Program Startup Problems

[Nigel Barraclough]

I installed SP2 and a couple of other updates. It may or may not be a
coincidence that I am now having problems starting many programs which
worked fine before. Some do not start at all. Others start with error
messages but run fine after that.

In Access the error messages are "The command line you used to start
Microsoft Access contains an option that Microsoft Access doesn't recognise"
followed by Microsoft Access can't find the database file
'Files\Microsoft.mdb'". Access then opens and works fine

In Excel it is "'Files\Microsoft.xls' could not be found" followed by
"'Office\Office10\Excel.exe' could not be found". Excel than opens and
works fine.

In IE6 I get "http:\\files/Internet%20Explorer/IEExplorer.exe" in the URL
line. If I click on my home page (Google) IE6 works fine.

In Nero it is "c:\program files\ahead Nero\files\ahead\Nero\nero.exe
contains an invalid path". The correct path to Nero is c:\program
files\ahead\Nero\nero.exe.

There are many other failing or error ridden startups.

What this suggests to me, as a non-expert, is that something has corrupted
the paths used to open applications by adding extra bits to the path - like
the extra "files\ahead\Nero" to the Nero path..

Has anyone got any idea what is going on and what I should do about this.
If no-one has any ideas I will have to try an earlier restore point and/or
uninstalling SP2.

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Nigel.

That's weird, I agree! But I see no reason to suspect SP2. What were the
"couple of other updates" that you installed? Were those from Microsoft?

HOW do you start Access and Excel? Do you click on their icons in All
Programs, or by some other means? What happens if you use Windows Explorer
to navigate to Office\Office10 and then click on Excel.exe? Or on
MSAccess.exe?

If Access and Excel start properly from their .exe files, then maybe all you
need to do is create a new Shortcut for each of them. Right-click each of
the icons that you normally use and choose Properties to see what is there
for each icon. See if the settings for Access include the "option that
Microsoft Access doesn't recognise". See if it tells Access to open
Microsoft.mdb; also check the Excel shortcut for instructions to start
Microsoft.xls. Those files are not included in Office itself. Are they
files that YOU created? If you are using batch files to start Access and
Excel, then check the contents of the .bat files.

To check your Path, open a "DOS" window and type Path to see only the Path
variable, or Set to see a list of all your environment variables, including
Path.

As you probably know, IEExplorer.exe is NOT a valid WinXP filename, but
maybe that was only a typo. The correct path to Internet Explorer is
\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe

If none of these steps turn up any of your own tweaks to your computer, then
you may be the victim of some kind of malware. Do you regularly run
anti-malware programs, such as Ad-Aware and SpyBot?

RC

 

[Nigel Barraclough]

Thank you for your thoughts. I tried working down your list although I
didn't understand what the results of Path and Set told me. I do run
AdAware and Spybot regularly and did so before installing SP2. However I
ran them just now and AdAware picked up a nasty which looked likely to be
the cause HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT: exefile\shell\open\command"" () possible virus
infection, executable file extension compromised. I got rid of this.
Spybot picked up some other things mainly associated with Media Player which
I told it to fix.

At first glance, and I haven't done much testing yet, this seems to have
sorted things out. I am most grateful.

How these things got there as I use AVG, which I keep up to date, is a bit
of a mystery.

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Nigel.

I'm glad to hear that you were able to get back on-track with Ad-Aware and
SpyBot. ;<)

Now, be sure to stay on-track by practicing "safe hex". Full instructions
are posted in these WinXP newsgroups several times nearly every day - and
they are quite long, so I won't bother to repeat them here. Just scan
through a day's worth of messages here and you should see them several
times.

Recognize that there are several classes of malware in addition to viruses:
spyware, adware, pop-ups and others. Antivirus software is not designed to
catch these. That's why we need SpyBot, etc., in addition to AVG or another
antivirus. Also, we must stay up-to-date by visiting Windows Update often;
it's best to set it to update automatically. And be sure to install and use
a good firewall.

Good luck!

RC

 

[Nigel Barraclough]

Thanks again for the advice. With regard to "safe hex" I have downloaded
the headers back to 12 November and cannot find anything like this. Can you
point me in the right direction please.

Nigel

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Nigel.

Just like your post, the Subject line (sometimes called the Header) does not
usually say much about "malware" or "safe hex", even if that turns out to be
the actual problem. You'll have to pick a few likely headers and check the
actual text of the message - and the responses from MVPs and others.

For example, here's a thread started by "Sleep deprived" just about an hour
before your post:
Help with slow PC...exe files seem to be taking over

That Subject line says nothing about malware, but MVP Malke Routh's response
has excellent step-by-step instructions to cure the poster's immediate
problem and to guard against future infections.

The Thread started by Chiara Popalopa on 12/2/04 with the Subject line "Re:
Safe Mode and spyware" is 10 posts long, so far. Several of those posts
details steps that you should take, or at least consider.

Many MVPs spend a lot of their time helping their employers, customers and
friends recover from malware infestations and guard against future problems.
Those MVPs know much more about this than I do, since I'm mainly concerned
with just my one computer, which stays clean with minimal effort on my part.
I just make sure to visit Windows Update at least weekly (It's set to update
automatically, anyhow, but I like to do it manually now and then, just in
case.), run a good firewall and antivirus - and NEVER click "Free" offers,
thereby inviting malware to invade my computer.

It took me only a few minutes to scan these headers and find the responses,
Nigel, and I could find dozens more in less than an hour, I'm sure. If you
really want to find out about "safe hex", there's plenty of information and
advice to be found.

RC

 

[Nigel Barraclough]

Thanks very much for your help.

Hi, Nigel.

Just like your post, the Subject line (sometimes called the Header) does
not usually say much about "malware" or "safe hex", even if that turns out
to be the actual problem. You'll have to pick a few likely headers and
check the actual text of the message - and the responses from MVPs and
others.

For example, here's a thread started by "Sleep deprived" just about an
hour before your post:
Help with slow PC...exe files seem to be taking over

That Subject line says nothing about malware, but MVP Malke Routh's
response has excellent step-by-step instructions to cure the poster's
immediate problem and to guard against future infections.

The Thread started by Chiara Popalopa on 12/2/04 with the Subject line
"Re: Safe Mode and spyware" is 10 posts long, so far. Several of those
posts details steps that you should take, or at least consider.

Many MVPs spend a lot of their time helping their employers, customers and
friends recover from malware infestations and guard against future
problems. Those MVPs know much more about this than I do, since I'm mainly
concerned with just my one computer, which stays clean with minimal effort
on my part. I just make sure to visit Windows Update at least weekly (It's
set to update automatically, anyhow, but I like to do it manually now and
then, just in case.), run a good firewall and antivirus - and NEVER click
"Free" offers, thereby inviting malware to invade my computer.

It took me only a few minutes to scan these headers and find the
responses, Nigel, and I could find dozens more in less than an hour, I'm
sure. If you really want to find out about "safe hex", there's plenty of
information and advice to be found.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP