Help and Support

[Rod Unterreiner]

Ok, I accidentally messed up my Windows XP boot sector, so I did a repair
reinstall. My system now boots up fine and everything works great, but I
have one new problem as a result:

After booting into Windows, almost like clockwork (within first 5-10 minutes
of using the computer), a Help and Support Center box pops with the
following title:
"Cannot display the page". Underneath the title is the message "The page
your are trying to view has an incorrect address and cannot be displayed.
Please try another page."

I use DSL internet connection, and this box pops up even if I'm not actively
surfing the web. It's very annoying to boot up, start playing a game, only
to have that box pop up and interrupt the game.

I've tried installing Zone Alarm, hoping the program causing the internet
query would be caught, but alas, Zone Alarm sat by while the box popped up
again.

I have purged all spyware using Spybot and Adaware 6.0. I have Norton
Anti-Virus protection as well.

Any ideas how I can prevent this box from popping up and/or finding the
program responsible so I can kill it?

TIA,
Rod
Florissant, Mo.

 

[Ramesh [MVP]]

Hi Rod,

In the Help Center window displayed, right-click and choose Properties. Note
down the Address URL (Example:
ms-its:C:\WINDOWS\Help\hs.chm::/hs_exploring_windows.htm). Then, download
Autoruns from www.sysinternals.com and run it. Save the startup entries to a
Log file.

Please post both the above details here. A screenshot would also help. Note
that using Process Explorer you can easily identify the additional process -
Help Center window.

--
Ramesh, MS-MVP XP Shell/UI
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k


Ok, I accidentally messed up my Windows XP boot sector, so I did a repair
reinstall. My system now boots up fine and everything works great, but I
have one new problem as a result:

After booting into Windows, almost like clockwork (within first 5-10 minutes
of using the computer), a Help and Support Center box pops with the
following title:
"Cannot display the page". Underneath the title is the message "The page
your are trying to view has an incorrect address and cannot be displayed.
Please try another page."

I use DSL internet connection, and this box pops up even if I'm not actively
surfing the web. It's very annoying to boot up, start playing a game, only
to have that box pop up and interrupt the game.

I've tried installing Zone Alarm, hoping the program causing the internet
query would be caught, but alas, Zone Alarm sat by while the box popped up
again.

I have purged all spyware using Spybot and Adaware 6.0. I have Norton
Anti-Virus protection as well.

Any ideas how I can prevent this box from popping up and/or finding the
program responsible so I can kill it?

TIA,
Rod
Florissant, Mo.

 

[Rod Unterreiner]

I forgot to mention the information learned from selecting properties on the
Help and Support screen:

hcp://system/errors/badurl.htm

 

[Ramesh [MVP]]

Rod,

The startup applications are normal, i don't find any suspicious items.
Except that you may try disabling (don't delete), the Symantec
NetDetect.job. If that does not help, enable it again.

Regarding the Process Explorer, double-click the Helpctr.exe process when it
appears and copy the details in the Image tab.
Path, Command Line and Directory.

--
Ramesh, MS-MVP XP Shell/UI
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k


I forgot to mention the information learned from selecting properties on the
Help and Support screen:

hcp://system/errors/badurl.htm