RUNDLL / winupd.dll is associated with spyware programs and viruses. Anti-virus software and firewalls do not fully protect your system against the majority of spyware and privacy threats. Spyware is commonly bundled with software downloads, attached to e-mails, or transmitted through networks so it can appear to be legitimate software, but once installed it can be nearly impossible to detect and remove without the help of a dedicated spyware removal tool such as:
Ad-Aware 6.0 (build 6.181)
SpyBot 1.3
SpyWare Blaster
HiJackThis
Please make sure that you download the updates for each of these programs to ensure complete detection of known spyware programs. Although nothing is absolute in removing spyware and keeping it off, downloading and executing the programs above can dramically decrease future infections.
Also please utilize free virus scans from the following sites:
Trend Micro
Bit Defender
Panda
McAfee
After Spyware / Adware is remove, you may get an error finding files on reboot
After you use anyone of these programs (with the exception of HiJackThis) you may receive an error of some sort after rebooting your system. This is pretty common. Many spyware programs add themselves in the Startup location and execute when Windows boots. If you recieve an error when rebooting after removing spyware, do not panic. This is more than likely a startup remnant trying to access the spyware program that is no longer on your computer. HiJackThis is a great utility to find and remove these startup remnants. However, there is a less technical way of removing these items:
(1) Click START to RUN and type: msconfig
(2) Select the STARTUP tab
(3) Uncheck the file that pertained to the startup error message you received
(4) Click APPLY and OK
(5) Reboot your system
If this fails to fix the startup error message after reboot, there are still options:
(1) Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
(2) Delete the icon that pertained to the startup error message you received
(3) Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\username\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
(4) Delete the icon that pertained to the startup error message you received
(5) Reboot your system
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Best of luck!
Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCP, CCNA, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW A, CIW CI
