[necrophyte]

some 1-2 months ago something strange happened to my system (winxp pro sp3) and since then every now and then a message appears saying the normal.dot template has been changed - do i want to save it, after using outlook (office pro 2003) for example. also when i right-click on an image file, this appears:



after this has happened once, it doesnt happen anymore.

i uninstalled the only c++ redist. i had (2005) and installed the new 2008 redist., but the problem still persists.

i checked that my system is completely virus/malwarefree, ran some registry checking tools etc. and now i wanted to ask whether a win & office repair install would solve those two problems (i have a slipstreamed winxp sp3 cd) and whether this could cause any problems afterwards.

actually, besides these 2 problems, my system is running perfectly. so could there be any driver/software or registry issues after running a repair install? i know i would have to install all the ms updates again, but would the change of the system file versions cause any problems in general?

winxp pro sp3
office pro 2003
hp 8510p notebook

thanks

ps: i already read on the ms hp that i would have to uninstall ie8 before performing the repair install since there would be some problems if i did it while having ie8 or ie7 installed

[Mac Daddy]

Usually these pop up because of corruptions in the OS no matter how they came about. I usually put up with them for a while then reformat ...

[Judas]

if you have time and don't need to use the computer..

try this:

load up the command prompt .. you can do this by : START ~> RUN~>

type in CMD and then ok

then type:

SFC /scannow

this will do a full critical system file check.... be forwarned this should be a last ditch effort as depending on specific programs installed, could potentially make them unuseable (require reinstall)... You likely will need your windows xp sp3 disk if it comes across files that are corrupt... replaced by questionable signed versions....

I typically do a SFC /PURGECACHE followed by a /SCANNOW to make damn sure.

[charm_quark]

doesn't your explorer crash????
i 'll go with what both judas and Mac daddy said,, it definitely has to be some sort of file corrption..

[necrophyte]

thank you!

a completely new os install would take me too much time and actually my system runs that good right now that these few bugs wouldnt be worth it.

reinstalling some programs shouldnt be a problem, so ill try the sfc command.

doesn't your explorer crash????

no, when i right-click an image file, the c++ error appears (most of the times, but not every time), and after hitting ok i can use the right-click on every file without the error appear again (i think only after a restart it appears again, once.

and the normal.dot change message appears every now and then, i didnt figure out whether theres a speceific sequence of actions required, but ill post it here when it appears again. mostly after using outlook or when shutting down the notebook..

but i have no clue what could have caused that. it may be since i installed a new antivirus software (the time after having uninstalled the old one but before having installed the new one) - i think i had some problems there. so maybe some remaining traces of a virus could have caused that. but right now everythings fine, i checked with several online scanners and my present antivirus software (NAV/NSW2009) and malwarebyte's anti malware.

ill revert when i have time to perform that sfc command later today.

thanks!

[necrophyte]

ok, now i did sfc /purgecache and then sfc /scannow with the win cd inserted and it finished without any messages/info about having changed something.

after restart the image file right-click c++ explorer.exe runtime error still occurs.

[necrophyte]

i installed the c++ redist. 2005 + sp1 2005 again (2008 + sp1 2008 already installed), so thats not the problem. there seems to be a program that causes the problem in explorer.exe when right-clicking an image file for the first time.

i think the best idea would be figuring out which program this is.

didnt experience the normal.dot problem until now, maybe it is already solved..

can someone tell me what criteria to set in the process monitor (sysinternals suite) in order to monitor a right-click?

[Judas]

at this point i would probably run a scan using www.superantispyware.com just in case there is something in there doing something it shouldn't..... i've seen viruses crash

[charm_quark]

or also rescan your system but put heuristic setting on max

[necrophyte]

ok, i ran windows live one care (found some registry errors) and superantispyware, which found 3 rogue registry entries (\Software\Microsoft\40F8A7DD\) and a vundo.variant, but in a thumbs.db file in a picture folder - can i treat this as a serious threat or is it a false positive? klicking on more information took me to superantispyware's website with a huge list of .dll files, but i didnt find thumbs.db among them.. after all, this is a normal system file found in every pictures folder..


ill restart and check whether anything's better now.

thanks for your support!

[necrophyte]

after restart a ATI CCC send error report meesage appeared, the explorer.exe runtime error still occured when right-clicking an image file..

one other question, now that i got to know the sfc command, i tried it on an old desktop (winxp sp3) pc and there are constantly popping up messages that i need to insert either the win xp professional cd or win xp professional sp3, although i inserted my slipstreamed win xp pro sp3 cd. after klicking ok some 30 times (while the message altered between xp pro & xp pro sp3), it started working again and now appears again, but only asking me to insert the win xp pro cd, and no matter how often i klick ok, he tries to read the cd but it appears again.. i created the slipstreamed win xp pro sp3 cd using the i386 folder on my notebook so that should be a regular win xp pro sp3 cd, no oem, no HP files...

any idea?

EDIT: is there a way to see which file is being checked at the moment and requires the win xp pro cd? or is there a way to create a report after the sfc so i can see which files it didnt manage to copy because i klicked cancel when prompting me to insert the win xp pro cd although the cd (win xp pro sp3) was inserted?

[Judas]

should show up in the event view of what errors are occuring as what is linked to them...

as for the thumbs.db, it's not impossible for them to show up in those files

[necrophyte]

well, i dont know what did it, but a minor, but quite noticeable "problem" has been solved - when booting, after the desktop appears, normally my taskbar disappears for some 20-30 seconds, and then only 3-4 icons appear in the tray (only way to make all appear that are supposed to, was to log off and log on again - im using automatic logon since im the only user).

this is solved now, now the taskbar doesnt disappear, and all the tray icons are there.


also the normal.dot problem didnt occur, not sure whether its solved, but that was not such a big issue.

however, the right-click c++ explorer.exe runtime error still appears when right-clicking an image file for the first time after booting..

should show up in the event view of what errors are occuring as what is linked to them...

didnt understand that - there is no event view - theres only a system window with a progress bar saying that the system files are being verified. when the messsage prompting me to insert the win xp pro (sp3) cd appears, it doesnt state for which file this is required, like when installing additional win or office features when it says the file "xxxx" needs to be copied from a specific location, please insert the winxp/office cd.

and after the sfc is completed only c:\> appears, no report, neither inside windows where the window with the process bar was.

can someone tell me what criteria to set in the process monitor (sysinternals suite) in order to monitor a right-click?

..would be interesting and probably give me more information on the cause of the c++ explorer.exe runtime error, any ideas?

thanks