problem; all .exe's turned into LNK files

[Guest]

Hi, i hope someone can point me in the right direction.
I recently did windows update (downloaded malicious removal tool) and once
completed most of my .exe files have turned into LNK files? When I try to
open them I just get the 'open with' box or 'search for extensions' on the
net. Explorer is still working but no microsoft applications are opening. I
can't use system restore either.
I would be very very grateful if someone could help as I've searched the net
but t no avail yet, could it be a virus or worm?. I am running XP home SP2.
Many thanks

 

[Malke]

Hi, i hope someone can point me in the right direction.
I recently did windows update (downloaded malicious removal tool) and
once completed most of my .exe files have turned into LNK files? When
I try to open them I just get the 'open with' box or 'search for
extensions' on the net. Explorer is still working but no microsoft
applications are opening. I can't use system restore either.
I would be very very grateful if someone could help as I've searched
the net but t no avail yet, could it be a virus or worm?. I am running
XP home SP2. Many thanks

The question "could it be a virus or worm" is best answered by scanning
with a current version antivirus (not earlier than 2005) using updated
virus definitions. Don't you have one installed?

If you seriously think the Malicious Removal Tool caused your problem
(unlikely), do a System Restore to a date before you ran the tool. You
can try fixing the .exe file problem with MVP Doug Knox's fix:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm

Scanning for viruses and malware would probably be a good idea for you.
Here are steps to go through systematically:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

Malke

 

[Guest]

thanks Malke for the help.
I have up to date antivirus, malware software and firewall. I use all of
these regularly.
Unfortunately I can't do a system restore as this has been affected by the
lnk issue.
I have downloaded the doug nox fix for the .exe and link file fix which was
also suggested to me. However I haven't got winzip on the computer so I cant
run these files, any suggestions?
Many thanks again.

 

[Guest]

I've also downloaded winzip now but cannot get that to run because of the
same issues

 

[Malke]

I've also downloaded winzip now but cannot get that to run because of
the same issues

You shouldn't need to use Winzip. XP treats zipped files like folders.
You should be able to just open the folder and copy the contents to
your hard drive.

If you still can't do this, then I don't know what else to suggest to
you except that you take the machine to a professional computer repair
shop (not your local version of BigStoreUSA). I'm not saying this to
hurt your feelings, but just being practical. A professional will be
able to deal with whatever is happening far better than people reading
newsgroup posts who can't see your machine.

Malke

 

[Guest]

thanks for the help,
the problem is that regedit won't open to deal with the files. I need a
command prompt really.
I understand what you say though, thanks for your time.

 

[Guest]

Maggie:
Read Microsoft article 304449.
I had the same problem and the way I resolved it is doing a system restore.
Start system restore via cmd prompt. Press control+alt+delete to take you to
task manager. There click control+file+new task (run) then type
%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe
this command will take you to system restore, from there you can restore
your system to a prior date of the problem.

 

[Guest]

Hi. I had the same problem as Maggie and first installed Doug Knox's fix from
Malke's posting but this didn't seem to fix it. I then followed Felix's
advice about system restore from the Command Prompt and this worked. Normal
System Restore in safe mode didn't work. Many thanks for this posting.

 

[Guest]

hello to you and all who tried to help me. In the end nothing was working as
anything downloaded changed to a Inl file in the end with a deep breath my
disc was wiped totally clean windows reinstalled etc. and without my son's
help and various techy sites we would not have had the success we did. aall
is well now but it is something I would wish on no-one. Thanks all.
Maggie