Browsing for file now asks for program

[Singburi Sam]

Hi, I hope this is the right ng for this question.

I am a novice user of Windows XP (and happy to remain
novice!) I learn how to do simple things but sometimes the
simple things change.

Just now I wanted to look for my most recent additions to
a certain folder. I do this in a very simple way:
Click on My Computer
Click down to the appropriate folder
Select appropriate View

But today this didn't work! Clicking on My Computer,
I get a window with a list of programs: which program
would I like to use to open My Computer? !!!
.... And I can't do the simple thing I wanted to.

My kids use the computer; perhaps they've changed some
setting inadvertantly, but I've no idea what or how to fix.

Any help appreciated.
Sam

 

[Singburi Sam]

No one helped me with this question. Perhaps because I
slipped up during the description. I'll try again.

I am a novice user of Windows XP (and happy to remain
novice!)  I learn how to do simple things but sometimes the
simple things change.

Just now I wanted to look for my most recent additions to
a certain folder.  I do this in a very simple way:
  Click on My Computer
  Click down to the appropriate folder
  Select appropriate View

But today this didn't work!

Clicking on My Computer works OK, then I click on "Local Disk (C"
Now I get a window with a list of programs: which program
would I like to use to open C:?  !!!

... And I can't do the simple thing I wanted to.

My kids use the computer; perhaps they've changed some
setting inadvertantly, but I've no idea what or how to fix.

Any help appreciated.

Experimenting a little I see: clicking on
a flashdrive works normally; clicking on folders
works normally; perhaps only C: is affected: it's
like the software thinks it is a regular file
rather than a disk.

I did discover a simple workaround: Instead
of clicking C: with the left mouse button,
I press the right mouse button and select "Explore:".
This gets me, more or less, to where I wnated to be.
Still I am curious: why the change in behaviour?

Sam

 

[Nicholas Geti]

Most likely a virus.



No one helped me with this question. Perhaps because I
slipped up during the description. I'll try again.

I am a novice user of Windows XP (and happy to remain
novice!) I learn how to do simple things but sometimes the
simple things change.

Just now I wanted to look for my most recent additions to
a certain folder. I do this in a very simple way:
Click on My Computer
Click down to the appropriate folder
Select appropriate View

But today this didn't work!

Clicking on My Computer works OK, then I click on "Local Disk (C"
Now I get a window with a list of programs: which program
would I like to use to open C:? !!!

... And I can't do the simple thing I wanted to.

My kids use the computer; perhaps they've changed some
setting inadvertantly, but I've no idea what or how to fix.

Any help appreciated.

Experimenting a little I see: clicking on
a flashdrive works normally; clicking on folders
works normally; perhaps only C: is affected: it's
like the software thinks it is a regular file
rather than a disk.

I did discover a simple workaround: Instead
of clicking C: with the left mouse button,
I press the right mouse button and select "Explore:".
This gets me, more or less, to where I wnated to be.
Still I am curious: why the change in behaviour?

Sam

 

[Singburi Sam]

Most likely a virus.

Thanks, I was wondering about that. I did run AdAware Smart Scan
without problem. I'll try Full Scan, though it takes a long while.

I hope it's not rude to suggest that your brief reply is not
fully convincing. Have you seen this sort of symptom before?
Can you explain why you think it's a virus?

Sam

 

[JD]

No one helped me with this question. Perhaps because I
slipped up during the description. I'll try again.


Clicking on My Computer works OK, then I click on "Local Disk (C"
Now I get a window with a list of programs: which program
would I like to use to open C:? !!!


Experimenting a little I see: clicking on
a flashdrive works normally; clicking on folders
works normally; perhaps only C: is affected: it's
like the software thinks it is a regular file
rather than a disk.

I did discover a simple workaround: Instead
of clicking C: with the left mouse button,
I press the right mouse button and select "Explore:".
This gets me, more or less, to where I wnated to be.
Still I am curious: why the change in behaviour?

Sam

In My Computer, right click on your C drive and select Properties.
Anything look out of place? Under the General tab, what is the Type and
the File System?

Obviously something is wrong, I'm just not sure what it is.

Is one of your choices to open the folder with Windows Explorer?

 

[Singburi Sam]

In My Computer, right click on your C drive and select Properties.
Anything look out of place? Under the General tab, what is the Type and
the File System?

Local Disk; NTFS
Nothing seemed odd under the other tabs.

Obviously something is wrong, I'm just not sure what it is.

Is one of your choices to open the folder with Windows Explorer?

"Internet Explorer" is an option. I clicked there and got
"Application Not Found", which is odd since I'm running IE
as I type this! (Right-clicking on C: gives "Explore" as one
option; it takes me, more or less, to where left-click
used to take me.)

(I also clicked "Notepad" as a harmless looking Program;
it said "Cannot find the "C:\. txt file
Do you want to create a new one?")

Pursuing another suggestion I did run AdAware Full Scan.
The results might be interesting or amusing, though the
Subject-line problem doesn't change.
(I don't expect any response about this beyond the
obvious "Hey dude, read the beginner's page on malware
protection!" Is there an appropriate ng for
reporting these malware details?)

The Full Scan reported
51 Magania Spyware, and
1 Kelvir Worm
The automatic recommended action was "Successful".
I rebooted the machine as instructed; verified that
left-click C: still failed; ran AdAware FullScan again.
It still wasn't clean, finding 4 more Magania's;
reboot, repeat, and finally "0 Objects were found"!
(Though left-click C: still failed.)

I have very slow Internet connection, but am planning to
upgrade soon. I need to decide whether to first due some
massive data backup, followed by Windows reinstall....

Sam

 

[Ǝиçεl]

Try using system restore. Choose the point just before the problem start.
This should restore your PC back the way it was.
- -- ---


I recommend downloading and installing
MalwareBytes' Antimalware (MBAM) and
SUPERAntiSpywaÑe (SAS).

Do a full scan with MalwaÑeBytes' and
SUPERAntiSpywaÑe.

<http://www.superantispyware.com/>
After the software (SAS) is updated, it is suggested scanning the system in
Safe Mode.

Reboot
-=-

<http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php>
After the software is updated, it is suggested scanning the system in
Regular Mode.

Reboot
-=-

Both free versions of MBAM and SAS are on-demand scanners and offer no
'real-time' protection. Keep them installed and use them as
'second-opinion' scanner which is purposely (by design) recommended by
their respective authoÑs.
-=-


Please let us know what fixes the problem or if the pÑoblem remains
-=-


Good luck

 

[Twayne]

Hi,

I don't know if it's me or you, but I suspect it's something
at your end: The lower case "r" is coming out as a "Q followed
by the box symbol (unprintable character) on my XP Pro SP3,
OE6/IE8 P4 system.
I can repair it by cut/paste, because, for grins, I cut
your first paragraph and then pasted it back: The Qbox for "r"
was gone and replaced by "r" as it was supposed to be after
the paste.
In theory, the other occurrences of of the Qbox should
still be visible in the remainder of your post, as displayed
here in my Reply. I see them quite clearly.

Since it's just one letter, your posts aren't unreadable
but I thought you might like to know what I see here. I find
it really strange that it would only be one letter, unless
you've used the font editor? Anyway ... thought I'd give you
a heads-up on it.

HTH,

Twayne`

In

 

[Rick Merrill]

Try using system restore. Choose the point just before the problem start.
This should restore your PC back the way it was.
- -- ---

Right answer! Then run a complete anti-virus scan!

 

[Singburi Sam]

.
Obviously something is wrong, I'm just not sure what it is.

.
[It is possibly result of malware][/QUOTE]

I stumbled upon the source of the problem;
fix was easy.

The C: root directory had a file "autorun.inf"
whose contents were

[AutoRun]
open=yu3.exe
shell\open\Command=yu3.exe

There seemed to be no "yu3.exe". I'll guess
that both yu3.exe and autorun.inf were results of
malware; that AdAware deleted the former, but
neglected to delete the autorun.inf. Windows,
unable to find yu3.exe, does the "Which program?"

How I stumbled upon this might be interesting,
but irrelevant here. The task was made more
difficult in that "autorun.inf" is, I guess,
an "hidden file." Questions:

1. How do I get Windows to display hidden files?
2. Do experienced Windows users regard the
hiddenness of hidden files to be a useful feature
or a flaw?

Sam

 

[JD]

Singburi Sam wrote:
Clicking on My Computer works OK, then I click on "Local Disk (C"
Now I get a window with a list of programs: which program
would I like to use to open C:? !!! .
Obviously something is wrong, I'm just not sure what it is.

.
[It is possibly result of malware]

I stumbled upon the source of the problem;
fix was easy.

The C: root directory had a file "autorun.inf"
whose contents were

[AutoRun]
open=yu3.exe
shell\open\Command=yu3.exe

There seemed to be no "yu3.exe". I'll guess
that both yu3.exe and autorun.inf were results of
malware; that AdAware deleted the former, but
neglected to delete the autorun.inf. Windows,
unable to find yu3.exe, does the "Which program?"

How I stumbled upon this might be interesting,
but irrelevant here. The task was made more
difficult in that "autorun.inf" is, I guess,
an "hidden file." Questions:

1. How do I get Windows to display hidden files?
2. Do experienced Windows users regard the
hiddenness of hidden files to be a useful feature
or a flaw?

Sam

Control Panel, Folder Options, View Tab. Hidden file and folders. Show
hidden files and folders. I also unselect Hide extensions for known file
types and Hide protected operating system files. But that's just me.

I'm the only person that uses this computer. If I had children using the
computer they would not have theirs set this way.