Error messages when trying to log in to internet

[norton]

I tried to connect to BT Yahoo Broadband yesterday (it had been working fine), when I got "sorry, the attempt to sign in failed", after pressing the help button the next message read

"Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library. C:\ Program Files\Yahoo\Browser\Ybrowser.exe. A buffer overrun has been detected which has corrupted the program`s internal state. The program cannot safely continue execution and must now be terminated"

I can connect to BT Yahoo wirelessly using my laptop, but not on my desktop PC.

I tried using system restore and tried about 6 different restore points going back a month or more, but every time got the reply that the system could not be restored to that date.

Any ideas anyone?

 

[aford10]

It could be poor programming or a virus. Boot into safe mode with networking (F8 on startup). Download, install, and update malwarebytes. Do a full system scan.
www.malwarebytes.org/

 

[norton]

It could be poor programming or a virus. Boot into safe mode with networking (F8 on startup). Download, install, and update malwarebytes. Do a full system scan.
www.malwarebytes.org/

Pressing F8 during startup loads the "please select boot device " screen, when it should load the "advanced options menu". Where do i go from here?

 

[aford10]

What kind of PC do you have?

Some other common keystrokes to access the safe mode menu are F1, F2, F9, and F11.

 

[norton]

What kind of PC do you have?

Some other common keystrokes to access the safe mode menu are F1, F2, F9, and F11.

INTEL P4 3.2GHZ processor
ASUS P4S800 motherboard
160GB HDD
Sapphire Radeon HD3850 graphics card

The computer is over 6 years old, the graphics card is an upgrade, as is also a Corsair PSU.

Have not tried the other keystrokes yet, but will do today.

 

[aford10]

Is it a homebuilt PC, or retai (HP, gateway, compaq, dell...etc)?

Let me know if those other keystrokes work.

 

[norton]

It`s a retail PC by Carrera Computers, although they have gone out of business now.
Those keystrokes didn`t work so I tried the other F keys and found that F5 took me to the Advanced Options Menu.
I tried safe mode with networking but the result was the same (the "unable to sign into BT Broadband "message.)
I then tried "most recent settings that worked", and that seems to have made some difference.
When I try to log in now, I don`t get the "unable to sign in" message but I get 2 other message boxes opening at the same time, obscuring part of the BT log in box.
One says "dial-up connection box....dialing, attempt 1 (although it doesn`t seem to be dialing anything)
The other box says "error connecting to BT Broadband, error 797: a connection to the remote computer could not be established because the modem was not found or was busy".
I found that I could sometimes delete these boxes with the cancel button on the latter box, but not always, as they sometimes freeze and refuse to go away.
To cut a long story a bit shorter, I managed to log on to BT Broadband (I`ve done it twice since) and I downloaded and installed malwarebytes, the latest April 2010 version.
It refuses to start though as I get a message that reads " error message - mbam.exe - unable to locate component. This application has failed to start because MSVBVM60.DLL was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem".
Re-installing it does not fix the problem.
While I am logged on to the internet, the same 2 other message boxes I mentioned above keep reappearing on the screen about once every 10 minutes, but I can delete them with the cancel button.

I don`t know whether a virus is causing the problem but both AVG free anti-virus and windows defender report that my computer is clean.

 

[aford10]

Go to start-->network connections-->right click and disable any other connections besides the one you use.

Go to start-->all programs-->startup-->right click and delete any programs that you don't want to start when the PC starts.

 

[norton]

In network connections, while both my desktop PC and my laptop are connected to the internet, the following connections are shown.

1 - Broadband; broadband connection; WAN Miniport (PPPOE). shown as disconnected.
2 - Dial- up; BT Yahoo broadband; speedtouchUSB ADSL PPP. shown as disconnected.
3 - Internet Gateway; Internet connection. shown as connected.
4 - LAN or High-Speed Internet; local area connection. VIA Rhine11 Fast Ethernet Adaptor. shown as connected.

I presume that connections 1 and 2 need to be disabled. But it is only possible to delete them, not disable them. Should I delete those two?

 

[aford10]

How is the desktop connected to the internet (cable modem, DSL, wireless, dial-up..etc)?

It sounds for sure, like at least #2 should be disabled or deleted. If you have internet access while 1&2 are disconnected, you can delete both of them.

 

[norton]

Desktop connected to internet via a BT Voyager 2091 wireless ADSL router, using a yellow ethernet cable. The laptop uses the wireless connection.

 

[aford10]

It sounds like you use #4. I'm not sure what #3 is, or why it's connected. If you are curious and want to know, you can disable that, and see if it effects anything. You can always enable it later.

I would start by disabling the first 2. Right clicking on them should give you the disable option. If not, you can delete them.

 

[norton]

It sounds like you use #4. I'm not sure what #3 is, or why it's connected. If you are curious and want to know, you can disable that, and see if it effects anything. You can always enable it later.

I would start by disabling the first 2. Right clicking on them should give you the disable option. If not, you can delete them.

I tried deleting 1 and 2. Right clicking gives options to connect, make default connection or delete. No option to disable.
When I click delete I get "are you sure you want to delete broadband connection,( or BT Yahoo broadband)?
When I click `yes`, nothing happens, the connections are still there.

 

[aford10]

Press the F5 button to refresh your screen after deleting the connection.

If that doesn't help, try downloading revo uninstaller. SWitch to hunter mode, and move the target to the network connection.

 

[norton]

I downloaded Revo Uninstaller. In hunter mode, hovering the target over the network connections window I get "C:\WINDOWS\ Explorer.exe " in the tool tip information, whichever connection I choose. So I can`t delete connection 1,2 3 or 4 but only the whole window.
I did try it, using Kill mode and it just stopped Windows Explorer, leaving me with just the screen saver, so I had to press the reset button to restart the PC.
Looking on my hard drive at C:\Windows\Explorer.exe , I though if I opened it I could delete the files I needed to, but I get the message "windows cannot open this file".

I still don`t understand why Malwarebytes will not start, as I hoped that may fix the problem.

 

[norton]

I have bypassed, (but not solved) the problem by downloading the Mozilla Firefox browser and using that instead of Internet Explorer. Bt Yahoo Broadband now starts automatically when I start Firefox.
Still can`t run Malwarebytes though.

 

[aford10]

Try removing them in safe mode.

Go to start-->run-->msconfig-->if those connection services are set to startup with windows, you can disable them there.

Are you getting an error when you try to run malwarebytes?

 

[norton]

Try removing them in safe mode.

Go to start-->run-->msconfig-->if those connection services are set to startup with windows, you can disable them there.

Are you getting an error when you try to run malwarebytes?

The error message when I try to run Malwarebytes is explained in my post above dated 05-11-2010 at 10:49:26AM.

 

[norton]

Correction. post date above should read 05-11-2010 at 04:49:26 AM.

 

[aford10]

Gotcha. Ok, boot into safe mode with networking. Download and install the following software:
Microsoft security essentials
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/
ccleaner (registry cleaner)
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Make sure to update it, and run the full system scan with Microsoft security essentials.

When that is done, run the ccleaner registry tool. Sometimes you have to run it multiple times to fix everything.

Go to start-->run-->sfc /scannow <--This will scan your system files for errors, and try to replace any damaged files.

start-->run-->chkdsk /r <--This will schedule a chkdsk the next time you restart.

 

[norton]

OK, done most of that, although couldn`t install Microsoft Security Essentials in safe mode with networking, so had to do it in normal mode.

Ran a full system scan, result was "no threats were detected"

Ran the ccleaner registry cleaner, had to run it four times to fix everything.

Had a problem with scannow though, after entering "sfc/scannow" a message said "windows cannot find sfc/scannow". Tried it a few times with same result.

Will schedule "chkdsk/r" before I shut down.

Tried removing network connections 1 and 2 in safe mode, but in safe mode,when I open the network connections window they are not there, the window is blank.

Could not see any reference to those connection services on the start tab in configuration utility.

I uninstalled Malwarebytes as It wouldn`t start, Am I right in thinking that I don`t need it now because I have Microsoft Security Essentials ?

 

[aford10]

There is a space in between sfc /scannow (space is between the c and /).

If microsoft security essentials didn't detect any malware, then you're probably clean. You can try re-downloading and re-installing malwarebytes if you want to double check. Now that the system has been cleaned up a bit, it may run correctly.

Go to the start menu-->startup folder. Is there anything in there?

 

[norton]

Have run sfc /scannow and dskchk /r , then I downloaded and installed Malwarebytes again. The result was the same though, with the message "This application has failed to start because MSVBVM60.DLL was not found".
There were quite a few missing / shared DLLs yesterday when I ran the ccleaner registry tool, although I had assumed that it had fixed them.

The startup folder is empty.

When I try to log in to BT Yahoo Broadband in Internet Explorer I am back to the original problem with the message "Sorry, the attempt to sign in failed".

Perhaps I should accept that IE7 is corrupted in some way, and just use Firefox, as I have no problems with that.

I could also download IE8 and then delete IE7 from my system.

 

[aford10]

If that solves the issue, go for it. However, there seems to be something else going on with your system. It may be a good idea to try a windows repair, or at some point, do a fresh install. Here's something that may be of interest to you.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/findbyerrormessage/a/msvbvm60-dll-not-found-missing-error.htm

 

[norton]

Thanks for that link, very interesting.
I suspect that the registry is at fault on my PC and a Windows Repair would be the best option. That throws up more problems though.

The DVD-ROM drive has not worked for a while so I couldn`t run a Windows CD if I had one. When I look in Device Manager at the DVD-ROM drive, there is a yellow warning flag on it, and in the device status window the message reads "windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (code 39)."
I tried troubleshooting, without success.

If the drive was working, I don`t have an original windows installation CD as my operating system came preloaded.

I do have a windows installation CD that I borrowed from someone (although I`ve never tried using it). It`s a Dell reinstallation CD, windows XP home edition including service pack 1a. It says on it "Only use this CD to reinstall the operating system on a Dell computer. This CD is not for reinstallation of programs or drivers".

So I don`t know if it`s suitable for my PC (service pack 3), even if I could get the DVD drive working again.