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LIME WIRE - What was I thinking

Discussion in 'Security and Privacy' started by buckshotdad1960, 2009/03/09.

  1. 2009/03/09
    buckshotdad1960

    buckshotdad1960 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Greetings Ghost Board!

    My OS is 98se. I have Dial up, that’s right, 56k! My computer is an APTIVA IBM, its white, I type with one finger and the biggest sin I have ever committed is downloading lime wire! LOL Well, ok, that’s a lie but just follow along with the bouncing ball here alright, I’m whining! LOL But seriously, Lime wire is really where all my nightmares begin!

    Lime wire! They say that the devil himself won't even down load it because of all the viruses you can get from it, but I did! Now I belong to the underworld of the sleepless dead who's only reason for living is to work on and repair my computer to keep it running! My OS is riddled with holes of missing files and error messages that seem to blink out to me in secret code the words -
    YOU IDIOT!

    The viruses have long been dealt with but the damage from weeks of constant battle has drained my resolve and with no original installation CD my prospects for a full recovery looks grim.

    Tonight my challenge is to try and fully reinstall my ISP.
    I use peoplpc, so I called them up. They said my problem wasn't with them; it was with my internet service provider. I thought they were my internet service provider! If their not then who is? I only know that I have to reinstall peoplepc every time I go to get on the internet. Peoplepc never fully installs, but at least it installs enough to log on so I can get on the internet. While I'm installing it I get 10 or 12 Dial-up boxes that pop up on me. I have to x them out as fast as they pop up or they will stop my installation. When I get on the internet I bring up my task master. I always find two dialers in it. If I delete the one of them, the right one, my computer runs faster. If I delete the wrong one I loose my connection and have to start over. I get error messages that say my DIALER EXE. has encountered a problem and is trying to split. Plus, if any where along the way I encounter a problem of some kind, (my fault, your fault, no bodies fault) I loose my internet connection and have to restart my computer and start the process all over again. Alright, let me make this simple.

    1) I need to know how to stop these dial-up boxes from popping up.
    2) Figure out how to get peoplepc to fully install without any dialer splitting problems. Can anyone help me?
     
  2. 2009/03/09
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Hi buckshotdad1960. It sounds like you got some nasty infections on your system.

    Please read this post and post the requested logs in the Malware and Virus Removal forum.
     

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  4. 2009/03/09
    buckshotdad1960

    buckshotdad1960 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hello Evan Omo, Its good to know others still exist! LOL :) However I have already done that about 6 or 7, I don't know, maybe 8 days ago! The last time I checked that post with the hijackthis log was maybe on the 5 day. I'll post this then go there and take another look. Nice meeting you!
     
  5. 2009/03/09
    buckshotdad1960

    buckshotdad1960 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Alright I took a look and they don't see any malware there! Maybe it still could be a virus, I don't know. AAAAAHHHH who knows! Some days your just doomed to be doomed! LOL Maybe a mirrical will pop out at me one of these days and solve my problem like my computer catching on fire or something! LOL I wouldn't even call the fire department! LOL See ya!
     
  6. 2009/03/10
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    The thing is though, malware could be causing the problems you are describing. Even though you ran some scans with anti malware programs you could still be infected with some malicious software and not even realize it.

    I would wait until your computer is clean before we try and figure out these issues your system is having, assuming its not malware related.

    After your computer is clean of malware try this.

    Download and run Dial a Fix.

    After you extract the contents in the folder, run Dial a Fix. Remove any restrictive policies if it finds any and select all the checkboxes and hit Go. Let Dial a Fix run. After its finished, click the hammer button which will launch Dial a Fixes advanced tools. Scroll down and select Repair Permissions and hit Go. After Dial A Fix finishes scroll down again on the advanced tools and select sfc /scannow and press Go. After all of those steps are finished reboot the computer and see if you notice any change in the systems behavior. :)
     
  7. 2009/03/10
    buckshotdad1960

    buckshotdad1960 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Ok, I ran it. No restrictions, hit green check mark then go. Ok clock, then a box popped up that said C:windows\msiexec.exe was not found! Please extract this file from your installation media and try again.

    I have no idea what to do there about that!

    Hit ok, then hit the hammer, two things popped up:
    1) Backup registry
    2) repair/reinstall IE

    Backup registry went well - backup complete.
    Repair/reinstall IE had a box pop up that said:
    C:\windows\IE Uninstall log.Txt was not found. You will not be able to use this method to repair IE.

    I had no option to scroll down and select Repair Permissions and hit Go. After Dial A Fix finishes scroll down again on the advanced tools and select sfc /scannow and press Go.

    What do I do about this?
     
  8. 2009/03/10
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Ok great job so far.

    Sorry, I forgot that you were running Windows 98 and not 2000 or XP. :eek: Disregard running sfc /scannow since you can only run that on Windows 2000 or later.

    Instead read this, How to run Scandisk in Windows 98. :)

    Also msiexec.exe is a critical system file for Windows Installer. msiexec.exe belongs to the Windows Installer Component and is used to install new programs that use Windows Installer package files (MSI). This program is important for the stable and secure running of your computer. Since Dial a Fix reports that the file is missing I would also try Reinstalling Windows Installer.
     
    Last edited: 2009/03/10
  9. 2009/03/11
    markp62

    markp62 Geek Member Alumni

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    1) I need to know how to stop these dial-up boxes from popping up.

    Some of these popping up may be caused by a legitimate program auto updating itself. If no internet connection found, they start one up. I would go into the Internet Properties (Control Panel), click on Connections tab, then put a tick on 'Never dial a connection'.

    2) Figure out how to get peoplepc to fully install without any dialer splitting problems. Can anyone help me?

    I believe Evan Omo is on the right track about installing the Windows Installer, it should fix the problem of installing PeoplePC.

    You might want to look on the PeoplePC CD, and check if it might have the installation files for Internet Explorer, hopefully it is 6 SP1. It appears you cannot do a repair, but maybe a reinstall?

    Here is a good way to do a general cleanup of Win98, you might need it. Copy the following lines, and paste into Notepad.
    @echo off
    smartdrv
    deltree /y c:\windows\*.tmp
    deltree /y c:\windows\*.swp
    deltree /y c:\windows\cookies
    deltree /y c:\windows\history
    deltree /y c:\windows\temp
    deltree /y c:\windows\tempor~1
    echo All Done!

    Then Save As "c:\windows\clean.bat ", with the quotes so it doesn't end up saved as Clean.Bat.Txt. Then choose to Shutdown, but select Restart in Dos Mode. At the prompt, just type in 'clean' and press Enter, when you see 'All Done!' appear, reboot the computer.
    Note: if you have any cookies you want to be kept, delete the ones you do not want. Then use the following instead as the above will delete the folders and all their contents.
    @echo off
    smartdrv
    deltree /y c:\windows\*.tmp
    deltree /y c:\windows\*.swp
    deltree /y c:\windows\cookies\index.dat
    deltree /y c:\windows\history
    deltree /y c:\windows\temp
    deltree /y c:\windows\tempor~1
    echo All Done!
     
  10. 2009/03/11
    buckshotdad1960

    buckshotdad1960 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Ok, I'm back! wow, scan disk only took.... Oh, I don't know.....FOREVER!!!!
    But at the end of the day it said everything was ok and there were no errors found! I guess thats good news though. I don't need more problems! As far as reinstalling windows installer goes it was a no go!

    I clicked on the link and a page came up to install windows installer 2.0 redistributable for nt 4.0 and 2000..........hold on Omo I have to leave, I'll be back to finish later, sorry!
     
  11. 2009/03/11
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Ok keep me posted on whether or not you can reinstall Windows Installer.
     
  12. 2009/03/12
    buckshotdad1960

    buckshotdad1960 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Ok, sorry about that! I’m glad that’s over! Alright, clicked on installer 2.0 which sent me to a page that said: This download is available to customers running genuine Microsoft windows. Clicked the continue button to start the validation process. Another page came up that said look for the IE information bar near the top of the web browser to download the active x controls but this never came up. I clicked the alternative method. That brought me to a page that said run the validation tool. Clicked it and a file download box came up, downloaded it, ran it and got two boxes that said:

    1) The c:\windows\temporary internet files\ content.IE5\81lj4hyr\genuinecheck{1}.exe file expects a newer version of windows. Upgrade your windows version.
    2) Access to the specified device, path, or file is denied.

    Now I tried all this several times, and down loaded to desk top and ran then tried it just by opening it and running it without downloading it to my desk top. But nothing I did worked. Once a box told me that a device needed was disabled. Have you got any suggestion on how to download the genuinecheck thing so I can download the installer? After a taxing evening like last night, I could only come up with three alternative plans for the problem!
    1) Tell you and markp62 and hope you guys can pull a rabbit out of hat!
    2) Stab computer repeatedly with a knife until dead!
    3) Get sharper knife!
    Which plan should I go with? LOL
     
  13. 2009/03/12
    buckshotdad1960

    buckshotdad1960 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hey mark, I did exactly like you said and that improved the situation a lot! That cut the boxes down from 12 or so to just 2 or 3, it just depends. Thank you very much! Now I have a new problem. Instead of counting boxes at night to put me to sleep I have to count sheep! The problem is, there’s no sheep where I live! LOL Thanks!
     
  14. 2009/03/12
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Ok since you had some trouble downloading Windows Installer from the Microsoft link then download it from Software Patch.com instead.
     
  15. 2009/03/12
    buckshotdad1960

    buckshotdad1960 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hello evan Omo,
    I'll try that link in just a little bit. Right now I'm doing a scan with spyware doctor. I don't know if that would mess with trying to download windows installer or not so I'll wait! But heres a quick question you may or may not know. I started spyware doctor but it didn't get get far when a box popped up that said: Error in dll.scan_start: Cannot open file c:\windows\temporary internet files\content.ie5\index.dat.

    Do you think this could be my problem and how can I delete this index.dat file if it is?
     
  16. 2009/03/12
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Regarding the index.dat file read this, What are index.dat files.

    If the file causes a problem with spyware doctor then you can try and delete the file.
     
  17. 2009/03/12
    buckshotdad1960

    buckshotdad1960 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Dear omo,
    Welcome to my world of pain and frustration!

    I clicked on your link which took me to another link to click.
    It was a registry booster program. I downloaded it and tried to run it but a box popped up that said: ERROR STARTING PROGRAM, The registry booster.exe file is linked to a missing export shell32.dll:shgetfolderpathA.

    See, plan 2 is looking better now isn't it? LOL :D
     
  18. 2009/03/12
    markp62

    markp62 Geek Member Alumni

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    c:\windows\temporary internet files\content.ie5\index.dat
    The above file has actually already been deleted and rebuilt new and clean due to this command 'deltree /y c:\windows\tempor~1'. Windows will protect this particular file from other access.
    Old style MS-Dos does not recognize long filenames, it will only recognize filenames that are 8 charactors long, also known as 8.3 filenames. An 8 charactor name with a 3 charactor extension. What dos will do is translate a name such as (temporary internet files) into (tempor~1), or put another way.
    c:\windows\tempor~1 = c:\windows\temporary internet files
    The Deltree command is used to delete entire folders, their files and all their subfolders, or in short your entire temporary internet files have been nuked.

    I am going to search my archived CD's for the Windows Installer for 98 as I know I have it somewhere.

    ERROR STARTING PROGRAM, The registry booster.exe file is linked to a missing export shell32.dll:shgetfolderpathA.

    The file is not missing, else windows would not be up and running. I have seen this error message come about when program runs up against a file version that does not have the correct function it is looking for. In short (ya gonna not like this) it is probably looking for the Xp version.
     
    Last edited: 2009/03/12
  19. 2009/03/12
    buckshotdad1960

    buckshotdad1960 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks markp62, I'll look for it to come! Good luck finding it!
     
  20. 2009/03/12
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    I didn't ask you to download this registry booster program. Why did you download this application? :confused: Please remove that program immediatly since its a scam and could make your computer problems worse. Follow my link again and scroll down. In blue letters you will see this [Click Here to Download] Please click that link. After that you will come to another page that says your download is starting. Don't click anything and you should get a Internet Explorer window that pops up saying do you want to open or save this file? Click open and then install Windows Installer.
     
    Last edited: 2009/03/13
  21. 2009/03/12
    buckshotdad1960

    buckshotdad1960 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Ok, see what happens when you abanden me for wine and women! LOL I get in trouble! But If it will make you feel any better I slapped myself around, broke my thumbs and made myself promise to pay better attention to what you say! LOL I did it exactly like you said, then I hit open and a box popped up and said: The specified service already exists. I retried it two more times then tried to download windows installer again where it made me try and verify genuinechecker but again it said msiexec.exe was not found! Please extract this file from your installation media and try again. Do you know how to exstract this file?

    P. S. I also ran dial a fix. maybe that was the one that said msiexec.exe was not found! I forget, I'm a little drawgy still from my beating and my thumbs hurt! LOL If you want to give up on me I'll understand, it looks hopeless! But for me its just another great day to be alive! LOL I'm use to disapointment! I have windows 98se!
     
    Last edited: 2009/03/12

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