[Solved] computer hangs when selecting dialog box

[mcgruff338]

Hello,

My system is Win98, IE6. My systems hangs in IE6 when I click the "Address" history arrow (to visit a previous typed-in web site). It also does it when I am not on line while I'm using windows explorer mainly when I click on a drive letter or "+" to open a folder. When I press "Ctrl +Alt +Del" to cancel the process, I would see different programs "Not Responding" such as Explorer, Realplay, or Upgrade. I would select the program not responding to cancel it and it freezes. The only out is to do a cold reboot. I've also noticed that when my system is not shutdown properly, Scandisk will not automatically start upon restarting the system. I would really like help with my system hanging. Thanx in advance.

mcgruff338

 

[Bryan]

I guess start with the IE Address history hanging. It sounds like the History is pretty full or corrupted. Try this,

In IE click on Tools>InternetOptions>Clear History.

Does that correct it?

Then do this so we can see what you have running at startup

Start>Run, key in msinfo32 and press enter. In the Left pane, double left click on "Software Enviroment" then do the same on "Startup Programs". Now you should see your startup programs in the left pane. Click on Edit>Copy. Now come here and click on "PostReply". Right click in the reply window and select Paste.

 

[mcgruff338]

Microsoft Works Calendar Reminders Startup Group "C:\Program Files\MSWorks\Calendar\WKCALREM.EXE"
Iomega Startup Options Startup Group C:\Tools_95\IMGSTART.EXE
Microsoft Office Startup Group "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\OSA9.EXE" -b -l
Internet Answering Machine Startup Group "C:\Program Files\CallWave\UPGRADE.EXE" -start
ZoneAlarm Common Startup Group "C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zonealarm.exe" -nopopup
MSMSGS Registry (Per-User Run) C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe /background
ScanRegistry Registry (Machine Run) c:\windows\scanregw.exe /autorun
TaskMonitor Registry (Machine Run) c:\windows\taskmon.exe
SystemTray Registry (Machine Run) SysTray.Exe
LoadPowerProfile Registry (Machine Run) Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
VortexTray Registry (Machine Run) C:\WINDOWS\au10setp.exe 3
Adaptec DirectCD Registry (Machine Run) C:\PROGRA~1\CD-WRI~1\DIRECTCD\DIRECTCD.EXE
RealTray Registry (Machine Run) C:\Program Files\Real\RealPlayer\realplay.exe SYSTEMBOOTHIDEPLAYER
LexmarkPrinTray Registry (Machine Run) PrinTray.exe
tgcmd Registry (Machine Run) C:\program files\support.com\bin\tgcmd.exe /server /nosystray
QuickTime Task Registry (Machine Run) C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\QTTASK.EXE
sp Registry (Machine Run) regedit -s C:\WINDOWS\sp.dll
LoadPowerProfile Registry (Machine Service) Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
SchedulingAgent Registry (Machine Service)
winmodem Registry (Machine Service) WINMODEM.101\wmexe.exe
TrueVector Registry (Machine Service) C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ZONELABS\VSMON.EXE -service
MiniLog Registry (Machine Service) C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ZONELABS\MINILOG.EXE -service

 

[Bryan]

Did the Clear History fix the hanging in IE?

 

[mcgruff338]

Yes, the clear history fixed the IE hanging problem. But other hanging problem still exist as stated earlier.

 

[Rollin' Rog]

See if you can isolate the second problem by using msconfig to "cleanboot".

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q281/9/65.ASP

Try deselecting all the files in the startup group except scanregistry and systray.

You might also want to test whether the behavior occurs in safe mode.

For the scandisk problem, make sure "disable scandisk after bad shutdown" is not checked in msconfig>advanced

Also if you have ever had Norton Disk Doctor installed, the presence of the file scandisk.alt in windows\command will keep scandisk from running after a bad shutdown. It can be deleted or renamed.

 

[HKEd]

This could be related...certainly worth pointing out anyway:

sp Registry (Machine Run) regedit -s C:\WINDOWS\sp.dll

This has been popping up more and more recently. Sp.dll is not a DLL - it's a REG file in disguise. One expert in this field thinks it may be a variant of the JS_Seeker trojan. This "DLL" contains this:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer]
"SearchURL"="http://www.jethomepage.com/ie/"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"Default_Search_URL"="http://www.jethomepage.com/ie/"
"Search Page"="http://www.jethomepage.com/ie/"
"Search Bar"="http://www.jethomepage.com/ie/"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search]
"SearchAssistant"="http://www.jethomepage.com/ie/"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search]
"SearchAssistant"="http://www.jethomepage.com/ie/"
[HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer]
"SearchURL"="http://www.jethomepage.com/ie/"
[HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"Search Page"="http://www.jethomepage.com/ie/"
"Default_Search_URL"="http://www.jethomepage.com/ie/"
"Search Bar"="http://www.jethomepage.com/ie/"
[HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search]
"SearchAssistant"="http://www.jethomepage.com/ie/"

The above will look a mess, but you get the picture.

Uncheck it from startup using Msconfig. After rebooting, you should be able to safely delete the file, or at least keep it in the Recycle Bin for a few days to see if it causes problems (haven't seen any problems caused by deleting so far though).

 

[mcgruff338]

I ran my virus scanner to check all files and it found js_seeker and js_seeker.b on my hard drive. After getting rid of the viruses my pc was acting as it normally should. Again, thanks for your help.

mcgruff338

 

[TonyKlein]

Hi HKEd,

Thanks for the 'heads up' about Sp.dll.

It has been popping up a lot recently in people's startup lists, and I have never been sure about what it really was.

I guess it had to take an adventurous person like yourself to open up the dll and see what's inside...

Cheers,

 

[Toddles18]

How exactly do you open up a dll, I've been curious in the past as to what is included in those files but never quite sure how to open them.

 

[TonyKlein]

Hi,

You can do that with <A HREF="http://rpi.net.au/~ajohnson/resourcehacker/">Resource Hacker</A>

Pleaaaase make a copy of the dll, before you start experimenting with it.

Good luck,

 

[Mosaic1]

DLL's are nothing to play with unless you know what you are doing. Even then you can stuff a program. Opening and looking is one thing. You can look but do not make any changes and never replace a dll with a new one you have made. Always keep a copy of the original and know how to use the DOS commands to remove the faulty dll and replace it with the original. Something as simple as removing a bitmap from a dll can crash a program. Dll's contain code and bitmaps, icons, cursors ...........