Member Avatar for lost_confused

I did a virus scan on my computer a few days ago and discovered I had multiple trojan horses, which I had to delete for obvious reasons. Since then I cant sign into MSN messenger, hotmail or access outlook express. Also I have no history, which I had previously, and I have no advanced internet options. When I click on the advanced internet options, I just get a blank page.

I've also tried to repair my Internet Explorer, which is version 6, and when I try it says "Internet Explorer 6 cannot be repaired. Please run Setup again to reinstall all components." I tried reinstalling everything, but I still got that error message. Apparently Internet Explorer 6 cannot be repaired because errors occured whilst setting up the following dll's:
browseui.dll
shdocvw.dll
mshtml.dll
shdoc401.dll

I really dont know what to do, can anyone help?

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Dani AI

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Quick diagnosis and an ordered plan (for — and following ’s pointer to the regsvr32 approach): the DLL registration failures mean Internet Explorer / shell components or their dependencies were removed or mismatched when the trojans were cleaned. That makes the browser UI and Outlook Express hooks behave oddly and prevents registration from succeeding. Microsoft’s guidance on regsvr32 explains common causes and why registration can fail. (learn.microsoft.com)

Immediate, safe steps (do these before any reinstall):

  • Back up Outlook Express mail/address book and Internet Explorer/Favorites (copy the DBX/WAB folders and export accounts). Tools and MS guidance for backing up OE are available. (companionlink.com)

  • Try restoring a registry snapshot made before the problem: boot to the Windows 98 startup menu and run the registry checker restore. From a command prompt run:

    scanreg /restore

    Pick a date before the trojan cleanup. This often recovers settings and registrations. ()

Next-level repairs (if registry restore doesn’t fix it):

  • Run the Windows 98 System File Checker (via System Information → Tools → System File Checker) to restore damaged system/IE files from the Windows CD. If SFC can’t find the correct copy, extract the needed files from the CD (cab files) using the Extract/Ext tools as documented. (helparchive.huntertur.net)
  • If SFC/extract don’t restore usable IE files, overinstall Internet Explorer (IE6 SP1 is the last version for Win98). Close all nonessential programs and run the IE installer to replace broken components; the IE repair/maintenance commands are documented for 9x-era repairs. Backups first. (legacyupdate.net)

If none of the above works, an in-place reinstall of Windows 98 (setup from CD) will replace core system files while keeping user data — but only after you have full backups. Given that Windows 98 is unsupported and insecure, consider imaging the drive and migrating to a supported OS when feasible. Microsoft recommends moving off unsupported OS versions for security reasons. (learn.microsoft.com)

If needed, provide the exact error text you get when running the registry restore or SFC and the IE setup log; that will pinpoint whether specific system files or the scripting engine are the blockers.

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Member Avatar for DMR

See our member antioed's suggested fix (involving the "regsvr32" command) in the this thread:

Run the regsvr32 commands on the dlls you listed in your post and see if that fixes the problems.

Member Avatar for lost_confused

thanks for replying. I tried that but it keeps saying DLLRegisterServer failed.

Member Avatar for DMR

1. It fails on all of your dlls, or just one or two in particular?

2. You are logged in to an account with administrator rights, yes?

Member Avatar for lost_confused

1) Just shdocvw.dll, mshtml.dll and browseui.dll.

2)I have no computer knowledge at all, what do you mean by administrator rights?

Member Avatar for DMR

1) Just shdocvw.dll, mshtml.dll and browseui.dll.

What exact version of Windows are you using?

2)I have no computer knowledge at all, what do you mean by administrator rights?

In Windows 2000 and XP, user accounts are assigned to certain groups, each of which grants the user different levels of permission to perform certain tasks such as installing programs, modifying system settings, etc. Users who belong to the "Administrators" group basically have unrestricted permission to make system-level changes, and given that, many troubleshooting tasks must be performed while logged in as a user who is a member of the Administrators group. You can determine which user accounts are assigned to which groups by looking at your user accounts in the Users Control Panel in Win 2000 or the User Accounts control panel in Win XP.

Member Avatar for lost_confused

I'm using Windows 98 Second Edition.

Member Avatar for DMR

Win 98? OK- the Administrator stuff doesn't appy in your case then.

I have to log off for a while to take care of "real life" things, but I'll try to post other suggestions as soon as I can. Hopefully, one of our other will pick up on this in the meantime.

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