Cannot open any browser get the message "windows cannot find 'filepath'..."

C

curtains

New Member
Im on Windows XP SP2 and started getting an error where I cant open any browser.

FF 3.6 is my normal browser and I can't open it, same with the IE6 XP came with I've also tried installing the latest version of Chrome and same thing happens,

I get the error message "Windows cannot find "(filepath\browers.exe)". Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To search for a file, click start button, and then click search."

The file paths are definately correct

I've tried reinstalling FF and I only just installed chrome, I've tried it in safemode and same issue

I'm typing this on IE6 browser which I could access by opening a standard folder and then typing in the address bar.

I've tried the remove the "DDE" ticked option that I found by a google search but its keeps coming back. (this is from folder options> then under file type> advance).

Thanks in advance if anyone can fix my issue.
 
I would start with a malware scan. Use a usb flash drive to download these programs from computer that has internet service if you can't download them from that computer, then install them on the one having issues and run it.

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 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.

Post the logfile that HijackThis produces along with the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware log
 
How are you opening the browser? Using the shortcut the program created on installation; a manually created shortcut; double-clicking the browser exe in Program Files?

Edit: The browser should start regardless of the DDE settings for the file type. FYI you will get that sort of message if you are trying to open an html document from Windows Explorer, the html document having a web-illegal filename like containing a space. I used to find that but the problem has gone away for some reason.
 
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johnb35 Is right It should not be trying to access browser.exe appears to be a virus, I would attempt a malwarebytes scan (again as John) suggested and report back.
 
John is the guru here, but my suggestion would be to

insert windows cd
go to run and type cmd
right click on command prompt and open as administrator
type (with spaces) in command prompt sfc /scannow
this will check all windows files for integrity and replace them with what is on the cd if found with errors
then update windows.

This may be the quickest fix.
 
Hmmm, typos. I interpreted "browers.exe" as being "browsers.exe". In other words, stick the name of whichever browser being used here. If it is the trojan browser.exe I would have thought that would be easily picked up by any anti-malware prog.
 
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