error message

[jes]

Windoze gives me an error message every time I boot up. It says "Cannot find the file 'kerne1.exe'(or one of its components). Make sure the path and filename are correct and that all required libraries are available."
I can click "ok" and the computer operates normally but I still don't like having an error message. I am sure that problem would go away if I were to reinstall Windows but I hope there is another way around this? Do you have any ideas?


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"If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer a Rolls Royce today would cost $100, get a million miles to the gallon and explode once a year, killing everyone inside." - Robert Cringely, InfoWorld Columnist

[mjc]

Play with fire, you'll get burned.....

That "can't find 'kerne1.exe'" error is most likely the result of a Trojan...you need to find out which one and then trace down the references to it in your config files (autoexec, config.sys, system.ini etc) and remove them.....


Actually after a little go round of Trojan files you may just want to reinstall everything anyway, just to be sure that they are completely gone.
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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.


[This message has been edited by mjc (edited 03-29-2002).]

[pentachris]

Will AV software (AVG) detect trojans? I became suspicious of some Tiny Personal Firewall logs last night - I had just installed it, and the configuration isn't as user friendly as ZA, so I'm not sure I was protected...

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Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.

[jes]

Yes, played with fire and got burned.
I got into my config files and rebooted and the same error message occured.
I think that I missed something. Can I send some screenshots of my Config.sys, Autoexec.bat, system.ini and msdos.sys files to you?

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"If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer a Rolls Royce today would cost $100, get a million miles to the gallon and explode once a year, killing everyone inside." - Robert Cringely, InfoWorld Columnist

[mjc]

Ummmm....send them as a zip file to mjcash@nav.to.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[Paleo Pete]

My strongest impulse is to say you're on your own...trojans are not nice files to play with. And I have to wonder...why?? Trojans have one purpose, to allow unauthorized access to other peoples' computers. "Playing with" trojans implicates attempting to do exactly that...which I don't like at all...and I'm not sure I don't want to let you figure it out for yourself, you did it to yourself...

OK lecture over...

The file referred to in this error message is one installed by a trojan that replaces kernel.exe, one of the usual windows core files. That's the main file that runs on start up and runs the trojan, which alerts the person you got the trojan from that you are online and he can access your computer at any time.

These files are usually run from either system.ini or the registry.

HKEY_LocalMachine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Run

should be where it puts its key, also check RunOnce. I'm not sure what exact keys or values to look for, but look for a line that points to the filename stated in the error message.

The best bet is probably format and reinstall, and make sure you shut down totally and unplug it for a few minutes to ensure that an unwanted program is not held in memory. I would probably play it safe and repartition too, just to be completely sure.

And don't play with any more trojans...

And make sure I'm NOT in your address book...if a trojan gets installed and sends itself to me, your ISP will have a notification in 5 minutes or less, depending on how long it takes to trace the IP, and they don't like people using their services to send trojans..

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If your nose runs and your feet smell...
You're built upside down!
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

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[jes]

I was playing with Sub7 and Netbus on my home network only, just to see how they worked. I used to use Sub7 on my network alot. My brother uses one of the computers and I found it funny to flip the screen and the mouse controls on him. I installed PCanywhere(havn't used it yet) and suddenly Sub7 wouldn't work so I downloaded Netbus. That worked on my own computer but didn't want to work over the network.
Instead of trying to 'smoke' the trojan files out, I think I should just partion and start fresh.

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"If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer a Rolls Royce today would cost $100, get a million miles to the gallon and explode once a year, killing everyone inside." - Robert Cringely, InfoWorld Columnist