xp desktop starting problems

I recently tried to remove the Alemod.b worm from my hard drive, it had taken a hold of the wininet.dll file, so i got instructions from another bbs to clean the hard drive, and reinstall the wininet.dll. The result of this was that on the reboot xp would load up as far as the desktop, then after about 10 seconds it would refresh, and then on every 10 seconds or so. I tried to go in through safe mode to see if there was a fix, but the same thing happens then too.

Any recommendations?


MESH 1100Mhz athalon
256mb Ram
80Gb hard drive
XP Pro SP2
FX5900 GFX card

 

How did you go about re-installing wininet.dll? It's a Windows protected file and getting the wrong version can be a problem. Do you have version 6.0.2900.2713?

When you say you "cleaned the hard drive" does that mean you ran some AV program and allowed it to delete any infected files? If so, what files did it say were involved?

You may now need to run SFC /scannow to get back in shape. That failing, perhaps a "Repair Install" may be in order. As a last resort, a "Clean Install" would be needed. Nobody can say until you give full details. Good backups are critical in any case.

Have you tried using System Restore?

 

I had already used mcafee to try and remove the alemod.b worm, but as soon as it had quarantined the file it sprang up again as being quarantined. As for the "cleaning" process, it involved downloading hoster from www.funkytoad.com and running to restore original hosts, then downloading the wininet.dll from www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?wininet and saving it to the c:\ drive for later use. I also downloaded deldomain.inf and installed it, and then downloaded ccleaner.exe and Killbox. Then I restarted into safe mode and ran a hijack this scan, and then ran ccleaner then left the 2 temp entries checked and ran cleaner. I then ran killbox and let it remove a host of files, but not sure if they were there to remove!?!? then rebooted back into safe mode in the command prompt then typed:

cd
cd \windows\system\dllcache
del winwinet.dll (it also said it may no find it, which i didn't)
cd \windows\system32
ren wininet.dll wininet.old
copy c:\wininet.dll c:\windows\system32

then rebooted. And that was when everything went pear shaped.

as for finding out what version of wininet.dll i downloaded, i don't seem to have time to find it before it all refreshes, and tried to repair install but it wouldn't fix the problem. The repair console didn't seem to appear!?!?
And I'm not sure if i'll have enough time to get scannow running, but i'll try!! The same goes for sytem restore.

 

By "refresh" do you mean "reboot "?
If you mean reboot, and it is rebooting on its own, then try this:

Turn off Automatically Restart.

Right-click My Computer and select Properties.
Click the Advanced tab.
Under Startup and Recovery click the Settings button.
Uncheck Automatically Restart.
Click OK. Click OK.
The next time the computer crashes, you will get a BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) with an error message. Type the error into your next post.


What exactly did you do with Hijack This and Killbox?
Those programs don't actually "do" anything unless someone instructs you what to do with them. If you used either of those 2 programs to remove anything on your own without experienced guidence, you can really ***** up your operating system

EDIT:
Off topic, and a side note.
The filters won't let me use the word s_c_r_e_w???
It makes it look like I was cursing when using an innocent word.
Kind of demeaning to the poster of the word, but I digress...

 

By "refresh" I mean that the desktop screen keeps refreshing every 10 sec or so, so when i try to do something it refreshes and i'm back to square one, it seems to reload all the desktop items again, and so on until i switch off.

As for HijackThis the poster on on the other bbs that i found said to " fix checked" 04 - hklm\..\run: [regsvr32] c:\windows\system32\msmsgs.exe, but i didn't even find that file. In Killbox I had to "check delete on reboot then where it says full path of file to delete, type or paste -

c:\windows\system32\cidft.dll
c:\windows\system32\msupd6.exe
c:\windows\system32\cidpoq32.dll
c:\windows\system32\gupd.dll
c:\windows\system32\hst32.dll
c:\windows\system32\icnfe.dll
c:\windows\system32\icqrt.dll
c:\windows\system32\icvbr.dll
c:\windows\system32\sdfup.dll
c:\windows\system32\wcnl32.dll
c:\windows\system32\wecxg32.dll
c:\windows\system32\xcwer32.dll
c:\windows\system32\zxmsn.dll
c:\windows\system32\wirl.dll
c:\windows\oleadm.dll
c:\windows\system32\oleadm32.dll
c:\windows\system32\wininet.ini

then the posting said that they may no longer be present, but this problem all started out with the oleadm32.dll trojan, I got it removed then it seemed to leave me with the wininet worm.

Kinda looking like a fresh install of xp isn't it?

 

As stated by another poster, here are the options I would try.
Recovery Console, and Repair Install are definately on the CD

Recovery Console
I would try a chkdsk. I dont believe RC gives the option for SFC....thats a shame

Repair Install
I feel that a repair install would do the trick. If it works, you will have to go to Windows Update and reinstall all of the critical updates as though it were a clean install

 

I downloaded and checked the wininet.dll that you linked - it's dated:

Friday, August 17, 2001, 10:34:06 PM

My version is dated:

Saturday, July 02, 2005, 9:11:30 PM

It seems you have stepped back in time when you trusted that download site to provide you with some relief. Bummer.

A "Repair Install" is now in order. Boot to the MS install CD and select the second Repair option offered. Do not select to do the repair using the Recovery Console. That's the first "R" option. Proceed past that as if you intend to install the system anew. You will then be presented with the option of "Repairing" your present installation. Follow the screen directions from there. Depending on what version of install CD you have, you will need to reinstall some of the recent updates. All of your programs and personal files will remain intact and operative however.

The repair install will likely do the trick but if not you'll have to take further action and perform a Clean Install. If it gets to that stage and you need help, post back. Doing a Clean Install will produce an entirely new Directory and will make it necessary to reinstall any directory dependent programs.

 

Thanks guys, the repair worked, am updating as i type, so heres to a lot of happy computing, ha ha, we'll see!

cheers

Peeriefish