Internet explorer crashing on start up

Hi

I have Windows XP on a compaq mini 110 laptop. Kestrel has been helping me with malware removal and during this process IE disappeared from start up programmes, programmes and add/remove in control panel. I have found it through search function but it crashes as soon as its opens. At the moment I am trying to use Midori but that is also crashing and I need to use ESET which requires firefox or ie. so at the moment:
- I am unable to get IE going
- I am unable to download Firefox through Midori
- I am unable to use ESET
- Midori is crashing I assume due to the error messages gliblib.dll which come up on opening.

Help!

 

Windows Update also relies on IE. Do you have the install CD or can you borrow one? If you do or can, run sfc /scannow (Start -> Run enter sfc /scannow [include the space between c and forward slash], press Enter). You'll be told to insert the CD. It SHOULD at least re-install IE 6. From there, HOPEFULLY, you can run Windows Update and update to IE 8 and get the Security Updates up to and including 4/8/2014.

 

Could IE be somehow turned off in Add/Remove? In Control Panel->Add/Remove, there is on the left side something that says Windows Components. Using that dialog, IE can be turned on/off. The typical shortcuts are removed when it is off but will reappear when it is turned back on. This doesn't uninstall the program...it just sort of makes it invisible/unusable.

Curious if maybe your IE has been turned off in Add/Remove somehow...

 

As far as I know, in XP, IE is integrated into the OS.

But, can you launch IE in safe mode with networking? Click Start, then Run, then type in iexplore.exe [press eneter]?

Also, you can try the above in normal boot up also.

 

Hi and thanks for responses

the error message coming up when midori starts is libglib-2.0.dll There is another number and hyphen after the 2.0 but I can't remember.
Now that I have downloaded firefox to get ESET running I am not too bothered about IE although I guess it would be good to know how to clean up any mess that is there and of course to get Midori working as I imagine that would be much more suitable for small processor on my laptop (1.6ghz).

Thanks again

Matthew

 

Hi

Apologies for delay getting back as I have been ill. In the end I decided to uninstall IE completely using IObit uninstaller.
I then uininstalled existing Midori and downloaded the portable file. However I got confused as was unclear what 'launching' the portable file entailed. There was no icon in programs or on desktop to launch it? I didn't read your post properly and downloaded it to a file in C/programmes/midori but wouldn't imagine that would make a difference?
I then dowloaded the Midori.exe file and tried to install that but again nothing on desktop or in programs. I went into the C programs/midori folder and found the shortcut for starting it but it just took for ages to do anything eventually producing a page which froze.
Alongside all of this is a very slow startup and constant freezing with CPU showing at 100% usage. As I have gone down the malware option and everything has been cleaned, I wonder if it is possible to send you some sort of snapshot of my computer to see if there is something else that could explain all these problems :cry

 

From XP onward, IE is an integral part of the operating system and CANNOT be uninstalled. Windows Update uses it and other programs that use the IE engine will still do so even if it's made unavailable to a computer user.

 

OK so I used windows update in safe mode to reinstall IE8. It is back on the desktop and in start menu. The good news is that in safe mode everything works fine.
The bad news is that in normal mode, nothing works except the cursor. This is despite IObit performance monitor showing very low use. I literally cannot open anything.....:cry
When I move the cursor onto the green bar at the bottom, hourglass symbol is going.

 

mastermiaow...

Did you ever run sfc /scannow as mdonah mentioned (run from Safe Mode if unable to run in normal mode)? You will need a full Windows XP installation disk (not manufacturer's restore disk) of the same version of XP you have on the PC. Sometimes sfc /scannow will complete without asking for the installation disk, but generally the disk is required.

I think in this case, what could have happened is that some malware created bizarre dependencies which cripple your PC when the malware is removed (possibly add-ons to a program installation). In other words, some of the normal dependencies in the OS are altered, so that your installed programs won't function if the malware is not present. This seems to be relatively common after malware removal that I have noticed.

sfc /scannow will fix alot of this and not effect your files or programs. Beyond that is a repair installation. Again, need a full installation disk of your version of XP for the repair installation. It's a very good last resort, because, like sfc /scannow, it doesn't require you to reinstall programs and replace your files from backup...just have to reinstall Windows updates, which isn't so bad. Your programs and files aren't affected by the repair.

Here is some interesting information. I don't recommend trying anything here without mentioning it first in this thread, so you can get some feedback. The "Remove system policies" section about 1/2 way down is what I suspect is the lingering after effect of your problem. Here is the link:

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/computing/pc/how-to-repair-a-malware-damaged-pc-1032838

 

Hi

The notebook doesn't come with a CD player and everything was preloaded on when I bought it so I don't have installation disk or anything like that.

 

OK...

Since you can boot into Safe Mode and everything is normal there, I think I would first investigate the startup programs to see if one process can be identified that might be causing the problem. To see your startups Start->run->type msconfig (hit enter)->Startup tab. Safe Mode loads only the bare essentials of Windows. Because it is working correctly, I think (not certain) this means something is running during normal Windows boot up that is causing your problems in normal mode.

It might help if you could post a screenshot of the startups (or 2 screenshots if required to show them all, etc.). You can grab them in Safe Mode if not in normal...

 

AtlBo,

Couldn't he also post a screenshot of Disk Management so you could see if he has a Recovery Partition he may be able to access with F11?

 

mdonah...

Good point and thanks. I haven't ever had a PC with a recovery partition. I always wiped them out :-o :-D. I have a question about that on the side here...will sfc /scannow work from a recovery partition without an installation disk on some PCs...I mean is there an installation image there on some PCs?

The recovery partition I am used to was a RAID one, so I am not sure what they are actually like typically. The one for the RAID setup was just an updated direct copy of the original installation which constantly updated, so that the backup drive could actually be used if the main one failed.

 

OK so here are the 5 screen shots taken from IObit start up programme. It was pretty hard to get into safe mode as f8 on compaq mini 110 doesn't give option of safe mode and because of computer freezing 4 out of 5 times, it was difficult to get in through run/msconfig. At the moment run is not not showing in start up programmes so could you let me know how to access system config when I want to go back to normal start up. If you want me to send you other screen shots please let me know.

 

I was uploading the docs and the laptop switched off (power symbol doesn't operate in safe mode i assume). I have tried uploading again but I am now getting message that I have already uploaded the documents although I can't see them. I have tried to change name of docs and upload but still getting the same message....

 

Sfc /scannow wouldn't work from the Recovery Partition but, if one was available, mastermiaow might have been able to do a repair install which would have, also, left his files untouched. But with it being an XP era machine, I don't know if it had the partition.

I see from a later post that there are other problems. Mistermiaow may be faced with purchasing a USB connected optical drive and a Win XP install CD.

 

Given the time I (and others) are spending on this I am seriously considering giving up. The lap top cost £200 5 years ago. Time to sell it as a square frisbee?
Is it possible to purchase a non-CD installing operating system perhaps for a download? I do have an external hardrive..Would it be better to load Windows 7 onto it or is the processor (1.6Ghz) not powerful enough?

 

mastermiaow...

If you have XP Professional (not Home) on the PC, here is a way to download the .iso:

http://getintopc.com/softwares/operating-systems/windows-xp-sp3/

I know nothing about this, but the comments are positive and the .iso seems to be the right size. Of course, you would have to find a way to burn this .iso and then install from a usb drive (using your present activation key). I've never installed from USB with XP, but mdonah might be able to help you with that.

If you have a restore partition, maybe mdonah can help you there, too. Since the PC didn't come with a CD/DVD, I guess I would be sort of surprised if there isn't a recovery partition on the hard drive, even with a 5 year old machine...

 

Unfortunately I have XP home so assume can't use the ISO file???
I don't think there is a recovery partition. On start up there are two options
- change boot device order
- bios set up options

When I press f8 it doesn't give me it just gives me the option to start in XP (at the moment this is safe mode because I did this through msconfig).

I am unable to upload the screenshot files (this seems to be a glitch with the forum as it saying that they have already been uploaded).

 

You could install XP Home (this link is from the same site AtlBo linked you to) from a 1 or 2 GB flash drive using ISO2Disc to "burn" the XP ISO to the flash drive. Then set the boot order in BIOS so that USB storage is ahead of the internal hard drive. You'd then be able to do a repair on your current Windows installation. If you needed, for some reason, to do a clean install, you could and the Product Key on the sticker would work.

 

Thanks for this. I guess I would prefer to just wipe everything and start afresh but I haven't got any way of loading office on again (it came preloaded) so I guess the repair option. Hopefully that will wipe all the glitches away including the add new hardware wizard that keeps appearing on startup. If you think there is a chance that I will still be facing the same problem after a repair then I will go for the clean install and just download some free office software. I am downloading both XP home and ISO2disk to external hard drive. Not sure where I go from there however. Could you give me the stages? Also if it is clean install where is sticker with product key?

Thanks again
Matthew

 

After downloading, run the ISO2Disc installer and launch the app WITH a flash drive plugged in. Browse to the ISO you downloaded and select Burn to USB flash drive (your flash drive will show in the box next to that choice). Then click Start Burn and let it complete (see att'd). You should end up with a bootable XP install flash drive which will work more quickly than a CD.

The sticker with the product key should be on the bottom of the notebook. The freeware office suite I use (my laptop came with MS Office pre-installed also but, when I had problems with my machine, I wiped the drive and lost it) is LibreOffice available right here at Major Geeks.

If there is no COA/Product Key sticker, you can use Magical Jellybean Key Finder also available at MG's.

We'll have to wait and see how things go with repairs before deciding on a clean install. If there are issues, make sure you've got all of your data backed up before proceeding with a clean install. The drive will need to be wiped first so, you'd lose your data.

 

mdonah...

Would it be wise to use the key finder software before running the repair installation if the key sticker is not on the machine? I think I remember having to write down the key for another PC I have before running a repair installation of XP if I am not mistaken...

 

OK I just want to be absolutely sure before I start.
1. When you say 'flash drive' is that the same thing as an external hard drive (I have seagate expansion portable drive)?
2. Both xp file and ISO2 disk installer are on external hard drive (not on laptop) so is that OK in terms of burning to the external hard drive?
3. I do have windows sticker on bottom of laptop
4. I am still unclear whether what we are doing is a clean install or repair? Is there is a message that will come up asking me which one I want to do? I don't mind losing data on laptop (but not on external hard drive). I would prefer a clean install if that increases chances of everything being solved in one go...

Thanks again

Matthew

 

1. No. A flash drive looks like the attached and is strictly electronic — no moving parts like your Seagate.

2. Run the installer so ISO2Disk gets installed on the notebook then run it WITH the flash drive plugged into a USB port on the notebook as described in my previous post. If you only have 2 USB ports on the notebook and the Seagate is plugged into one and a mouse is plugged into the other, unplug the mouse and use the touchpad and buttons to run ISO2Disc.

3. Excellent! That's the Key you would enter IF you needed to do a clean install.

4. There is a choice to repair Windows but, unfortunately, I don't remember exactly at which point it shows on the installation screens. I'll have to run my XP install CD and get back to you. A clean install would involve using another flash drive (64 MB would suffice) and another ISO download so you could wipe the internal hard drive and install to the "New, Raw" partition the Windows installer would see.

 

OK, I ran my XP install CD. You'll go through several screens. At the screen where it asks if you want to run Recovery Console, instead, choose install Windows. The next screen will present you with the repair option by pressing "R" after it detects your current XP installation. It will check for damaged/corrupted system files and attempt to repair/replace them. If successful, you should be back up and running again. If unsuccessful, report back here and we'll go on to the steps necessary for a clean install. As I stated, that will involve another flash drive and ISO download "burned" to the second flash drive with ISO2Disc.

 

Right now I am away from home and I only have the seagate hard drive - can I use this or do I have to have a flash drive?

 

No, you can't use the hard drive. ISO2Disc won't even "see" it. There is no way to "burn" an XP install ISO to a hard drive. Unfortunately, because your notebook doesn't have an optical (CD/DVD) drive, you'll need to purchase a 1 GB flash drive for the XP ISO. If you end up needing to do a clean install, you'll need a second 64 MB flash drive for MiniTool Partition Wizard which you'd use to wipe the drive prior to doing the clean install. But, then, you'd have them if you needed them again even for another computer running XP.

 

mdonah/mastermiaow...

Just to interject one thing. There is a "repair installation" of Windows XP. Unless I misunderstood mdonah, this is a separate function from the repair feature that was have mentioned. mastermiaow, you will need the 1 GB flash drive as detailed by mdonah, so you can burn the XP Home .iso to the flash drive in order to run this type of installation. The first mention you see of repair during the XP (Home) installation process is NOT the correct option for a repair installation. You will instead choose this option (just like a normal installation) on the screen that first mentions repair.

setup Windows XP now, Press Enter

This type of installation is more likely to be successful than the repair option mdonah mentioned. Basically, it will reinstall the better part of Windows XP Home, while leaving your programs and files untouched. This is an underrated feature associated with having an installation disk for XP. I have run the full repair installation before, and it worked for me when I was having problems with Windows installer.

I may be wrong but I believe that the straight repair function (the first repair option mentioned) is a chkdsk /r, which is a chkdsk that can detect and run some repair fixes. It could also be sfc /scannow or something else, but I do know the two types of repair functions are distinctly different from each other.

Here are instructions on how to run a repair installation of Windows XP (Home for you):

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/operatingsystems/ss/instxprepair1.htm

This guide is in 2 parts of 10 segments each, and it will walk you through the process. For me, I found it a little bit intimidating to choose the option to install Windows to get to the repair installation. However, this guide is 100% trustworthy. Every time I run this, I am like, "OK, am I about to destroy my files here?". It won't do that. It does remove all Windows updates, which you will need to readd, but that's not so bad. I don't think it will remove SP3.

Just to clarify, I have uploaded some screenshots. I hope they help you understand what to choose. The first screenshot shows what to choose on the first screen that mentions "repair". The third screen shows the screen which gives you the option for the true XP "repair installation". The second screen is the EULA agreement, which should appear between the two.

Apologies if I misunderstood, mdonah. Just attempting to be sure mastermiaow understands the "repair installation" process.

 

@AtlBo,

That's exactly what I was talking about but, I couldn't post screenshots from the XP install screens (you'll have to tell me how in a PM because I could have used PreOS screenshots in other posts).

I've used the Recovery Console option to recover from dual-booting Linux and XP. But, that's not what mistermiaow is doing.

The second repair option runs sfc /scannow from the install CD so, as you say, his files are left untouched. But if he decides to do a clean install anyway, he'd need Minitool on a USB flash drive to wipe the internal HDD first. Just letting Windows Setup format the drive will leave remnants of the previous installation which will cause problems. I and others here have learned this the hard way.

 

Guys I haven't forgotten you but been completing an assignment. I wanted to do the reformat and installation today but realised I needed to print off your instructions and I don't have printer so it will have to wait now again. However...a new variable has been added to the equation in the form of the above 'minitool' Is this something I need to:
1. download and install on the hardrive
2. download on flashdrive and install on hardrive?

 

You'd download MiniTool Partition Wizard Bootable CD and "burn" it to a 64 MB flash drive using the ISO2Disc I linked you to in a previous post. Then go into BIOS Setup and change the Boot Order/Sequence so that USB is ahead of your hard drive. Restart the computer WITH the flash drive plugged in and it should, eventually, bring up MiniTool. Use MiniTool to wipe the drive/partition with a single pass because you're re-installing Windows.

BEFORE YOU DO THIS, make sure you've "burned" the Windows XP ISO to a 1 GB flash drive using the same ISO2Disc. After you've wiped the drive with MiniTool, remove it's flash drive and plug in the XP flash drive to boot from it. Re-install XP using the Product Key from the sticker on your computer. Hopefully, you'll be all set.

 

I have two flash drives now Both are larger 1.86gb and 3.5gb - I assume that is not a problem?

 

After reading this thread I have to jump in. Still running XP after it has been abandoned by Microsoft is like saddling a dead horse. The other issue is that despite the fact malware has been removed, it can and does leave kicking and screaming, thus damaging Windows' programming.

Your best bet with this netbook is to run a version of Linux on it. Provided it's only as old as you say Ubuntu should run on it just fine.

 

No, it's not a problem. They're actually 2 GB and 4 GB but Windows "reserves" some of the space for itself. Put the MiniTool ISO on the 2 GB and the XP ISO on the 4 GB. It does seem a waste of space though. That's why I mentioned 64 MB and 1 GB flash drives.

 

Good point. Is it same procedure re: reformating with minitools and then loading on Ubuntu with flashdrive?

 

flash drives are still available in those "smaller" capacities.

 

OK more news from the front line after another marathon session I managed to get minitools ISO on one memory stick and ubuntu iso on the other via ISO2Disc programme. I then pressed F9 and got the option to boot from the USB stick for the Mini tools programme - I really thought I was there...but I then got a message "NTDLR is missing, Press any key to restart" it then starts in XP safe mode as before...:cry

 

It obviously didn't boot to the USB flash drive. Ntldr is strictly Win XP. If it had booted to the flash drive, some text would have shown on screen about ISOLinux or some Linux version followed by other text as MiniTool loaded into memory and then launched. Is there any way you can temporarily disable booting from the internal hard drive?

 

I have done just that using following instructions here http://dfarq.homeip.net/2011/01/how-to-make-hp-and-compaq-computers-boot-off-usb/

the usb is showing as the first device to boot up and I saved the settings but it is still giving the NTLDR message

 

He doesn't have an internal or external optical drive.

 

At this point, I don;t know what to tell you. It should have booted to the flash drive and MiniTool should have launched. I don't know why it's not.

 

I may have figured out the ntldr is missing error.

Initially, it didn't occur to me that you may be leaving the external hard drive you have plugged in when trying to boot from USB. If you are, unplug it before rebooting with the MiniTool flash drive plugged in. If the external drive is plugged in when booting from USB, the system will look to it for boot information first. Of course, the external hard drive doesn't have any boot information because it's a data drive and not a system drive.

You would have had the same issues if you tried to boot to the Ubuntu flash drive with the external hard drive still plugged in.