On Friday, I saw my computer doing something weird and eventually had to pull the plug to reboot it (this one's a laptop with no current working battery). When I rebooted, I started getting the error ODBC32.dll is not designed to run on this computer. I eventually determined msnmsgr.exe (Windows Live Messenger, working fine until my reboot) was the trigger and quit the process to stop generating the endless error.
Later, I attempted to run iTunes and got the same error (only once tho, followed by a prompt to reinstall iTunes). I later tried to use Paint - the basic no-added-feature utility PAINT, from the Accessories folder - and it gave the same error! Later, I looked at System Restore points to find a "language pack removed" restore point from the approximate time and date I originally encountered my issue with the laptop acting stupid. I spent 24 hours or so backing up files, and today tried to run the System Restore. It's gone; the only thing there is three system-generated checkpoints from the last three days. I think a hacker not only uninstalled the language pack; he intentionally went in and deleted my System Restore points to make it impossible for me to undo his changes.
So my question now is simple. Do I just reformat the thing? Or can I still find the language pack to reinstall? I used to have a firewall but had to uninstall it because it gave me problems with Mozilla Firefox (it was included with the system...and it was Norton NEway, with expired virus-checker because I can't afford to buy protection on the verge of needing social assistance), so right now at the time the crap happened I had no immediate firewall except for a Windows firewall, which I hope wasn't disabled at the time. Other than this, though, what can I do to restore ODBC32.dll to working status since I am having trouble replacing the file? (I did download a clean copy.)
Cyclone
Edited by CycloneGU, 31 May 2010 - 02:01 PM.