Blank windows

[John Carey]

I have been trying to solve a problem on my wife's computer that gives us
blank windows in both Outlook and OutlookExpress when we try to read or reply
to a message. The problem seems to have started when we switched from Norton
to MacAfee.

I have fixed twice but it comes back. We are using XP Pro and have SP 3
installed.

Full scans with MacAfee and the Malicious Software Removal Tool find nothing.

I tryied to re-register some dll files. Most registered OK, but for
mshtml.dll I received the message that the file was loaded but was not
registered because the entry point was not found.

I searched my C: drive and found more than 40 copies of this file in various
folders, many of them that seem to be related to IE upgrades or NTUninstall.
The C:\WINDOWS\System32 folder contains a 3,511 KB version of mshtml.dll with
a last modified date of 16/01/2009.

Suggestions would be welcome.

 

[nass]

I have been trying to solve a problem on my wife's computer that gives us
blank windows in both Outlook and OutlookExpress when we try to read or reply
to a message. The problem seems to have started when we switched from Norton
to MacAfee.

I have fixed twice but it comes back. We are using XP Pro and have SP 3
installed.

Full scans with MacAfee and the Malicious Software Removal Tool find nothing.

I tryied to re-register some dll files. Most registered OK, but for
mshtml.dll I received the message that the file was loaded but was not
registered because the entry point was not found.

I searched my C: drive and found more than 40 copies of this file in various
folders, many of them that seem to be related to IE upgrades or NTUninstall.
The C:\WINDOWS\System32 folder contains a 3,511 KB version of mshtml.dll with
a last modified date of 16/01/2009.

Suggestions would be welcome.

Hi John,
This can be because a corrupted/dmaged Hooks on your Browser causing this,
try to go through the cleaning steps below and let us know your progress.

1... Click start >> Control Panel >> Double Click Network and Internet
Connections >> Double click Internet Options, on the IE Properties window
you will see these Options:
General | Security | Privacy | Content | Connections | Programs
| Advanced .

Click on General Tab (1st Tab on the left) and you will see a Button called
[ Clear History ..] click on it to clear your History caches, then click on
[Delete Files..] to delete Internet Files created over the time, click on [
Delete Cookies...] to delete your cookies left by visiting websites.

Then click on Advanced tab and scroll down to under the Browsing Option:
[&] Browsing
[ ] Enable Third-Party browser extensions (Req Rest) uncheck this box.
= Then try to Disable the Add-Ons on your Browser somehow installed on your
browser, On how to disable the Add-ons follow this:
Click on Programs Tab and then click the Manage Add-Ons Button there Disable
the None/Not Verified Plug-ins/Add-ons ( you need to Renable them one-by-one
later and see which is the culprit .
How to manage Add-Ons:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/883256

install the free trial of Windows Live OneCare
http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-gb/default.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/safety/technologies/onecare/default.mspx

Windows Defender detects and removes spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx

How to optimize or reset Internet Explorer 7
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936213/
How to use Reset Internet Explorer Settings (RIES):
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923737

You can download this tool o run clean up:
http://www.ccleaner.com/download/builds/downloading-slim

Run this command:
sfc /scannow


HTH,
nass

 

[John Carey]

Thanks for the suggestions.

It has taken me a while but I tried them all.

I disabled every addon I could find.

I loaded onecare and ccleaner and ran them.

I ran scannow.

No viruses or spyware were detected. There were more than 300 registry items
cleaned and one registry error detected and fixed.

Unfortunately, the original problem persists.

Do you have other sugestions?

John Carey

 

[nass]

Thanks for the suggestions.

It has taken me a while but I tried them all.

I disabled every addon I could find.

I loaded onecare and ccleaner and ran them.

I ran scannow.

No viruses or spyware were detected. There were more than 300 registry items
cleaned and one registry error detected and fixed.

Unfortunately, the original problem persists.

Do you have other sugestions?

John Carey

Hi John,
OLEXP: Blank Reply Message Sent if "Include Message in Reply" Not Selected
in Outlook Express
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/230224

http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#10
10. Messages appear blank or OE rendering of messages is not functioning
correctly.

There is currently a great deal of spy and other malware that infects
computers. Precautions need to be taken to guard against such and to repair
IE and OE after such infections. Blank messages in OE are a good indication
of a spyware infection.

=> From a post by Frank Saunders, MS-MVP:

Several possible causes and therefore several possible fixes:
1. Go to Start | Run and type regsvr32 inetcomm.dll and press "Enter"
2. Go to Tools | Options | Read | Fonts and set Western (ISO) as the
default.
3. Clear Temporary Internet Files and the Temp folder.
4. Turn off email scanning in your anti-virus.
5. Someone else reported that re-installing OE using method 2 in
this article fixed the problem:

How to Reinstall or Repair Internet Explorer and Outlook Express
in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318378 Method 2 works on
earlier versions of Windows.

6. Eliminate any scumware.

See Dealing with Unwanted Spyware, Parasites, Toolbars and Search
Engines
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
especially http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm#Coolwebsearch


Note that AdAware and SpyBot S and D will each catch some things the
other won't. Also, each needs to be updated before every use, even when just
downloaded. There's also a lot more to do than just those two programs.
CWShredder is also available here:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/regs_edits/cwshredder.zip
**Post your HijackThis log to http://forums.spywareinfo.com/ or the
Spyware forum at http://forum.aumha.org/ for expert analysis, not here.**
Alternative download pages for Ad-Aware, Spybot, HijackThis and
CWShredder may be found on this page: http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm.

Outlook Express Start-up Informational Pane Is Blank
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/246396

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_oe.htm

HTH,
nass

 

[John Carey]

Thanks again for your helpful suggestions. Unfortunately, after trying most
of them the problem persists.

I have followed your suggestion regarding malware removal and posted the
problem at forum.aumha.org

John Carey

 

[PA Bear [MS-MVP]]

cf. http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=38792

 

[nass]

Thanks again for your helpful suggestions. Unfortunately, after trying most
of them the problem persists.

I have followed your suggestion regarding malware removal and posted the
problem at forum.aumha.org

John Carey

Hi John,
I can see now why you having trouble with outlook?
Stick with the Helper at the aumha and you will get to the safe end in this
issue.
Good luck and thanks for letting me know your progress.
Regards,
nass