What version of XP, including Service Pack number , is on the hard drive? Do you have your Dell XP Reinstallation CD, and what version and service pack is on that CD?
Try booting in Safe Mode (F8 before XP starts to load). If you don't experience any problems starting or shutting down, then you may have a corrupted hardware driver.
You have to contact Dell Tech Support in UK to see if they'll send the disks to you. I suppose you could try requesting them through the US site, but I don't know if that will work.
<>Let's try something different, assuming adaware and spybot don't find anything. Go
here and download the file to your desktop with the name: "save.reg" (without the quotes). Log off the net and close everything that's running in the background. Then:
Start>run
type in: regedit
click ok
Click "My Computer" at the very top of the list in the left pane. Then click File>export on the toolbar. Give it a name and let it export a complete copy of your registry to a folder location you'll remember on the hard drive (it'll be a big file). Exit regedit without changing anything. This is just a precaution in case something else goes seriously wrong. ;)
Now double-click on save.reg you downloaded from Kelly's Korner. Accept the offer to modify the Registry. This will rewrite the entries in the Registry required to "Save settings on exit".
Shut down normally and reboot. Now go here and download User Profile Hive Cleanup Service, free from Microsoft, onto the desktop. Double-click it to install; you won't see any response from XP after it runs. Now shut down normally and reboot.
Ron - thank you very much indeed for your response.
(1) I am running ZoneAlarm Security Suite which does a regular weekly check on Fridays. I also have Spybot and Adaware but haven't run these recently.
(2) On my hard drive I have Win XP Media Centre 2002 Edition, Service Pack 2. I do not
unfortunately have any Dell XP Reinstallation CD which was not supplied when my pc was new. I have been trying to find out where to obtain this disk from in the UK and have asked on the other thread (PC Restore which I posted on 09/18/08) but sadly, no-one has replied. I seem to be going around in circles!!
(3) I tried booting in Safe Mode as you suggested. I could get as far as the long list of drivers which the pc was trying to load, but it got stuck there and after 10 minutes I did a manual shut down. When I started it up again, it began a check of the file system without being asked (plain blue screen with a dark blue top):
............Checking file system NTFS
the volume is dirty.
CHKDSK is verifying files
File verification complete
CHKDSK is verifying Indexes .............then a mention of "descriptors" but I couldn't copy it down quickly enough.
Cleaning up index entries followed by a long list. .............then that all disappeared and the pc started up normally.
I would dearly love to be able to go back to a Restore Point, but this has not been possible, due to the inability to do a reboot successfully (it gets stuck at the "Saving your files"). Then I thought about doing a PC Restore, but that facility appears to be damaged (see the other thread, which has now gone cold).
(1) I have contacted Dell Tech Support in UK (not as straight forward as you might think!) to request reinstallation disks. No, this won't work via the US site.
(2) I ran Spybot and Ad-aware. There were a number of "nasties" present which Spybot found including Smitfraud-C.gp, Spyhunter, MywayMywebSearch, Zlob.downloader.bs etc.
(3) Just to be on the safe side I also saved a copy of the Registry onto the desktop, and then downloaded the modification from Kelly's Korner for the registry. Then the User Profile Hive Cleanup Service. This all now appears to have done the job.
At the end of your recommended actions I did an automatic shut down which was eventually successful after a long pause. When switching back on again I got an error "System Settings Protector detected an error and needs to close - send Report?".
Do I have to retain the copy of the Registry on the hard drive and also the UPHC on the desktop which I downloaded, or can they be deleted?
I can believe it's difficult to get the CDs from Dell-UK. I'm trying to help another forum member get the CDs from Dell-France.
Are you running a firewall? A good firewall should have caught those nasties and stopped them from invading your system. I'd cut the fingers off anyone caught distributing malware so they can't ever use a PC again. I'd make a good dictator! :D
If you want to be paranoid, post a HijackThis log on that forum and have one of the resident experts over there review it to make sure your system is really clean now. Be sure to click the red link at top of that page and read all the FAQs before posting your HJT log.
You can delete UPHC from your desktop. The service should be permanently installed into Windows now and you don't need the installer. If you want to confirm UPHC is actually working:
click start>run
type in: services.msc
click ok
Look for User Profile Hive Cleanup on the list that appears and confirm that it says "started" next to the name. Exit without changing anything.
I'd hold onto the Registry backup a bit longer. If you need the space, burn it on a CD and delete it from the hard drive.
After that error message, can you still get to the desktop and use the PC or does it just crash/burn? The message apparantly comes from Spybot's Teatime, so read this. You may have to uninstall it and install the latest version of Teatime.
Yes I am running a firewall - ZoneAlarm Security Suite contains one which is operative.
UPHC - yes I have checked that this is working, as you suggested.
< this. You may have to uninstall it and install the latest version of Teatime.>>
Yes, I can still get to the desktop and use the pc. I have installed the latest version of Teatime but couldn't see how to uninstal the old version because it seems to be hidden.
This shut down problem is still recurring as I had to do a manual shutdown again yesterday. I ran Spybot and Ad-Aware again today and when I rebooted, there was a wait of about 4 mins at the "Windows is shutting down" stage before it rebooted. I can't update Ad-Aware and I get the message "error retrieving update". I therefore believe there are still problems.
I meant to mention that the system tray often does not appear.
I haven't as yet done the HijackThisLog on the other forum but I will do, if you don't want me to try anything else first.
Can you run TeaTime and ZoneAlarm Suite at same time? Sometimes antiviral software conflicts with each other.
You may have to uninstall all of Spybot to get rid of TeaTime. Then reinstall Spybot and the latest TeaTime.
I get the same error message trying to download Adaware updates too. Have no idea why...
What version of XP, including Service Pack number, is on the hard drive? And do you have your Dell XP Reinstallation CD?
You might want to post the HijackThis log sooner than later. If the system is infected, no amount of twiddling is going to make it right again until it's clean.
I did a HijackThis scan earlier today but when I tried to post a copy of the scan log onto a new message in the HJT forum, I received a warning message to say that the body of my message contained prohibited content ********** "you must remove this content before submitting your post". I checked the log twice and I couldn't see where the bad letters were; they absolutely MUST have been somewhere in that Log. I then wrote to you here with the suspect content where the asterisks are above, but I separated the letters concerned by spaces. That message to you has been removed, and I have received a warning from Dell as apparently it violates the Dell Community Terms of Service. I am absolutely appalled by this as I would never intentionally transmit anything objectionable, least of all to someone like you who has been so kind and helpful to me. So I am stuck.
Your other queries:
Yes, I do seem to be able to run ZoneAlarm at the same time as Spybot/Teatime. I hadn't actually realised what Teatime was. Anyway the error warning I was getting at start-up seems to have gone away now.
I am running XP Media Centre 2002 edition S/P 2
No, I haven't got my Dell re-installation CD. As you know, I was trying to obtain it from UK Technical Support who I emailed last Saturday. No-one has replied yet as to how I obtain the disks but I do have a Case number.
I saw that one of your messages had been deleted from this thread. The Dell censor gets crabby some times. I'll see what I can do about that. You can try to send me a PM with the prohibited text but I don't know if the censor will object there too. Click the envelope near the top of the forum screen and see if you can get it to me. That way, I'll see what the Moderators can do...
Glad that error has disappeared. So aside from not having the XP CD and not being able to post the HJT log, is the system working ok now?
Edit: One of the gurus in Dell's HJT forum suggested you post your HJT log on spyhammer. Some of the same experts that work Dell's HJT forum also work over there. You'll have to register to post your log there, but you won't have Dell's stupid censor to deal with. ;)
I see you posted a HJT log on SpywareHammer. At least I think it's you with a slightly different nom de plume. I heard through my contacts that it may take a bit of time before anyone can to go through your log in detail over there, so please be patient. But at first glance they didn't notice anything obvious.
You have a LOT of stuff running in the background, so you might want to disable things at startup (but not your antiviral software or firewall!) to see if that speeds it up.
It also appears you still have SP2 on your hard drive. In that case maybe a windows system file check will solve your other problems.
Click start>run
Type in: sfc /scannow
(space between sfc and /)
Click OK
Insert XP CD if sfc requests it and reboot when it's done.
Yes, I updated my age in the SpywareHammer nom de plume so that is me ! Thank you for your PM reply and for referring the matter to the 'boss' - you can only imagine how embarrassing this has been. Thank you for keeping your eye on the other site and for monitoring my progress.
< >
Well, it's slow and of course will still not automatically switch off on shut-down. I have to do that manually and hope that it works ok next day when I switch on.
I'm not sure I understand your reference to "SP2 still being on my hard drive." Shouldn't it be? I haven't downloaded SP3 and will not be doing so until all this mess is sorted out. So am I missing something here? It seems that a windows system file check would only be possible if and when I obtain the re-installation CDs. I was relieved to receive a very positive email from Dell Technical Support today regarding supply of these CDs. They wanted to know what the original problem with the PC was and what diagnostic checks had been done.
< >
This is weird. I opened the Startup folder and there is nothing there! Nevertheless, if I knew what was there, I would certainly disable some programs.
You can try sfc without the CD. XP stores backups of many/most system files on the hard drive. Only when sfc can't find what it wants on the drive will it ask for the CD. No harm if it asks for the disk and you don't have it. Just hit ok or cancel until sfc gives up and goes home.
If you have SP2 on the hard drive you can use the XP CD that Dell sends to run sfc. But if you'd already updated the system to SP3, sfc won't be able to use the SP2 CD.
Click start>run
type in: msconfig
click ok
Click Startup tab and uncheck everything, except items related to firewall, antiviral software, mouse and video. Exit and reboot. Put check in "don't show this again" box that appears upon rebooting. See if speed and shutdown are improved.
Just when I thought things were getting better...........!
re: Veoh. I reinstalled, then uninstalled this program but it still left a couple of folders behind in my Program files, so I just deleted them.
re: Disks. Yesterday I received a bag with sundry disks inside (the bag had been opened by some inquisitive person in the postal service and not resealed), no paperwork enclosed. I tried a Windows System File Check again as you recommended and when I inserted the XP reinstallation disk, it wouldn't work....just kept telling me to insert XP Professional CD 2. Just so I know I was using the correct disk, there were 2 blue ones for Drivers and Utilities, 2 green ones for Eurotools and only 1 orange disk called Windows XP Media Centre Version 2005 with Update Rollup 2. I believe they may have sent me the wrong XP disk, as my system is running Media Centre Version 2002 with Service Pack 2 and most updates, not 2005! I have also tried inserting the disk into the DVD slot. Whatever I do, it tells me I am inserting the wrong disk.
ZoneAlarm Security Suite did its regular scan today and to my surprise (after all the cleaning that has been done recently) it threw up a number of low risk items for quarantine and another Trojan! After closing the scan window it made me reboot! Then it crashed and took 4 reboot attempts before I could get it to work again. When I tried to open my browser IE7 to check Yahoo Mail, the opening page was spread out to the right and when clicking on Mail, I got 2 error messages:
TypeErrorMessage: slowlaunchmessage is undefinedNumber: 2146823279Description: slowlaunch message is undefined
Don't you have a firewall running? Or has it been disabled/corrupted by some malware?
When it asks for the 2nd disk, try inserting the "orange disk called Windows XP Media Centre Version 2005 with Update Rollup". But read this, this, and this for the more likely solution.
You probably need to stay off-line until you get the system fully updated. If you don't have all the updates released after SP2, you have lots of gaping holes that can be exploited by all the nasty-ware on the net. And, it goes without saying to stay away from 'suspicious' websites, if you get my drift. ;)
I’m dismayed about all this. I assure you I have been keeping away from any site I suspect is dodgy for obvious reasons, especially as I have been so anxious about the state of the pc, but also because I’m receiving lots of help on here.
Firewall. There is one as part of ZoneAlarm Security Suite which is operative although I have now increased it to the maximum setting. I suspect with my limited knowledge that this has somehow got corrupted as I can’t use one or two favourite sites as I could before (involving pop-ups for instance). ZoneAlarm is a very complicated package (do you know it?) and has a substantial handbook; needless to say it is difficult to understand.
I have done the following:
installed every outstanding security update from Microsoft;
Ran Spybot again;
Uninstalled the old version of Ad-aware SE which I was using which apparently was obsolete and unsupported (which explains why neither of us can get updates!). I have installed and run the latest 2008 version. Their Forum reveals a variety of opinions about this new version.
Tried to restore IE7, essentially by uninstalling it and then re-installing it. There is still a problem there as the latest version of Yahoo Mail won’t work. (IEFix won’t work on IE7 either); the Yahoo toolbar (for IE7) won’t install either and it says I’m running the wrong version of IE. There is a wide blank space in the centre of the opening page of Yahoo.
Ran Malwarebytes Anti-Malware again after update;
Ran CCleaner again
I have also tried to do a System Restore to last Thursday just now, but this was unsuccessful.
Some of these latter checks were recommended by Bugbatter as you know, before she went away. No-one else from Spywarehammer has become involved, and Bugbatter has now returned and has picked up the thread again today and given me things to do. I will explain the above to her too.
I will persevere with trying to update my system in accordance with the links you gave me. There just don’t seem to be enough hours in the day !
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
September 24th, 2008 23:00
Scanned for malware lately?
What version of XP, including Service Pack number , is on the hard drive? Do you have your Dell XP Reinstallation CD, and what version and service pack is on that CD?
Try booting in Safe Mode (F8 before XP starts to load). If you don't experience any problems starting or shutting down, then you may have a corrupted hardware driver.
Ron
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
September 26th, 2008 19:00
Peter,
Run adaware and spybot.
You have to contact Dell Tech Support in UK to see if they'll send the disks to you. I suppose you could try requesting them through the US site, but I don't know if that will work.
<>Let's try something different, assuming adaware and spybot don't find anything. Go here and download the file to your desktop with the name: "save.reg" (without the quotes). Log off the net and close everything that's running in the background. Then:Start>run
type in: regedit
click ok
Click "My Computer" at the very top of the list in the left pane. Then click File>export on the toolbar. Give it a name and let it export a complete copy of your registry to a folder location you'll remember on the hard drive (it'll be a big file). Exit regedit without changing anything. This is just a precaution in case something else goes seriously wrong. ;)
Now double-click on save.reg you downloaded from Kelly's Korner. Accept the offer to modify the Registry. This will rewrite the entries in the Registry required to "Save settings on exit".
Shut down normally and reboot. Now go here and download User Profile Hive Cleanup Service, free from Microsoft, onto the desktop. Double-click it to install; you won't see any response from XP after it runs. Now shut down normally and reboot.
Hopefully that will fix the problems.
Ron
Peter58H
66 Posts
0
September 26th, 2008 19:00
Ron - thank you very much indeed for your response.
(1) I am running ZoneAlarm Security Suite which does a regular weekly check on Fridays. I also have Spybot and Adaware but haven't run these recently.
(2) On my hard drive I have Win XP Media Centre 2002 Edition, Service Pack 2. I do not
unfortunately have any Dell XP Reinstallation CD which was not supplied when my pc was new. I have been trying to find out where to obtain this disk from in the UK and have asked on the other thread (PC Restore which I posted on 09/18/08) but sadly, no-one has replied. I seem to be going around in circles!!
(3) I tried booting in Safe Mode as you suggested. I could get as far as the long list of drivers which the pc was trying to load, but it got stuck there and after 10 minutes I did a manual shut down. When I started it up again, it began a check of the file system without being asked (plain blue screen with a dark blue top):
............Checking file system NTFS
the volume is dirty.
CHKDSK is verifying files
File verification complete
CHKDSK is verifying Indexes .............then a mention of "descriptors" but I couldn't copy it down quickly enough.
Cleaning up index entries followed by a long list. .............then that all disappeared and the pc started up normally.
I would dearly love to be able to go back to a Restore Point, but this has not been possible, due to the inability to do a reboot successfully (it gets stuck at the "Saving your files"). Then I thought about doing a PC Restore, but that facility appears to be damaged (see the other thread, which has now gone cold).
Can you offer any further help please?
Peter
Peter58H
66 Posts
0
September 27th, 2008 18:00
Ron
Very many thanks for your help and support.
(1) I have contacted Dell Tech Support in UK (not as straight forward as you might think!) to request reinstallation disks. No, this won't work via the US site.
(2) I ran Spybot and Ad-aware. There were a number of "nasties" present which Spybot found including Smitfraud-C.gp, Spyhunter, MywayMywebSearch, Zlob.downloader.bs etc.
(3) Just to be on the safe side I also saved a copy of the Registry onto the desktop, and then downloaded the modification from Kelly's Korner for the registry. Then the User Profile Hive Cleanup Service. This all now appears to have done the job.
At the end of your recommended actions I did an automatic shut down which was eventually successful after a long pause. When switching back on again I got an error "System Settings Protector detected an error and needs to close - send Report?".
Do I have to retain the copy of the Registry on the hard drive and also the UPHC on the desktop which I downloaded, or can they be deleted?
Peter
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
September 28th, 2008 01:00
Progress!
I can believe it's difficult to get the CDs from Dell-UK. I'm trying to help another forum member get the CDs from Dell-France.
Are you running a firewall? A good firewall should have caught those nasties and stopped them from invading your system. I'd cut the fingers off anyone caught distributing malware so they can't ever use a PC again. I'd make a good dictator! :D
If you want to be paranoid, post a HijackThis log on that forum and have one of the resident experts over there review it to make sure your system is really clean now. Be sure to click the red link at top of that page and read all the FAQs before posting your HJT log.
You can delete UPHC from your desktop. The service should be permanently installed into Windows now and you don't need the installer. If you want to confirm UPHC is actually working:
click start>run
type in: services.msc
click ok
Look for User Profile Hive Cleanup on the list that appears and confirm that it says "started" next to the name. Exit without changing anything.
I'd hold onto the Registry backup a bit longer. If you need the space, burn it on a CD and delete it from the hard drive.After that error message, can you still get to the desktop and use the PC or does it just crash/burn? The message apparantly comes from Spybot's Teatime, so read this. You may have to uninstall it and install the latest version of Teatime.
Ron
Peter58H
66 Posts
0
September 28th, 2008 21:00
Ron
Yes I am running a firewall - ZoneAlarm Security Suite contains one which is operative.
UPHC - yes I have checked that this is working, as you suggested.
< this . You may have to uninstall it and install the latest version of Teatime.>>
Yes, I can still get to the desktop and use the pc. I have installed the latest version of Teatime but couldn't see how to uninstal the old version because it seems to be hidden.
This shut down problem is still recurring as I had to do a manual shutdown again yesterday. I ran Spybot and Ad-Aware again today and when I rebooted, there was a wait of about 4 mins at the "Windows is shutting down" stage before it rebooted. I can't update Ad-Aware and I get the message "error retrieving update". I therefore believe there are still problems.
I meant to mention that the system tray often does not appear.
I haven't as yet done the HijackThisLog on the other forum but I will do, if you don't want me to try anything else first.
Peter
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
September 29th, 2008 20:00
Can you run TeaTime and ZoneAlarm Suite at same time? Sometimes antiviral software conflicts with each other.
You may have to uninstall all of Spybot to get rid of TeaTime. Then reinstall Spybot and the latest TeaTime.
I get the same error message trying to download Adaware updates too. Have no idea why...
What version of XP, including Service Pack number, is on the hard drive? And do you have your Dell XP Reinstallation CD?
You might want to post the HijackThis log sooner than later. If the system is infected, no amount of twiddling is going to make it right again until it's clean.
Ron
Peter58H
66 Posts
0
October 1st, 2008 21:00
Ron
I did a HijackThis scan earlier today but when I tried to post a copy of the scan log onto a new message in the HJT forum, I received a warning message to say that the body of my message contained prohibited content ********** "you must remove this content before submitting your post". I checked the log twice and I couldn't see where the bad letters were; they absolutely MUST have been somewhere in that Log. I then wrote to you here with the suspect content where the asterisks are above, but I separated the letters concerned by spaces. That message to you has been removed, and I have received a warning from Dell as apparently it violates the Dell Community Terms of Service. I am absolutely appalled by this as I would never intentionally transmit anything objectionable, least of all to someone like you who has been so kind and helpful to me. So I am stuck.
Your other queries:
Yes, I do seem to be able to run ZoneAlarm at the same time as Spybot/Teatime. I hadn't actually realised what Teatime was. Anyway the error warning I was getting at start-up seems to have gone away now.
I am running XP Media Centre 2002 edition S/P 2
No, I haven't got my Dell re-installation CD. As you know, I was trying to obtain it from UK Technical Support who I emailed last Saturday. No-one has replied yet as to how I obtain the disks but I do have a Case number.
a rather confused Peter.
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
October 1st, 2008 22:00
Peter,
I saw that one of your messages had been deleted from this thread. The Dell censor gets crabby some times. I'll see what I can do about that. You can try to send me a PM with the prohibited text but I don't know if the censor will object there too. Click the envelope near the top of the forum screen and see if you can get it to me. That way, I'll see what the Moderators can do...
Glad that error has disappeared. So aside from not having the XP CD and not being able to post the HJT log, is the system working ok now?
Edit: One of the gurus in Dell's HJT forum suggested you post your HJT log on spyhammer. Some of the same experts that work Dell's HJT forum also work over there. You'll have to register to post your log there, but you won't have Dell's stupid censor to deal with. ;)
Ron
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
October 2nd, 2008 19:00
I see you posted a HJT log on SpywareHammer. At least I think it's you with a slightly different nom de plume. I heard through my contacts that it may take a bit of time before anyone can to go through your log in detail over there, so please be patient. But at first glance they didn't notice anything obvious.
You have a LOT of stuff running in the background, so you might want to disable things at startup (but not your antiviral software or firewall!) to see if that speeds it up.
It also appears you still have SP2 on your hard drive. In that case maybe a windows system file check will solve your other problems.
Click start>run
Type in: sfc /scannow
(space between sfc and /)
Click OK
Insert XP CD if sfc requests it and reboot when it's done.
Ron
Peter58H
66 Posts
0
October 2nd, 2008 20:00
Ron
Yes, I updated my age in the SpywareHammer nom de plume so that is me ! Thank you for your PM reply and for referring the matter to the 'boss' - you can only imagine how embarrassing this has been. Thank you for keeping your eye on the other site and for monitoring my progress.
< >
Well, it's slow and of course will still not automatically switch off on shut-down. I have to do that manually and hope that it works ok next day when I switch on.
I'm not sure I understand your reference to "SP2 still being on my hard drive." Shouldn't it be? I haven't downloaded SP3 and will not be doing so until all this mess is sorted out. So am I missing something here? It seems that a windows system file check would only be possible if and when I obtain the re-installation CDs. I was relieved to receive a very positive email from Dell Technical Support today regarding supply of these CDs. They wanted to know what the original problem with the PC was and what diagnostic checks had been done.
< >
This is weird. I opened the Startup folder and there is nothing there! Nevertheless, if I knew what was there, I would certainly disable some programs.
Peter
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
October 2nd, 2008 20:00
You can try sfc without the CD. XP stores backups of many/most system files on the hard drive. Only when sfc can't find what it wants on the drive will it ask for the CD. No harm if it asks for the disk and you don't have it. Just hit ok or cancel until sfc gives up and goes home.
If you have SP2 on the hard drive you can use the XP CD that Dell sends to run sfc. But if you'd already updated the system to SP3, sfc won't be able to use the SP2 CD.
Click start>run
type in: msconfig
click ok
Click Startup tab and uncheck everything, except items related to firewall, antiviral software, mouse and video. Exit and reboot. Put check in "don't show this again" box that appears upon rebooting. See if speed and shutdown are improved.
Ron
Peter58H
66 Posts
0
October 10th, 2008 22:00
Just when I thought things were getting better...........!
re: Veoh. I reinstalled, then uninstalled this program but it still left a couple of folders behind in my Program files, so I just deleted them.
re: Disks. Yesterday I received a bag with sundry disks inside (the bag had been opened by some inquisitive person in the postal service and not resealed), no paperwork enclosed. I tried a Windows System File Check again as you recommended and when I inserted the XP reinstallation disk, it wouldn't work....just kept telling me to insert XP Professional CD 2. Just so I know I was using the correct disk, there were 2 blue ones for Drivers and Utilities, 2 green ones for Eurotools and only 1 orange disk called Windows XP Media Centre Version 2005 with Update Rollup 2. I believe they may have sent me the wrong XP disk, as my system is running Media Centre Version 2002 with Service Pack 2 and most updates, not 2005! I have also tried inserting the disk into the DVD slot. Whatever I do, it tells me I am inserting the wrong disk.
ZoneAlarm Security Suite did its regular scan today and to my surprise (after all the cleaning that has been done recently) it threw up a number of low risk items for quarantine and another Trojan! After closing the scan window it made me reboot! Then it crashed and took 4 reboot attempts before I could get it to work again. When I tried to open my browser IE7 to check Yahoo Mail, the opening page was spread out to the right and when clicking on Mail, I got 2 error messages:
TypeErrorMessage: slowlaunchmessage is undefinedNumber: 2146823279Description: slowlaunch message is undefined
TypeErrorMessage: Object requiredNumber 2146827864Description: object required
The only way I could check Mail was to switch back to the old Classic version of Yahoo Mail.
Peter
(this message has been rejected because of some unacceptable HTML ?????)
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
October 11th, 2008 00:00
You're not making this easy, are you? :smileymad:
Don't you have a firewall running? Or has it been disabled/corrupted by some malware?
When it asks for the 2nd disk, try inserting the "orange disk called Windows XP Media Centre Version 2005 with Update Rollup". But read this, this, and this for the more likely solution.
You probably need to stay off-line until you get the system fully updated. If you don't have all the updates released after SP2, you have lots of gaping holes that can be exploited by all the nasty-ware on the net. And, it goes without saying to stay away from 'suspicious' websites, if you get my drift. ;)
Ron
Peter58H
66 Posts
0
October 12th, 2008 13:00
Ron
I’m dismayed about all this. I assure you I have been keeping away from any site I suspect is dodgy for obvious reasons, especially as I have been so anxious about the state of the pc, but also because I’m receiving lots of help on here.
Firewall. There is one as part of ZoneAlarm Security Suite which is operative although I have now increased it to the maximum setting. I suspect with my limited knowledge that this has somehow got corrupted as I can’t use one or two favourite sites as I could before (involving pop-ups for instance). ZoneAlarm is a very complicated package (do you know it?) and has a substantial handbook; needless to say it is difficult to understand.
I have done the following:
installed every outstanding security update from Microsoft;
Ran Spybot again;
Uninstalled the old version of Ad-aware SE which I was using which apparently was obsolete and unsupported (which explains why neither of us can get updates!). I have installed and run the latest 2008 version. Their Forum reveals a variety of opinions about this new version.
Tried to restore IE7, essentially by uninstalling it and then re-installing it. There is still a problem there as the latest version of Yahoo Mail won’t work. (IEFix won’t work on IE7 either); the Yahoo toolbar (for IE7) won’t install either and it says I’m running the wrong version of IE. There is a wide blank space in the centre of the opening page of Yahoo.
Ran Malwarebytes Anti-Malware again after update;
Ran CCleaner again
I have also tried to do a System Restore to last Thursday just now, but this was unsuccessful.
Some of these latter checks were recommended by Bugbatter as you know, before she went away. No-one else from Spywarehammer has become involved, and Bugbatter has now returned and has picked up the thread again today and given me things to do. I will explain the above to her too.
I will persevere with trying to update my system in accordance with the links you gave me. There just don’t seem to be enough hours in the day !
Peter