win32kdiag

I hope this is a proper forum to post this.

I have a system that has been totally trashed, no network, blank network properties, windows installer problems, IE8 wouldn't run, services greyed out and unable to modify, no "help" files, no troubleshooting applets would execute, and a bizarre list of other problems that stonewalled me at every turn.

A user somewhere on here (I can't find the post I found) had similar problems, and it was suggested that she run win32kdiag followed by dss.scr and to post the results.

I did the same (sans posting) just to see what there was to see.

To cut to the chase, after I ran win32kdiag, my system mysteriously started functioning again. For the most part, anyway. There are still some problems to work out - my "add or remove programs" stopped functioning after running it, and I'm running into more windows installer errors while trying to restore that. But that's a subject for another post, if needed.

For right now, I want to know how an alleged diagnostic program managed to resuscitate in large part a system that was barely more than a doorstop.

This program is obviously not a regular "look and report" type of diagnostic. It CHANGED things in my system. I couldn't even run sfc up until then, and this win32kdiag even restored that ability along with fixing many things that I wanted to run sfc for in the first place!

Would someone please be so kind as to demystify this curious "black box" program called "win32kdiag"?

 

And then some, I suspect. I'm very happy, but I still like to know exactly how things (like win32kdiag) work and what they do. So this post is a kind of "RFI", so to speak. ;-)

BTW, I took some liberties in my original post in referring to it as "my system". It actually belongs to the son of my next door neighbor. My point for clarifying that is because very early on in my procedures I pulled HIS drive out and put it in MY system and ran AVG on it. It ID'd only a single file as a trojan, which I deleted. I also ran "rootkitrevealer" and it came up dry. [edited to also clarify this last statement: I ran rootkitrevealer AFTER I reinstalled his drive back on his system. ;-) ]

Before my arrival here, I must have put about 5-6 hours into this accursed beast, and I was so frustrated I was about ready to re-install. Many of the problems seemed to revolve around "rights", and this extended into my attempts to repair windows installer, which in itself was an issue in trying to add/modify/delete other functions/programs. Hell, regedit wouldn't even let me LOOK at "imsiservice"!! I've only got a few hairs left on my head, and I was ripping THEM out! ;-)

So you can imagine my awe when I suddenly regained access to many portions of the system after running a mere so-called "diagnostic" (and subsequently puzzled that I then LOST access to "add or remove programs"...).

But I continued to peruse the site here and noticed a little app called "dial-a-fix". I downloaded it and found a utility in there for restoring administrator rights, which I executed.

VOILA!!! The system was back! Full access to everything, I was able to repair .NET3.5SP1 and install windows installer 4.5. Msiexec was MINE. Services belonged to ME. The whole machine was back in MY hands. After rechecking things throughout the system, it appears robust and stable.

Yeah, I consider myself a geek. But I've got to tell you, the collective knowledge of the techs on this site, and their utilities, makes me feel like some newbie nerd sometimes, such as now. The machine is back up and running, and "I couldna dun it widoutcha". You guys ARE appreciated! :wave

(BTW, the little icon above calls itself a "wave", but I put it there because I thought it looked like "wiping tears of joy" )

And thank you, Digitalocksmith, for your reply.

But I *STILL* wanna know what win32kdiag does. What kinds of changes does it make to the system when it encounters them? My amazement at this little utility only piques my curiosity, and I like to understand how things work. ;-)