GEN! I need help in a bad way!

[Chylde Roland]

Hey Jackal,

My dad's having problems with his PC, of the ilk I've never seen before. It seems to be a major IE/Windows Explorer issue. He's running Windows XP Pro.

Here's the problem:

When the PC boots up, it all goes well. It gets to the login screen just fine. They have two accounts on this PC, and when I click on either of them, it loads to the desktop, and this is when the crap happens.

I get two error windows. The title bar on each says "Error" and the text in each is the same: "Runtime Error 216 at 0E000000". When I click OK on each message, windows explorer seems to restart, then I'm back at the desktop. If I open any window (like explorer or a control panel), I get the same message as above, windows explorer restarts, the window closes, and I'm back at the desktop.

If I try to start IE, it either freezes the PC (hard reboot required), or I get the same runtime error, and I get dumped back to the desktop after a windows explorer restart.

There are a few anomolies. These occur sometimes, but not all the time.

1. Sometimes windows installer runs, trying to reinstall their HP 1200 all-in-one unit. It's been installed for a long time, and was running just fine, so I don't understand this one.

2. Another error message randomly appears. It reads "msiexec.exe DLL failed to initialize".

3. Another message: "Driver(CORE) not found winerr=2".

Finally, for several tries WinXP did a checkdisk and truncated/fixed several files. It hasn't done this for at least a dozen reboots, though.

Anything you can suggest would be great. I really hope a wipe and reinstall won't be required, but will do so if needed. I just hope I can back their files up if needed.

Thanks Gen.

aaron

[Rafal Dudek]

got a virus scanner? the Driver(CORE) thing looks familiar

[Chylde Roland]

Actually, I just discovered that was due to a seeming AVG installation problem. I managed to uninstall it, and haven't seen that message since.

I tried to DL another scanner but I can't because of the IE errors. I can't get anywhere near the Web with what's going on on that PC.

If you're wondering... I currently live with my dad. I'm able to use my PC no problem, so I'm posting the errors here from my rig.

[Rafal Dudek]

yea I knew it seemed familiar =P Any chance of using system restore?

[Chylde Roland]

I tried that too, dude. I got the runtime error again.

When that happens, everything seems to restart, and I'm back at ground zero again. I'm leaning to the thought that this may take a full system restore (as in, wiping and reinstalling).

crap.

[0x64657200 0x6A61636B616C00]

Well, it's all because of that AV software MS KB article link (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;814437)

System restore probably won't catch this unless you set a restore point before the installation was attempted or the problems started happening.

Have you tried getting into safe mode?
Do you have DSL or dialup in the house? If you do, you can get in to SafeMode w/ networking and should have access to the internet from there.

[Chylde Roland]

Thanks Gen, I can access the net from my PC, so I'll d/l it, burn to disk and re-install it.

What about that runtime error I'm getting, is that related to this as well?

[Chylde Roland]

I did a search of the KB, and it actually appears to be a Trojan Horse called Backdoor.SubSeven. I just got removal instructions from Symantec, so I"ll give it a shot here.

Thanks!

[0x64657200 0x6A61636B616C00]

Did you get this worked out Chylde?

And GO FLAMES GO! :)

[Chylde Roland]

Yeah, I got rid of the virii (note the plural, should have done this the very first thing). But now my dad says he's getting other error messages, so I'm going to have ot look later.

I swear I don't know what they do to that computer, but I'm getting sick and tired of having to bail them out all the time.

Anyway, if I need more help, I"ll be sure to let you know.

Thanks again! (and I won't be on the PC tonight with Game 1 happening and all!)

[0x64657200 0x6A61636B616C00]

Thanks again! (and I won't be on the PC tonight with Game 1 happening and all!)

Is there a game tonight?





/sarcasm:off ;)

GO FLAMES GO!

[Ojnod]

My advice would be to install a browser like mozilla or firefox on their computer. IE is fine... if you know how to use it. If you don't you will have people clicking yes to all the popups and there are a lot more exploits for IE than there are mozilla.