Startup question

  • Thread starter Thread starter John Rampling
  • Start date Start date
J

John Rampling

When I boot up I get a box with the following warning under an 'Internet
Explorer' heading;
"Your current security settings prohibit running ActiveX controls on this
page. As a result, the page may not display correctly".
IE is not my default browser (I use Firefox). Bringing up the Task Manager
does not reveal any running programs that might account for the warning. How
do I find out what is causing it?
(Windows XPPro)
John
 
Rick "Nutcase" Rogers said:
Hi,

Most likely some sort of spy or adware program is installed and invoking
IE at boot. Suggest you run these:

Adaware www.lavasoft.de
Spybot www.safer-networking.org

Also check these links for helpful advice on removing garbage:
http://aumha.org/a/noads.htm
http://aumha.org/win5/a/parasite.htm
http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/Darnit.htm
Click to expand...

Thanks Nutcase - I checked the possibility of spyware with AdAware and
SpyBot. This only revealed Alexa (which of course I then deleted and in any
case is not reported as having the effect I observed). The problem remained
after rebooting. Any other suggestions?

John
 
Hi,

Does IE actually open, or is it just the error box? Do you have any active
web items on the desktop?

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Rick "Nutcase" Rogers said:
Hi,

Does IE actually open, or is it just the error box? Do you have any active
web items on the desktop?
Click to expand...

IE does not actually open. Nor does Firefox for that matter.It is just the
error box and it appears before my system is fully booted. I do not have any
active web items on the desktop (or indeed any items other than My Documents
/ My Computer / My Network Places / Recycle Bin).

John
 
More information on this fault; if I hit Help button when the box appears I
get:
"Cannot find the c:\windows\system32\mshtml.hlp file. Do you want to try to
find this file yourself?"
A quick Google on this file name led me to
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/190250/EN-US/
which makes me suppose that a DHTML page is attempting to load when I boot
up.
There is nothing in my Startup folder and no Services in services.msc or
msconfig that seem to fit the bill. I regularly clean out my Preferences
folder.
Anyone got any other ideas as to what app is trying to start?

John
 
Hi John,

Please see my other post, and post the "HiJack This" log as requested.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Rick I think I have the answer. I found that Windows Update had somehow
re-enabled itself (I had disabled it for reasons I won't go into now) and
now that I have I re-disabled it the warning popup has gone. Evidently
Update works on a DHTML script but does not appear in the list of active
processes in Task Manager.

John
 
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