***VERY DIFFICULT SOLUTION NEEDED***

[Guest]

While using some anti-spam software I accidentally
deleted a file/files that were very important to my
system.
However, I have no record of what files I deleted and now
when I try to connect to the internet I get Error # 733
and even though my modem can connect to the server there
is no transfer of data.
Can anyone tell me how to solve this problem? At the
moment I think I'm going to have to delete the whole
system and start from scratch!
I Have tried to:
1. Go to a restore point.
2. Delete and reinstall all networking software.
3. create new connections

Thanks for your help, any suggstions would be great.

Eamonn

 

[Michael Pardee]

It would help to know your operating system (if XP,
whether home or pro version) and the anti-spyware
software you use. (McAfee allows you to undelete fles and
settings it deleted, at least for a period). And you did
look in the recycle bin just in case, I presume?

You can try performing an "install over" of Windows. When
you run Windows installation on an existing installation
it restores all the OS files, but leaves your settings
pretty much intact. The good news is that it doesn't do
much messing with your settings, the bad news is that it
won't fix many bad settings. But it is worth a try when
the system won't boot or when you think you deleted an
important system file. Running the System File Checker
("sfc" in W2K and "sfc /scannow" in XP)from the command
line will do most of that, but be aware sfc tends be nit-
picky.

Finally, although reformat/reinstall is tedious it can be
a healthy thing to do every year or two. It's amazing how
much deeply rooted garbage our poor computers collect
over the years. If it has been two years since the last
time, you really should consider biting the bullet.

Mike

 

[Kent W. England [MVP]]

While using some anti-spam software I accidentally
deleted a file/files that were very important to my
system.
However, I have no record of what files I deleted and now
when I try to connect to the internet I get Error # 733
and even though my modem can connect to the server there
is no transfer of data.
Can anyone tell me how to solve this problem? At the
moment I think I'm going to have to delete the whole
system and start from scratch!
I Have tried to:
1. Go to a restore point.
2. Delete and reinstall all networking software.
3. create new connections

Thanks for your help, any suggstions would be great.

Eamonn

I can't help you with a difficult solution, but I can suggest a simple
solution that might work. Often when you remove malware with an
automated tool, the tool doesn't clean up the network layered services
stack after removing one of the components that is part of the malware.

If you used Ad-aware SE Personal edition, then you can download the LSP
Explorer add-on and use that add-on from within Ad-aware to fix your
stack. Or you can download and run LSPfix, tell it "I know what I am
doing" and repair the stack, if LSPfix indicates that the stack is
broken. I don't recommend removing any components from the stack using
either tool. Only repair the stack if the tool indicates that the stack
is broken. If it appears that the stack is OK, then this isn't your
problem. Don't remove any components from the stack.