URGENT : Running Spybot - Search and Destroy Gives problems.

[Lakshmi Jagarlapudi]

Hi Everyone,

As per some people recommendations, inorder to clean my pc against virus, I
have downloaded and ran
"Spybot - Search and Destroy" program. After it finished its work , it said
it has cleaned so and so.
However to my utter surprise, now I am not able to use my PC at all.
Whenever I try to any program say ,notepad,
I get the message "This file does not have a program associated with it for
performing this action. Create an association in the
Folder Options Control Panel".

This is so shocking that I tried to fix the virus issue and I am not even
able to start anything or even work on my computer.
Can some body really help. I need real urgent help on this.

Any help is highly appreciated.
Thanks,

 

[Jay Cee]

have your tried to open spybot and hit the recovery button?

keep us updated as to the reults.

jay cee

 

[Lakshmi Jagarlapudi]

Well everybody out there,

Let me tell you,firstly
the spyboy has created a system restore point before it started its
process.
Then gave me a list of all the problems that my PC had.
And then when I pressed the fix button it has "so-called" fixed. However
that fix ,I think,
has screwed some very basic information in the registry. Because of which
even
basic applications(in fact nothing) are not running.

I was so happy that, it has removed so many unnecessary programs and files,
however it has also
tampered with some very basic required files or registry. So finally I have
restored my PC to a desired restore point.

So everyone out there, do you have any further suggestions at this stage.

Anyway, watchout before you use any kind of such programs.

Waiting for all your updates.
Thanks,


Thanks,

 

[Guest]

I don't know what your initial problem was, (the reason you were told to run
Spybot), but Spybot is a great program. You do have to be careful though.
When you "fix" items in Spybot - you should only fix items in "red".
Spybot also allows you to undo anything you "fixed" by mistake.

You mention a "Virus" . Spybot is a program which kills Spyware not Virus.
Your AV Progam kills any Virus. Spybot along with numerous other programs
kill Spyware/Malware/Parasites/garbage, ect. You may want to post what the
original problem is. Also, when you restored, did you loose Spybot, or do
you still have it?

Here is another excelant Anti Spyware program.

Ad-aware - http://www.lavasoft.de/ - FAQ, Help & Forum @ Site.

 

[Bob Harris]

First, Spybot is intended to fight "spyware", not viruses. If you do not
already have a good antivirus program, get one, fast.

Next, Spybot is usually relatively "safe", meaning that it only lists
programs or features of programs that might contain personal information, or
worse, send such information out over the internet.

However, some "free" programs are really "adware", meaning that the price
you pay to run them is to keep getting popup ads. Some others want to
follow you around the interet and gather statisitics. If you want to
continue using such programs, you have to be careful NOT to let Spybot fix
them. It is your choice whether you want to trade privacy for a service.

As for associations, like using NOTEPAD to open a TXT file, that is not
somthing that Spybot would normally care about or try to fix. However, a
previous virus might have destroyed or scrambled associations. You would be
lucky is that is all a virus did.

If you have a virus, clean the PC. Once it is gone, eirther fix the damage
manually, or try an "repair" installation of XP. See the following links
about performing a repair:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341



http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm



http://www.extremetech.com/print_article/0,3998,a=23979,00.asp



If a repair does not fix system-related things, then you might need to do a
clean install XP of XP. Note that a repair of XP will only fix system
files, re-detect hardware, etc. It will not fix any damaged application
programs or associations to non-system programs. You may need to re-install
the non-system software to fix those.

 

[Gene K]

Hi Everyone,

As per some people recommendations, inorder to clean my pc against
virus, I have downloaded and ran
"Spybot - Search and Destroy" program. After it finished its work ,
it said it has cleaned so and so.
However to my utter surprise, now I am not able to use my PC at all.
Whenever I try to any program say ,notepad,
I get the message "This file does not have a program associated with
it for performing this action. Create an association in the
Folder Options Control Panel".

This is so shocking that I tried to fix the virus issue and I am not
even able to start anything or even work on my computer.
Can some body really help. I need real urgent help on this.

Any help is highly appreciated.
Thanks,

What seems to have happened is that the file association to .exe files was
removed somehow. If you could have gotten to the Control Panel/Folder
Options/File Types window, you could have restored the default association.
Another way is the way you reveal in your later post, restore to an earlier
time. Glad you fixed the problem.

 

[Lakshmi Jagarlapudi]

Guys,

Instead of trying to define what is a virus or spyware etc etc..., the
bottomline is that there is a nagging problem in the PC. And Spybot has
detected that when I ran it on my PC. And spybot told that it can fix the
problem, I dont care whether it is a virus or spyware or something else.

And in "so-called" fixing it , it accidentally changed something in the
registry. And this happened not just once but twice. I had to restore my
system twice.

So please let us put a pull stop to whether we should run spybot or not. I
would concentrate more on why it has tampered with registry. Hope I am very
clear atleast now.

Thanks,

 

[Lakshmi Jagarlapudi]

And if a virus program can remove these unwanted programs and files, Please
let me know from which link
I can download that program. Or do I have to buy it.

I would appreciate any pointers.
thnx,

Guys,

Instead of trying to define what is a virus or spyware etc etc..., the
bottomline is that there is a nagging problem in the PC. And Spybot has
detected that when I ran it on my PC. And spybot told that it can fix the
problem, I dont care whether it is a virus or spyware or something else.

And in "so-called" fixing it , it accidentally changed something in the
registry. And this happened not just once but twice. I had to restore my
system twice.

So please let us put a pull stop to whether we should run spybot or not. I
would concentrate more on why it has tampered with registry. Hope I am very
clear atleast now.

Thanks,

 

[Guest]

There are a variety of online scanners and spyware programs you can try:

Virus Scanning:

http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/license.php
http://security.symantec.com/ssc/home.asp
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp
http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=stinger
http://www.mcafee.com/myapps/mfs/default.asp

Spyware Cleaners:


Cwshredder ~ http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/cwshredder.zip
Spybot Search and Destroy ~ http://www.safer-networking.org
Ad-aware ~ http://www.lavasoftusa.com
Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner 1.12 ~
http://download.com.com/3000-2144-10247783.html
Spywareblaster ~ www.javacoolsoftware.com/sbdownload.html
HijackThis ~ http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=3155

........One or two to be going on with!
This must be the 30th time you''ve duplicated this post, are you not checking for answers?
Hope one of the above sorts your problem,
J.J.

And if a virus program can remove these unwanted programs and files, Please
let me know from which link
I can download that program. Or do I have to buy it.

I would appreciate any pointers.
thnx,

 

[D.Currie]

Guys,

Instead of trying to define what is a virus or spyware etc etc...,

In your first post you said that you had a virus that you're trying to
remove with Spybot. It's not a matter of people being nitpicky, but a matter
of trying to steer you to the right tool to do the job.

the

bottomline is that there is a nagging problem in the PC. And Spybot has
detected that when I ran it on my PC. And spybot told that it can fix the
problem, I dont care whether it is a virus or spyware or something else.

Spybot will remove spyware; it won't touch viruses. Both should be removed,
and chances are that you've got both on your computer if you aren't running
any antivirus software.

And in "so-called" fixing it , it accidentally changed something in the
registry. And this happened not just once but twice. I had to restore my
system twice.

Your problem with Notepad indicates that there's something else going on.
Spybot should not affect notepad. I've run it on multple computers and never
had that problem.

So please let us put a pull stop to whether we should run spybot or not. I
would concentrate more on why it has tampered with registry. Hope I am very
clear atleast now.

Think of it this way: you've got a nail in your tire. You pull out the nail.
Now you've got a hole that you need to fix. Some thing with spyware and
viruses. Getting rid of viruses, spyware, etc., does not necessarily fix the
problems that the spyware or viruses caused. Sometimes the damage can be
reversed, but it depends on what the damage was in the first place. So it
may be the case that the files are still damaged, but you've put a stop to
additional damage. To fix things, you may need to reinstall whatever
programs have been damaged.

Doing a system restore to may get Notepad functioning, but if it's been
damaged or infected, you've gone back to the problem you had before. Notepad
works, but the spyware is back, too.

You're really better off getting rid of all the viruses, spyware, and
whatever other junk you've got, then fixing whatever damage has been done.

If you have a lot of damaged files, starting over may be easier.

As far as what it "tampered" with, spybot gives very detailed information as
to what it is changing. What registry key is it changing that affects
Notepad?