not a valid win32 application; .exe does not have a file assocaiat

[Guest]

I have been seeing this error pop up on several machines this past week - so
far I have not found a common thread other than they are all running XP. The
errors do not seem to have a correct fix in the Knowledge Base and so far
I've had to do a reformat and reinstall of the OS to fix it.

Something is causing this to happen to too many folks for it to be a
coincidence. I don't know if there is a bad update or some new virus that
none of the anti-virus vendors have seen yet, or what.

I am seeing

filename.exe is not a valid win32 application
pathname\filename is not valid
filename.exe does not have a filetype associated
double click on any app and get the filetype or pathname error, but
double click on a data file and the program runs correctly.

I have booted from the XP distribution CD and performed a reinstall (Repair)
to no avail.

These appear to have a similar root problem and I'd love to know if anyone
has found an answer to what is happening.

John Gretzinger
Northridge, CA

(e-mail address removed)

 

[Alex Nichol]

filename.exe is not a valid win32 application
pathname\filename is not valid
filename.exe does not have a filetype associated
double click on any app and get the filetype or pathname error, but
double click on a data file and the program runs correctly.

Putting those together looks like at least one, and probably more file
associations (for .exe and maybe for folder) are damaged, which in turn
suggests a trojan.

Start by going to www.dougknox.com and in XP Fixes, File Association
Fixes. That will probably cure symptoms, then do a thorough scan for
malware - see good general advice at
http://rgharper.mvps.org/cleanit.htm

 

[Guest]

Putting those together looks like at least one, and probably more file
associations (for .exe and maybe for folder) are damaged, which in turn
suggests a trojan.

Start by going to www.dougknox.com and in XP Fixes, File Association
Fixes. That will probably cure symptoms, then do a thorough scan for
malware - see good general advice at
http://rgharper.mvps.org/cleanit.htm

Alex: Your advice to jdgretz worked for me also, trying to open *.eml files
and getting "not a valid win32 application" messages. Thank you. You have a
great site.

 

[Rashid Raja]

*I have been seeing this error pop up on several machines this past
week - so
far I have not found a common thread other than they are all running
XP. The
errors do not seem to have a correct fix in the Knowledge Base and so
far
I've had to do a reformat and reinstall of the OS to fix it.

Something is causing this to happen to too many folks for it to be a
coincidence. I don't know if there is a bad update or some new virus
that
none of the anti-virus vendors have seen yet, or what.

I am seeing

filename.exe is not a valid win32 application
pathname\filename is not valid
filename.exe does not have a filetype associated
double click on any app and get the filetype or pathname error, but
double click on a data file and the program runs correctly.

I have booted from the XP distribution CD and performed a reinstall
(Repair)
to no avail.

These appear to have a similar root problem and I'd love to know if
anyone
has found an answer to what is happening.

John Gretzinger
Northridge, CA

(e-mail address removed) *