(Gateway Windows XP Media Center Service Pack 2)
I had finished using a HiJackThis thread on this site to fix this PC and installed some security software only to have this behavior discovered. When either of the programs mentioned in the title are started on my brother's account they appear briefly, then disappear. They both worked fine when tested on my account. He is currently using Winamp and an older version of AIM as a temporary work-around. Any idea about how to resolve this? Thanks in advanced!
Viewer, please post a link to the hijackthis thread.
Also tell us what security software you installed. Have you tried disabling or uninstalling the security stuff to see if that is causing the problem?
All I did was update tools like AVG Free, Spybot (no TeaTimer), and Spyware Guard and installed the scanner Malwarebytes. The issues persisted when I disabled AVG Free's resident shield.
I should also clarify that in the case of Windows Media Player, I get the error message "An internal application error has occurred.".
From your malware thread, it looks like you continue to use P2P software, which will continue to infect your computers. You really need to think about this as it's the number one source of infections, especially rootkit infections. There is no such thing as safe P2P use, especially torrents.
What version of Windows Media Player is being used? Can you uninstall it from Add and Remove Programs, to see if the previous version works okay.
Look in Event Viewer and see if any errors are being logged (they will be in RED)
Click Start then Run, type eventvwr.msc and press Enter or click OK
Look in all three categories listed on the left. Double click on any error to look at the details. Use the arrows to move up and down in the events listed. Post the data here. If it's more than a couple, copy the data to notepad and save as a .txt file, then use the Browse and Upload buttons below the message input are to upload the txt file here, then click on the Manage Current Attachments box to paste a link to the upload file so we can look at it.
To copy data to notepad, you first have to copy it to the clipboard. You do this by clicking on the icon of two pages under the up and down arrows on the right side of the window. Then you paste the info into notepad.
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Application Error
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1000
Date: 6/27/2009
Time: 9:47:36 AM
User: N/A
Computer: MEDIA
Description:
Faulting application aim.exe, version 5.9.6089.0, faulting module unknown, version 0.0.0.0, fault address 0x1221254f.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat
0008: 69 6f 6e 20 46 61 69 6c ion Fail
0010: 75 72 65 20 20 61 69 6d ure aim
0018: 2e 65 78 65 20 35 2e 39 .exe 5.9
0020: 2e 36 30 38 39 2e 30 20 .6089.0
0028: 69 6e 20 75 6e 6b 6e 6f in unkno
0030: 77 6e 20 30 2e 30 2e 30 wn 0.0.0
0038: 2e 30 20 61 74 20 6f 66 .0 at of
0040: 66 73 65 74 20 31 32 32 fset 122
0048: 31 32 35 34 66 0d 0a 1254f..
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Application Hang
Event Category: (101)
Event ID: 1002
Date: 6/23/2009
Time: 11:19:42 PM
User: N/A
Computer: MEDIA
Description:
Hanging application vsthost.exe, version 1.45.0.1, hang module hungapp, version 0.0.0.0, hang address 0x00000000.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat
0008: 69 6f 6e 20 48 61 6e 67 ion Hang
0010: 20 20 76 73 74 68 6f 73 vsthos
0018: 74 2e 65 78 65 20 31 2e t.exe 1.
0020: 34 35 2e 30 2e 31 20 69 45.0.1 i
0028: 6e 20 68 75 6e 67 61 70 n hungap
0030: 70 20 30 2e 30 2e 30 2e p 0.0.0.
0038: 30 20 61 74 20 6f 66 66 0 at off
0040: 73 65 74 20 30 30 30 30 set 0000
0048: 30 30 30 30 0000
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Disk
Event Category: None
Event ID: 11
Date: 7/1/2009
Time: 12:46:11 PM
User: N/A
Computer: MEDIA
Description:
The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk1\D.
I should adjust this: this PC has had WMP 10 installed. An attempt to update to WMP 11 failed. On a recent attempt, WMP has not displayed a dialog. The only evidence that WMP has been activated is a brief appearance of the process in the process manager.
I should've mentioned this sooner, but for whatever reason we can't find WMP in the Add or Remove Programs window. There seems to be stuff related to WMP, though.
Okay, try opening Windows Explorer or My Computer and navigate to C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player.
Run setup_wm.exe. See if that installs the latest WMP.
I'm currently using WMP 9.00.00.4503 and when I ran it, it started to download and install WMP 11. It sets a System Restore point first so if anything goes wrong you can restore to before you did this.
Since I didn't want WMP 11, I used the restore point then I had to go through the WMP 9 setup when I opened it. All worked well though.
For AIM, try creating a new account (pick a name you can live with as you may be keeping it) for the one that is having the problem. See if the latest AIM will run okay there. If yes, then keep the new account and copy everything over from the old, corrupted account to the new one.
Follow the directions here to create a new account and copy all your user data over to it:
Or follow these directions posted in GeeksToGo.com
Boot to Safe Mode, login as Administrator
Show hidden files by opening My Computer, Tools menu, View tab, check Show Hidden Files/Folders and uncheck Hide extensions for known filetypes. Click Apply then OK.
Create a new Administrator level account via Control Panel / User Accounts.. Pick a good name as you will be keeping it.
Reboot the computer.
Login with the new account so the folder structure under Documents and Settings gets created, then log off.
Boot to Safe Mode, login as Administrator
Browse to c:\documents and settings\OldUserAccount
Select everything in that folder except the three files called ntuser.dat, ntuser.dat.log, and ntuser.ini. <<<=== very important
Copy all those files into c:\documents and settings\NewUserAccount. Reply Yes or Yes to all when duplicate folders or files are found.
Reboot the computer and login with your New user account.
Once you confirm that new account has everything it should you can delete the old paccount
For AIM, try creating a new account (pick a name you can live with as you may be keeping it) for the one that is having the problem. See if the latest AIM will run okay there. If yes, then keep the new account and copy everything over from the old, corrupted account to the new one.
Much to my amazement, neither the newly-installed WMP 11 nor the current AIM work on my brother's account nor the new one I just made. I haven't copied any of his data to this new account yet and the aforementioned applications continue to work fine on my account.
That is indeed very strange. No point in continuing with the new account then, just delete it.
I'm going to ask for some ideas in our private forum. I or one of the other folks here will post an update here soon.
Hi Viewer… Lets try one more thing exploring possible user account problems.
First, lets make sure we are showing hidden and system files in explorer: How to show hidden and system files in Windows XP:
Open My Computer, then click the Tools menu, then click Folder Options.
In the Folder Options window, click the View tab.
In the Advanced Settings window:
Select Show Hidden Files and Folders.
Uncheck Hide extensions for known file types.
Uncheck Hide protected operating system files.
Click OK, and close the My Computer window.
Now, lets open My Computer and navigate to C:\Windows\System32\Config\Systemprofile
Open another My Computer window and navigate to C:\Documents and settings\
Right-Click the "Default User" folder and select COPY, then right-click a blank white space in the same window and select PASTE. This will create a copy of the default user folder for backup purposes. If there are any errors copying, please stop and post back here before continuing.
Now, navigate into the Default User folder, select all and delete everything.
When the Default User folder is empty, I want you to select all in the C:\Windows\System32\Config\Systemprofile folder and COPY and PASTE the contents to the Default User folder in the other window.
When that is done, create a new user account, different than the name you used previously and see if Media Player or AIM works in it.
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