add/remove programs is missing

Hello,

I was force fed a download while surfing. I cleaned that up by using it's included uninstall and getting rid of some stuff with Spybot BUT I was left with some files in Windows\System with exciting nonsensical names like | for instance. I can't rename them...can't delete them. Checked for viruses..none found. The worst of it all is that in control panel my add/remove programs has vanished as well as system. How can I get it back?
The Windows 98 cab files are all on my hard drive if that helps.

Thanks.

Sheila

 

Shiela,
Just reinstall Win98 again.
You will not lose any files/data.
regards

 

re:

Ok thanks, Merlin.

Hope all my w98 patches etc. stay put cause it's w98 and not w98se and I've been really happy with it.

Thanks again

 

Do you have a sysdm.cpl and an appwiz.cpl?
What happens when you click on these?

Quoted from merlin: "Just reinstall Win98 again.
You will not lose any files/data." This is only partially true.

You may lose some update/patches and will need to do a pit stop at ms.com updates to see what is being flagged as needed.

You will not take care of the nonsensical files you mentioned. They will still be there....
You may have to click on the properties of the files in the system folder and make a note of the dos name and then do a restart in dos mode and delete these from there.

Did you run scandisk to check for illegal filename length? Maybe why you can't do a thing with these files.

 

No sysdm.cpl or appwiz.cpl and scandisk ran today while I was at work and automatically repaired any problems it found. The odd named files are mysteriously gone.

Now I guess I need to bite the bullet and install W98 over what I have and then go and do the update/patch routine.

Thanks,
Sheila

 

It might be easier to extract those two files from your Windows cab files, rather than install windows.
Start\Run, type in sfc and press Enter. Select Extract one file from installation disk, type in c:\windows\system\sysdm.cpl and click on the Start in the System File Checker window. Another window will appear, type in where your cab files are or Browse to it, then click on OK.
Do the same for c:\windows\system\appwiz.cpl.
If, for some reason you are prompted to save the old file(s), let it.
Good luck.

 

Sooo...these puppies up and ran away on ya'.

Are you an optimist or a pessimist?

An optimist would use SFC.exe to scan and replace these missing system files. Hoping that these are the only problems.

A pessimist would bet that these aren't the only files missing, and reinstalling windows on top of it's self was worth any nusiance it caused.

Guess I'd be an optipest. I'd use sfc to replace files but figure this was going to a registry problem and policy hkeys were going to be involved somewhere along the line.

==========
What program did you wind up fighting to delete and cleanup after, that would protect its self by doing something underhanded to the add/remove and system control panels. This is not really important but just a curiousity.

 

I was thinking policies myself, but a step at a time might help. Those policies [if any] would still be there after an overlay install, or just replacing the files.

 

Hmmm...after discovering I no longer had sfc.exe on my hd (yet had a couple logs from having run it before), I pilfered it from another comp here and extracted the two files. So, now everything looks ok. Whew!

We'll see what else happens down the line as a result.

You know, I can barely remember what the names of the infiltrators were that caused all this. Something called Casino
Dice downloaded and added itself to my desktop etc. I wasn't even on a casino site. I tried ctrl/alt/del .... alt F4 .... clicking the famous x in the corner etc. to stop the download I hadn't agreed to. It came so fast I didn't even have time to pull the plug.

I should have written them all down but I was so pi**ed, I clicked the uninstall, ran spybot, and looked through explorer for any leftovers. There was a folder called swimsuit something and according to spybot a program/dialer that had the word teen in it.
Grrrr, I'm 46 and not into teen stuff or **** (if you are, more power to ya).

Seems like I go for many many months with no probs and then bang! I end up on the board asking for help. I highly recommend this one to anyone who will listen.

Thanks for the help gang...I hope to be able to help someone else one day. In the meantime, I'll keep explaining to my mother what I mean when I say ... turn off the computer. No mom, that's the monitor! and to my aunt...you get a new line when typing an email by pressing "enter ".

 

Those popups are all over the net just waiting to pounce. "Hair trigger mouse fingers" and tricky script loaded junk files are a lethal combination. Thank goodness for programs like "Spybot and Lavasoft/Ad-aware ".

Glad all is well and thanks for the update.

========
SFC.exe was missing also? Hope you have a good backup routine that is set in motion.

 

sc3
You might want to go to the following link and get the Iespyads.zip file. It will put a number of sites known to do this in the Restricted Zone of IE. Follow the instructions about changing the settings in the Restricted Zone of IE, and these sites will not be able to put so much as a cookie on you.


http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/hijacked/index.html

 

Mark, thanks for the useful link.
regards

 

Hey Sheila...

Your forced download could have happen because your ActiveX settings are too lax. If so you should tighten them up.

This is a good string on info on "Active X "... http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15592&highlight=activex...Welshjim and Alice give some good advise and info.

 

Thanks again to everyone. Excellent advice and I'm getting a good education following the links provided in this thread.

Sheila