Please Help!! Problem w/IE 6- Deleted a registry subkey...

Hi All!
About 2 weeks ago I surfed onto this site & got some much needed help from Kodo about a nasty hijacker obtained while surfing the web without my Zone Alarm activated. I picked up some vicious spyware then and my computer has not been the same since; it is barely usable & I’ve been working on it at least a few hours per day since then! I would’ve posted sooner but was unable to stay on the site long enough without a BSOD destroying my work. My problems are too numerous to list in one post, so I will seek advice for one problem at a time, but write if you can help me with any areas described in this post. Hopefully, one of you geniuses can help me with some advice and I’ll repair one error at a time. I apologize in advance for giving TOO MUCH information, but too much is better than not enough at this point, right?

After I removed the spyware from my computer using Ad-aware, Spybot, & Spyblaster, two problems still remained: On my IE 6 toolbar I noticed a blank space that, when I scrolled over it with my mouse, indicated “short message.” No icon—the “short message” would just appear as a caption when I scrolled over the area on the toolbar. I tried everything (remember, my system would not remain stable long enough for me to post here) but could not remove this from my toolbar! I could not find it in my IE toolbar settings & my spyware detection software couldn’t detect it. When I clicked on the “short message” space (with Zone Alarm ON this time) I was directed to a Chinese website: http://sms3721.com/index.htm . My PC began to behave as if it had been infected with a virus: Applications hung, installers opened for no reason, files tried to delete themselves with no action on my part... (I scanned online—no virus.) The only thing I knew to do was uninstall IE. I tried to uninstall several times but was unsuccessful. (Too many updates?) Around this time my NAV 2003 Professional stopped functioning. After trying to repair NAV, uninstall/ reinstall, & install 2 other Antivirus apps (AntiVir & AVG) unsuccessfully, I went to Symantec’s site & followed directions to manually uninstall NAV. Per the site’s instructions, I used RNAV.exe & regedit to delete entries from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE. I saw entries for IE & thought “Gee... if I delete THIS key, perhaps I can reinstall IE.” (Yes, that was stupid; I am learning through some horrific mistakes.)

Now I (hopefully) have all of NAV removed, but I have bigger problems. I reinstalled IE 6, but am having extreme difficulties with it. When I open the browser it displays the “Cannot find server, page cannot be displayed” error. I can browse, but cannot reply to mail in Yahoo. I cannot run the Windows update (it brings up a blank page) & cannot run Microsoft Management Console (Run -> Services.msc) as described on www.blkviper.com. (I get an error message stating that in order to run MMC I must have Internet Explorer 5.5 or greater installed.) When I open IE & click the “Help -> About Internet Explorer” button, my downloaded updates plus the product ID are displayed, but not the version (screenshot below.) In addition, I just tried to create a System restore point, & System restore would not start at all! (As bad as things are now, at least I’m able to post, which means my system is in better shape now than it has been in 2 weeks, so I wanted to create a restore point.) To those of you who know anything about the XP tweaks on Black Viper’s page, I DID leave my System restore function on automatic.

Can anyone give me some good advice? I need my IE 6 to function. (I’m not a huge fan of IE, but Opera will not allow me to send HTML mail through Yahoo, use Outlook Express, or install as many extensions & plug- ins.) In addition, if anyone has been able to successfully uninstall NAV with no troublesome consequences, I would love to know about it!

Thanks for reading this lengthy email, & I would appreciate any help! Post here or email me through my profile.

Thanks!
Gina

 

Hi Gina!

• Some viruses or spyware first deactivate your anti-virus software. In such cases you have to use removal tool for that specific pest (try Symantec site) or run anti-virus from diskette or CD. Only then can you uninstall/reinstall your AV software.
• You could also try System Restore.
• But then again, considering the mess you have, maybe you should format your disk and reinstall Windows.
Do not be hasty about that, though, - wait to see what others have to say.

Good luck!
Mike

 

Internet Explorer 6 includes a Repair tool, which you can use to diagnose and possibly fix problems that you might have. Not sure of the options under WinXP but on my Win98 machine; to use the Internet Explorer Repair tool:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
3. Click Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Tools.
4. Click Add/Remove.
5. Click Repair Internet Explorer.

If this fails reply back with the failure message.

With regard to the toolbar button, the above repair may address that but are you able to select the Customize... option from the View/Toolbars menu. This should give the capability of hiding the button.

I also notice that your web page that you displayed had three / after the http: - after repairing, try Tools/Reset Web Settings...

Came across this article about missing IE version number that indicates that Windows Script Host is corrupt http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPOR...cc593dc697cfeede88256cc4007f40a9?OpenDocument

 

Gina. I'm thinking like Aurelius. I've reformatted machines for less than the problems you are having. But I don't know if thats an option for you. I'm not sure if anyone else will agree with me on this part but............The fact that you're dealing with an XP from ME upgrade, instead of a straight XP O/S install, kinda makes me frown to begin with. But I'm not condeming it. I know people usually take that route due to budget restraints.
But anyways Gina...........Would it be possible for you to save all your files on media, and just start over?? If not, it could take us a while to chip away at resolving the multiple problems you have, without being right in front of your machine. Let us know.

 

I haven't fixed the problem YET, but wanted to thank those who are trying to help me.

Hi All,
It's 4 AM & I'm VERY tired... I've tried almost everything & will keep you posted if I manage to solve the problem. (The main one is IE 6 now.) Thanks Aurelius & Brian C.! And Maxwell: You may have found "the fix" in a link in your article!! I'll go into more detail sometime this weekend, & thank each of you individually. (I've used ALL the advice!)

Since my PC (sans IE) seems stable enough now (more stable than it has been in weeks!) I would hate to use System Restore, as it will never allow me to restore further back than a week or so. As for reformating, I doubt I could do this since an HP tech advised me months ago to convert to NTSF, or I would have uninstalled Xp Pro by now. Brian, I agree with you & will NEVER upgrade an OS again! I could use the recover function in my upgrade CD..?

As far as backing up data, I have over 20 Gigs to back up and no way to write to a DVD-RW. A few files are over a Gig, plus I have some video of my best friend who died last year... All of this is hard to back up on 700 mb CD-Rs, but if any of you know a way... I have backed up some things, but need a better way to back up.

Maxwell, I used your link to surf to a Microsoft site that informed me how to remove IE 6 from my PC (virtually IMPOSSIBLE for Windows XP by the way) and reinstall. I was waiting in anticipation (picture the IE 6 Install shield reading "installing 30%, 40%, 80%, then.... 100%" finally, in about an hour! Then, an error message pops up stating that the software is not compatible with XP! Can you imagine??) IE 6 was MADE for XP, no? (Error shot below.)

Anyway, it's 4:30 now & I'm delirious... (I hope this email makes sense.) I will keep you all posted here over the next couple of days, & let me know if you have any more suggestions...

Peace, Thanks, & Good night (er... "morning.")

Gina

 

Since your using HP, you can use restore cd. It will turn your OS back into default as same day you first got your HP pc. It will save your headaches. Just back up your datas you want to save to cd, USB harddrive, or floppy if have to. You can get full edition win xp instead of upgrade, all you need is to delete all paritions using fdisk then format and full install. But if not, just use restore cd. What OS did you had before you upgrade to win xp? Win ME? you can try again upgrade win xp after using restore cd that HP gave you. Just go step by step carefully installing updates, drivers, tweaking, etc. took me awhile to learn whats best steps from beginning to finish on keeping win xp on its toes. Sometimes softwares tools or repair doesnt help, I been there before and my solution is to clean reinstall window. Then just get simple free antivirus from majorgeek files or use free online virus scan at treadmicro housecall. I been thru similar as you are when I had Norton systemwork. virus/trojans or norton systemwork or antivirus doesnt make any difference to me, they just do the samething by screwing up windows. it like having AOL on my harddrive. If you have USB, you can get USB harddrive, maybe 80gb for backup your datas as if your cdrw isnt working right. USB harddrive is easy to use, you have to format it first then transfer any datas to USB harddrive easy and faster. It faster than cdrw and its 80gb compare to 700mb cdrw. Go for USB harddrive for better back up

 

Gina, the problem you now have is covered by this Microsoft article: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811263 - give this a try and let us know the results.

 

Johner is right Gina. External USB HD is a good idea. If you have stuff that you don't want to lose, you must not rely on the computer only to save it. Too much can go wrong (as you're finding out).
THE ERROR MESSAGE...........That damn thing !!! It means it hasn't been TESTED by Microsoft, not nessessarily that isn't compatable. We can nip that in the bud. Right -click on "My Computer", click "Properties", hit the "Hardware"tab on the properties window. Click on :"Drivers Signing". Now tick "Warn", then tick "Make Action System Default". Click "OK". Hit "Apply" in the properties window, and close it.
Now, next time Windows encounters something "unsigned", you will get an error box similar to the one you got, but will now give you the option to ignore the warning, and continue the installation.

 

The saga continues...

Hey All,

Much thanks to everyone who responded! (BTW, Johner, I upgraded from ME to XP Pro.) I use Trend Housecall too, and you are not the first person I've heard say that NAV IS a virus. (Well, you didn't say THAT, but it is... Sometimes I wonder if the makers of popular AV software write virus code!)

Maxwell, I've tried everything in that article and every link in it. (The cryptographic Services service was stopped and started successfully but access to systemroot & catroot were denied, according to the CMD box dialogue.) According to the article, I would have to do an "In-Place upgrade" (Reinstallation.) Would it be less trouble to reformat?

Brian C, I did as you suggested, & the box was already set to the settings you recommended! The only other option would be to select "Ignore." Should I try this? (See shot below.)

So, taking everyone's advice into consideration (Boy! Would I be a lost puppy without you guys or what??) I have in my possession a Maxtor 5000LE 80Gig external USB HD. Now I have just a few more questions, so please be patient with me-- this will be the first time I've attempted such a feat as I'm about to undertake-- LOL!

First, Robo wrote:

Since my PC came pre- installed with ME, I don't think I have a "valid" ME key. I only have the restore CDs. Can I still reformat & do a clean install of XP Pro? (My Upgrade CD does give the option for a clean install.) This way, I wouldn't have to deal with all the trash software contained on my HP restore Cds. (Installed versions of MSN, AOL files, McAfee, RealJukebox, etc.) These could be on my PC NOW and may be effecting the way my computer behaves, right?

Can anyone recommend a program or a step by step guide for beginners (something I can print out, perhaps) on reformatting a drive? Is there anything I need to do FIRST?

Also, this is the only computer I have. I have a 100 mb. email account with Yahoo because I can access it from anywhere, like a public computer, should mine crash. Does anyone know of a URL that explains how to redirect different POP accounts into the Yahoo one? (I know it must be do- able.) I need my ISP mail and the mail from my husband's website to be secure in case of problems with this PC. (Perhaps I should ask this question in a separate post?)

If anyone has any suggestions, please post them, or email me through my profile. I hope you are all having a great weekend... I want to sincerely thank everyone for their help, and this web site for being here-- it kicks butt!

Take Care,
Gina

 

By the way...

I just wanted to add to my last post that I did purchase the USB HD this afternoon. (I didn't want any confusion over my last post that I "had one in my possesion.") I bought it because it was suggested here.

Thanks,
Gina