Missing Start Button and can't execute many programs

I am working on a DELL with XP Home and this PC is having a terrible time.

I just tried doing a REPAIR of XP, but it did not fix a thing.

I cannot run ANY local virus scan or local spyware/malware programs. I did run the Trend and Panda online scans and found virtually nothing but adware, which would not delete.

I'm about to pull my hair out on this one, as I've practically done everthing short of reformatting/reinstalling XP.

I have Hijackthis installed, and have the log file of the latest run:

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 2:18:56 PM, on 3/2/2005
Platform: Windows XP (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 (6.00.2600.0000)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\LEXBCES.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\LEXPPS.EXE
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccEvtMgr.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\cisvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\navapsvc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\nvsvc32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\fxssvc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe
C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe
C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
C:\WINDOWS\BCMSMMSG.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\cidaemon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\cidaemon.exe
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
C:\Downloads\hijackthis\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://www.dellnet.com
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Bar = http://channels.aimtoday.com/search/aimtoolbar.jsp
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.npr.org/
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings,ProxyOverride = http://localhost;
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: Viewpoint Toolbar BHO - {A7327C09-B521-4EDB-8509-7D2660C9EC98} - C:\Program Files\Viewpoint\Viewpoint Toolbar\ViewBarBHO.dll
O2 - BHO: NAV Helper - {BDF3E430-B101-42AD-A544-FADC6B084872} - C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\NavShExt.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Viewpoint Toolbar - {F8AD5AA5-D966-4667-9DAF-2561D68B2012} - C:\Program Files\Viewpoint\Viewpoint Toolbar\ViewBar.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Norton AntiVirus - {42CDD1BF-3FFB-4238-8AD1-7859DF00B1D6} - C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\NavShExt.dll
O3 - Toolbar: AIM Search - {40D41A8B-D79B-43d7-99A7-9EE0F344C385} - C:\Program Files\AIM Toolbar\AIMBar.dll
O3 - Toolbar: &Radio - {8E718888-423F-11D2-876E-00A0C9082467} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\msdxm.ocx
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ccApp] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe "
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ccRegVfy] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccRegVfy.exe "
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [MMTray] C:\Program Files\MUSICMATCH\MUSICMATCH Jukebox\mm_tray.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TkBellExe] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe" -osboot
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [iTunesHelper] C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [IMJPMIG8.1] C:\WINDOWS\IME\imjp8_1\IMJPMIG.EXE /Spoil /RemAdvDef /Migration32
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [MSPY2002] C:\WINDOWS\System32\IME\PINTLGNT\ImScInst.exe /SYNC
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PHIME2002ASync] C:\WINDOWS\System32\IME\TINTLGNT\TINTSETP.EXE /SYNC
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PHIME2002A] C:\WINDOWS\System32\IME\TINTLGNT\TINTSETP.EXE /IMEName
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\System32\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [BCMSMMSG] BCMSMMSG.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MSMSGS] "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Weather] C:\PROGRA~1\AWS\WEATHE~1\Weather.EXE 1
O4 - Global Startup: Microsoft Office.lnk = C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\OSA.EXE
O8 - Extra context menu item: &AIM Search - res://C:\Program Files\AIM Toolbar\AIMBar.dll/aimsearch.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Viewpoint Search - res://C:\Program Files\Viewpoint\Viewpoint Toolbar\ViewBar.dll/CXTSEARCH.HTML
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\Office10\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: Related - {c95fe080-8f5d-11d2-a20b-00aa003c157a} - C:\WINDOWS\web\related.htm
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Show &Related Links - {c95fe080-8f5d-11d2-a20b-00aa003c157a} - C:\WINDOWS\web\related.htm
O9 - Extra button: Real.com - {CD67F990-D8E9-11d2-98FE-00C0F0318AFE} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\Shdocvw.dll
O9 - Extra button: WeatherBug - {AF6CABAB-61F9-4f12-A198-B7D41EF1CB52} - C:\PROGRA~1\AWS\WEATHE~1\Weather.exe (HKCU)
O16 - DPF: {04E214E5-63AF-4236-83C6-A7ADCBF9BD02} (HouseCall Control) - http://housecall-beta.trendmicro.com/housecall/xscan60.cab
O16 - DPF: {11260943-421B-11D0-8EAC-0000C07D88CF} (iPIX ActiveX Control) - http://www.ipix.com/viewers/ipixx.cab
O16 - DPF: {2BC66F54-93A8-11D3-BEB6-00105AA9B6AE} (Symantec AntiVirus scanner) - http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/SharedContent/vc/bin/AvSniff.cab
O16 - DPF: {644E432F-49D3-41A1-8DD5-E099162EEEC5} (Symantec RuFSI Utility Class) - http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/SharedContent/common/bin/cabsa.cab
O16 - DPF: {80DD2229-B8E4-4C77-B72F-F22972D723EA} (AvxScanOnline Control) - http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/Msie/bitdefender.cab
O16 - DPF: {9A9307A0-7DA4-4DAF-B042-5009F29E09E1} (ActiveScan Installer Class) - http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/as5/asinst.cab
O16 - DPF: {9B03C5F1-F5AB-47EE-937D-A8EDA626F876} (Anonymizer Anti-Spyware Scanner) - http://download.zonelabs.com/bin/promotions/spywaredetector/WebAAS.cab
O16 - DPF: {9FC5238F-12C4-454F-B1B5-74599A21DE47} (Webshots Photo Uploader) - http://community.webshots.com/html/WSPhotoUploader.CAB
O16 - DPF: {A3009861-330C-4E10-822B-39D16EC8829D} (CRAVOnline Object) - http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/ravonline.cab
O16 - DPF: {CA034DCC-A580-4333-B52F-15F98C42E04C} (Downloader Class) - http://www.stopzilla.com/_download/Auto_Installer/dwnldr.cab
O16 - DPF: {CE28D5D2-60CF-4C7D-9FE8-0F47A3308078} (ActiveDataInfo Class) - http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/activedata/SymAData.cab
O16 - DPF: {D719897A-B07A-4C0C-AEA9-9B663A28DFCB} (iTunesDetector Class) - http://ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/detection/ITDetector.cab
O16 - DPF: {E77C0D62-882A-456F-AD8F-7C6C9569B8C7} (ActiveDataObj Class) - http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/activedata/ActiveData.cab
O16 - DPF: {FA3662C3-B8E8-11D6-A667-0010B556D978} (IWinAmpActiveX Class) - http://cdn.digitalcity.com/_media/dalaillama/ampx.cab
O23 - Service: Symantec Event Manager (ccEvtMgr) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccEvtMgr.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Password Validation Service (ccPwdSvc) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccPwdSvc.exe
O23 - Service: iPod Service (iPodService) - Apple Computer, Inc. - C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
O23 - Service: LexBce Server (LexBceS) - Lexmark International, Inc. - C:\WINDOWS\system32\LEXBCES.EXE
O23 - Service: Norton AntiVirus Auto Protect Service (navapsvc) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\navapsvc.exe
O23 - Service: Intel NCS NetService (NetSvc) - Intel(R) Corporation - C:\Program Files\Intel\NCS\Sync\NetSvc.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Driver Helper Service (NVSvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\WINDOWS\System32\nvsvc32.exe
O23 - Service: ScriptBlocking Service (SBService) - Symantec Corporation - C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\SYMANT~1\SCRIPT~1\SBServ.exe
O23 - Service: SymWMI Service (SymWSC) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\Security Center\SymWSC.exe


As you can see, I've tried MANy programs to fix this...but to no avail. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Dave

 

Welcome to WindowsBBS Dave

Download Process Explorer, unzip and open and start procexp.exe to run. Click view>lower pane view>dlls, click explorer.exe in the top window and wait for the lower pane to populate, then click file>save as and place on your desktop. Please post that log.

If you open your AV and task manager only, then end process on explorer.exe, will the AV run? If NAV simply won't open, try stopping explorer.exe and then running the AV by clicking file>new task and typing the path to NAV's executable (I think it's NAVW32.exe). You can restart explorer.exe by typing explorer. Will it run in safe mode?

Have you tried start>run, type cmd to get a command prompt window, then type sfc /scannow? You will need the XP cd.

 

Thanks for the post. Unfortunately, when I attempt to run the unzipped exe, I get the same error as when trying other exe files. It will not execute. Any other things to check?

Thanks,
Dave

 

Dave

Here is a link that you may find useful. I don't know if it fixed the problem as the guy never came back to say.

 

Thanks for the info, but that is a completely different problem than mine. When I attempt to run MOST (not all) programs, I get the following error Box:

"This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem "

I get that same error box even sometimes when I try to install a program, but not always. Ad-Aware was installed, BUT, when I try to execute it, I get that error box.

The strange thing is that I CAN actually run a few programs, like IE and MS Word, and Hijackthis. I cannot run any registry editors, anti-spyware, or antivirus programs though (besides the online variety).

I believe the registry is corrupt, and I have to fix this PC asap, so I'm likely going to install XP into a new folder and try to put this problem way way way behind me.

Are there any other details that I can provide which would be beneficial for further analysis?

Thanks!
Dave

 

This is just a shot here, try this little tool here. It says it is for 98, but works on XP as they have the same Key in the registry. It will run as it is not an EXE file. It is a COM file.
EXEfix08

 

Thanks too for your tip. The issue with this PC is not a generic ".exe" problem. I can run several exe programs, including hijackthis.exe, without any problems. I'm convinced that the registry is the culprit.

Why? I have installed XP to a new folder. It worked perfectly. Then, as soon as I did that, I ran several scans, found nothing worth noting.

I do appreciate all who've attempted to help on this.

Oh the joys of MS OS's

Consider this issue closed. Blessings!
Dave