Windows Explorer won't let my computer load

Hi-
I can't get my computer loaded. I get the first welcome screens, etc. but when it's time to load the icons I get the message "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience." I run WinXP Sp2 on a 5 year old Sony Vaio. It has over 700+ RAM (I'm really a newbie with computers). I had a prior problem last month when I couldn't boot because I had a NTLDR problem. I solved that with the help of this group and a special boot disk I made. I got so much help that I contributed some $$. If you get me running I'll contribute again.
Anyway, I can't get into safe mode. The error message says it needs to close but it doesn't. I can bring up my task manager - that's how I'm on here. I can only bring up some things with task manager. I have no icons and nothing has loaded.The error message is in the box that asks you if you want to send an error report or not. I can pull up system restore but I tried going back farther and farther until it was a month back. Every time I still got the error message. Now I only have one restore point and it's today.
In the error box it gives different information and one thing is that it says ModName:deskbar.dll. According to Google this could be a virus or the like. There is a technical log but I don't know how to copy and print it out for you since it's in a box and I have to scroll to see it. I noticed that ntdll.dll come up a lot, but maybe that's normal.
What I was doing just before this happened was deleting duplicate files using software called Advanced System Organizer. Since I don't know alot I skipped most things that weren't pictures (The way that I loaded some pictures into my computer made two copies). I did delete some files that weren't pictures but they looked safe to delete. Could it be that I deleted deskbar.dll? I wasn't worried because the software created a restore point before we started. However no Restore Point got rid of the error message - even when I went back before I loaded the Organizer.
One more thing which may be relevant: Days after I got my system back up from the NTLDR error I went to defrag my hard drive. I was shocked to see that most of my GBS had moved from C to D. The file system is NTFS. I now have 16 GBs and 1.49 Gbs free in the C drive and 58.56 GBs with 58.42 GBs free space in D. I never use D. I'm going to need advice on moving those GBs back to C, but right now my immediate problem is that Windows Explorer message. I do not have a WINXP CD. I have two restore disks because the software was loaded when I bought the machine. Please don't tell me to use them and go back five years. I did that once and it was an awful pain in the rear.
Sorry I can't give you more info. Just tell me what else you need to know. Any help is truly appreciated. I'm really stuck here and I need my baby to load up correctly. Thank you in advance.
Dawndd

 

If my computer was screwing up that bad I would reformat tbh.

 

I'm really dumb about computers. Can you please explain reformatting to me like I'm a 5 year old?
Thank you,
Dawndd

 

Honestly. If I had a 5 year old computer. I would be upgrading to a brand new system with a fresh install of Windows XP or Vista.

But if you can't fork out the money. I'd at least do a clean install of Windows XP and keep it very clean while using it, by keeping it up-to-date, clean of viruses, spyware, defrag, etc. Just regular maintenance.

How To Reformat PC with Windows XP

Regardless of if you say you don't have an XP CD, you need one. It's just not practical to run a computer using Windows XP and to not have a copy of it on CD. Whatever means it takes for you to get a copy of it, do it.


1. Insert XP CD into CD drive. Press ENTER to resume booting from the XP CD.

2. Access BIOS to adjust boot priority to allow boot from CD. To do so, immediately after PC is powered on begin repeatedly pressing the 'Delete' key until you see it accessing a setup of some sort. Save and exit BIOS.

2. After exiting BIOS, your PC should restart, and you should see a "booting from CD" message. Press any Key when you see the prompt.

3. You will see it begin to to copy files. This will take a few minutes.

4. Next it will give you the option to repair or enter setup. Choose to enter setup.

5. Press F8 to agree to the license.

6. Choose to delete the partition by pressing "D".

7. Create a new partition in the empty space.

From there on out it should be fairly self explanatory. It's basically just a step by step procedure. Does that make much sense to you?

 

Well, I understand what you are saying about the computer being 5 yrs old and having problems lately. When you tell me to get an XP CD disk somehow I think you realize that the only way to do that these days is to buy it. Microsoft is so tight with their security of one disk to a customer that I can't just ask my friend who does computer tech work all day to give me his copy. I tried that and he explained how tight their licensing is. I should explain that I am currently disabled after major surgery and my income is social security disability. I take 27 pills a day and my medical expenses from doctors, the surgery, etc. are also high. I have to see my doctor once a week at this point in time, I have no choice. They won't let me go back to work until February. So it's not really a question of my being stubborn so much as it is that I don't have the money. I remember the days when you could trade OS disks with others but those days are over.

Anyway, I diagnosed the problem using three different problems. I have malware called deskbar.dll. There are many mentions of it on Google, but I ran a three diagnostic programs to be sure that was the problem. I've just run Bit Defender and my System Optimizer and another program specifically made to find trojans, virusus and malware (sorry, can't think of the name. It's well known. It's been a rough day) that was the result. The question now is how to get rid of it. I know of many free anti-virus programs but none that can remove stubborn malware. I need advice on how to get rid of it. Any help that anyone can provide is really appreciated.
Thank You ,
Dawn

 

II believe you need your problem to be moved to the security forum.. they can advise you on its removel ... i have marked the thread for you
please be patient as it is a busy forum

 

Dawndd, please don't take the comments to heart, there is no reason to start from scratch. You got some bad advice from jeffd0006.

Let's see if we can't come up with a better solution that starting from scratch. Please wait for a security expert to take a look and advise your farther.

 

Thank you for saying it was bad advice. I was very tense and I apologize if I was terse. I think what bothered me the most, and I can't find the post now, was someone ( I think Jeff) saying that I needed to start over and keep it clean and use virus sofware and things of that nature. I have always been very responsible with my computer and had good anti-virus software set to run everyday as well as at least two spyware and adware programs. I've taken every security precaution and been very careful. I just thought there was an insinuation that since I didn't know much about computers that I didn't take all of the obvious precautions which any novice cannot help but learn as the information on computer security is every where. This was the 1st time in 4+ years I've had a virus, And to be honest, judging from the fact that my computer is now suddenly up and running, I can't tell you for certain if that was the problem. Thanks again.
Dawn

 

Hi Again -

Well, I stayed up until 5 a.m. and ran every reputable free anti-virus , anti-spyware and ad-ware program that I knew of. No luck so off to bed. Get up this morning and turn it on planning to go into task manager (as it was all I could bring up) and try a couple other ideas and there she is in all her glory. All booted up and icons in place. What did I do right? No clue. Is this temporary? No clue. I immediately went to Add/Remove and deleted IE7 and so now I have IE 6. Would someone please tell me how to turn off automatic updates so IE7 doesn't load again? I could probably figure it out but if you know the answer it would save me lots of time. Since this happened after I deleted duplicate files I restored everything I had deleted that was in the recycle bin. AVG won't run so I'll uninstall it. Maybe I'll reinstall it. I know you should only have one anti-virus program because of conflicts. I have four on the computer now because I downloaded and used them all last night at various times. I've heard AVG is the best but I have Bit Defender running now in the background and I like that one also. I'd like to hear what the experts think.
I do want to addres the issue of that possible malware message, and so I can move to the security forum. I guess you are doing that for me. However, my big problem now that I am left with is moving my GBs back from the D drive to the C drive. All I see on Google and elsewhere are people with new hard drives who want to move the GBs or people who want to merge or delete the D drive. I don't want any of that. Somehow those GBs moved into D and I just want to move them back into C. Can anyone please help me? I am going to be doing lots of security related stuff today and I will download HijackThis and post the results. So (A) How do I turn off Microsofts automatic updates? (B) What's the best free anti-virus program? And most importantly (C) How do I get all my GBs back into my C drive - the master from my D drive - the slave? Thank you all very much.
Dawn

 

Well despite what everyone has said, related to me giving bad advice. I disagree.

Starting fresh never hurts. Sometimes its refreshing to have a fresh copy of Windows installed. Maybe it doesn't bother me because I have two hard-drives so all my files are on one, and XP and program files on the other. So it doesn't drain to much of my energy to do a reformat and install the latest software on one of the hard-drives. Because all of my photos, music, documents, etc. are all backed up.

Anyways. What do I know right?

 

As requested - here is the Hijackthis Log. Duplicate anti-virus programs will be deleted. I have to decide which one I want to keep. I'm going to read the security forum posts toget some advice. And Jeff, what works for you is great. Since I don't have two hard drives and your kind of set up it just isn't the best idea for me. You should have explained your setup when you posted your advice. I do appreciate you trying to help me.


Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 4:21:52 PM, on 1/29/2007
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP2 (6.00.2900.2180)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\ACS\AOLAcsd.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\TopSpeed\2.0\aoltsmon.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\wanmpsvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Softwin\BitDefender Communicator\xcommsvr.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Softwin\BitDefender Scan Server\bdss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\1165776015\ee\AOLSoftware.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\WScript.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_10\bin\jusched.exe
C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe
C:\Program Files\ScanSoft\OmniPageSE\opware32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\LTSMMSG.exe
C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3\hpztsb06.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\ezSP_Px.exe
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Album Starter Edition\3.0\Apps\apdproxy.exe
C:\Program Files\Softwin\BitDefender8\bdmcon.exe
C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
C:\Program Files\Softwin\BitDefender8\bdnagent.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
c:\progra~1\Support.com\client\bin\tgcmd.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuauclt.exe
C:\Program Files\Hijackthis\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Bar = http://us.rd.yahoo.com/customize/ie/defaults/sb/msgr8/*http://www.yahoo.com/ext/search/search.html
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://us.rd.yahoo.com/customize/ie/defaults/sp/msgr8/*http://www.yahoo.com
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.yahoo.com
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://www.yahoo.com/
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://us.rd.yahoo.com/customize/ie/defaults/su/msgr8/*http://www.yahoo.com
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Bar = http://us.rd.yahoo.com/customize/ie/defaults/sb/msgr8/*http://www.yahoo.com/ext/search/search.html
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://us.rd.yahoo.com/customize/ie/defaults/sp/msgr8/*http://www.yahoo.com
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.yahoo.com/
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant = http://as.starware.com/dp/search?x=...QI9/I1d2f0ELKIJHPYGrENWgKVSpti2IlUI1evf8ezcU=
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchURL,(Default) = http://us.rd.yahoo.com/customize/ie/defaults/su/msgr8/*http://www.yahoo.com
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Window Title = Windows Internet Explorer provided by Yahoo!
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings,ProxyOverride = 127.0.0.1
R3 - URLSearchHook: Yahoo! Toolbar - {EF99BD32-C1FB-11D2-892F-0090271D4F88} - (no file)
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\SDHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: Yahoo! IE Services Button - {5BAB4B5B-68BC-4B02-94D6-2FC0DE4A7897} - C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Common\yiesrvc.dll
O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_10\bin\ssv.dll
O3 - Toolbar: AOL Toolbar - {4982D40A-C53B-4615-B15B-B5B5E98D167C} - C:\Program Files\AOL Toolbar\toolbar.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [HostManager] C:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\1165776015\ee\AOLSoftware.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ZTgServerSwitch] c:\program files\support.com\client\lserver\server.vbs
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TkBellExe] C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\evntsvc.exe -osboot
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_10\bin\jusched.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SiSUSBRG] C:\WINDOWS\SiSUSBrg.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SiS KHooker] C:\WINDOWS\System32\khooker.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickFinder Scheduler] "C:\Program Files\Corel\WordPerfect Office 2002\Programs\QFSCHD100.EXE"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Omnipage] C:\Program Files\ScanSoft\OmniPageSE\opware32.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE NvQTwk,NvCplDaemon initialize
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LTSMMSG] LTSMMSG.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [iTunesHelper] "C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [HPDJ Taskbar Utility] C:\WINDOWS\System32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3\hpztsb06.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ezShieldProtector for Px] C:\WINDOWS\System32\ezSP_Px.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [EM_EXEC] C:\PROGRA~1\Logitech\MOUSEW~1\SYSTEM\EM_EXEC.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG7_CC] C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe /STARTUP
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AOLDialer] C:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\ACS\AOLDial.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Adobe Photo Downloader] "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Album Starter Edition\3.0\Apps\apdproxy.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [BDMCon] "C:\Program Files\Softwin\BitDefender8\bdmcon.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [BDNewsAgent] "C:\Program Files\Softwin\BitDefender8\bdnagent.exe"
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: &AOL Toolbar search - res://C:\Program Files\AOL Toolbar\toolbar.dll/SEARCH.HTML
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Yahoo! Search - file:///C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Common/ycsrch.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: Yahoo! &Dictionary - file:///C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Common/ycdict.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: Yahoo! &Maps - file:///C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Common/ycmap.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: Yahoo! &SMS - file:///C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Common/ycsms.htm
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_10\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_10\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra button: AOL Toolbar - {4982D40A-C53B-4615-B15B-B5B5E98D167C} - C:\Program Files\AOL Toolbar\toolbar.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: AOL Toolbar - {4982D40A-C53B-4615-B15B-B5B5E98D167C} - C:\Program Files\AOL Toolbar\toolbar.dll
O9 - Extra button: Yahoo! Services - {5BAB4B5B-68BC-4B02-94D6-2FC0DE4A7897} - C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Common\yiesrvc.dll
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - %windir%\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: @xpsp3res.dll,-20001 - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - %windir%\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O14 - IERESET.INF: START_PAGE_URL=http://www.sony.com/vaiopeople
O16 - DPF: {2ED9BC2B-4DF1-472E-9B5E-55477D2C97F5} (Microsoft Data Collection Control) - https://support.microsoft.com/OAS/ActiveX/odc.cab
O16 - DPF: {6414512B-B978-451D-A0D8-FCFDF33E833C} (WUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/V5Controls/en/x86/client/wuweb_site.cab?1165777868593
O16 - DPF: {6E32070A-766D-4EE6-879C-DC1FA91D2FC3} (MUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/V5Controls/en/x86/client/muweb_site.cab?1165777858078
O21 - SSODL: WPDShServiceObj - {AAA288BA-9A4C-45B0-95D7-94D524869DB5} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\WPDShServiceObj.dll
O23 - Service: AOL Connectivity Service (AOL ACS) - AOL LLC - C:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\ACS\AOLAcsd.exe
O23 - Service: AOL TopSpeed Monitor (AOL TopSpeedMonitor) - America Online, Inc - C:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\TopSpeed\2.0\aoltsmon.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Alert Manager Server (Avg7Alrt) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Update Service (Avg7UpdSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
O23 - Service: AVG E-mail Scanner (AVGEMS) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
O23 - Service: BitDefender Scan Server (bdss) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Softwin\BitDefender Scan Server\bdss.exe" /service (file missing)
O23 - Service: iPod Service - Apple Computer, Inc. - C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Driver Helper Service (NVSvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\WINDOWS\System32\nvsvc32.exe
O23 - Service: SiSoftware Database Agent Service (SandraDataSrv) - SiSoftware - C:\Program Files\SiSoftware\SiSoftware Sandra Lite XIb\Win32\RpcDataSrv.exe
O23 - Service: SiSoftware Sandra Agent Service (SandraTheSrv) - SiSoftware - C:\Program Files\SiSoftware\SiSoftware Sandra Lite XIb\RpcSandraSrv.exe
O23 - Service: Sony SPTI Service (SPTISRV) - Sony Corporation - C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\SONYSH~1\AVLib\Sptisrv.exe
O23 - Service: WAN Miniport (ATW) Service (WANMiniportService) - America Online, Inc. - C:\WINDOWS\wanmpsvc.exe
O23 - Service: BitDefender Communicator (XCOMM) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Softwin\BitDefender Communicator\xcommsvr.exe" /service (file missing)

How can I say Thank You Again?
Dawn

 

Thank you Derek. I am pretty broke but I will make a small contribution on your site because I really appreciate your help. I will also contribute to the Tech Guys, who have come through as usual. I just wish I could move those GBs back to the C drive. Come on, someone out there knows how to do it!
Dawn

 

I love animals and I think it's so cool that you want donations for a rescue center instead of for yourself. I was happy to give what I could and I'm putting the spykiller site in my list of favorites right next to the Tech Guys. You have a great site.
Dawn