Cannot open Desktop Icons (XP). Help?

L

laffy2

New Member
All of a sudden I can't access websites from my desktop icons. When I double-click the icon an error message comes up that says: "Windows cannot open this file. To open this file Windows needs to know what program created it...".
I tried a system restore and it will not restore to any of the previous check points. I even tried restoring the system to an earlier point in Safe Mode and it did not work. Any help?

P.S. I am a tech newb.
 
Start scanning your system for malware.

1.

Download and run EXEHELPER.

This may help you to open programs correctly.

2.

Please download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware from here or here and save it to your desktop.
  • Double-click mbam-setup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
  • At the end, be sure a checkmark is placed next to
    • Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
    • and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
  • then click Finish.
  • If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version. Please keep updating until it says you have the latest version.
  • Once the program has loaded, select Perform quick scan, then click Scan.
  • When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results.
  • Be sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.
  • A log will be saved automatically which you can access by clicking on the Logs tab within Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

If for some reason Malwarebytes will not install or run please download and run Rkill.scr, Rkill.exe, or Rkill.com. If you are still having issues running rkill then try downloading these renamed versions of the same program.

EXPLORER.EXE
IEXPLORE.EXE
USERINIT.EXE
WINLOGON.EXE

But DO NOT reboot the system and then try installing or running Malwarebytes. If Rkill (which is a black box) appears and then disappears right away or you get a message saying rkill is infected, keep trying to run rkill until it over powers the infection and temporarily kills it. Once a log appears on the screen, you can try running malwarebytes or downloading other programs.



Download the HijackThis installer from here.
Run the installer and choose Install, indicating that you accept the licence agreement. The installer will place a shortcut on your desktop and launch HijackThis.

Click Do a system scan and save a logfile

Most of what HijackThis lists will be harmless or even essential, don't fix anything yet.

When the hijackthis log appears in a notepad file, click on the edit menu, click select all, then click on the edit menu again and click on copy. Come back to your reply and right click on your mouse and click on paste.

Post the logfile that HijackThis produces along with the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware log
 
Thank you very much. This seems way over my head, but I can try. Dumb question: I ran my Webroot scan for malware, root kits etc. and the scan does not note any threats. Is this the same as what you're suggesting below?


johnb35 said:
Start scanning your system for malware.

1.

Download and run EXEHELPER.

This may help you to open programs correctly.

2.

Please download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware from here or here and save it to your desktop.
  • Double-click mbam-setup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
  • At the end, be sure a checkmark is placed next to
    • Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
    • and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
  • then click Finish.
  • If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version. Please keep updating until it says you have the latest version.
  • Once the program has loaded, select Perform quick scan, then click Scan.
  • When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results.
  • Be sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.
  • A log will be saved automatically which you can access by clicking on the Logs tab within Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

If for some reason Malwarebytes will not install or run please download and run Rkill.scr, Rkill.exe, or Rkill.com. If you are still having issues running rkill then try downloading these renamed versions of the same program.

EXPLORER.EXE
IEXPLORE.EXE
USERINIT.EXE
WINLOGON.EXE

But DO NOT reboot the system and then try installing or running Malwarebytes. If Rkill (which is a black box) appears and then disappears right away or you get a message saying rkill is infected, keep trying to run rkill until it over powers the infection and temporarily kills it. Once a log appears on the screen, you can try running malwarebytes or downloading other programs.



Download the HijackThis installer from here.
Run the installer and choose Install, indicating that you accept the licence agreement. The installer will place a shortcut on your desktop and launch HijackThis.

Click Do a system scan and save a logfile

Most of what HijackThis lists will be harmless or even essential, don't fix anything yet.

When the hijackthis log appears in a notepad file, click on the edit menu, click select all, then click on the edit menu again and click on copy. Come back to your reply and right click on your mouse and click on paste.

Post the logfile that HijackThis produces along with the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware log
Click to expand...
 
Every program scans for different things. I would highly suggest you follow through with my advice and run the scans. New malware comes out on a daily basis and unless the manufacturer of the programs stays up to date on stuff then the program won't catch it. Run the exehelper file to see if you can run programs normally again. If you can, then run malwarebytes and hijackthis.
 
I get a warning from Trend Micro when I clicked on EXEHELPER saying it is a dangerous site...

johnb35 said:
Every program scans for different things. I would highly suggest you follow through with my advice and run the scans. New malware comes out on a daily basis and unless the manufacturer of the programs stays up to date on stuff then the program won't catch it. Run the exehelper file to see if you can run programs normally again. If you can, then run malwarebytes and hijackthis.
Click to expand...
 
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