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Resolved Inserting .dll into System32 caused a hiccup?

Discussion in 'Windows 7' started by psaulm119, 2013/02/24.

  1. 2013/02/24
    psaulm119 Lifetime Subscription

    psaulm119 Geek Member Thread Starter

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    I have been tinkering with a Windows Explorer substitute that was giving me an error message. I went to their site, and was told to d/l and insert msvcr110.dll into my system32 directory. I did that, and the readme file (for the dll) said to reboot. After rebooting, I saw the Windows welcome/signin screen tell me that it was preparing my desktop. That did not make me feel to comfortable; what then loaded was a desktop w/o Aero (the older, classic theme), with nothing but the recycle bin on my desktop. Now my user account still had my picture, but what I saw on my desktop was an installation dialog for my router. I was panicking, to say the least.

    I didn't know what to do, so I rebooted, and all is well. You don't have to tell me--I know just enough to be dangerous.... :D

    Now can anyone tell me the lesson here for me to learn? Are .dll files capable of borking a Windows installation or user account? Or does Windows occasionally hiccup when a dll is inserted the way I did it? Or....

    The site I got it from was some dll download site. I just googled the name of teh file and in the first page of results was a site that had the file....
     
    psaulm119,
    #1
  2. 2013/02/24
    SpywareDr

    SpywareDr SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Absolutely.



    Just like in real life, there are liars and thieves on the internet. And if you let them, they will gladly take over control of your computer.
     
    SpywareDr,
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  4. 2013/02/24
    Arie

    Arie Administrator Administrator Staff

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    Right... like giving someone you don't know the keys to the backdoor of your house :eek:
     
    Arie,
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  5. 2013/02/24
    psaulm119 Lifetime Subscription

    psaulm119 Geek Member Thread Starter

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    I see.

    Well Malwarebytes and MS Security Essentials scans come up clean.

    Looks like I dodged a bullet.

    OK no more dlll downloads from sites like that.
     
    psaulm119,
    #4
  6. 2013/02/24
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Hi Paul. When it comes to downloading programs from the Internet you should always do your research and determine if the program that you will be installing is safe. Downloading some .dll or .exe file from some Internet site is a very unsafe move to do.

    At least you learned a lesson but also keep in mind that if you have doubts about installing a program then either ask someone first or don't do it. If that .dll file was malicious then you could have been in some real trouble.
     
    Evan Omo,
    #5
  7. 2013/02/24
    SpywareDr

    SpywareDr SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Note that neither of those two programs are designed to discover s rootkit. :(

    I'm not saying you have one, I'm just saying ...
     
    SpywareDr,
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  8. 2013/02/24
    psaulm119 Lifetime Subscription

    psaulm119 Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Fair enough. Just did a scan with MWB Antirootkit program, and I came up clean.
     
    psaulm119,
    #7
  9. 2013/02/25
    SpywareDr

    SpywareDr SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    That's good news. :)
     
    SpywareDr,
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  10. 2013/02/25
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    I need to "replace" .dll files for some programs at work. I expect the programs are built on open source software.

    The files need to match Windows version otherwise they can be substituted with other file versions and take your luck.

    It might have worked perfectly under Windows XP. It might only work under Win 7, after substitution, with pot-luck.

    Matt
     
    mattman,
    #9

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