Where is my esmd.exe file?

[itchy]

Help. I found I must have gotten that love letter virus because my machine was acting funny, couldn't open certain things, it would modify my IE startup page, etc. So I ran the fix it for that, but don't know if I got everything. Then I tried running my Norton antivirus and did a live update for the latest virus detect cause my machine keeps freezing up on me. It told me I had some polo virus??? Which could not be repaired so I deleted the "esmd.exe" file. I didn't do anything about my password, however, as it said because I didn't know exactly what to do. Now when I boot up at the desktop I get a message saying "cannot find the file esmd.exe (or one of its components) make sure path and file name are correct and that all required libraries are available" after clicking okay to that I get another message saying "could not load or run esmd.exe specified in the Win.ini file, make sure it exists or remove the reference to it in Win.ini file."
Can anyone help, what do I do now, or what did I do. I have Windows 98. Thanks

[BigBlue66]

Hey Itch,

Not sure what you are asking. Do you want to delete the reference to the file in your win.ini file? Or do you want to reinstall the file? I am not exactly sure if this is a Windows system file, or if it relates to Norton.?

Anyway, to delete the file in your win.ini file, go to Start/Run and type msconfig. Now click on the win.ini tab and scroll through it until you find reference to that file. You may have to expand quite a few subheadings to find it. It could very well be in the boot section. Either remove the line altogether, or you might try putting a colon in front of the line. That should disable it.

Alternatively, if this is a Windows system file, and you want it back, go to Start/Programs/Accessories/SystemInformation/Tools and click on the line item that says System File Checker. Have your WIN 98 CD handy. The program will look for missing or corrupt system files and offer to extract and install them from your 98 CD.

If this is not a Windows system file and is related to Norton somehow, peruse the Norton CD until you find it and then copy it back to your Windows/System directory. That might do it, but no guarantees. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

If I am totally off base with this one, maybe you could post back with the origin of the file, if it's not related to Windows system files or Norton. Maybe someone else will have a clue as to what the file is and what it does.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Good luck and Cheers,

Big Blue 66

[itchy]

Thanks for your help, so far so good. I went into msconfig, system configuration, and found where the missing file was and unchecked a box there so that I wouldn't get that message at startup. Must have done something right because it worked. My only problem now is still trying to get rid of the message box that pops up when Windows boots up called "Enter Network Password". I have tried getting rid of it, tried clicking on cancel and rebooting but the window always comes up. Any help with that? Thanks again.

[BigBlue66]

Hi Itch,

If you click Cancel when asked for the password, it is my understanding that it will continue to boot up normally, and if you indeed wanted to logon to a network, you would have to reboot.

Try this: Once you are up and running, (you may have to try it in Safe Mode, but I don't know if that will work) go to Control Panel/Passwords. There should be an option there to turn off the password feature. At any rate, you can choose to Change your password, in which case you would leave the new password as blank, I think.

If not, go back to msconfig and check your startup files for the password option line item. Uncheck it and that should work.

Good Luck,

Big Blue 66