JimNStLouis said:
I had a virus which I believe wiped out all my file associations. No
short
cut (except for aol and IE) works. Nothing runs in control panel from
the
shortcuts. Virus protection and firewall won't run.
Will system restore help me, and what is the actual execute file that
I can run manually?
Jim
Is the computer clean or have you not been able to do this because of
the broken .exe association? There are a few things you can do. You can
run Doug Knox's .exe fix from here:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm
and see if that enables you to run your av. If it does, do the scan in
Safe Mode.
Also, depending on the virus, your *.com extension may still work. If it
does, do Start>Run regedit.com [enter]. Then look at the Default string
value of these registry keys:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command\
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\Exefile\Shell\Open\Command
Change the (Default) string value in the following registry keys to
"%1" %* (with quotation marks)
The value that appears before the proper string will be the name of the
malware.
If the above steps don't work, you can download an emergency copy of ERD
Commander from Winternals. Obviously, you'll need to do that on a
machine with a working Internet connection, a cd burner, and
third-party burning software. You'll make the special boot cd, take it
back to your sick machine and boot with it. ERD Commander will enable
you to change the necessary registry settings.
Malke
--
MS MVP - Windows Shell/User
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"