runtime debugging service

i am trying to download a programme & receive the following message;

IE exec.exe - Common Language Runtime Debugging Services

application has generated an exception that could not be handled.

Process id=0x15a8 (5544), Thread id=0x11ec (4588).

Click OK to terminate the application.
Click cancel to debug the application.

if i click cancel it tells me there is no debugger found.

can anybody advise?
i am a novice when it comes to this type of thing so please be gentle


Dean

 

Hi, Dean. Welcome to Windows BBS! We'll try to make this experience as painless as possible for you. We're a patient bunch too.

Important Question: I did a little research on exec.exe and I am guessing you have/had NetZero as your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or have/had NetZero software installed on your problem computer. Am I correct? Please answer this question immediately and wait for an answer from me (or someone who knows where I am going with this question ) before proceeding with my instructions below.


I expect your program crash dump is probably located in
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Dr Watson\user.dmp
and you will need to use special debugging tools to analyze it.

If you wish, you can use Windows Explorer to navigate to that location to verify that such a user.dmp file exists for the date/time your last crash occurred. You might not be able to see the Application Data folder. (I think it is hidden.) Therefore, if you want to make the Application Data folder visible, you will need to make the following setting in Windows Explorer:
Tools > Folder Options > View > "Show hidden files and folders"


I'm not an expert with analyzing crash dumps and I haven't helped people with program crash dump analysis yet, but I think my following instructions will get you going in the right direction:

Instructions:

Please follow the instructions in this link and then paste your DebugWiz-generated program crash dump (USER.DMP) analysis information here in this thread. (You might need to be connected to the Internet while you run DebugWiz so it can retrieve information it needs. I just ran my DebugWiz as a test and my firewall alerted me the program, cdb.exe, needed to access the Internet.)

If you experience crashes while trying to download the Debugging Tools for Windows and DebugWiz, you will need to use another Internet-connected computer to perform that task and then somehow get them onto your problem machine (i.e., via CD, USB flash drive, etc.).

Once you post your DebugWiz-generated crash dump analysis information here, we might have enough information to pinpoint the cause of your problem and suggest possible courses of action.

 

as far as i am aware i have modem booster software which is a netzero product. However this has been on my pc for over a year.


Dean

 

Probably NetZero HighSpeed 3G, their version of always on dial-up. Have you tried reinstalling the software? You'll have to sign in.
http://my.netzero.net/s/download

 

Hi, Dean. Since appears NetZero software might be involved with your problem, that is good news. Otherwise, we would have to take a different route first to see if you have malware on your system. (The filename exec.exe, in some cases, is associated with malware.)

EDIT: I assume you are already running Windows XP Service Pack 2 with all Windows Update patches installed. Right? What anti-virus, anti spyware, etc. do you have installed on your system? Have you scanned your computer for malware such as viruses, trojans, etc. with all your anti-malware applications? (I don't mean to alarm you. If your computer is indeed infected, we have experts here that can guide you through the cleaning process.)

I'll poke around the Internet for netzero "modem booster" exec.exe information and see what I come up with.


Dean, assuming you are sufficiently protected from malicious software and Internet vulnerability exploits, you can go ahead and follow the Instructions in my post above. (EDIT: First, please read the information in my other posts below.)

The DebugWiz results that you post in this thread are likely to be confusing (at least for me anyway) and we don't seem to have crash dump analysis experts around lately, but someone following this thread might have the expertise to quickly pinpoint the cause of your problem with that information. In any case, the information might be valuable for you if we suggest you try looking elsewhere for technical support.


You may skip the first part of my first post (above the "Instructions ") for now if you wish. I only provided that information in case you wanted to understand how to verify you have a user.dmp file in that location.

• On the other hand, you may use that information now to rename your user.dmp file (to something like 01user.dmp, 02user.dmp, etc. - Keep the .dmp file extension.) after each of your program crashes occur so they don't get overwritten by future program crashes. This may be especially important if you get program crashes that have any different information in the pop-up error window (such as identifying different filenames).

Skipslot, thanks for the link to the netzero download page. I'm not inclined to login to download/install their software on my machine though. However, could you verify whether or not it uses exec.exe as part of NetZero's HighSpeed 3G package? (EDIT: Dean, as Skipslot suggests, perhaps reinstalling your NetZero modem booster software might be the QUICKEST fix. ))

In the meantime, I'll certainly research what I can and post (inexperienced) ideas I come up with that might help us. This might prove to be a good learning experience for all of us.


Dean, by the way, I just thought of an additional thing to try that might help us verify your exec.exe file is not malware-related. Search your hard drive for exec.exe and let us know where it is located, file size, date, etc. on your hard drive.

You may perform the search as follows:

• Click Start > Search > All files and folders
• Type exec.exe in the All or part of the filename: field.
• Choose your hard drive(s) for the Look in: field.
• Click the Search button and wait for the search to complete.
• Look through the results list (there will probably be several items) for entries that have only exec.exe (no other characters) under the "Name" heading and write down the "In Folder" location(s), Size, and Date Modified information.
  (You might have only one item with only exec.exe as the filename.)

If you provide us with that information, we can poke around the Internet and see what we come up with.

Good luck! Hang in there! I'll be looking forward to your reply.

 

Dean, let's modify my search instructions a bit to cover more ground in verifying your issue is not malware-related. This is more work for you but I want to be sure we eliminate malware as a possibility if we can.

You might want to click here and then print this message with your printer to make these instructions easier to follow.


First, go into Windows Explorer and enable "Show hidden files and folders" according to my first post in this thread.

Exit out of Windows Explorer. Then:

• Click Start > Search > All files and folders
• Type exec.exe in the All or part of the filename: field.
• Choose your hard drive(s) for the Look in: field.
• Click the Search button and wait for the search to complete.
• For all Search Results entries (including filenames with additional characters), write down the "In Folder" location(s), Size, and Date Modified information and post that information here.
  (There is an alternative way to perform this step below.)

Perhaps a little quicker/easier route than writing down all that information is to copy the information from the file Properties for each file name in your search results and then paste the information into Notepad as follows:

Open Notepad (located via Start > All Programs > Accessories > Notepad) so you're ready to paste information into Notepad.

Go to to your Search Results and, for each entry, do as follows:

1. Right-click on the filename.
2. Select Properties.
3. Drag your mouse across the filename so the entire filename is highlighted.
4. Right-click on the highlighted contents.
5. Select Copy.
6. Click on the Notepad button in your toolbar at the bottom of your screen to open the Notepad window.
7. Hold down your Ctrl key and hit the V key. (This will paste the info into Notepad.)
8. Hit the Enter key to advance to the next line in Notepad.
9. Click on your Search Results button at the bottom of your screen.
10. You should be back to the Properties window.
11. Repeat steps 3-10 for the Location: path, Size, Created, and Modified information.
12. When you're done with the properties for one file, click the Cancel button in the Properties window and repeat these steps for each of the next file entries in your Search Results.

Once you're done pasting the information for all your Search Results files into Notepad, do the following in Notepad.

First, SAVE your Notepad document to your Desktop as a backup for easy retrieval in case you accidentally clear its contents in the steps that follow.
(Click on File > Save... > Click the Desktop button > Type a filename in the File name: field > Click the Save button.)

Then, click anywhere in your Notepad window.

• Hold down your Ctrl key and hit the A key. (This should highlight the entire Notepad document.)
• Hold down your Ctrl key and hit the C key to put the information into your "clipboard ".
  (Be careful not to hit the X key instead of the C key. That will clear your Notepad contents.)
• Open a reply window in this Windows BBS thread.
• Click in the message body editing field to place your text cursor there.
• Hold down your Ctrl key and hit your V key to paste your "clipboard" contents into the message body field.

After you have done this, I will thank you for your patience and persistence. This information will greatly help our research regarding the possibility of malware related to your error on your system.

 

Hi again, Dean.

In case you may not be confident your system is free of malware, here is a link to an article with some tips regarding protecting your system. The article includes links to few good, free firewall/anit-virus/anti-spyware applications you should think about downloading, installing, updating, and running on your problem computer (and any other computer for that matter). The anti-virus and anti-spyware applications should be updated and then used to scan your system for malware.

Keep your Computer free from Viruses, Trojans, Spyware and other Malware
A HelpWithWindows TechFile​

 

I can verify Netzero uses exec.exe, I use to use it before my present WISP service and still use it while on the road when WiFi hotspots aren't available. With some scans it even comes up as being spyware/malware that I have ran. I believe HJT shows it as a nasty. But if you do remove it, the software will not work as its needed to get to the net. Its only active if you can see the Netzero icon in your system tray. Part of the installation will change some settings, like the search feature in IE is changed to Netzero search, which is just a clone of Yahoo's search engine.

 

Dean,

I'm sorry if these messages make you confused or feel like you have to go "all over the place ". My brain needs to take a rest, I think.

Apart from trying a reinstall of your modem blaster software, the following information (that I usually think of with any computer problem) might be best to start with.

Q1. Have your crashes started occurring pretty recently? If so...

Q2. Can you recall any hardware and/or software changes you have made on your problem computer immediately prior to experiencing the program crashes? Perhaps you can undo those changes to see if your problem clears up.

Q3. Have you tried using System Restore to restore your problem computer to a Restore Point made on a date before the crashes started occurring?

 

Thanks for verifying, Skipslot!

HJT, by itself, does not differentiate between "goodware" and malware. (It won't tell you that any particular entry is bad.) If I understand correctly, HJT simply lists all installed items (both good and bad) that exist in certain locations on the computer where malware is known to plant its seeds for its dirty work. BTW, one should never use HJT to fix things unless one knows exactly what (s)he is doing. Under a layperson's control, HJT can be dangerous or, at the very least, hinder an expert's ability to help someone clean their system of malware if HJT is used incorrectly.

However, the Netzero Search and Yahoo Search details you provided might help me with Googling for more info.

Thanks again!

BTW, Dean, do you have such a NetZero icon in your system tray?

 

I use this:
http://www.hijackthis.de/

Just paste the log and it analyzes it. Its just a general guide though.
Perhaps we should wait for Dean to get caught up here before continuing

 

Hi, Skipslot. Letting Dean catch up is probably a good idea. (I'm sorry, Dean.)

However, I feel a need to provide this link for you, Skipslot.

 

Very interesting and I agree 100% with it. I seen things in my own logs that it questioned but I knew it was a needed item in my system.