[Resolved] browser corrupted ?

Note: Both methods listed require that the Microsoft Windows XP CD-ROM be available. Method 1: Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x Repair for Windows XP From the Start menu, select Run. In the Open field, type sfc /scannow (Note: There is a space between sfc and /scannow) Select the OK button. Follow the prompts throughout the System File Checker process. Reboot the computer when System File Checker completes. Method 2: Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x Repair for Windows XP From the Start menu, select Search, select All Files and Folders. Select More Advanced Options and place a checkmark beside Search Hidden Files and Folders option. Ensure that Search System Folders and Search Subfolders are also checked. In the All or Part of the File Name box, type ie.inf In the Look In drop-down menu, select C: or the letter of the hard drive that contains the Windows folder. Click the Search button. In the search results pane, find the ie.inf file located in Windows\Inf folder. Right click the ie.inf file and click Install on the context menu. Reboot the computer when the file copy process is complete. Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 318378 How to Reinstall or Repair Internet Explorer and Outlook Express in Windows XP

Well ,if that's the only solution , I have found a nearby techie store that still sells Windows XP , I'll have to go out this morning and buy one , will get back about mid afternoon .

I went out and bought a Windows XP home disk , it says it is a "Builders Edition" , they insured me it is a full install , not a upgrade . And I am now scanning the files using sfc /scannow . Meawhile , something very strange has happened today , after you suggested the scanlogs were OK . Twice today , while the infected computer was on and connected to the Internet , the monitor sounded that familiar metallic ping and went totally black . Both the computer and the monitior itself were both still on according to the little power light indicators on their fronts . If I wiggled the mouse , I could still see the white cursor arrow on the black screen ,and a blank white square would briefly flash if the cursor moved over a certain spot , but otherwise , no mouse clicking or key pressing or degaussing would change it . Since I could not see ANYTHING on the screen , all could do was power off / shut the computer down cold and restart it with a blue screen disk check during boot up . This happened once while I was viewing some web pages with the portable firefox , and the second time while I was doing the first sfc scan . So I disconnected the infected desktop from the modem and reconnected the laptop , that's what I am using now , and I restarted the sfc scan on the bad computer without it being on the Internet , and with the monitor turned off so it can't shut itself off . I don't know if this is still malware controling the computer or if the old monitior has just coincidently chosen this time to start its burnout . Well I guess now the file checking scan has stopped , I can't hear any busy sounds on the hard drive , but when I turned the monitor back on , I see nothing to indicate any findings or results of the scan . It has clearly ended because nothing is showing on the task bar . How do I know if it has changed anything or fixed the computer ?

I read thru method 2 up to this line but I don't know wha a context menu is : Right click the ie.inf file and click Install on the context menu. The bad computer is nagging me to install service pack 3 , which it somehow downloaded in the last few days while the fixes were reseting the computer . I have not yet installed this because I have seen so many forum posts of people who are having compatability issues with their computers after it is installed . OK , I figured out what this meant an used method 2 , it asked to find something like IE.EXPLORER , and I found it in a folder called (I think) i386 , on the new XP disk that I got today , and it did some installs , I had to OK their changes with Spybot . I restarted and tried the My Computer icon , still takes 2 minutes to open , opened IE and clicked on Google search bookmark , window froze and I closed it with unresponsive program box , plugged in thumbdrive and got to web pages with portable firefox . So we are back to square one . The disk I got today is Microsoft OEM Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 3 , Version 2002 copyright 2008 , Part No X14-73422.

So far search for ie.inf has found 2 files with that name, one in C:\WINDOWS\inf one in C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\(long string of letters and numbers)\ic scan is over , those 2 above were what it found

Also I have not yet uninstalled combo-fix .

Did you do this? find the ie.inf file located in Windows\Inf folder. Right click the ie.inf file and click Install. Reboot the computer when the file copy process is complete.

See my edited post #49 , I think I completed method 2 correctly , it did not help .

Lets try this:

Click Start > All Programs see if Windows Updates is listed. Click on Windows Updates and let me know if it takes you to get updates. If it does, get the updates.

You could also install FireFox and give it a try.

Lets try a different browser. Click the link and download FireFox, copy it to the problem pc and give it a try.
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

Well I found the Windows update on my computer start menu but each time I clicked on it it crashed the IE browser , and when I tried to access it with portable firefox it would not let me connect with the specific updates page , it only led me to a microsoft page with all manner of downloads for any and all MS products going back to 2005 , not just necessary things for this OS . The infected computer was set to seek automatic updates , and when I clicked on the system tray icon , it started to install service pack 3 , so I'll guess I'll have to live with it , if it causes any problems they can't be any worse than what's happening now , as of tomorrow night , computer will have been bad for a week . By the way , if you check my early posts , maybe the first one , you will see that a windows critical update was installed just last Friday or Saturday . I've already received prompts today to reinstall IE7 , don't know if that will be good or bad on the infected computer . Now I find I can't install SP3 on this computer . I was able to download a manual update with the portable firefox , but twice it has gotten to the end of the Installation Wizard Updating your System (I think) and Spybot has denied it a permission and it aborts/fails . I am trying to do work on the laptop while this is happening and I haven't caught it at the exact moment it fails so I don't know exactly what Spybot is doing . I am trying it now a thrd time to see if I can catch it It is going to be difficult to update this system through firefox , but I can not open web pages now any other way . Now I am getting messages during SP3 Installation Wizard that access is being denied to change registry keys . It aborts again and uninstalls . Maybe disabling Spybot will stop this ? While I was composing this on a notepad I saw your suggection to install full Firefox ,I will try this by using the portable firefox to get to the mozilla page . Some of the programs I regularly use like photo deluxe 3.0 are not working right , maybe thet depend on Internet Explorer to operate , still can't get e-mail on infected computer , still can't download and "save to" properly .

Yes either disable SpyBot or uninstall it.

I was able to download and install the full Firefox browser , it imported all of my settings , or at least my book marks , and appears to be a great little program . I went on the net and found a file I wanted to save to my hard drive , but the "save to" box will not let me change the location , it is now set on desktop so that's only where I can save any thing downloaded . I am trying the install of SP3 again with Spybot disabled . Well , the installation stopped again about 40% through according to the progress bar . The first error was Service Pack 3 could not back up registry value HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Notify\dimsntfy\'Asynchronous\'. 5: Access is denied I clicked ignore then the same error box came up again and again with the following substitutions for Asynchronous : DllName Startup Shutdown Logon Logoff Startshell Lock Unlock I clicked ignore to each one but as I am typing this I am seeing that the installation has stopped with a small box with a red circle X , "Access is Denied" , then : "Service Pack 3 did not install" , "Undo the changes" . Software Update Removal Wizard is running now . It will reverse everything , shut down and restart

Are you logged in as administrator?

I will try that now . Aparently , this has to be done in safe mode . When I just did this , I noticed in Safe Mode , when I clicked on My Computer , it opened immediately as it used to do . Files are extracting now . Installation Wizard is updating the system . About half way through this , is where the problems came up . We will have to see . Well , I saw the errors again that I described in post 57 , but the installation is continuing . Nope , now it has stopped , red circle x box access is denied . Undo the changes . Maybe I will try to download another copy of the service pack 3 update . Is there any way to install it fromthe new disk that I bought ? I just realized that when I unpacked the SP3 installer , it was still in the desktop folder under my user name . I am going to cut and paste it ito the administrator desktop , and unpack it from there . I will post again in about 4 hours .