I'm having some serious problems.

First off, when running IExplorer (6.0), I started getting
error messages relating to the kernel32.dll. Something to
the effect of, "IExplore has caused an error in
kernel32.dll. If this message persists, try restarting
your computer."

I downloaded the security patches for IE to no avail. I
then downloaded and used Netscape to act as my browser
while trying to figure out the kernel32.dll problem. Not
long after, I started having problems running Media
Player. I'd get an error message immediately and MPlayer
simply wouldn't start. A subsequent download of the new
Media Player 9 didn't fix the problem.

Thinking I might have a virus, I tried scanning with
Norton Antivirus. The program would start, but clicking
on 'scan' produced nothing.

Also, when using AOL, I can browse, read emails, etc. But
as soon as I try to send an email, I cannot type in the
email window.

I thought a System Restore might be in order. So I tried
to start System Restore. Click on the icon, and nothing
happens. The cursor hourglasses for a moment, and then
nothing. Task Manager shows that rstrui is running, but
to no avail. If I click on the System Restore icon again,
the window pops up with a MS-Dos logo in the corner, but
the window is white/blank and nothing happens.

I'm perplexed. It seems like one-by-one, programs are
either not working (a la Media Player) or losing their
functionality (like AOL or Norton Antivirus). Is this a
virus? A registry problem? A bad .dll file somewhere?
I've tried starting in safe mode. I've tried scandisk --
which keeps re-starting due to excessive disk writing,
even in safe mode. Any and all help is greatly
appreciated!

Re: PLEASE HELP!! by war17

war17
Wed Jan 28 12:28:40 CST 2004

Check for virus and adware

Housecall Online Scan
http://housecall.antivirus.com
or
Symantec Security Check
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym

SpyBot S&D searches your harddisk for so-called spy- or adbots;
http://security.kolla.de/
or
Adaware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

--
Warren
For additional help, post in
http://groups.msn.com/HelpforInternetExplorerorWindowsME/homepage

"marc" <maistook@aol.com> wrote in message
news:608c01c3e5cb$a6c97c10$a401280a@phx.gbl...
> I'm having some serious problems.
>
> First off, when running IExplorer (6.0), I started getting
> error messages relating to the kernel32.dll. Something to
> the effect of, "IExplore has caused an error in
> kernel32.dll. If this message persists, try restarting
> your computer."
>
> I downloaded the security patches for IE to no avail. I
> then downloaded and used Netscape to act as my browser
> while trying to figure out the kernel32.dll problem. Not
> long after, I started having problems running Media
> Player. I'd get an error message immediately and MPlayer
> simply wouldn't start. A subsequent download of the new
> Media Player 9 didn't fix the problem.
>
> Thinking I might have a virus, I tried scanning with
> Norton Antivirus. The program would start, but clicking
> on 'scan' produced nothing.
>
> Also, when using AOL, I can browse, read emails, etc. But
> as soon as I try to send an email, I cannot type in the
> email window.
>
> I thought a System Restore might be in order. So I tried
> to start System Restore. Click on the icon, and nothing
> happens. The cursor hourglasses for a moment, and then
> nothing. Task Manager shows that rstrui is running, but
> to no avail. If I click on the System Restore icon again,
> the window pops up with a MS-Dos logo in the corner, but
> the window is white/blank and nothing happens.
>
> I'm perplexed. It seems like one-by-one, programs are
> either not working (a la Media Player) or losing their
> functionality (like AOL or Norton Antivirus). Is this a
> virus? A registry problem? A bad .dll file somewhere?
> I've tried starting in safe mode. I've tried scandisk --
> which keeps re-starting due to excessive disk writing,
> even in safe mode. Any and all help is greatly
> appreciated!



Re: PLEASE HELP!! by cquirke

cquirke
Fri Jan 30 04:37:44 CST 2004

On Wed, 28 Jan 2004 10:22:13 -0800, "marc" <maistook@aol.com> wrote:

>I'm having some serious problems.

Yep.

>First off, when running IExplorer (6.0), I started getting
>error messages to the effect of, "IExplore has caused
>an error in kernel32.dll

>I downloaded the security patches for IE to no avail. I
>then downloaded and used Netscape to act as my browser
>while trying to figure out the kernel32.dll problem.

Good call, except I'd have done "the prelim" before staying in Windows
or installing anything at all. More on that later...

>I started having problems running Media Player.

>Thinking I might have a virus,

Good call...

>I tried scanning with Norton Antivirus.

Bad call. NAV is Windows-based, and the Windows it is based on is, in
your case, suspected to be actively infected. So...

>The program would start, but clicking on 'scan' produced nothing.

...does not surprise me at all.

>I thought a System Restore might be in order.

In this situation, that's a quick way to make instant porridge!

>I'm perplexed. It seems like one-by-one, programs are
>either not working (a la Media Player) or losing their
>functionality (like AOL or Norton Antivirus). Is this a
>virus? A registry problem? A bad .dll file somewhere?

I'd guess either a virus, or flaky hardware. The latter will make all
installations and SR moves etc. destructive operations.

>I've tried starting in safe mode. I've tried scandisk --
>which keeps re-starting due to excessive disk writing,
>even in safe mode.

You need to do this outside of Windows. Incessant disk writes even in
Safe Mode is suggestive of active malware, too.

Malware is either traditional ("virus", "worms", "trojans") or
commercial ("spyware", "adware" etc.). The Internet-related aspect of
your scope suggests either could be the cause, but the way ir
progresses suggests either a Win32PE-infecting virus or bad hware.

I'd tackle this in the following order:

1) Verify hardware (or detect and fix hardware problems)
- check all fans, exclude overclocking
- check RAM; www.memtest86.com, www.simmtester.com
- check file system and HD surface IN DOS MODE
- see http://users.iafrica.com/c/cq/cquirke/bthink.htm

2) FORMALLY exclude trad malware (or research and fix)
- see http://users.iafrica.com/c/cq/cquirke/virtest.htm
- Windows-based av need not apply
- online scanners are even more useless

3) Informally (from Windows) chase and manage commercial malware
- Spybot, Ad-Aware, HiJack This, Pest Patrol's online scan etc.

HTH





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Dreams are stack dumps of the soul
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