Windows browsing Issue

[Guest]

I have a client who had a severe virus infection last week. I ran AVG
AntiMalware edition and it found many files that it wanted to put in the
virus vault and could not repair. Many of the infected files were from the
system32 folder. Because of experience with this type of infection, I
recommended that my customer have me use the computer manufacturer's factory
restore feature to reset the computer back to factory. He declined that
option and wanted me to go ahead with the cleaning knowing that there could
be resulting errors in the OS. When I finished, some of the issues he was
having were resolved but there were new issues. He would get messages at
startup saying that Windows Data Execution Prevention had been activated and
he was getting Win32 error messages and memory exceptions. Once the startup
had finished, the computer seemed to be running OK.

I received a call today from him and he is having an error when he tries to
browse to open or save a file in a dialogue box.

Two examples; when saving an e-mail attachment in Outlook by right clicking
on it and selecting “Save As†he can’t browse to a new location to save the
file. When he browses to a new location, he gets an application error and a
memory exception. The computer locks up for a short time. He can save the
file to the default location shown.

From inside Corel Draw, if he tries to browse to the location of a file he
wants to open he gets an application error and then a message saying, “The
server is busy, this action cannot be completed because the other program is
busy.†To activate the program and correct the problem the user can switch
to a new program or retry. But neither option does anything. The computer
locks up for a short time. He is able to open My Documents from the desktop
and click folders to find the file, right click on it and use the open with
command to open the file in Corel Draw.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have a client who had a severe virus infection last week. I ran AVG
AntiMalware edition and it found many files that it wanted to put in the
virus vault and could not repair. Many of the infected files were from
the
system32 folder. Because of experience with this type of infection, I
recommended that my customer have me use the computer manufacturer's
factory
restore feature to reset the computer back to factory. He declined that
option and wanted me to go ahead with the cleaning knowing that there
could
be resulting errors in the OS. When I finished, some of the issues he was
having were resolved but there were new issues. He would get messages at
startup saying that Windows Data Execution Prevention had been activated
and
he was getting Win32 error messages and memory exceptions. Once the
startup
had finished, the computer seemed to be running OK.

I received a call today from him and he is having an error when he tries
to
browse to open or save a file in a dialogue box.

Two examples; when saving an e-mail attachment in Outlook by right
clicking
on it and selecting "Save As" he can't browse to a new location to save
the
file. When he browses to a new location, he gets an application error and
a
memory exception. The computer locks up for a short time. He can save
the
file to the default location shown.

From inside Corel Draw, if he tries to browse to the location of a file he
wants to open he gets an application error and then a message saying, "The
server is busy, this action cannot be completed because the other program
is
busy." To activate the program and correct the problem the user can
switch
to a new program or retry. But neither option does anything. The
computer
locks up for a short time. He is able to open My Documents from the
desktop
and click folders to find the file, right click on it and use the open
with
command to open the file in Corel Draw.

Any help would be appreciated.

I think your client has two options:

a) Pay for a lot of your time during which you attempt to
resolve his problems by trying this and that, surfing the
net, consulting newsgroups etc.etc.

b) Follow your initial advice and reload Windows.

IMHO this machine is compromised. Option a) is nothing but
patchwork and has an uncertain outcome. Option b) would cost
less and would deliver a guaranteed result within a known time
frame.