what to do, I just left it and have been using Windows since.