Gets "lost link to Advapi32.dll" 2

[rBen]

I get this message "Lost link to Advapi32.dll.getfile" whenever MSN messenger and Netmeeting are activated.

I'm using windows98 ME and have just updated with service
pack1, and other security patches with no problem.

Please give idea what that means and how to go about this problem.
rBen

 

[garebo]

just a thought, but is your antivirus up to date and have you run a scan lately?

 

[rBen]

yes Garebo, in fact pc-cellin didnt find any virus or worm, and have also ran the machine with Pandasoftware scan online, as well as the AVG antivirus software downloaded into the machine.
I tried to rename that file in the c:\windows\system folder so i can replaced it with another one from another machine..but the system won't allow me, as it says that file is being use by the system.
I also, did a repair of IE by invoking that Add/Remove program in the Control Panel, but it did not help, I still get those messages when msn and netmeeting are activated.

What else you think can I try? Other applications seems to work ok, like Yahoo messenger and Mirc chat programs!

 

[garebo]

To rben

Well, perhaps the next easy thing would be to run adaware or spybot, or better yet, hijack this, which, if you dont have it, you can google, its what i call a "no-install" prog, it just runs as is. It will pick up all processes and you have to judge which processes to get rid of.
At tek-tips they usually advise that you post the results, and i advise it to, as the results are a bit tricky to decipher!
I would like to see if that file is invoked in any processes that hijack picks up.

 

[rBen]

Garebo, honestly,, this computer I'm referring to is actually my gf's from abroad, and we chatted with msn and netmeeting, when it started giving this message on her comp.
And today sorry to say,, she just told me she had her techman come to look into it, and the guy reformatted the drive having found some viruses infected files in quarantine and then he installed windowsXP,,,,SO , it makes our attempt to fix this problem moot and unnecessary hehe.

But...with your last reccomendation to go and test with "Hijack",,, thats a good one.. I will go there and see if I can use that myself. Is that similar to Norton system work's utilities-> Norton Windoctor, and also this one I found yesterday here at TEk-tips side advertisement-> PC Doctor on Call(pcdocRx). I ran pcdocRX and it found 20 erros,,some in registry and the rest "shortcut-cant-find" errors which are minor, but one has to pay about $20 for them to fix it online, after running their downloaded program pcdocrx.exe. I guess its not that serious to pay that yet.

Thank you very much GArebo,,surely appreciate it,, I will go to see Hijack and ran test on my own PC to see what it says..(go to google right? ) nice idea,, my friend..thanks
rBen

 

[garebo]

glad you asked before you paid, as these progs you mentioned are NOT the same. Matter of fact, i have found, years ago, these progs like norton windoctor, Pc doctor, etc, cause MORE probs than they fix, and ignore what they say, dont even install them!!!!
I found that out years ago, i used to have to install win98se once or twice a year as i used windoctor from norton and others.
5 yrs ago i started only using goback and manually uninstalling registry entries from uninstalled progs, dont even run defrag. Defrag doesnt do that much to speed things up and can cause its own probs! I have a win98se that runs 24 hrs a day for the last 4 yrs and runs fine right as we speak, because i dont run defrag, i dont run norton windoctor, and dont run some of the other progs out there!!
I built a new unit last year, put win xp pro on it and its my main computer, but my old one is still humming away, i use it for burning and other stuff, games.
However, hijack this is a totally different prog than norton windoctor or pc doctor, totally different and also free!. Adaware and spybot are also free, just do a google search for all 3 of them, i would install spybot and hijack this, leave adaware out, 2 is enough. They both help you get rid of spyware and spyware type progs that get installed on your puter and you dont even know!!
Spyware causes all kinds of problems, all kinds!

 

[rBen]

Garebo, thank you very much for your advice..I have subscribe to the belief that "experience is the best teacher", as your 5 years experience of not running defrag for one,,convince me that.
I do run defrag and lately since i've been attached to Norton System Works I bought on the net for $19.99 last year which includes those 5 programs-. WinFax, Norton AV, CleanSweep, Ghost & if Im not mistaken includes Go Back too.
The Norton Utilities included on it, also has NDD(same as scandisk) and speedDisk(same as defrag),,soooo if u dont run defrag i assume u dont run speeddisk either.
So what about goBack.. i just checked my installation and i guess i dont include goBack in the installation of Norton system works and Im sure thats one of the programs included on that CD.I like to adopt a GoBack or restore program after downloading that lenthy SP1 windows XP update.

I will consider now, using what you've adopted: spybot (i use ad-aware), hijack this(instead of winDr,& pcDoctor), what about u'r antivirus program (I'm evaluating this freeversion of AVG(grisoft.com)from rec of chat groups.

And how about all those latest update from microsoft,,u rec those?..i just updated my neglected HPlaptop of 1 yr, with 57 mb of SP1 XP updates and seems dwnloaded ok (8 hrs) plus other updates on security issues and drive and x-controls of another 6 hrs. Why is this laptop at 1.2 ghz seems slow?even before those updates.

I get this error running ad-aware detected by AVG antivirus on this IBM desktop(233mhz) i'm using daily (win98 IE 6.0)
"i-worm/hybris.plugin", but when i run Norton and AVG individual complete test,, it rans error free. & I tried online scan from PandaSoftware also error free. But that hybris worm prompt comes up from "AVG shield program" everytime i ran Ad-aware spyware program test only. I downloaded a similar Symanctec fix tool i found via google.com for w95.hybris.F at dos prompt and it found nothing. is this AVG eror detection a fluke?

Thanks for U'r advise..very very satisfying.. hope i didnt give u too much GIGOS.. but really appreciate learning from your vaunted experience galore! ..rBen

 

[garebo]

Thanks Rben, for the star.

ok, first off, plenty of people will disagree with all that i said, so its up to you to decide, all i can say.
First, goback is the best prog ever made for the lowest possible price, period, aside, i suppose from win xp pro, which is maybe number one. But, for a utility, goback is number one by a huge margin.
You do have goback with NSW but im not sure if its the same as the retail goback. It likely is and i suggest you install it yesterday. Okay, today!!
However, you do need to get rid of that worm (like a virus) although that shouldnt stop you from installing goback. Win xp has a form of goback called "system restore" but system restore is frail in comparison. With System restore, if certain win files get corrupted, then system restore will not work!! Its true. so install goback and then turn system restore off, although system resstore will still work with goback installed but you dont need it and it takes up a lot of space, just like goback, 10% of your drive. Also, if you have a second hard drive, i suggest you only enable goback on your primary hard drive. If your primary hard drive is partitioned, then install goback on all those partitions, although goback may do it for you, i dont know as i dont partition because i feel with goback you dont need to partition and i always run 2 hard drive, the second hard drive for my data!

I suggest you NEVER run cleansweep, NDD, or speeddisk, you can even uninstall them, but install goback first, so if you run into trouble you can use goback!!.
After you uninstall any prog, go to start\all prog\run\type these words: regedit
Then go to edit\find and type in a word, just one. If you uninstall, say, adobe acrobat, then type in the word acrobat. Every time an entry shows up, delete it. Use edit\find\find next after the first time. Do this til it says there are no more entries to delete. Then close regedit, and go to "program files" and make sure the uninstall didnt leave a folder in program files that belonged to the prog you uninstalled,and the reboot. If there are any shared folders best to leave them be!
Now, when you do manual regedit you have to remember a few different words for the prog you have deleted. Suppose it is goback that you have uninstalled. Goback has been sold a few times lately and i believe norton owns it, but the retail version is still being sold under Roxio's name. So you look for "goback" and "roxio" in regedit if you are uninstalling goback. When in regedit, make sure you are certain, if not certain about an entry, leave it in, dont delete it!!!!
What you have done is eliminate what is called "registry bloat", which can cripple a computer and cause you to have to reiinstall windows.
Also, sppeedisk, defrag, cleansweep, windoctor, pc doctor, and anything like that can cripple your computer, dont use them at all, in my opinion, this is all "my opinion" But i have learned this over the years and i have computers running fine as proof of what i say!

Avg is the best antivirus in the world! Now that is very subjective, however, AVG is very good, nobody would argue that. Ask people in the know, they will tell you AVG is free and one of the best!
Sorry, norton fans, i used to think norton was great, now that i have a better idea of what i am doing, and having also visited many many forums, heard what others have said, lots of people that are heavy into their computers will tell you to forget about norton system works. Norton antivirus by itself is ok, and goback is terrific, and i think norton firewall and internet services and stuff may be ok, but speeddisk, cleansweep, norton disk doctor, forget they even exist. You watch, even norton will drop cleansweep as it is too problematic. Too many people use cleansweep and/or windoctor, reboot, and then cant get into their windows os, have to use goback or reinstall or repair windows!
If AVG tells you that you a prob, you likely do, sorry.
A partial replacement for cleansweep would be internet sweeper, and its free, just google for it.
YOu also want to have a popup stopper, again, google for "popup stopper", its free.
By the way, seems I am into free programs. Not really, a lot of "free" programs you can have free, but they really arent free as they will mess up your computer, some real bad, so thats not really free.
The latest windows updates, again, its up to you. I only use XP SP1 myself, but others will tell you that you should install at least the security updates. I dont do that because I dont click on any emails where i dont know the person sending the email, and that is where most of the probs come from.
A good firewall is important! I use zone alarm and i pay for the retail version, but the free version is fine, again, its free, you can google it!
There are other good free firewalls out there but i ran a firewall test and zone alarm passed the test with 100% marks.
Personally, i dont install windows updates til a long time after they are posted or not at all. Some are proven to be harmful to your puter, some slow it down a lot!

You need to get rid of that hybris worm, its not a "fluke" and it may be the root of your prob, where you started this thread! I am not saying it is for sure, but i had an idea it may be. I dont get virii(viruses) or worms, so i dont have the experience others do.
but, you can go to windows and do a search for "hybris worm" as i think there are tools at microsoft to get rid of that. Also, maybe AVG will do that for you as well. Get latest update for AVG, you prolly already have done that!
Things to do:
install goback, even with the worm, it should be ok.
get rid of worm
get rid of cleansweep,norton disk doctor, speeddisk, or just dont use them.
install internet sweeper and set it up right.
install spybot and set it up.
install hijack this, which is really easy, no install to it, just put it somewhere and make a shortcut to the executable for it and put shortcut wherever you like.
I put in on the start menu myself.
Install popup stopper.
Now, maybe, i have earned that star you gave me!

 

[garebo]

dont forget, others will disagree with me, so its up to you what you are gonna do.
I know if i was a newbie i would read this and think, wow, this guy is knocking Norton and even defrag.
Well, i can show you articles that agree that defrag does little to nothing and can cause big probs!
Ask how many people that know what they are doing if they run Norton Systemworks, you wont get too many, if any.
Norton antivirus, sure! Even norton internet security and norton firewall. I cant say much about the last few norton products as i have turned away from norton, same as lots of other people who have a bit of experience in some areas, like me. I have a bit, in some areas, i am a newbie too!

 

[rBen]

It's well said and done, hurrah Garebo! , that's what i called as experience..the best teacher. The world is full of theorists and all it needs are the results of tradition that are passed on thru the values that experience made based on theories that have already work and made it as a law after confirmation of each effectiveness and so till then I subscribe to Murphy's law..where "if it can fail it will" as most of those new softwares are tainted with commerce and making money on the sides to take advantage of most people's feeble understanding of technologies & if someone knows enough he or I, or should I say U also as you admit U'r a newbie, there are too much knowledge on many disciplines out there that noone will be able to learn in his lifetime..so its good reason to listen to the Wise who can set us free (not to mention free offers that we dont know about, lolz) I guess U are a guru to me on this respect! U made your star with me!
I will install those programs U suggested.. the one I dont have yet..zone Alarm, kinda wary of that still cuz I'm not sure of how firewall works to slowdown things, but as U have said..U have a good experience about it...so i will follow just hook line & sinker and go from there! Thanks my Tek-Tip's friend. U'r 5 Star to me !

 

[garebo]

to rBen
Some of the stuff i learned about here anyway, like "hijack this", i got that here.
I think norton systemworks is a very very old program based on dos that doesnt cut it anymore, kind of outlived its usefullness, and some of the progs like cleansweep are simply dangerous. Cleansweep was bought out by norton, used to be a small company.

Zone alarm: very important to have a firewall, they are a bit difficult to understand, but after a while, you get better at it. Easy to install!

 

[garebo]

by the way, in the beginning you have"I'm using win98 ME. You are talking about 2 different ones here, so its windows 98SE or windows ME, my answers are all the same anyway.

 

[TekTippy4U]

rBen,
garebo gives some good / useful info;
Remember that System Restore will RE-INFECT you if you don't turn it off..

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPOR...2001012513122239?OpenDocument&src=sec_doc_nam

also here is a link for XP disabling and Directions....
Search the site for info on your WORM also...

To both of you; here's my 50 cents worth;
(I know it's a lot to digest, take your time, please)
have a look at these site/s to speed slow boxes, stop getting crap in the first place and Rid yourself of WebBots/Spyware/Trojans/Worms/Adware...etc

http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/restricted.htm

Especially useful for 98/ME and even works with XP with no probs, some say. I just ran it and it cleaned an 85kb file full of REG settings that were dead and broken. The great thing about the orig. Microsofts RegClean 4.1a (free also) is it creates an UnDo.reg file which essentially is a go-back (You can Re-MERGE the Reg file if things go astray/whacky).It also enables you to Look/Scan the UnDo.reg file to see EXACTLY what was deleted/removed...
Yes it doesn't "Fix" everything, but it's a great cleanup tool...

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=458

Also as a rule of thumb, I do this

Temp Inet Cleanup

I would try cleaning with Spybot S&D (Search and Destroy v1.2) and AdAware's latest version also..to clean up those nasty little ActiveX controls that want to hijack your PC......
They're (ActiveX) in the Windows/Downloaded Program Files folder on win98...and also
delete all your Temporary Internet Files too.....
In Ie6 go to tools/internet options...on the General Tab, under the TempInetFiles section....select "Delete files"...(when you do this , an option is given with a check box to delete all the "downloaded program files too"....I would do that part manually thru Explorer (C:\WINDOWS\DOWNLOADED PROGRAM FILES) in case there's something in there I want....in other words I always keep that box "unchecked"...and I clear it out manually through C:\Windows\Downloaded Program Files...I have only "1" active x control in there to visit a special private site(Real Estate multiple-listing service). It's a very "subjective" thing as to which ones are "helping" ("certain" ToolBars, SearchBars, etc.....can be helpful), and which ones are "hurting" (Browser Hijacks, Trojans/Spyware, XXX dialers, Pop-up Scriplets, etc).

I also have the TempInetFiles deleted automatically by clicking the "Advanced Tab" and scrolloing down to 'security area' and "check" the "Empty TempInetFiles when Browser is closed" box........then on the "General" Tab, select "Settings" and reduce "amount of disc space to use" it to 6-10 Mb at most, for future junk...
One more thing you could do is to empty your Windows/Temp folder....these are discardable....just make sure there's no programs you've recently downloaded that you want to keep for future(ie .zip files....etc). Copy them to another folder you've created, then delete...(Windows and other App's use the Temp folder as the default install point for Temporary Setup files, until you restart, at which point it's "supposed" to clean itself out


Also, Along with using HijackThis! ..... (all these guys are moving to new servers, so look around, follow links, some "may" be broken, but most I've updated recently)
Get and use CWShredder

http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/cws/

http://tomcoyote.org/

(HijackThis Author)

http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?

http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/

here's some startup lists to look for items listed in Task Manager Services and Startup folders and reference....
Go Start>Run MSCONFIG
Startup tab
Left Pane Windows >> Software >>
Startup Lists
Running Tasks
System Hooks
(leave BOTH RunDll32 LoadPwrProfile, as one is "Services" and one is "Tasks"..this is normal if you find them there.)
Always go Off-Line and Use CTRL+ALT+DEL to stop EVERYTHING except Explorer and maybe SysTray BEFORE INSTALLING ANYTHING

http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

http://www.compu-docs.com/Startup.htm

http://greatis.com/regrun3appdatabase.htm

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[TekTippy4U]

Ooops
for this;
Left Pane Windows >> Software Environment >>
Startup Lists
Running Tasks
System Hooks

use Start >> Run MSinfo32



TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[garebo]

okay, i think rBen has an overwhelming amount of info here.
rBen, i think you should start with getting goback on your machine, then disabling system restore, then getting rid of the worm you have, maybe concentrate on what you need to do to get those 3 things done, then go on to the others.

 

[rBen]

WOW, TekTippy4u, Garebo.. i got tremendous, overwhelming infos here as garebo said, and thats good for everyone too that's following our comm here, thank U guys.. let me catch up on all these recs u gave me which I will surely get into one at a time.

First-> the Go Back , and hijackthis. i have installed the last one and it displayed lots of those registry entries(so I will be careful to delete any of those,,have to familiarize myself with all those entries,,but i recognize some, hasnt done anything as the warning of Garebo.. wait till someone can look at it, i'm still afraid to go to the registry for any manual tinkering on it as they said one error can make one disable the whole windows OS.

i have done msconfig and removed on start up some of those application programs, which i can activate and not load in memory on boot-ups. I have also done "tempInetfiles delete" as suggested by TT4U after everytime i do a secured site browse,say a crd card or bank, but will go and automate it as he suggested via the internetOptions/advance..nice tips here!

I'll do most of them one at a time, and then let U'll know if i gets into a wall.

By the way, Garebo, U were right about the Windows OS I mentioned at the start.. Smart people see things where mortals see pass thru them, my gf's comp has windows SE not ME. And my own comps are windows98 updated to IE 6.0.2800.1106IS, and the laptop is HP XH675 winXP updated with SP1, and the 2 Q nos..

So I have a lot of catching up to do to keep abreast with u guys..But now at least I have someone to talk to here,,This is really a swell forum site with helpful people like U..WTG guys, we're family here!

I used to be a hardware person myself,worked on large scale system at UNISYS(Sperry side), check Processors(at Burroughs side), then HP for printers, and then PC at the Texas School District & am retired now..falling behind in hi-tech stuff...I mostly do chats now with friends WW hihi

Be back with U guys,, tell me more here..as I save these tips U all give me to look over as a checklist..Thanks again rBen

 

[garebo]

with hijack this, you dont want to delete all of the stuff it shows you, best thing to do is just run hijack this and then cut and paste the info you get here on this thread, so that people who know can tell you what to keep and what to check off so it can be deleted.

 

[TekTippy4U]

rBen;
I suggested RegClean cause, in the past, and from experience, I had to manuslly delete REG crud that was left over from InterVideo (WinDVD)..and what happened was, that the darn app. "overwrote" important System .dll files and hijacked ClassID's in the REG.....so when I manually deleted most every entry (even carefully)...I couldn't get my Original - Peferctly functioning - DVD software program to work and play DVDs...No amount of uninstall/re-installing helped..I spent days at it....Had to do a Fdisk and Format and reinstall Win98.
If you do delete manually,....DELETE only the Values in the Right Pane...and you can always choose/select the Key or Branch in LeftPane and EXPORT it(from the Registry menu) as a .reg file, which will save a Copy of it on your HDD, wherever you choose....
So, when you delete, and things go bonkers, you can (like using RegClean) Re-MERGE that deleted copy, and viola...

If you wait a couple of days after deleting to make sure nothings broken or screwy, then you can run RegClean to wipe the HDD of dead useless Links and ClassID's leftover..
Or just run it from the start and save yourself the manual delete headache..

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[rBen]

Garebo, is there a way of doing the cut&paste of the results of the hijackthis's scan? I can's seem to copy what's inside that window? it does'nt work. I tried the start-up running processes,,that one can be save via a notepad, but it does not include the scanned window results?

 

[TekTippy4U]

rBen;
change the file extension from .log to .txt

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.