I screwed something up????

[oliverclosov]

I am running an AMD Athlon 1.2Ghz with 512MB RAM, Win98se

I tried to run a program that I downloaded and it didn't open the first time that I tried it so I tried to open it again, then my system froze up so I restaerted my system and when it started up it went through the whole scandisk ect... because it wasn't shutdown properly and when it finally booted up I had no "systray", nothing is running in my system tray
and it won't load up when I restart etc.... I tried to use "system file checker" and it said that I was missing "Setupx.dll" and click next to restore
the file but the program keeps shutting down before I can find the file on my win98 disk. I then tried using my boot disk and running "ext.exe" and loading the file from there, but after it searches through my win98 disk, it says that a file by that name wasn't located. Does anyone know how
I can fix this without having to reformat my whole system again, I have a lot of stuff on my system that I don't want to lose. Please please help me (
OH YA, I did a virus check using Norton antivirus before I even tried to open the file so I don't think it was a virus, I think I somehow screwed it up by trying to open it twice. I don't know...Please help

[GaryRouth]

Your Norton was up to date? There seem to be quite a few programs with that name "ext.exe" --and one of them is generated by a Klez virus. If a friend has Norton & can download the latest virus updates & create a virus definitions set of floppies for you (write-protected of course) - then you can use the Emergency Scan with the Norton CD and have it reference the virus defs on the floppies.

If you feel sure that a virus isn't the problem, you can try to restore your Registry by booting from a Win98se bootable floppy or CD, and using the command

scanreg/restore

Then pick a date from prior to your troubles with ext.exe.
_______________

You can also try an "over the top" reinstall, which if successful won't destroy all your data. To do this, boot with a bootable floppy or CD - "with CD-rom support", and from DOS rename the win.com file to win.bak. Like this

C:
cd \Windows
rename win.com win.bak

Then switch to the drive letter of your CD drive [often drive D:], and start setup (by simply type the command: setup) When Windows asks if you want to use the directory C:\Windows.000, instead type in C:\Windows [without the .000 following]. You'll need your CD-key handy.

Let us know if you need more help
. . . Gary

[oliverclosov]

Thanks for the info, I just had a question. I did the scanreg/restore and all of my back up dates are from sept.2002 if I use one of those will I lose all of the driver updates/games/programs/music/etc... that I added to my system after those dates? or will it just restore my system settings but not delete all of my other stuff ?
Thanks a lot

[GaryRouth]

If you do an "over the top" reinstall, you won't lose the programs/games/music. I'm not sure about the Registry restore from that long ago (I've never tried it that far back). . . but someone here should know for sure. Your music downloads should be fine, but the games and programs would probably have to be reinstalled. Not necessary with the over-the-top reinstall (at least, so far my experience with it hasn't caused me to need to reinstall anything). I think security updates would probably need to be reinstalled, but a quick trip to Windows Update will let you know, since it scans for what is needed.

Check back if you've got any more questions . . .

. . . and anyone out there who's sure about the Registry restore and particular programs, jump right in & wake up the three remaining brain cells I've got left . . .
. . . Gary

[oliverclosov]

How do you do an "over the top" reinstall"? I have never heard of that before.
Thanks for the help

[GaryRouth]

Hi again -

It's in my earlier post, but I'll cut & paste it here to make things easier:
_______________

You can also try an "over the top" reinstall, which if successful won't destroy all your data. To do this, boot with a bootable floppy or CD - "with CD-rom support", and from DOS rename the win.com file to win.bak. Like this

C:
cd \Windows
rename win.com win.bak

Then switch to the drive letter of your CD drive [often drive D:], and start setup (by simply type the command: setup) When Windows asks if you want to use the directory C:\Windows.000, instead type in C:\Windows [without the .000 following]. You'll need your CD-key handy.
_______________

If you've lost your CD-key: before you start the reinstall look for it by starting regedit from the Start/Run box, then navigate to the key (you navigate in regedit like you do in Windows Explorer) HKEY_Local_Machine/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion . . . if you click on "Current Version", you should see a list of keys and values in the box displaying on your right. One of these will read "ProductKey" and will consist of 5 sets of 5 alphanumeric characters = your CD key. Be careful when in regedit just to look at things and not make accidental changes.

The nice thing about these "over-the-top" reinstalls is that they usually don't take much time, you might be OK in as little as 45 minutes.
. . . Gary

[oliverclosov]

Thanks Gary, I'll give it a try

[oliverclosov]

[oliverclosov]

OK, I was able to download and restore the setupx.dll file and get my systray back up and running BUT I am unable to load any virus protection. When I try to load Norton it will load but when I restart my system, it freezes up and then I have to boot up into safe mode to remove it. I also tried to install AVG and it also installs but when I boot up a window pops up saying "AVG Control Center" Unregistered Version" "OK" so I click OK and the icon disapears from the systray and when I try to open AVG from the program menu A window says "Unregistered Version" "OK" so I just unstalled it and reinstalled it 4 times and I get the same results every time. I even tried using a different CD Key for each install. Can anyone out there help me out? Please

[oliverclosov]

Well, I just ran the "FixKlez" tool from Symantec that removes the W32 Klez virus and its friends from your system BUT after to tool finished it's scans it said the the viruses were not present on my system. Now I really don't know what is going on. I can't run my system without protection forever...that would be like having your way with a different prostitute everyday...sooner or later your gonnea get a virus

[reboot]

Time to repair windows.
Put in the CD, open explorer, browse to c:\windows and rename win.com to win.bak
run setup.exe from the CD.
When prompted, change the installation folder from c:\windows.000 to c:\windows by selecting "Other", and typing it in.
This will retain most settings, but will also overwrite any corrupt files, and replace missing ones.
Once this is done, throw that Norton disk out the window, and load up AVG.

Edit: Just noticed that Gary has already suggested this. Why haven't you tried it yet?

[oliverclosov]

I didn't want to lose my files by reinstalling windows

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

reboot is our resident master of reinstalling Windows over-the-top: I'll bet he's done it a hundred times more that I have - so I think you can rest easy on the losing files during the reinstall issue [can't hurt to make backups of personal data that's crucial to you, but don't forget to do an antivirus scan before you restore them - or simply as soon as you've backed them up - an easy way to do this with up-to-the-minute definitions is to scan them with HouseCall over at http://www.trendmicro.com - it's a free service so they can show off the merits of their PCcillin antivirus program (which of course is their commercial product)].

You might want to check around for a thorough uninstall procedure over at Symantec/Norton's website, too - since such programs can be difficult to fully uninstall [after all, they need to hide from viruses that try to uninstall/disable them without your permission or knowledge]. . .

If there's an uninstall procedure for the Norton, I'd try that first, then uninstall AVG, then the over-the-top reinstall, then reinstall AVG. [. . . all this after making backups just for peace of mind . . . ]

Hope that your next post has news of success!
. . . Gary

[p.s. -- one more thing: while doing all this, you'll need to temporarily disable the Bios virus protection that is usually running on most modern motherboards. Enter Bios Setup by pressing the key displayed during startup, and somewhere on the first or second menu should be an item to Enable or Disable Bios Virus Protection (might be called BiosShield, or VirusGuard, or whatnot) ---> then, when you're finished with your uninstalls & reinstalls, re-Enable the Bios protection feature]

[oliverclosov]

Thanks Gary & Reboot, I'll give it a try and I'll let you know what happens.
Thanks

[oliverclosov]

Well, I did the PC Cilin free online scan and it found 4 files with viruses it showed :
Joke BGIRLS.A
Joke RUSS.A
PE HANTANER.A
TROJ DK22.A

I located the 4 files on my system, I had downloaded them but I don't think I ever opened them 3 of them I know I haven't opened but I may have opened the RUSS.A I can't remember, I deleted them offf of my system and restarted, and now I'm going to try installing an antivirus program....any suggestions what I should use. I previously was using Norton 7.0 corporate edition but it obviously didn't do a very good job, I also tried AVG's free scan yesterday, It found some other infected files but also missed these ones, should I use PC Cilin or stick with one of the other 2 /
Thanks for everyone's help

[oliverclosov]

YeeeHaaaa!!!
After I cleaned out all of my infected files I restarted and installed Norton and it is working. Everything seems to be working again. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who helped me out you guys/girls are great and really know your stuff. I hope I get as smart as you's in the future.
Thanks again and have a great weekend...peace-out