technical solution for your tech-problem: December 2008

Friday, December 12, 2008

Drive opens in new window on double click in windows XP

Trouble:

One of our readers reported, when ever he double clicks on any of the drive to open, it opens automatically in new window.

As we all know the expected behaviour is that each drive opens in the same window until a user has explicitly set the option Open Each Folder In Its Own Window. under File menu >> Tools >> Folder Options in General.

Why It drive opens in new window?

It happens when a program or virus tries to edit the File Folder or Drive shell entries to add more context menu items and set them as default for double click action.

Lets see how we can fix this.

Fix:

First Method:

1. Open Start >> Run and type regsvr32 /i shell32.dll

2. press ok

3. You will see a message DllRegisterServer and DllInstall in shell32.dll succeeded

4. that’s it

Second Method:

1. Open Start >> Run and type regedit

2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/Directory/Shell

3. Double click the default key type none and press ok

4. now navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/Drive/Shell.

5. Double click the default key type none and press ok.

Third Method:

If you don’t want to play with the registry ,you can run the following command instead at

Run Prompt: ( Open Start >> Run )

“reg add hkcr\drive\shell /ve /d none /f” (without double quotes)

We hope at least one of the above method may work for you to fix the trouble, if not please let us know.

Update:

We have just compiled a registry tweak, so if none of the above given methods works for you, then try downloading this registry file from here and merge it into your registry by double clicking the file.

After merging the registry file you may need to restart your system, so that the changes can reflect

Note: If still after following the above you are not able to solve the problem then update your antivirus and run a complete scan and make your system virus free.

Not able to show hidden files and folders

Trouble:

Sometimes a virus or some malicious script makes the hidden files and folders not visible even when it is explicitly enabled.

In this case even if the user enables the Show hidden files and folders in

Tools > Folder options > View menu, Hidden files and folder does not become visible.

Lets see how to fix it.

Fix:

First and foremost is the point that the user has enabled the Show hidden files and folder

1. Go to Tools > Folder options. This will show a folder options menu.

2. Go to View tab and select the option “Show hidden files and folder“

The hidden files and folders are displayed by this method normally. But in case some virus or script is preventing the hidden files and folders from being visible, follow the below steps:

1. Go to your Start > Run, type regedit and press enter. This will open registry editor.

2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folde r\Hidden\SHOWALL

DELETE the value CheckedValue in the right window if it already there and type is REG_SZ

Now create a new DWORD value again with the same name CheckedValue.

3. Double click the value called CheckedValue, and modify its data value (DWORD Value) to 1 (0×00000001) . Close registry editor after this.

Updated on 9th FEB 2008:

If still folder options is reverted back to don’t show hidden files and folders then it could be due to some virus still in action.

Navigate to the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden
NOHIDDEN

In the NOHIDDEN folder, select CheckedValue and set the value to 1

4. Go to Tools > Folder options. This will show a folder options menu.

5. Go to View tab and select the option “Show hidden files and folder“

Note: If above solution does not work for you, make sure to make your system completely virus free by updating your anti-virus and running a complete scan.

How to remove Win32/NSAnti, d.com virus without any anti-virus tool

Trouble:

Recently we received a mail from one of our readers whose computer was infected by Win32/NSAnti virus, this virus mainly causes drive opening problem by double click in windows XP.

If your system is infected by this virus you can’t see hidden files and folders , even after applying the settings to show hidden folders. This setting is reverted back to Don’t show hidden files and folders by the virus.

This happens because virus protects the two hidden ,system files called d.com and autorun,inf which are created by amvo.exe and amvo0.dll , amvo1.dll which resides in system32 folder on the OS drive (hard disk partition on which windows operating system is installed).

Fix:

In order to fix the problems caused by this virus ,you will need to delete all these files created by the virus.

Follow the set of commands to delete these files

1. Open Start>>Run and type cmd and press enter. This will open windows command prompt window. On this window, type as directed in steps further and press enter at the end of each step.

2. type cd\

3. type cd windows\system32

4. type attrib -r -h -s amvo.exe

5. type del amvo.exe

6. type attrib -r -h -s avmo0.dll ,repeat the steps 5 and 6 again to delete avmo1.dll

7. now type d: and press enter for d: drive partition.

8. type attrib -r -h -s autorun.inf

9. type del autorun.inf

10. type attrib -r -h -s d.com

11. type del d.com

Similarly repeat from steps 8 to 11 for all your hard disk partitions to remove the files created by the virus.

Note: Above procedure may seems cumbersome but proves to be of great help to repair your system, if none of your anti-virus tools is able to solve the problem and remove the infections caused by the virus.

Updated (21 Jan 2008):

We have just received some comments by the users who do not find above method useful as they were not able to remove amvo.exe virus by following the above method.

For all those who are facing issues with the above method, can follow the steps given below to remove the virus.

1. First download Trend Micro HijackThis from here

2. Install and run the scan ,you will see an entry like this :

HKCU\..\Run: [amva] C:\WINDOWS\system32\amvo.exe

3. Check the above entry and click on the button which says Fix Checked and click yes on the prompt.

4. Uncheck amvo.exe from msconfig>> startup (type msconfig in run and click on the startup tab) also and restart your system

5. Open my computer and go to folder options >> check the option show hidden files and folders. Also un-check the option Hide protected operating system files (This will give a warning message, confirm by pressing yes button). After this click Ok.

6. Now access all your system drives by typing the drive letters in the address bar (for example c:) and delete the files like autorun.inf and other file with a name ms18us.exe (sorry but I am not sure about the second file name )

7. Also delete the files amvo.dll and amvo1.dll from windows/system32 folder.

Updated ( 28 Jan 2008)

Note: Looks like that for most of the people both of the above methods are little bit confusing in terms of implementation.

So we would like tell another method to remove amvo and ampo virus by using a vbscript which you can download from http://www.en.mygeekside.com/?p=18 by clicking here. You can easily remove the virus by double clikcing the script.

PS: But we dont take any responsibilty if this script causes any damage to your system so use it on your own risk.

We hope the new solution for removal of win32/ns anti virus will help.

Computer is slow at start up, takes too long to boot up

Trouble:

Recently a friend of mine asked us to help her out with slow start up of her computer. It takes too long to boot the computer. It was very slow even after it boots. Though the computer had a decent hardware configuration.

This problem is not un-common. The main reason behind such problems is too many start-up tasks start when windows start. Also as we install different software or applications on computer, there are some background tasks associated with some applications which start running at start-up.

Fix:

How to identify the trouble?

Press Shift+Ctrl+Esc key together. This will open up windows task manager.
Click on Performance tab. It looks like something as shown below in the image.

If your the PF usage as shown in the bottom left graph below is higher than the amount of your computer’s RAM (Physical memory), then it slows down your computer considerably. The performance becomes poor and slow.

In such case you need to disable some of your start-up tasks which are not essential for the system. See the steps below for steps to disable start-up tasks.

task_manager

How to Fix the trouble?

Startup tasks can be easily disabled with the help of a utility by Microsoft called Autoruns. You can download Autoruns from this link. After download, unzip and run Autoruns.exe . It will load like snapshot below. Click on Logon tab as shown in red circle in picture below.

Logon tab shows all the tasks which are automatically start every time windows starts. Have a close look and disable some of the tasks which you don’t need at startup. For example, in some computers, at logon, web cam software, acrobat reader, real player up-dater, yahoo messenger , etc. applications start running while you may not be needing the all the time.

To disable un-necessary items to load at logon, simply un-check those items in the log-on tab as below. These applications can be started later when needed from start menu. After un-checking, just restart your computer and see the difference.

Autoruns_snap

NOTE: Do not disable tasks which you are not very sure about, as they may stop some useful applications to stop from loading at start-up.

How to remove W32.Rontokbro.B@mm aka brontok virus from windows

Trouble:

W32.Rontokbro.B@mm or brontok virus is one of the most active viruses as per our experience.

Symptoms of brontok virus:

If your system is infected by this virus you will not be able to open command prompt , msconfig and even you may not be able to execute any .exe file, as it may result in a sudden system restart.

Brontok virus also tries to terminate the security related programs like anti-virus and firewall. Also adds some registry entries required to run it at every time computer restarts and also to enable no folder options settings in the registry.

Fix:

We would recommend to follow the step by step procedure below to remove the virus.

1. Disable System Restore (Windows Me/XP). Click here to know how to disable system restore
2. Download the Security Response by symentec “UnHookExec.inf” to enable registry editing.
3. Just download and Right-click the UnHookExec.inf file and click install.

4. Now, download W32.Ronotkbro removal tool

5. Run it and scan your system to remove the brontok virus.

6. After complete scan you will be able to remove the virus.

7. Now you need to delete the scheduled task.

To delete the scheduled tasks added by the worm
7.1 Click Start, and then click Control Panel. (In Windows XP, switch to Classic View.)
7.2 In the Control Panel window, double click Scheduled Tasks.
7.3 Right click the task icon and select Properties from menu. The properties of the task is displayed.
7.4 Now delete the task if the contents of the Run text box in the task pane, matches the following:

%UserProfile%\Templates\Brengkolang.com

8. Restart your computer.

Note: if all the above steps are followed properly virus will be removed

NOTE:

If you use any removable storage media, that drive may also be infected by the brontok virus. Format your pen drive or portable drive after connecting but without opening the drive.

Windows XP Shutdown too slow, fix it to shutdown instantly

Trouble:

We have received a mail from one of our readers Vikram, having slow and delayed shutdown time on his windows XP computer.

The problem of slow or delayed shutdown is very commonly faced by most of the window XP users. If you are using windows XP for a long time, you are more likely to have such problem.

Why Slow shutdown?

In Windows XP certain registry keys are responsible for determining how long windows will wait before shutting down all the opened programs and services after the shutdown command has been given by the user.

Lets see how we can fix the slow shutdown in windows XP

Fix:

You need to optimise some registry keys values in order to speed up the shutdown process.

1. Open Start >> Run and type regedit and press enter

2. Now navigate to ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\’
In this entry, you will see a registry key named WaitToKillAppTimeout .

Double click on it and set its value to 1000 , this value is the time in milliseconds for which the windows waits before all the processes and services are closed.

This way you have set it to 1 second.

Not only this, there are some other registry settings set by default due to which Windows XP will prompt the user for input if there are one or more applications still not closed or not responding. This increases the shutdown time due to no response from the user.

So, you should also change that registry key settings value.

3. Navigate to ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop’

Double click on the registry key ‘AutoEndTasks.’ and set its value to 1

4. That is all, Trouble Fixed.

Now restart your system, you will see a considerable reduction in the shutdown time this time.

Tip: If modifying registry seems cumbersome to you can simply create a instant shutdown shortcut on your desktop.

1. Right click on your desktop and select New >> Shortcut

2. copy the following command: %windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -s -f -t 00

3. Name your shortcut as instant shutdown

4. You can use this created shortcut for fast shutdown.

This will forcibly end all running tasks and shutdown instantly.

Warning: Make sure to save any unsaved work before you shutdown using these tips. It may cause loss of unsaved work.

Task Manager disabled problem in windows xp

We have received mails from some readers of Trouble Fixers about task manager is disabled on their system suddenly.

Problem: It is due to some kind of virus/ trojan activity which normally disables the task manager.Now due to this problem when ever the user press alt+ctrl+del to launch windows task manager it gives an error saying “Task Manager is being disabled by your administrator”.

Solution:

To Enable the Disabled Task Manager on your system

1. Press window key+r to show run prompt

2. Follow the following steps

Enter gpedit.msc in the run prompt and click OK
In the Group Policy settings window
Select User Configuration
Select Administrative Templates
Select System
Select Ctrl+Alt+Delete options
Select Remove Task Manager
Double-click the Remove Task Manager option’.
Set the property of this item as disabled.
1. open start >> run and type regedit

2. Navigate to the following path:

Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
3. You will find a registry key with name DisableTaskMgr of type: REG_DWORD
4. Double click the key with and set the Value to 0

5. Exit the registry and restart to see the effect.

If you still get problems in enabling the disabled task manager on your windows XP system , please let us know through your comments

Updated on 12th October 2008 :

If the regitry editor is not opening or showing error, see the link to fix it here.

How to avoid chkdsk disk scan at every time booting windows

rouble:

Recently we received a problem from one of the readers on system run a chkdsk disk scan again and again at every time on booting windows.

Let’s see how we can solve the problem of disk scan running every time of boot on windows.

Fix:

Disc scan is one of the protective feature of windows which runs to clean any cross-links or bad sectors that may be generated because of the improper shutdown of windows due to some reason. So, when ever you shutdown your system in some improper way ,the next time you boot your windows you will see scan disk running which you can stop by pressing an key on time.

But in some cases as experienced by some of the windows users, disk scan runs every time they reboot, this happens because of the following reasons:

1. Improper shutdown(most common).

2. External hard drive or portable drive attached which causes scan disk to scan them at every reboot.

3. chkdsk was not allowed to be completed at the time of boot.

Above reasons are normally the most common reasons behind this problem, but none of them matches with your case then, you probably have a dirty volume on your hard drive which has some bad sectors which does not get repaired at the time of reboot.

So, at every reboot chkdsk tries to repair those dirty bits on those bad sectors on your hard drive in those specific partitions.

But, don’t worry as you can simply fix this problem of disc scanning at every reboot.

Just follow the procedure given below:

You need to do a manual chkdsk on all the partitions or physical hard drives.

1. Open start>>run and type “cmd”(without double quotes)

2. Type “chkntfs /x ”(without double quotes) For example: chkntfs /x d:

3. Run this command for all the partitions of your hard drive.

4. Reboot your computer properly it will not do a disk scan again.

We hope this solves your problem…do lets us know through comments if you have any issues.

Protect your computer from viruses by disabling autorun autoplay on all the drives

Trouble:

We have been getting lots of virus problems which infect computers through autorun.inf file as autoplay is enabled on the windows drive by default.

Some of the autorun related virus problems for which we have already posted the solution are

All these problems are caused due to enabled autoplay on windows drive. We need to stop windows from executing instructions in autorun.inf files

Let’s see how can you disable autoplay on drives

Fix:

To disable autorun for all the drives on your computer, you will need to configure it through windows registry.

Follow the procedure below to stop autoplay on windows drives

solution:-

1. Open Start >> Run or press Window + r

2. Open registry by typing regedit.exe and press enter

3. Navigate to the following path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

4. Double-click the NoDriveAutorun registry key and type the value in Hexadecimal as FF ( or 255 in Decimal).

Note: If their is no NoDriveAutorun registry key, just create it by right-clicking the right side area of the regedit window, then select New >> DWord Value >> type NoDriveAutorun and press enter.

5. Exit registry and restart your computer for changes to come into effect.

This is how you can disable autorun on all your drives and at least will prevent autorun activity of virus infected USB pendrives or CD’s and avoid infection through autorun.inf viruses.

Pen Drive inflected with autorun.inf,explorer.exe and isetup.exe

Pen Drive inflected with autorun.inf,explorer.exe and isetup.exe: When i insert any pen-drive to my laptop(running XP SP2) it just inflects and drive with following files
autorun.inf,
explorer.exe and
isetup.exe

They all are hidden or being system files.
Even i delete the files it again appears after few seconds.
I havenot got the effected of this on my system or to my other files. but it is annoying to we all.
Please help to get ride of these files.

more info:
Latest AVG anit-virus and anti-spyware cant detect them.

Pen Drive inflected with autorun.inf,explorer.exe and isetup.exenamitzu | 01/19/2008 @ 07:22 PM (PST)