windows XP laptop

[rayo]

hi, um can someone tell me how to fix my laptop something happened with my laptop and now i can only open my documents(and the files inside it) my computer(and the files inside it) when i open run and press cmd prompt it say's cannot open cmd.exe To Open This File windows needs to know what program created it windows can go online to look it up automatically, or you can select from a list of programs on your computer and it give me the options of either going online to find it or my computer or when i put msconfig it says Cannot Open MSConfig.exe and the same thing and i cant open up files like msn or itunes or windows media player....i cant even open up my user accounts on the computer in control panel i cant open up alot of files in the control panel
can someone please tell me whats wrong with my laptop and please help me fix it

[jimlaver]

I don't really know if this will help you, but something lik this happened to me once a couple of years ago.

As I remember, I copied the run.dll file from another computer using Windows XP and it worked. I think it was virus related... I'm not sure.

If you cannot access the file explorer or open you're harddrive, try rebotting and going into safe mode by pressing the F8 key as soon as your laptop's brand logo disappears.

Good luck.

[rayo]

hmmm...my brother said it might be a hack cause i cannot access any of the main hardware folders ill try doing what you said though
ps. thank youu

[rayo]

i tried it and i went into safe mode but like it was practically the same thing like i still couldnt do anything in it the only difference was the icons were larger and that's it..could you tell me more about the run.dll file?? thank you.

ps. whenever i download something it automatically stays in unknown file type and everything that i have downloaded such as msn also turned into unknown file types and wont open

[jimlaver]

First of all, my mistake: the file's name is rundll32.exe and you can find it the \windows\system32 folder.

This file contains file associations for basic and common extensions.

If you cannot do anything in safe mode, try going into safe mode with prompt or command prompt... I don't remember exactly what the boot options lists are. One you're on the command prompt you'll most probably be able to copy this file using basic DOS commands.

You will need the rundll32.exe file on a floppy drive (if you have a floppy drive) or on a CD so you can copy it to you laptop.

Good luck again.

[rayo]

ill try that, but i could go on safe mode but i still couldnt open the main folders or the files i downloaded and when i open run and type cmd prompt it cant open it it says it needs to know what program created it
okay i did that and the command prompt window came up and it says "C:\Documents and settings\administrator>" i dont know what to type here to copy the rundll32.exe file im sorry i dont know much about computers.

thank you again

[sittas87]

Hi guys
See if a windows repair will fix you're problem. It sounds like a virus to me.

[rayo]

Hi guys
See if a windows repair will fix you're problem. It sounds like a virus to me.

Im pretty sure its a virus cause i cant open any of the main folders and i cant open downloaded files and when i download a new file it wont let me install it on my laptop...but um what do you mean "windows repair"? sorry i dont know alot about computers

[sittas87]

Hi Rayo
Seeing that a virus is the most obvious, Ill recommend that you check you're system for trojan/ viruses first.
here's a malware scanner that a user on this site recommended:

Download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (http://www.majorgeeks.com/Malwarebyt...are_d5756.html) to your desktop.

* Double-click mbam-setup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
* At the end, be sure to checkmark the Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, then click Finish.
* If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version.
* Once the program has loaded, select Perform full scan, then click Scan.
* When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results.
* Be sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.
* When completed, a log will open in Notepad.

Ill recommend MRT that is good with removing Trojans
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=AD724AE0-E72D-4F54-9AB3-75B8EB148356&displaylang=en&displaylang=en

Please post a reply when you're done

cheers

[rayo]

hi sittas86
i tried what you told me and i downloaded the malware remover but the thing is whenever i try downloading something it downloads in the unknown file format and when i try to open it wont open it wont open and when i try to open it with right click, where it supposed to say open it says "Scan with AVG) but some files when i download them it would open but it opens a box and in the box it tells me to choose a file to open it from cause its in unknown file format. I scanned my computer AVG and it didnt find any viruses.

i have a bootable dick and a windows XP home edition disk on the bootable disk it says "Sg>DM>X and under it says bootable disk SEAGATE, i dont know if i should reboot it cause i dont know if its still gonna have some of the main files like the wireless connection or not. do you guys think i should reboot it??
thank you and reply back please

[gerbil]

Hi. For the moment I will just assume that it is a problem only with an exe file link. Run this [key is an export from my machine]:
==Please copy the text in the box to a notepad [format/wordwrap unchecked] and save as fixkey.reg, as type "all files", to your desktop; dclick it to run... agree; if it opens in notepad instead rclick the icon [file], choose Open with, Registry editor....

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe]
@="exefile"
"Content Type"="application/x-msdownload"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe\PersistentHandler]
@="{098f2470-bae0-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}"

Modification for your situation: you can copy that file to a floppy or thumbdrive and run it from there....

[jimlaver]

Hi rayo,

Sorry for not replying sooner.

To replace the run32dll.exe file using the command prompt, you obviously need to reboot your laptop, press the F8 key and select the "safe mode with command prompt" option.

At this point you need the file on a CD or floppy disk, as I told you before. If you have it on a floppy disk, you must type a:
and if you have it on a CD, your CD drive could be D, E or F... so you must type d: or e: or f:

The prompt line should change to a:\> or whatever letter drive you typed. Check for the run32dll.exe by typing dir or dir/p . Next, type: copy run32dll.exe c:\windows\system32

Try restarting your laptop on safe mode or on normal mode to see what happens. If you have a serious virus infection, your new file could get reinfected immediately and that oould complicate things again. If this procedure works, get a good virus scanner like the ones sittas86 recommended or a kaspersky trial version or on line scanner (http://www.kaspersky.com).

I sincerely hope this works... good luck.

[rayo]

hi jim i copied the rundll32.exe from my computer to my laptop the way you said it and i restarted it but nothing changed except the fact that i can now open up command prompt when its on normal mode
i kind of want to reboot it but i dont know if thats a good idea.

hi gerbal um i tried what you said, i opened run and type key is an export from my machine but it didnt work and it didnt give me any text so i tried it in command prompt and it still didnt give me anything,
thank you

okay like the last thing i remember before my laptop got ruined was this
open cmd prompt
type: assoc .exe=.txt
press enter
type:assoc .cmd=.txt
press enter
type:ping:yahoo.com (email your hacking)
press enter
type:ping:yahoo.com (desired password)
after that it started to get worse and worse

[gerbil]

Rayo, you totally mistook what I was posting to you... By this: [key is an export from my machine] I meant that the key in the code box was a copy of that particular key from my machine, which is correct and working! Naturally, typing [key is an export from my machine] into the Run window would not work! I shall rewrite my post for clarification, and include a fix for another error you made that I query below.

Are you saying that this is what you actually did when the problem first appeared?:
"okay like the last thing i remember before my laptop got ruined was this
open cmd prompt
type: assoc .exe=.txt
press enter
type:assoc .cmd=.txt
press enter
...etc"

Why would you asscociate a file with a .exe extension with a file-type .txt [which is not a real file-type, by the way]?
Basically you are telling your sys to open .exe files with an application group called .txt, which I bet does not exist. Anywhere.
And.... you are telling your sys to open .cmd files with the same application.
A real association might look like:
assoc .rar WINRAR
So ..
==Please copy the text in the box to a notepad [format/wordwrap unchecked] and save as fixkey.reg, as type "all files", to your desktop; dclick it to run... agree; if it opens in notepad instead rclick the icon [file], choose Open with, Registry editor....

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe]
@="exefile"
"Content Type"="application/x-msdownload"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe\PersistentHandler]
@="{098f2470-bae0-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.cmd]
@="cmdfile"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.cmd\PersistentHandler]
@="{5e941d80-bf96-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}"

A modification for your particular situation: you may have to copy that text and save to a floppy or thumbdrive file[instead of to your desktop] and run it from there....

[gerbil]

And that is not a usage for ping cmd. You can do this:
ping yahoo.com
or:
ping login.yahoo.com
But you cannot use it to enter email addresses or passwords ie, you cannot use ping to submit parameters to the target.

[rayo]

um no i was trying to learn something and someone told me to do that and when i did it got ruined after that...and i did what you told me about copying the code and renaming it into fixkey.reg when i dclick to open it it opened in notepad and when i rclick on it and when i press open with and then i click on choose program but it gives me a box C:\Documents and Settings\rayo\fixkey.reg.txt is not a valid Win32 application.
but i gave up on doing that so i tried reinstalling windows XP but it wouldn't let me install it now im panicking more lol please help me

[gerbil]

Rayo, slow down, take a deep breath... then read the instructions I gave you in post #14, and follow them to the letter.
"fixkey.reg.txt" is NOT how that text should be saved, you MUST save it as "fixkey.reg".ie it MUST be a .reg file. See the bit about "all files"? When you use "Save as" you have the option of using the suggested file extension [in this case it is .txt because you are using notepad] or choosing from a list [in this case the only other option is "all files", meaning that the extension you set in "File name" will be the actual extension].
Another point, make sure there is a blank line after the last line of code in the notepad .
So re-read my instructions, follow them, and your sys should be okay. Actually you could simply rename the file you have already saved as fixkey.reg.txt to fixkey.reg, and then rclick it, and so on.
The advice you got from that other person was a wrong turn..:).

[gerbil]

Thinking more on what you said and playing a little with files and saving, I am not at all sure how you got that double extension .reg.txt, or that Win32 message. It may have come about because of the way you have set things with the assoc command, and I am not at all keen to emulate that on my machine. So if you cannot run the fixkey.reg file by rclicking it, choosing Open With... and Registry Editor, then because I see you told jim laver that you had the cmd prompt available in normal mode you could enter these commands:
Go Start, Run, and enter cmd
Then in the command window enter:
assoc .exe exefile
assoc .cmd cmdfile

-and see how that helps.

[rayo]

oh woww gerbil your a genius(if thats how you spell it) thank you very much now i can open my other files as well thank you very much but i still cant open my files in control panel like the add and remove when i dclick it to open it give me the box C:\WINDOWS\rundll32.exe is not a valid Win32 application. can you please help me with that aswell.

ps. your a life saver thank you very much

[gerbil]

You have rundll32.exe in the wrong location. Please move it to C:\Windows\system32.
Then to do a quick check on rundll32.exe's functionality, rclick on your time in the task bar, select Adjust Date n Time. If that opens to show the clockface, then close it immediately - it means rundll32.exe is working. If you get the same error msg then please say so.

[Bob_180_Bob]

If it is now resolved, please mark it as solved and add to Gerbil's reputation as well, Thank you.

[rayo]

WOW, You are a genius thank you VERY MUCH i love my laptop lol wow thank you very very very much i really really appreciate it:) thank you

ps. how do i add to your reputation? OH never mind i got it

[gerbil]

:)
Nice.