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+--- Thread: A word of warning on ask.com toolbar and IE8 (/showthread.php?tid=10087)
A word of warning on ask.com toolbar and IE8 - Werehawk - 11-26-2009
Over the last few weeks I had a battle with my nieces PC.
It started to give me the infamous missing or invalid hal.dll.
So after some research I booted the system into recovery mode using the Windows XP Install CD.
Try to delete boot.ini
Run bootcfg /rebuild
run bootfix
exit and boot into Windows XP
Window starts normally.
I login then reboot...
Only to get again:
"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
system32hal.dll.
Please re-install a copy of the above file."
After a couple rounds of this I did a repair installation of Windows XP.
That worked for all of a few days...
Again back to the missing or corrupt hal.dll
Stop for a few days to cool off.
Do some research.
http://forums.techguy.org/7031504-post4.html
Rerun the above procedure
I note that boot.ini
boot into safe mode cop from window update folderto system folder hal.dll, ntoskrnl.exe
ntkrnlpa.exe with the versions that are their.
Reboot and then I reboot without loginng in.
Login
Then logoff and reboot.
Only to get again:
"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
system32hal.dll.
Please re-install a copy of the above file."
Ok back where we started...
Then I rerun the commands take a look at the root directory after login.
root.ini is missing
Post what has been happening so far at tech support site to see if get any suggestions as to a solution...
Get suggestion to run chkdsk /r after booting in recovery console and then run windows defrag...
Did so end result
Windows boots up normally
after a reboot...
Bad or missing hal.dll...
Repair procedure again
This time after login in I take a look at root directory with windows explorer (after changing a few defaults so will show hidden and system protected
files...Boot.ini is gone.
At this point I came to the conclusion that something was happening after logging into Window XP. Probably malware...
Do some more searching using different search terms...
Then finally a clue...
http://forum.applian.com/showthread.php?t=2123
To be brief apparently some versions of the ask.com toolbar in conjunction with IE8 delete boot.ini, autoexec.bat, and config.sys (last two not needed in
windows XP).
Knowing that my niece has downloaded games and may have installed the ask toolbar without even realizing she had done so.
Run yet again the bootcfg /rebuild and bootfix commands
Boot into safe mode.
Check if ask.com toolbar is ionstalled. (it was).
Uninstall the damn thing plus a few other toolbars that had been installed.
Reboot.
Login to windows
Take a look at root directory...
Root.ini is there.
Reboot
This time windows finally loads normally...
In retrospect the few days the computer worked after the repair installation was due to not having updated yet to IE8. As soon as it updated ask.com and IE 8
zapped the root system files.In this case I would call ask.com toolbar malware.
--Werehawk--
My mom's brief take on upcoming Guatemalan Elections "In last throes of preelection activities. Much loudspeaker vote pleading."
- Black Aeronaut - 11-26-2009
As a matter of course, I never allow programs to install their 'toolbars' into my web browser - even the anti-virus software.
- Werehawk - 11-26-2009
Nor do I...But like I said it wasn't my computer.
I also had some words with my 13 years old niece on letting any software install additional bits and pieces of themselves into the computer...Being unable to
use her pc for three weeks will have probably driven the point in pretty thoroughly...
--Werehawk--
My mom's brief take on upcoming Guatemalan Elections "In last throes of preelection activities. Much loudspeaker vote pleading."
- Morganite - 11-27-2009
I'd arguably consider any of those toolbars to be like malware, even if they don't break anything. Never heard of one that does enough to justify
taking yet another chunk of screen space that could otherwise be displaying actual *webpage*...
-Morgan.
- Black Aeronaut - 11-27-2009
Ah yes. Kids. They remind me of how much they need to be educated every time I ever sat down to a public computer in a public library and found that half the
damn browser was taken up by toolbars.
...
(Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but I bet it's happened somewhere, maybe even to a particularly gullible adult.)