November 2007

Monthly Archive

Error 1606

Posted by admin on 14 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: 1606, registry, error, windows

This is a problem which arises when you try to install or remove a Microsoft application. It could be a copy of Microsoft Word, the latest Microsoft Digital Image Pro or even Outlook. For a full list of the affected programs, take a look at the Microsoft website under instructions for Error 1606.

The error is usually the result of a corrupted Windows registry. This isn’t immediately apparent when you receive the error, which will appear as seen below:

“Error 1606: Could Not Access Network Location”

To fix the problem, you have two choices. One is manual, and one is automated. You can download a free registry cleaning utility and run a thorough scan of your system. This will take note of the missing settings and correct them where necessary.

Alternatively, if you have a little more technical know-how, you can access the registry and adjust the settings yourself. Be warned though, tampering with the Windows registry and configuring settings inappropriately can result in even more problems, and in some cases, a corrupted copy of Windows altogether! Yes, editing the registry CAN seriously damage your system if you don’t know what you’re doing.

We would suggest that you take the safe route of downloading a free registry cleaner and letting it fix your problem. But if you’re feeling adventurous, here’s how to get rid of the error manually.

  • Go to Start, Run, and then type “regedit” in the dialogue.
  • When the Registry Editor opens, locate your way to:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
    CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
  • View the table below and ensure that all of the entries match up to those of your own registry.
Value name Type Value data
AppData REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\Application Data
Cache REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files
Cookies REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\Cookies
Desktop REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\Desktop
Favorites REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\Favorites
History REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\Local Settings\History
LocalAppData REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\Local Settings\Application Data
Local Settings REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\Local Settings
My Pictures REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\My Documents\My Pictures
NetHood REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\NetHood
Personal REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\My Documents
PrintHood REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\PrintHood
Programs REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\Start Menu\Programs
Recent REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\Recent
SendTo REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\SendTo
Start Menu REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\Start Menu
Startup REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\Start Menu\programs\Startup
Templates REG_EXPAND_SZ ~UserProfile~\Templates

If any of the entries don’t match what you see in the table;

  • Delete the value.
  • Right click on User Shell Folders, go to New and then Expandable String Value.
  • Enter the name value in accordance with the matching name value in the table above.
  • Now right click on the new entry and go to Modify.
  • Type the new value in the Value Data box.
  • Click OK

Follow the same procedure to correct the values in:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

This should clear up any future Error 1606 problems. Remember to save the registry and restart your computer for the new settings to take effect. And whenever you’re editing the Windows Registry, as ever, it’s a good idea to make a back-up in case something goes wrong.

Error 1612

Posted by admin on 14 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: uninstall, program, windows, software

“Error 1612. The installation source for this product is not available”

This is an error which you may receive when you try to install duplicate copies of standalone Microsoft products. The main affected applications are as follows:

  • Microsoft Access
  • Microsoft FrontPage
  • Microsoft Publisher

The error usually occurs – but isn’t restricted to - the 2002 versions of the products. You will typically receive the error when trying to install SP1 of Microsoft Office XP. It stems from having more than one copy of the designated programs installed on the system. This sounds like a silly thing to be suffering from, but when you consider how Microsoft loves to sell its programs in bundles, it isn’t such a rare issue after all.

Thankfully, Microsoft has released a fix which deals with the clash and cleans up your system files. The fix is known as the Microsoft Windows Installer CleanUp Utility.

To download this small utility, you will need to go to the Microsoft website. There’s plenty of information and support to get you up and running, and the application is easy to use.

Once you’ve installed the utility, go to Start. Click across to Programs and locate Windows Install Clean Up.

You will see a list of all the Microsoft programs that you have installed on the operating system. Click on each of the programs, check the box and click Remove.

Each program comes with a slightly different removal procedure, but none of them should be too complicated to follow. Pay attention to the instructions and complete the uninstall process. Finally press exit to close the utility.

Assuming that you received the error while attempting to install Microsoft Office XP SP1, you should now be able to complete that particular setup. Once Office has been updated, you can safely track back and reinstall the standalone applications which were causing the 1612 error.

There are some instances where you may be receiving the 1612 error WITHOUT the mentioned programs being installed on the system. While they might not be present in the operational sense, some uninstalled software can leave behind files and registry entries which later cause problems.

This is a natural problem for PCs which have been used for months on end without a regular system clean-up. Have you noticed how the performance begins to drop, even after you’ve uninstalled all of the extra programs to leave yourself with the default configuration?

This is because most uninstall procedures leave behind traces of files, and unnecessary entries to the Windows registry. While they might not cause too many noticeable errors, it’s possible that such traces could lead to a 1612 error when you don’t actually have the Microsoft programs installed at the current time.

To get around this issue, we would suggest that you run two cleaning utilities. The first being a standard Windows cleaner, to get rid of loose odds and ends. The second being a more detailed Windows registry utility. Ridding the registry of redundant files will clear up a lot of errors and performance related issues, including – you guessed it – the 1612 error.

How to fix Login Problems

Posted by admin on 14 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: javascript, configuration, error, windows, internet

There are many kinds of login services, but some of the most problematic are those that involve connecting to a network or to an ISP for an Internet connection.

What is the point of a login service? Well, it goes beyond simply entering the correct username and password. In fact, a large portion of login service errors have nothing to do with the details. They’re caused by a failed connection or a loose configuration setting.

Of course, that’s not to say that you should rule out the possibility of a mistaken password or username altogether. Always check the details that you enter, making sure that the caps lock is turned off to prevent a system misinterpreting what is essentially the same combination through the use of different case. And check again just to make sure.

If you’re still having trouble with the login service, it’s probably down to the connection. If you enter the correct details, you will be granted access by the login service. If you enter incorrect details, obviously you won’t be. But if you enter the right details without having a working connection, you’ll receive a potentially misleading error. You must be connected to the login service to be able to reach the verification mechanism. Without verification, you’ll be locked out. Correct details or not.

If you are using the Windows Login Service and your password isn’t being accepted, you may have been the victim of a virus attacking the core of the system. Some viruses are capable of altering a system user or password to cause maximum damage and lock a user out of the operating system.

The best way to avoid such circumstances is to use the trusted road of anti-Virus protection. Always protect your machine from third party software and malicious hackers. You should have a firewall in place at all times when using the Internet, and preferably a commercial scale anti-Virus suite too.

It’s possible to reset the Login Service password by accessing your Windows registry and changing the key information. But this can be problematic if the virus has locked you out completely. A complete scan of the system with both a cleaning utility and a registry scanner will eliminate the threat of harmful viruses.

If you are having problems with the login service of a remote ISP, there could be many different causes to blame. First and foremost, check the connectivity of your hardware devices. This involves resetting modems, checking network wires and removing the static from plugs if necessary. If you can’t use the login service, it doesn’t necessarily indicate a problem with the software. You could be suffering from a hardware detection issue which happens to terminate at that particular time.

Some login services require the enabling of additional technologies. For example, web based Login Services might require JavaScript to validate details against the authorized list. In these cases, ensure that scripting is enabled in the Advanced tab of your Internet Options.

When logging in to any local network, ensure that the relevant cable is attached and working. If this isn’t correct, you might not even see a login screen. A “Page Cannot Display” message is quite common in scenarios where the login service can’t initiate – whether it be through a faulty Internet connection, a network hardware issue or even a system virus.

What is Dot.net technology?

Posted by admin on 14 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: server, error, windows

.Net is an umbrella term for the group of technologies that Microsoft uses to stage its web serving capabilities. You have probably heard of the .Net Framework which ties these technologies together, and the IIS (Internet Information Service) which makes it all possible.

As a side effect of the sophisticated technology in place, .Net does tend to produce quite a large number of errors, especially if you lack the required accuracy with your configuration settings!

It’s also very important to learn to distinguish between problems with the .Net Framework, and problems with a .NET application which is down to poor programming. Anybody can code in ASP.NET.

Here are a few examples of errors that are down to the code of the application.

CS0029: Cannot implicitly convert type ‘object name’ to ’string’

CS0117: ‘object name’ does not contain a definition for ‘Length’

CS0201: Only assignment, call, increment, decrement, and new object expressions can be used as a statement

All of these scenarios indicate lax code, and not necessarily a problem with the .Net framework itself. But of course, if you are receiving errors that indicate a failure to connect to a data source, or a lack of a connection altogether – then you should start to look at the larger picture of server issues and IIS configuration.

There are many sources for errors when using the web services that Microsoft offers. It could be an authorization issue, or something much more serious.

Error handling plays an important part in locating the root of the problem when you’re working on the .NET development side, whether it is with ASP.NET or VB.NET. The technologies that work with the .NET Framework are sophisticated and can be hard to interpret.

If, however, you are receiving errors that relate to the structure of the Framework and the connectivity itself, you might want to look a little deeper to find the solution. Errors such as the examples below represent a problem with the security permissions of the .NET environment itself.

Access denied to ‘C:\Inetpub\Wwwroot’ directory. Failed to start monitoring directory changes.

Server cannot access application directory ‘C:\Inetpub\Wwwroot\ Virtual Directory Name \’. The directory does not exist or is not accessible because of security settings.

In these instances, it’s possible to fix the errors by simply changing the permissions of the root folder involved (wwwroot, in this case). We should allow read, execute and list capabilities for the various .NET technologies to be accessible through the wwwroot folder. Without sufficient permissions, an error will be returned. But as you can see, the error is less to do with the code and more to do with the environment.

Be sure to keep up to date with the latest Microsoft .NET Framework patches and security packs as they are sure to fix many of the errors that you’re likely to encounter. The .NET standard is constantly evolving and so if you leave your software for a couple of months without updating, it’s highly likely that you’ll find a wide range of patches and fixes when you re-visit the Microsoft website.

Dot.net framework

Posted by admin on 14 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: server, operating system, windows

The .NET Framework is an add-on component to Microsoft’s Windows Operating System. It is closely integrated with technologies such as ASP.Net and just about anything with the .NET attachment in place. So what purpose does it serve? The framework is designed with developers in mind, making it possible to create code that serves programs with a wide range of technologies and additional Windows services. It is popular for its security and usability, while being free to obtain if you have a genuine copy of Windows to use it on. The biggest mistake that people make when downloading their .NET Framework and expecting to be up and running comes from the lack of an environment to serve the structure. .NET requires the use of Microsoft IIS. IIS - or Internet Information Services - is an advanced web server, produced by Microsoft to provide an infrastructure for programs such as Windows Server. If you are trying to run the .NET Framework without IIS installed and operational, you will be in for lots of errors. IIS is fundamental to the framework and without it, you’ll be left with nothing. Another issue stems from situations where IIS has been uninstalled and reinstalled, but the paths and keys haven’t been updated for the .NET Framework to run correctly. If you have IIS mapping to the wrong script locations, you will need to update your settings accordingly. To do this, there is a small utility with the name aspnet_regiis.exe. By running this program, you will be able to use ASP.Net and repair the mappings so that the .NET Framework and IIS are on the same page. Also when using ASP.Net on the NET Framework, you may run in to a problem where an error is returned along the lines of the one below: Access denied to ‘C:\Inetpub\Wwwroot’ directory. Failed to start monitoring directory changes. Server cannot access application directory ‘C:\Inetpub\Wwwroot\ Virtual Directory Name \’. The directory does not exist or is not accessible because of security settings. Both errors indicate a problem with the security permissions for the wwwroot, which will affect the accessibility of .NET Framework applications. You will need to add read, execute and list capabilities to the .NET account via the advanced properties of the root folder. This should clear up any access violations and enable use of the framework. We can’t stress highly enough the importance of keeping your .NET Framework version up to date and current with the latest technologies. Web server technology is constantly evolving and if you try to use the latest applications on an ageing framework, you’ll be confronted with all kinds of compatibility errors. Make a habit of downloading the latest Microsoft .NET Frameworks as and when they become available, including all security patches and service packs – of which there are plenty. Finally, it’s important to have an effective registry cleaner ad to make good use of it by clearing out your old .NET framework settings as they become corrupt. The .NET Framework adds many keys to the registry and running a sweep of the registry once a month should fix up most stray errors along the way.

System32.exe problem

Posted by admin on 14 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: registry, registry cleaner, configuration, windows, computer, Uncategorized

If you receive an error stating “Cannot find C:\Windows\System32\System32.exe” when booting your copy of Windows XP, it’s highly likely that you’re suffering from a well documented problem associated with the W32.KWBot.C.Worm virus.

Also known as Worm.P2P.Tanked.14 and Win32/HLLW.Kwbot.C, this particular virus operates through the Kazaa and Limewire sharing environment. It’s a medium threat virus, so while it isn’t totally destructive, it can cause some significant damage to your system.

So, naturally you’re already thinking, how can I get rid of this threat? Well the good news is that it’s quite easy to remove, as long as you’re careful when working and don’t go making any brash mistakes!

The actual “Cannot find C:\Windows\System32\System32.exe” error is thrown AFTER the virus has been removed. Not a very successful removal after all, you’d think. And you’d be right. The major anti-Virus suites are all guilty of an occasional loophole. In the case of the System32.exe error, that loophole is usually an incomplete removal of all registry traces of the W32.KWBot.C.Worm virus.

If you run through a standard virus scan of your computer and delete a few troublesome looking files, it’s possible that the next time you boot Windows; you’ll be presented with this error. To get to the bottom of it, we need to access the Windows registry and make a few slight alterations to remove the last traces of the virus.

Now, as ever, you should note that using the Registry Editor requires a great deal of attention. It’s not the sort of utility that you open up and play around with callously. In fact, a single bad edit can leave you locked out of your Windows XP system!

We would suggest that you download one of the many free registry cleaners if you’re lacking confidence in the area of critical system edits. In fact, we can’t stress it highly enough. A registry cleaner will usually get rid of stray entries and you’ll notice that the errors disappear with them.

But for the sake of knowing what you’re doing to your system, here’s how you can remove the W32.KWBot.C.Worm virus entries manually.

  • Go to Start, then Run, and type “regedit”.
  • Locate the following keys:
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
    CurrentVersion\Run\SystemSAS system32.exe HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
    CurrentVersion\Run\CMD cmd32.exe HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
    CurrentVersion\RunServices\SystemSAS system32.exe HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
    CurrentVersion\RunServices\CMD cmd32.exe HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
    CurrentVersion\RunOnce\SystemSAS system32.exe HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
    CurrentVersion\RunOnce\CMD cmd32.exe HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Krypton

  • Click on the Edit menu option.
  • Delete each key.
  • Find the HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Shell key.
  • Click on the Edit menu option
  • Click Modify and enter Explorer.exe as your value.

Finally, you will need to delete any of the remaining corrupted entries from the Kazaa and iMesh libraries. You will only need to do this for the program which you have installed.

Search for any values that point to C:\%Windir%\User32 or C:\%Windir%\UserTemp, and delete them.

You should then save your registry and restart Windows. In most cases, the error will have disappeared. If it remains, you will definitely need to download a comprehensive registry cleaning utility. This will search out any extra complications. As an absolute last resort, a full Windows repair may be necessary. This shouldn’t be considered until the other avenues have been exhausted. The registry edits above will fix the problem nine times out of ten.

Blue screen of death problem 0×00000000

Posted by admin on 14 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: 0x00000000, configuration, error, computer

It’s the screen that we all dread. It nearly always means that there’s something seriously wrong with an operating system, and in many cases, fixing it can require drastic measures. Yes, of course. We’re talking about the blue screen of death!

One of the errors that you might encounter is marked as 0×00000000.

For example, you might receive an error like the one below:

STOP: 0×0000009C (0×00000004, 0×00000000, 0xb2000000, 0×00020151) “MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION”

There are several different causes for the 0×00000000 error. But in most cases where you receive it, your system will be unusable. In extreme situations, you might not have any access to the Windows operating system at all. The error often triggers a system restart, and can appear without warning. Needless to say, its one of the more frustrating problems out there! It should also be noted that the error is typically found on Windows XP.

The official Microsoft documentation suggests that the error arises when the Machine Check Exception detects an unrecoverable problem with the hardware on an XP OS. This is slightly ambiguous, so how do we know where the problem is coming from?

To get to a fix, we have to look at the hardware of the system.

It’s possible that you’re suffering from a memory partition problem. A re-format of the hard drive would be the solution in this situation. But it’s much more likely that there’s a problem with the system bus.

System bus errors are painstakingly tricky to fix and you’ll need to take the computer to a technician and cough up for the full repair treatment.

It’s also possible that you’re running off higher specifications than your machine can handle. Over-clocking of the processor is a notorious problem and it is associated with the blue screen 0×00000000 error. To handle the higher performance applications, you should consider an upgrade to the processor and memory.

In most cases, you’ll be well aware if your processor is being over-clocked with unrealistic expectations. Poor performance will be noticeable long before the errors begin to crop up.

Ensure that the system has sufficient ventilation and that the fan is powerful enough to cool the CPU. This is the cause of many a system failure, but many look beyond what can be treated as basic thermal management of the computer.

It’s also important to stay up to date with the latest anti-Virus protection. If you find yourself attacked by one of the malicious shell-targeting viruses that are in circulation, it can have a crippling effect on the system resources.

Download a system cleaning utility and run a thorough check for malicious files. Remove anything that looks suspicious and you should notice an improvement in performance – which can be noted from the Task Manager.

Ultimately, if Windows is refusing to start up, or if the 0×00000000 errors are too persistent to ignore – you should take your computer to the nearest (or cheapest) repair store and ask a qualified technician to troubleshoot the actual hardware components. It’s very likely that the problem is being caused by either damaged memory or insufficient system resources, both of which can be pricey to fix.

Malware & Anti Malware Software

Posted by admin on 14 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: malware, spyware, internet explorer, internet

Contrary to popular belief, anti-virus software is only protecting you from half of the malicious content that you’re likely to find on the Internet. The other half comes in the form of Malware; an umbrella term for spyware, adware and several other disruptive applications.

It was only just recently that the top anti-Virus suites implemented scanning software to tackle the new problem. But despite the improvement of actually recognising the issue, it’s still important to have anti-Malware software installed if you wish to effectively wipe out the threat.

Viruses, understandably, take much of the media’s attention with their ability to spread like wildfire and cause severe disruption on a global scale. Yet Malware is much more common and can have a similarly disastrous impact on an operating system’s ability to function properly.

Even with the latest version of Internet Explorer, Malware makes it possible for other web users to hijack your browser and re-direct your every request to a third party website – usually one which sells an affiliated virus removal package.

Indeed, almost all Malware instances point to a commercial product which the user is trying to sell. They have several ways of succeeding. One of the most common is to include spyware with download packages.

An unsuspecting user might initiate a download without reading over the small print in the terms and conditions. When they install the program on their system, it will unpack several other applications. Some of these will operate in the background and the user won’t even know that they’re there. They can gather information about the user’s browsing habits, the sites that they visit and even more worryingly – bank details.

Other adware threats are less discrete and will spring up pop-ups on your desktop. You’ll even see your browser toolbar overtaken by commercial icons if you’re particularly unlucky.

One of the most popular tactics for Malware hackers is to spring up an alert box which states that the system is under attack from a deadly virus. The pop-up is dressed to look like a standard system warning, but it acts as an advertisement which will take the user to another third party website. As you can see, affiliation schemes are a popular target for the hackers.

The solution to all this, as you’ve probably gathered by now, is to protect your system with anti-Malware software. Most anti-Virus programs are extremely well designed to keep out the threat of Trojans and worms, yet they do little to fight off spyware which a user willingly installs without a second thought.

Anti-Malware products work in a similar fashion to virus protection software. They sit in the background and run a discrete check on the files that you download. If known instances of spyware or adware are detected, you’ll be confronted with an alert message and an option to either eliminate the threat or continue.

In most cases, eliminating the threat will simply mean not downloading a certain product. When software is packaged together, it becomes almost impossible for an Anti-Malware utility to sift out the good from the bad.

When you install the program, however, you should receive notification of the third party content that you might not have noticed in the zip.

By far the most popular form of Anti-Malware software is the “Search and Destroy” utility. This tool doesn’t prevent all new occurrences of malicious content, but it will scan your hard drive and sniff out the bad files. You can then opt to place the programs in quarantine and have them immobilised from operating on the system.

Inevitably, having spyware and adware running on a computer will decrease the performance. After rebooting with the files destroyed, you should notice that things run a lot smoother. It’s also a good idea to look out for recurring threats.

Some Malware programs are designed specifically to re-install themselves when a system restarts. They can be hard to remove and even with the top Anti-Malware software on the market, your best hope is to enter Safe Mode and remove the threat from there.

You’ll find that Anti-Malware software is cheaper than the better known Anti-Virus varieties. It’s now possible to get sufficient support for Malware removal through the likes of Norton and Symantec. But there are also several free utilities available on the Internet, and these can be efficient for most spyware and adware instances.

Don’t assume that just because you have virus protection, you’ll be safe from Malware. It’s a very different problem and one which the major companies are only just beginning to address.

How to fix about:blank problem

Posted by admin on 14 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: antispyware, anti spyware, malware, spyware, internet explorer, browser, internet

Have you opened up Internet Explorer only to find that your browser re-directs and sends you off where you don’t want to be visiting?

If the answer is yes, the chances are high that you’ve been attacked by the notorious about:blank homepage hijacker. It’s likely that if you’ve been affected by the virus, you’ll know it as the Cool Web Search utility that appears on the desktop and in your web browser.

Make no mistake; there are many different homepage hijackers in circulation. They are used for several reasons, most notably for hackers to send traffic to websites of their choosing. Sometimes this’ll be to steal advertising revenue, other times it may be to fool a search engine. And of course, there are those occasions where the pesky hackers will attack for the sake of attacking.

You may have heard the about:blank problem described as a symptom of the HomeOldSP hacker. There is a simple reason for this, and to find it you only have to look as far as the Windows Registry where you’ll find the following key:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,HomeOldSP = about:blank

While you might think that it’s possible to get rid of the about:blank virus by simply deleting the registry entry, it’s not quite as simple as that. Deleting the entry will temporarily disable the virus, but the infestation is designed to undo any attempt to delete it permanently. This means that within moments, you’ll be suffering from the same about:blank problems.

The good news is that the threat isn’t severe. It won’t render your system useless, although the same can’t be said for Internet Explorer which becomes extremely difficult to use with any variation of the Cool Web Search virus in place.

The DLL file at the root of the problem can be found hidden away at the key below:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\

WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Windows\\AppInit_DLLs

Once again, it’s not worth deleting the DLL because it will simply re-spawn. To remove it effectively, we need to download a copy of HijackThis and a comprehensive registry cleaner.

A good registry cleaner will scan and remove the about:blank hijacker. But it’s well known that the virus is capable of avoiding deletion across some anti-Virus platforms. Booting in safe mode is a good way of ensuring that you get to the root of the problem when you run your removal software.

It’s also possible to go in and correct the problem manually, if a little problematic to do so. You will need to use the Windows Registry Editor to locate a key named AppInit_DLLs. In its value entry, you will find the corrupt hidden DLL file that needs to be removed. The only problem is that you won’t be able to remove it unless you go through the Windows Recovery Console and rename the file first.

Before you can delete the file, you will need to lift the read-only protection that the hacker has placed on it.

Open up command prompt, find the stray DLL, and enter the following:

ATTRIB -R *file-name-here*.dll

Once the attribute has been changed, go ahead and delete the DLL file. Reboot the system and load up Internet Explorer. You should find that the about:blank problem is fixed.

We would strongly recommend that you purchase, or download, a sufficient spyware removal tool. There are many which sit in the web browser with the sole purpose of preventing intrusions such as the about:blank homepage hijacker.

How to fix HTTP Error 403

Posted by admin on 14 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: error, internet explorer, internet

HTTP Error 403 is caused by a web server believing that data sent by the client is correct, but also that the actual access to the data is forbidden or disallowed by the authorizer.

So it’s basically telling you that the page is there, but you’re not permitted to view it.

The thing which confuses many web users is that the same page can be accessible via different means. For example, you might be able to view it when clicking a link in another page. But if you try to bookmark the destination page itself, you’ll be returned with a 403 error when you later try to return to it. Why is this?

Well, by far the most common reason is a configuration setting known as directory browsing.

Directory browsing is where we enter the folder rather than the file itself, as a means of navigating the website.

Take for example, the following address:

http://www.mytestsite.com/media

This URL could potentially return a 403 error. But with the following URL:

http://www.mytestsite.com/media/index.html

This could display the actual page without an error.

Now, of course, when we access folders as shown in the first example, it’s the nature of the web server to look for a page title “Index” to return to the browser. But if directory browsing is turned off, the server will automatically throw a Forbidden Error, even if the page itself is entirely viewable when clicked by a standard A HREF link!

If every page is returning a Forbidden Error – directory browsing or not – you would normally expect a 401 to be thrown. The 401 error represents your more typical “Not authorized” message.

However, some browsers are still known to translate the 401 diagnosis and display a 403 instead. It matters little. If you’re having trouble accessing every page in the site, it’s usually a sign that you have a blanket authentication error. It could be that you were supposed to enter a username or password to access the page. It could also be a problem with a scripting language that’s running on the site.

A more obscure reason is simply that the website has changed web server and is now being hosted elsewhere. If the host has “cancelled” the directories to the old site, it may still take a little time before the client is redirected to the new location. During this time window, a 403 error is likely to be displayed.

There are several free online utilities that will run a check of a website’s authentication, providing it uses HTTP Basic Authentication. These will return information on the access layers, and will ultimately inform you whether the problem lies with the web server and host.

If you’re having trouble with your own website, it’s a good idea to contact your host and query whether directory browsing is allowed. Some hosts are extremely picky and disable direct page accessing altogether. This effectively means that every page must be accessed from another hyperlink. You can’t simply type in the URL without receiving an error – usually the 403 Forbidden Access that we’ve discussed.

As far as HTTP errors go, 403 is by far one of the most irritating to receive. It’s extremely ambiguous and it could be returned for one in a number of reasons. A little troubleshooting should help your cause, as we’ve discussed in this article, but contacting the host or webmaster may be necessary in a large number of cases.