Windows XP startup errrors

[Guest]

I have just bought an new external hard drive and in moving some files around
I think I have accidentally moved some I shouldn't have - particulalry those
relating to the My Documents folder. Some may also be due to the fact that
I have incorrectly deleted some files.

As a result, on startup, I now get errors relating to the failure to install
programs like:
- nxzhpmm.exe
- mm_try.exe
- ldpdkek.exe
- ypager.exe

I would appreciate it if someone could advise the best course of action.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Random filenames are usually a sign of malware or trojan infection in the
system. Follow the malware removal advice listed here:
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.php.

Try Trend Micro's Sysclean package (free), it's capable of eliminating
keyloggers, trojans etc. Full instructions at:

Generic Trojan / Adware Infestation Removal Procedure:
http://www.claymania.com/removal-trojan-adware.html

 

[Guest]

Ramesh,

Thanks for the reponse. Unfortunately when I tried to run programs such as
Ad-aware and CW Shredder the executabelt file did not work.

I would now simply like to re-format my hard drvive and re-install windows.
Will this remove all viruses, trojans etc? How do I reformat my hard drive?

Thanks,
Mark.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Mark,

Though clean installing Windows XP should get rid of the viruses, it's not
required. IOW, you can try running the anti-spyware and anti-virus tools
from Safe Mode to see if you can get rid of maximum junk from the PC. If
nothing helps, you may slave the hard drive to another working system and
run a scan from the other system.

If that's not a feasible solution for you, and if you've backed up your data
to a removable drive, then you can proceed with a clean installation. The
following links should help in that case.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/expertzone/columns/honeycutt/02october07.asp

 

[Guest]

Ramesh,

Thank you very much for your assistance. Over the last few days I seem to
have been sucessful in transferrring data to an external drive and
re-installing XP.

The only issue I have is that I seem to have lost the sound from my
computer, i.e. at the moment I get a message saying that no audio hardware is
installed on my machine and I don't get any sound through my headphones.
Unfortunately I do not know what actual hardware I should have installed
although I seem to remember the name Realtek. Is there any easy way to get
XP to locate this? I've tried a few things using the Settings Options in the
Control Panel without any success so far.

Thanks,
Mark.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Mark,

You need to reinstall the audio card drivers (Realtek chipset?)