vista problems

[tonymon]

ok, when i turned my comp on last night, it loaded up, but an error window opened, saying C:\Users\Ant\AppData\Local\Temp\qommkiij.dll failed to open. and now eveytime i try to open any documents page eg music, my computer or even control panel the computer jibbs itself and the bar at the bottom of the screen disappears, and the page closes. its done this now when i opened the internet page, but had to do it via msn messenger because it doesnt open on the shortcuts on the desktop. i have half a mind to take it to pc world because its still within the year warranty which i think i get. all these pages open fine in safe mode too. ive done a comprehensive scan on norton and it didnt find anything.

any ideas?

[Southwell]

Sounds like explorers crashing to me. Might just be easier to run the re-install wizard, but not a full one which would destroy all your data. PC World will undoubtably charge you to fix it.

[DCM]

you could try entering the recovery console or if Vista still offers the option, running the 'repair install' app, but from the location of the file, I would guess that it could even be a virus or some illegal software. Run MSConfig in safe mode and check if it is in the start-up tab, if it is, remove it by unchecking the tick box.

[Southwell]

Well a disk cleanup would delete temp files, that could be worth a try, plus Norton is a pile of.........try a spyware scanner.

[i4n]

You could try running the Vista repair console (as DCM suggests). You do this by putting you Vista CD in, booting from it and then selecting "repair installation".

[tonymon]

ok so i went into msconfig in safe mode and found those files, so unchecked the boxes, and restarted. it seems ok now, internet and windows explorer have opened without it jibbing! thanks for the help!

[DCM]

no worries, now download this http://www.grisoft.com/ww.product-avg-anti-virus-free-edition#tba2 for your AV protection

[CAClark]

I imagine any reference to random named exe's or dll's is going to be something that needs cleaning off, as they are usually virus or malware related.

Glad you got it sorted!

[Richard Lowe]

I imagine any reference to random named exe's or dll's is going to be something that needs cleaning off, as they are usually virus or malware related.
Agreed :)

Usually if you google the file name you will get an idea if the file is malware or not, as 'qommkiij.dll' brings up zero results there's a good chance it's virus related.

[tonymon]

no worries, now download this http://www.grisoft.com/ww.product-avg-anti-virus-free-edition#tba2 for your AV protection

thanks

[tonymon]

ye id never seen that file name roaming my laptop before! norton must be poo if it got past it!

[glypo]

Norton is completely crap. I've heard good things about the recommended AVG but personally I use Avast (http://www.avast.com/) as it has a better and more regularly updated virus library (in my opinion). It's also free.

Fortunately the best spyware remover is Microsoft's own Windows Defender. It is bundled with Vista, and updates via Windows update. So make sure you have defender setup to do a daily scan. If you don't already, you can access it through the Control Panel -> Security.

With Norton gone, decent antivirus replacing it and Windows Defender you will be well protected. If you don't have a hardware firewall, and you were relying on Norton as a software firewall, you'll need to a software firewall replacement. If you're running 32bit Vista I'd say Zonealarm (http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp) is probably the best bet. If like me, you're on 64bit Vista, by far the best option is Comodo (http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/download_firewall.html), both free and good.

[Richard Lowe]

you'll need to a software firewall replacement.
From XP SP2 onwards windows has a (Zonealarm based ;) ) software firewall built in.

If you know what you're doing you don't need anti malware tools, just stop downloading pr0n :lol:

[darryl]

another good bit of adware to get is windows defender picked up quite a bit of malware that my av didnt spot

[glypo]

Vista's firewall is a massive improvement on the joke of one in XP SP2. And generally it works fine, a massive amount of security work done for Vista.

However it is not zone-alarm based, and not as strong as a stand-alone solution. The lack of proper programme control is the biggest downside, although you can set outbound policy now it's not the same as complete custom control.

[rowanp25]

did you find a file called nwiz.exe in your ms config? if so thats a part of a virus i had! sounds similar to your probs in that none of the desktop would function ect think if you google that it shows you how to dissable it manually or there is a wee search and destroy specifically for that bug. hope that helps:thumbsup:

[dave g]

isnt nwiz part of the nvidia control panel applet?

ive just had a right pain in the arse with vista,after letting it do its big monthly update all my usb devices would not detect,no camera,mouse,mp3 etc..i ended up having to download the service pack 1 and after that all is back to normal,so if you have any usb problems after the latest updates thats what i had to do.

dave

[glypo]

Vista SP1 saw a massive increase in file copying speed, I can move massive files about from my hard drives almost instantly now. Leaves XP in the dust :D However for some reason USB stuff (i.e. pen drives, external or portable hard-drives) didn't get an increase, so the latest updates fixed this so now USB devices speak to each other 40-60% faster than non SP Vista.

Fantastic news for me as I have both portable HDD, external HDD (powered) and memory sticks attached to my machine. I am assuming, for some random reason that your computer downloaded these USB fixes to increase speed on SP1, even though you didn't have SP1, and that's what broke. Either way it's a good thing as you're now on SP1 and should notice some cool file speed increases :)

As for nwiz, yeah it's part of the nvidia control panel. It deals with nView so you can setup multiple displays. However there is also a trojan called nwiz, named to fool people it's an nvidia app. I just checked and it's not in my processes or msconfig, so it must be run only when changing settings. Therefore it's likely if it's found running as a process or in msconfig that it's a virus rather than nvidia stuff.

[rowanp25]

yeah! i cant remember the exact name of the trojan but nwiz.exe reproduces the main trojan every time you run a virus scan and remove said trojan. kinda clever n wish id thought of it lol