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WININET.DLL is either not designed to run on Windows or contains an er


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#1
britechguy

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Hello All,

 

         A cousin has a very new HP all-in-one (Pavilion 23, Intel Core i5) running Windows 8.1.  As of this morning it has begun displaying some really peculiar errors.

 

         It seems to boot normally, but you get the message, "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WININET.DLL is either not designed to run on windows or contains an error . . ." upon completion of booting into the desktop.  After you dismiss this a message, "Failed to load library URLMON.DLL" comes up.

 

         If you try to start almost any program on the desktop, including mbam, you get a "parameter is incorrect" error for the .exe file associated with the icon you click.

 

         In looking at the restore point log it appears that there was a critical update applied this morning.  I decided to do a system restore to several days ago just to see if this would clear things up (you can always reapply Windows Updates) but it doesn't appear to have done so.  Immediately after the system restore to March 4th, when everything was definitely working, upon reboot I'm getting a message regarding Skype.exe - Bad Image, with text, "C:\windows\system32\windowscodecs.dll is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error.  Try installing the program again using the original installation media or contact your system administrator or the software vendor for support.  Error status 0xc0000045"  Again, if I try mbam it gives the full path to mbam with "The parameter is incorrect."

 

          This is not something I've seen occurring in Windows 8 before.  The system was set up with Panda Cloud Antivirus, but I notice that it does not appear to be running at the moment.  McAfee Security Scan Plus, which I did not install when I set up the computer, is on it now.  Panda has not been removed from the programs list under control panel, but if you search for it and try to start it you get another of the "Parameter is incorrect." messages.

 

          I suspect that some sort of satanic malware has wheedled its way on to this computer even though I put Spywareblaster, Spybot, Mbam, and Ccleaner on this machine in mid-December when initially setting it up.  I realize this thread may need to be moved if this is the case.

 

          Any pointers on what to do next or suspicions about what this is.  It's an entirely new situation to me.

 

Thanks,

Brian


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#2
rockmilk

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Your next steps should be remove Spybot and start a new thread in the virus removal forum, make sure that you are indeed clean prior to moving onto any other steps.


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#3
britechguy

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It's too late to do anything.  Since the response to this thread was the sound of proverbial crickets I decided to use the built-in "wipe my computer and reinstall Windows 8.1" feature.  These days virtually no one can/will go without a computer for more than a day or two.

 

I'm really wondering now if this computer might have fallen victim to an unbelievable screw-up by Panda.  The date is consistent with when this mess began and my cousin made a comment about "a message from Panda" (but I'm always doubtful of what's reported to me in the aftermath of a system crash when it's not extremely specific).  I've never heard of such a massive screw-up from an antivirus company in all my years working with computers (now 30 years and counting).  It prompted me to stick with Windows Defender on a computer I set up for a client today after reading what's been said on these forums with regard to anti-virus software.

 

I also can't quite get the antipathy to Spybot S&D.  It's not caused any issues on the many machines I've installed it on.  I've also removed it multiple times as part of step-by-step back-outs and have yet to have it be the culprit in any of those situations.


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#4
rockmilk

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Spybot is a waste of resources. Other than that glad all is well. :)


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