[bennyboy2010]

Hi all,

I've recently had some serious spyware issues and have had to reinstall Windows XP. Once I had done that all appeared to be working as the system booted normally and my Microsoft Office applications still worked, however when I attempted to access Windows Update on Internet Explorer 7, the page did not appear. I then attempted to access other websites and found I could only access one or two at the most. I know this is not an internet connection problem, so I have concluded that the spyware has created bogus definations within the Windows XP system. I would be very appreciative if anyone could reply with a solution, or even an alternative reason of why I cant access many websites.

Many thanks.

[CDATech]

Question:

You "reinstalled" Windows XP. Did you format and reinstall or just install on top of the other installation?

A format+reinstall should have taken care of any spyware infestation you would have had.

[ozrom1e]

Welcome to TSG....

There are a number of things that can break Windows Update in Windows XP, including performing a repair/reinstall. For a fix, try these next steps:

Open Notepad or WordPad and copy/paste the following text:

regsvr32 wuapi.dll
regsvr32 wuaueng.dll
regsvr32 atl.dll
regsvr32 wucltui.dll
regsvr32 wups.dll
regsvr32 wuaueng1.dll
regsvr32 wucltui.dll
regsvr32 wups.dll
regsvr32 wuweb.dll
regsvr32 wups2.dll
regsvr32 msxml.dll
regsvr32 msxml3.dll
regsvr32 msxml2.dll
regsvr32 qmgr.dll
regsvr32 qmgrprxy.dll
end

Save the file to your desktop as UpdatesFix.cmd (you'll have to click the "Save As Type…. Dropdown arrow on the right of the selection window and select "All Files" before you click the Save button).

If you'd rather not try the batch file, you can enter each line in the Run box one at a time and click OK after each one.

Double-click the UpdatesFix.cmd file; a command window will open, and you'll see a series of dialogue boxes saying DLLRegisterServer in *.dll succeeded. Click OK to step through the process.
Once all the dll's have been successfully reregistered visit the Windows Update site and try the Windows updates again to see if it works correctly.
Often you will have to download and install Windows Installer 3.1 and the Windows Genuine Advantage tool before you can download any more updates.
Windows Installer 3.1
Redistributable (v2) For Windows 2000 Service Pack 3; Windows 2000 Service Pack 4; Windows Server 2003; Windows XP; Windows XP Service Pack 1; Windows XP Service Pack 2
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en

An update for Windows Installer 3.1 is available for Windows Server 2003 SP1 and for the 64-bit editions of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/898715/en-us

On rare occasions, a reregister will fail; in such cases, run sfc /scannow (have your OS CD handy) and then try again.

Other times, the reregistering will succeed, but Windows Update still fails. This can occur if the temporary folders of Windows Update have been corrupted. You can refer to these steps to rename these folders. Be assured the folders will be created again when you visit the Windows Update site again.

1. Click Start, Run, type: cmd and press Enter. Run the following command in the opened window:

net stop wuauserv

2. Click Start, Run, type: %windir%\SoftwareDistribution and press Enter to open the temporary folder of the Windows Update engine. Then, rename the following two subfolders:

DataStore
Download

For example, rename DataStore to DataStore-old, and Download to Download-old.

3. Click Start, Run, type: cmd and press Enter. Run the following command in the opened window:

net start wuauserv

After you rename the above folders, please restart the computer in normal mode and visit the Windows Update site again.

If you are still having problems, post the specifics on this forum, and we will see if we can help.

[bennyboy2010]

Thank you for your replies! However, ozrom1e, I worked through your advice but it has unfortunately not solved my problem. I managed to do all the reregistering successfully however Windows Update still did not work. I then successfully renamed the folders mentioned in your reply and restarted my computer, however Windows Update still did not work. I must clarify, when I say 'work', I mean that Windows Update does not even appear within Internet Explorer 7, though it seems to think it has loaded it. Any advice on what steps I should take now?

Also, I believe I only reinstalled Windows XP on top of the previous installation. If I have no other alternative solutions, how would I reinstall Windows XP and also perform a format?

Thank you for your continuing help.

P.S. On startup, my laptop states a RUNDLL error which says:

Error loading C:\WINDOWS\system32\prtewpln.dll
The specified module could not be found

Could this be affecting my inability to access Windows Update?

[bennyboy2010]

I have also now lost all connectivity to the Internet, despite a very strong signaled and connected Wireless Connection. Any (more) help would be very much appreciated!

[AcaCandy]

http://forums.techguy.org/windows-nt...dll-error.html

[Broni]

Error loading C:\WINDOWS\system32\prtewpln.dll

Your computer is infected.