information.exe

Hi you kind people

I'm trying to fix my Doctor's pc. His kids messed it up. Symptoms: Computer shuts down and restarts. This happens at no particular point - it can be on for as much as 20 mins before it happens, when the pc is running untouched. Sending the error report to Microsoft doesn't reveal much - "unspecified driver error" Since this is a very new pc and XP SP1 has recently been repaired/recovered from the supplied CD it seems unlikely to be a driver error.

Action so far:
Spybot S&D updated and run -- nothing detected.
Norton Virus scan reveals One entry:

File : Information.exe Threat : Download.adware

Norton does not delete this "Delete failed "

I searched for "information.exe" and found it in C:\info6_s
Neither of these are listed in your FAQ, hence my post.

Having read some of your threads on slow running pcs and other problems it looks as if info6_s is an unwanted piece of junk. Should I delete it? Is Safe mode the best route for deleting it? I am surprised that Norton could not delete Information.exe, unless it is because it is inside a .cab file.

But is this responsible for the random shutdowns?

Thanks
MGB

 

It does sound as if the entire info6_s folder is junk, but open it and see what else is there. Right click and check the properties of any other files. Look for versions as well as company names, etc. If you don't find anything to substantiate being a valid set of files/folder, make sure information.exe is not running on the task manager processes tab and delete the file, then folder. Then open My Computer, right click Local Disk C: and choose properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button and check all boxes except compress old files on the opening window, then click OK. Reboot and if still having the same problem, right click My Computer and select manage. Expand event viewer and click the application entry. Right click any errors in the list and select properties to view the details. Clicking the clipboard button (right below the arrow buttons) will copy the information, allowing you to paste it in a reply here. If you don't find any related entries under the application section, check the system section.

BTW, it is not unusual for Norton, or any other antivirus program, to be unable to remove malware files. Although they can sometimes find them, based on the way in which the files are written (look like a virus), they seldom don't have the reference files needed to allow for removal. Generally left up to the programs such as Spybot and Ad-aware targeted for malware, or manual deletion.

 

quick question

Thanks for the speedy reply - will follow your instructions. But- I think I didn't make this quite clear - info6_s is a .cab file. I don't have any program which opens .cab files. Sorry - something I have never had to do before. How do I do it?

From what you say, C:\info6_s is an ok file normally, just that it has become infected. It seems to be in an odd place for a .cab file. I can't find it on either of my two XP systems, so what is it, and where has it come from? I don't see any software on my doc's pc which I don't have (his is very basic setup).
Thank you
MGB

 

Check the properties on it. If it's a legitimate file, it should have company name and version information.

 

solved

Thanks very much for your help. I deleted the .cab file info6_s after having looked at its contents and found that information.exe had no version, no company etcetc. His pc seems to be behaving at the moment.
MGB