any .exe file fails to run - error says can't find the file I just double clicked on. ??? virus??

  • Thread starter Thread starter Niteowl
  • Start date Start date
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Niteowl

Hi all,

I just had a friend drop of her Dell GX1 (ancient I know) running Windows
2000 Pro for years and has had no problems.

She said her system tray icons all disappeared except for sound and clock.

Spent 3 hours on phone with Dell Tech, and now even less is working.

My first bootup brought me to desktop, icons show, some didn't have images
just the DOS default when something is missing.

I tried getting to the Add/Remove feature in Control Panel, it said it
wasn't available to me.

When I clicked on the Windows Explorer icon, it also told me it wasn't
accessible by me.

I was able to get into the Windows Explorer by going through the My
Documents icon on the desktop... went into Administrative tools, and am
currently running a Chkdsk after a bootup..

When I attempted to run ANY .exe file, I got the same above error.

I put in a USB Flash drive, and it installed okay, tried to run McAfee
Stinger, but again, when I clicked the .exe file it gave me the error. I
also could not run the installed AVG, Norton, or WindowsAV(?) programs...

Assuming the chkdsk finishes and boots up.. is there a way to restore to a
previous condition in Win2K?? I googled for info, but it seems there isn't
a way, although no one ever said, NO there's no way... so IS there a way
to restore this puppy?

if not, anything else to do besides a fresh install?

thanks,
gary
 
You can but it's doubtful it will fix those things.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=292175

What an In-Place Windows 2000 Upgrade Changes and What It Does Not Change
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=306952

Be sure to apply SP4 and these two below to your repair install before
connecting to any network. Internet included. (sasser, msblast)
http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/A/E6A04295-D2A8-40D0-A0C5-241BFECD095E/W2KSP4_EN.EXE
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-049.mspx

Then

Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...CF-8850-4531-B52B-BF28B324C662&displaylang=en



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect
 
chkdsk reported no problems...

I booted up into Safe Mode, and was able to get into Add/Remove Programs,
but nothing looks out of place... lots of HotFixes, something listed as
"upapp", no info about it though, and right below that is "Update Rollup 1
for Windows 2000 SP4", also no info.
 
I've downloaded all the referenced files and am ready to give this a try.

the CD Drive is not showing in windows explorer, so I'm gonna have to burn a
set of floppies to start this up it seems. Hopefully I have some laying
around... time to go hunting.

I'll have to check the BIOS, maybe I can set it to boot from a USB Flash
drive.. here's hoping.

Will let you know how it goes.

thanks,
gary


Dave Patrick said:
You can but it's doubtful it will fix those things.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=292175

What an In-Place Windows 2000 Upgrade Changes and What It Does Not Change
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=306952

Be sure to apply SP4 and these two below to your repair install before
connecting to any network. Internet included. (sasser, msblast)
http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/A/E6A04295-D2A8-40D0-A0C5-241BFECD095E/W2KSP4_EN.EXE
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-049.mspx

Then

Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...CF-8850-4531-B52B-BF28B324C662&displaylang=en



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

Niteowl said:
Hi all,

I just had a friend drop of her Dell GX1 (ancient I know) running Windows
2000 Pro for years and has had no problems.

She said her system tray icons all disappeared except for sound and
clock.

Spent 3 hours on phone with Dell Tech, and now even less is working.

My first bootup brought me to desktop, icons show, some didn't have
images just the DOS default when something is missing.

I tried getting to the Add/Remove feature in Control Panel, it said it
wasn't available to me.

When I clicked on the Windows Explorer icon, it also told me it wasn't
accessible by me.

I was able to get into the Windows Explorer by going through the My
Documents icon on the desktop... went into Administrative tools, and am
currently running a Chkdsk after a bootup..

When I attempted to run ANY .exe file, I got the same above error.

I put in a USB Flash drive, and it installed okay, tried to run McAfee
Stinger, but again, when I clicked the .exe file it gave me the error. I
also could not run the installed AVG, Norton, or WindowsAV(?) programs...

Assuming the chkdsk finishes and boots up.. is there a way to restore
to a previous condition in Win2K?? I googled for info, but it seems
there isn't a way, although no one ever said, NO there's no way... so
IS there a way to restore this puppy?

if not, anything else to do besides a fresh install?

thanks,
gary
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Dave,

did a fresh install, and updated as you suggested... I want to update to
Outlook and Internet Explorer 6, I assume I can find those somewhere on MS
site...

Thanks for your help.

gary

Dave Patrick said:
You can but it's doubtful it will fix those things.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=292175

What an In-Place Windows 2000 Upgrade Changes and What It Does Not Change
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=306952

Be sure to apply SP4 and these two below to your repair install before
connecting to any network. Internet included. (sasser, msblast)
http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/A/E6A04295-D2A8-40D0-A0C5-241BFECD095E/W2KSP4_EN.EXE
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-049.mspx

Then

Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...CF-8850-4531-B52B-BF28B324C662&displaylang=en



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

Niteowl said:
Hi all,

I just had a friend drop of her Dell GX1 (ancient I know) running Windows
2000 Pro for years and has had no problems.

She said her system tray icons all disappeared except for sound and
clock.

Spent 3 hours on phone with Dell Tech, and now even less is working.

My first bootup brought me to desktop, icons show, some didn't have
images just the DOS default when something is missing.

I tried getting to the Add/Remove feature in Control Panel, it said it
wasn't available to me.

When I clicked on the Windows Explorer icon, it also told me it wasn't
accessible by me.

I was able to get into the Windows Explorer by going through the My
Documents icon on the desktop... went into Administrative tools, and am
currently running a Chkdsk after a bootup..

When I attempted to run ANY .exe file, I got the same above error.

I put in a USB Flash drive, and it installed okay, tried to run McAfee
Stinger, but again, when I clicked the .exe file it gave me the error. I
also could not run the installed AVG, Norton, or WindowsAV(?) programs...

Assuming the chkdsk finishes and boots up.. is there a way to restore
to a previous condition in Win2K?? I googled for info, but it seems
there isn't a way, although no one ever said, NO there's no way... so
IS there a way to restore this puppy?

if not, anything else to do besides a fresh install?

thanks,
gary
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
thanks, besides d/l ie6setup.exe, also found a way to download the
associated installation files) and burn to CD for next time. ;)

all is working and the unit is back to my friend.

thanks,
gary


Dave Patrick said:
You can get it here.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...cb-5e5d-48f5-b02b-20b602228de6&DisplayLang=en


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

Niteowl said:
Dave,

did a fresh install, and updated as you suggested... I want to update to
Outlook and Internet Explorer 6, I assume I can find those somewhere on
MS site...

Thanks for your help.

gary
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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