Desktop Icons to enter Sites

[Rove]

I used to click on the Desktop Icons to enter straight into my Sites

Something changed that action.
When I click on the Icon, I am getting and Address Bar at the top of my screen showing the URL of the Site. I need to double click on that URL to go into the Site.

I am getting a window with a message saying this File --> C:\WINDOWS\rundll.32.exe -- cannot be located

Can someone please explain what I need to do to revert to me previous set-up

Thanks. Bill

[Bengie]

The first thing and the easiest is to restore your pc back to when it was all working as you like it.

[Clive Blackaby]

The first thing and the easiest is to restore your pc back to when it was all working as you like it.
True - though that does assume you know when it started happening, and can find a suitable restore point.

Have you, for example, installed upgraded or uninstalled any new software lately?


Can someone please explain what I need to do to revert to me previous set-up
Close any programs and files you have open

Click on Start then follow the menu tree

Programs --> Accessories --> System Tools --> System Restore.

That takes you into the System Restore window

Select "Restore my computer to a previous time" and click on "Next"

That will give you a calendar showing the dates on which a RestorePoint has been set. Select a date immediately before the event that you think may have caused the problem, then click on next.

Although the text of the next screen is lots of red text, it is quite re-assuring, so read it. If you're happy, click on Next, and lo your system will be restored.

Now test it - check if it has solved the problem for a start!

If it hasn't, you can either try an earlier restore point, or you can undo the restore to where you are now - just go back to the System Restore window, and select "Undo my last Restore".

IF IN DOUBT, UNDO THE LAST RESTORE BEFORE YOU DO ANOTHER ONE TO AN EARLIER DATE - I'M NOT SURE WHETHER YOU CAN UNDO YOUR "LAST RESTORE BUT ONE". YOU PROBABLY CAN, BUT I'VE NEVER TRIED IT

If this doesn't work you may be able to fix it by re-installing XP. (fairly sure rundll is one of the files that comes with XP. It may be that you've uninstalled something which also includes rundll, and this has deleted it). But be warned if you do this you may have to

a) re load all the Windows Upgrades and

b) redo at least some of the work you may have done personallising your PC

Another thought - have you been "tidying up"? and deleted it by accident? Look in your "trash can" - it might still be there.

Lastly, have you perhaps received an email that tells you that there is a virus going around, and that to eliminate it you need to find and delete the "rogue file"? Usually the file they tell you to delete is one of the debug utility files, but there may be a variant about.

[Rove]

Hello Clive

Thanks for your help.
I am on Win.98 and when I go to ' Access ' + " System Tools ' I do not have the link ' Systems Restore '

I have these:

Compression Agent
Disc Cleanup
Disc Defrag.
Drive Conv. (Fat 32)
Drive Space
Maintenance Wizard
Scan Disc
Scheduled Tasks
System Info.
System Monitor
Welcome to Windows
---
Which of these do I go into ?

The problem only showed up 3 days ago.

About 8 days ago I downloaded SpyBotSD and removed ALL the ' Problem ' files. The who lot. So its likely I removed this File --> C:\WINDOWS\rundll.32.exe

When I go to ' Control Panel ' I get the message saying the above File cannot be located. So I cannot use the links in the Control Panel.

Hope you can follow what I'm saying

Thanks. Bill

[Mythology]

In that message, are you sure that it's:
C:\WINDOWS\rundll.32.exe

and not:
C:\WINDOWS\rundll32.exe

?

[Procat]

About 8 days ago I downloaded SpyBotSD and removed ALL the ' Problem ' files. The who lot. So its likely I removed this File --> C:\WINDOWS\rundll.32.exe

When I go to ' Control Panel ' I get the message saying the above File cannot be located. So I cannot use the links in the Control Panel.

Hope you can follow what I'm saying

Thanks. Bill

Hi Bill,

In that case you may be able to restore the file from within Spybot depending on how you set it up.

When you open Spybot you should see either in the centre of the page or on the toolbar on the left an icon with a "Red Cross" and the word Recovery.

If you click on this you are given the option to undo any changes made when a problem was fixed.

[Rove]

You are correct Myth. It is \rundll32.exe
Sorry about my error.

Hi Procat
I downloaded SpyBotSD last week to remove the ' Mirar ' bar on my screen.
When I carried out the 1st SpyBotSD scan I found about 104 ' problem ' items. I deleted ALL except 2 of them because SpyBot could NOT remove these 2. I was pleased to get rid of ' Mirar '

The present problem which is not enabling me to go direct to a Site from the related Desktop Icon only started two days ago. As I've already said I could not use my Control Panel because a message is telling me that this File C:\WINDOWS\rundll32.exe could not be found.

The 86 ' problem ' items are in 21 Files. If you want to see the List of the these Files I can show them to you.

Shall see what you have to say. Thanks. Bill.

[Mythology]

"You are correct Myth. It is \rundll32.exe
Sorry about my error."

No problem - I just wanted to make sure that something nasty hadn't got in and tried to set up a path to a dodgy imitation (a virus with nearly, but not exactly, the same file name) before I opened my big mouth.

As you are using 98, then "C:\WINDOWS" is indeed where "RUNDLL32.EXE" should live. If anyone tells you that the *real* "RUNDLL32.EXE" lives in "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM" or "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32" (I can't remember which) and the version in "C:WINDOWS" is a nasty, ignore them - I gather that one of those two is where it lives in XP, but 98 and ME are different to XP.

If you look in "C:\WINDOWS", you should find that there is a file called "RUNDLL.EXE" (no "32" in it). If you don't have Windows set to show all file extensions, it will just say "RUNDLL" - that's fine.
As your "RUNDLL32.EXE" has evidently gone AWOL, there should be nothing else there which starts "RUNDLL".
If *both* of the above are true, then you haven't ticked any options to hide things which might be different in your 98 to my ME which I might have forgotten about, we don't have any fakes lurking there, and it's simply a case of a file going AWOL for some reason.

Now, it *probably* doesn't make any difference, but is your Windows 98 the original version, or is it Windows 98SE?

[MarkJ]

From the fact that the file was restored when you undid some of the Spybot removals, it looks like rundll32 was replaced by one from a malware program. Not a problem in itself probably - many programs will install their own version of certain files. However, depending on which program had overwritten rundll32, it is possible that the replacement *may* in itself be compromised. Unlikely - but a point to bear in mind if you start finding strange things happening again. A particulaly common culprit is a toy called CoolWebSearch. It can - and often does - overwrite a number of files.
There are several very useful website for grabbing dlls to replace ones which have been deleted for whatever reason. Of course, it goes without saying that any download needs to be checked with AV software.
System restore is not available on 98 - it was introduced with ME. There is a way to restore Win98 back to earlier points however ;)
It does involve the command line though! Using the command
scanreg /restore
will allow you to pick earlier registry backups. Useful for problems :) But in this case, the issue is with a malware program overwriting the rundll32 file.

Mark

[Mythology]

Mark, I think we are basically singing from the same hymn sheet, but I'm taking things a bit at a time.

You have the advantage of probably being more computer-savvy than I am - but I have the advantage of having a genuine Windows 98SE rundll32.exe file sitting here.
I was thinking on the same lines as you, but couldn't find a copy on the net - probably because it's not a dll file, it's a ".exe" file, so those "dll library" type sites don't cover it.
So, as I never threw away my old 98SE disc, I rummaged in the cupboard and found that it hadn't got lost in the move, stuck it in, extracted the file from that, and can put it in my web space to download.

I agree that Bill's may be there but compromised - that's why I wanted him to look in C:\WINDOWS before I went any further.

As I see it ...
If all he has there is rundll.exe, his rundll32.exe has gone AWOL and he just needs to stick my one in.
If he has both, then his rundll32.exe is corrupt and needs to be replaced by mine.
If he has anything in C:\WINDOWS other than those two which starts "rundll", then it's a nasty which has got in and wants deleting.

Do you agree?

[Procat]

Hi Procat
Shall see what you have to say. Thanks. Bill.

Hi Bill,

I am afraid that my expertise has been exhausted.

I will leave it to the more knowledgeable ones now.
:)

[Rove]

Hi Myth and Procat

Well, they say ' you cant teach an old dog new tricks ' Maybe thats very true.

I've been having a go. I done another SpyBotSD scan and printed all the 'problem' items, about 86 of them in 21 files and I sort of studied the result.

That File C:\WINDOWS\RunDLL32.exe is located in another File that is named 'BookedSpace' This has 14 items. At least now I know where it is located.
This was re-installed yesterday so now I can use my Control Panel.

Today something new showed up when I turned ON my computer. At the end of loading I got a window saying ' Error loading -- C:\WINDOWS\BXXS5.dll -- cannot find File ' Have no idea what this File does. I did not spot that name in the List (from SpyBot) that I printed this morning.

A couple of weeks back the MIRAR Toolbar showed up on my screen. Got rid of that OK. Now another ' SEARCH Toolbar ' showed up this morning. The name is ' KEYWORD BARN ' very similar to MIRAR.

Must find out where this unwanted junk came from.

Thanks. Bill

[MarkJ]

BXXS5.dll is associated with Booked Space. Technically, it is a "Browser Helper Object". It is almost certainly connected with you restoring the iffy overwritten dlls. Because you are getting the message that it cannot be found, it would seem that parts of the malware are back on your system, but certain files (e.g bxxs5) are missing.
I personally would run Spybot and remove ALL the junkware, then re-install the rundll32.dll by downloading a copy from the web or maybe someone with Win98 could send you a copy of it. Re-installing the dodgy copies which were added by malware is onlmessage=BXXS5.dll is associated with Booked Space. Technically, it is a "Browser Helper Object". It is almost certainly connected with you restoring the iffy overwritten dlls. Because you are getting the message that it cannot be found, it would seem that parts of the malware are back on your system, but certain files (e.g bxxs5) are missing.
I personally would run Spybot and remove ALL the junkware, then re-install the rundll32.dll by downloading a copy from the web or maybe someone with Win98 could send you a copy of it. Re-installing the dodgy copies which were added by malware is only going to re-infest your system.

Mark

[MarkJ]

Mark, I think we are basically singing from the same hymn sheet, but I'm taking things a bit at a time.

You have the advantage of probably being more computer-savvy than I am - but I have the advantage of having a genuine Windows 98SE rundll32.exe file sitting here.
I was thinking on the same lines as you, but couldn't find a copy on the net - probably because it's not a dll file, it's a ".exe" file, so those "dll library" type sites don't cover it.
So, as I never threw away my old 98SE disc, I rummaged in the cupboard and found that it hadn't got lost in the move, stuck it in, extracted the file from that, and can put it in my web space to download.

I agree that Bill's may be there but compromised - that's why I wanted him to look in C:\WINDOWS before I went any further.

As I see it ...
If all he has there is rundll.exe, his rundll32.exe has gone AWOL and he just needs to stick my one in.
If he has both, then his rundll32.exe is corrupt and needs to be replaced by mine.
If he has anything in C:\WINDOWS other than those two which starts "rundll", then it's a nasty which has got in and wants deleting.

Do you agree?


Myth,
Just spotted your post :)
Yep, we seem to concur on the problem here. I have a Win98SE disk here, although I don't have an install now. I was trying to think if I had an old machine around where I could install Win98 and grab the relevant files - but you are already there :)
Noting that you have a copy of the errant file, I think Bills best bet is to run Spybot, remove all those files and restart the machine. Then, if the rundll32 issue returns, his best attack is to download your copy and paste it into the correct folder.
Hopefully, once that is done, all will be well.

Mark

[Mythology]

"I think Bills best bet is to run Spybot, remove all those files and restart the machine."

I'd certainly agree with that!

Bill, the file is in my web space HERE (http://www.bgf.talbot-roots.org.uk/rundll32.exe)

Note that you don't need to "open" it, "run" it or "install" it - it's just like saving a picture and putting it in the appropriate place - in this case, C:\WINDOWS

(I did something similar for somebody once and they got back to me to say "I've put it in the folder that you told me to but when I double-click on it nothing happens ..." :D)

Cheers. :)

[Rove]

Hi All

PROBLEM FIXED !

Now your'e gonna laugh. OK. I can now laugh too.

As I explained. Every time I clicked on a desktop icon I was getting an IE bar popping up on my desktop. This was first showing the full URL then it changes to showing the name of the Site. I had to double click on this bar to enter the Site

This IE addy bar looked exactly like any other addy bar or tool bar that we get on the screen. I did learn that I could move it about and narrow it or expand it.

Today, while trying to move it / drag it down I started enlarging this bar into a normal window. After a while, I stetched the full width of the screen and up and down too.
Here I was starting to wake up. I just click on ENTER and the page was set and problem fixed.

That was easy dont you think. Whats been happening was that when I clicked on the icon the Site page was coming up OK but only the address was showing or can I say again, popping up in this IE bar.

Myth. I did a complete SpyBotSD scan like you said. I then copied all the ' problem ' items. Then I wiped all of them in quarantine. My IE bar problem was still there but that task did a bit of good. I had a extra unwanted 'search engine' and now its gone.

Thanks. Bill.

[Rove]

I just want to add this note for those who offered help and others

The problem I was having was caused by a faulty mouse. (not a house mouse )

I suspected the mouse was playing up as the screen displays etc was very erratic. What happened is that somehow the mouse was downsizing every webpage that I was trying to view. It turned the size of each page to just an address bar with only the URL showing. it had me fooled as it looked exactly like a normal address bar or tool bar. Like I've already said, I could move this bar to anywhere on the screen but never thought of stretching / enlarging this address bar.

[Mythology]

"The problem I was having was caused by a faulty mouse."

Ah, yes, that I can believe - I've had a few go haywire over the years and cause strange things to happen, mostly cheap cordless ones.

Still, all's well that ends well. :)

[Rove]

Hi Myth

Well, I had this problem posted to two other Computer-Help Sites

I did get replies but because it was such a crazy happening it had everyone baffled. You know like when our car engine was acting stupid and car 'kangarooing' .....and it was just a loose plug wire.......lol

I did thank everyone.