HELP - missing .dll is screwing me to the wall....

[housepig]

So I boot up my computer, running XP Pro, and it gets to the welcome screen.

then it pops up an error message saying that "c:\windows\system32\browseui.dll is not a valid Windows image", and it leaves me with a blank desktop - no taskbar, no icons, no nothin'.

I'm currently logged in having Ctrl-Alt-Deleted, opening up the Task Manager, and using the File -> New Program (Run) command to open Mozilla.

needless to say, I'm not a happy chappie. especially since I got so busy this weekend that I didn't do the drive image I was planning on doing.

is there (hopefully) an easy fix to this, or am I going to have to reinstall?

any help appreciated - at this point, I need it.

[rallynavvie]

I wonder if a Windoze Repair will work off the install CD for that. Does it do the same thing if you try to boot into safe mode? Also try entering "explorer" into the "New Task..." option in the File menu of the task manager. This sometimes gets Windows Explorer to come back when it crashes, may work in your situation.

[housepig]

Rally -

thanks, I hadn't even thought of Windows repair... can you give me a little more info? it's been so long since I've used it. will also try booting in safe mode - I was so frazzled last night when I was trying to work on it, I forgot to go point-to-point in my attmpts to fix it..

I tried running Explorer.exe from the Task Manager, no good - same invalid dll error comes up.

I should also note that I did search for this problem, and every Knowledge Base article or internet article reffered to IE problems in WinME for this dll - nothing for Explorer and XP.

[northcat_8]

I would try F8 and selecting "last known good startup" and if that didn't work I would boot from the CD.

You don't have a virus do you? If you can access the internet, you can scan for free at www.trendmicro.com

If you are on a dialup trend can take a while to load the scan engine and download the definitions but is a very good virus scanner, it catches some that Norton and McAfee miss

[gitreel]

could be spyware that f**ked up explorer

[housepig]

Northcat -

don't know if I have a virus, I haven't had a chance to scan yet - I have DSL, so I'll try the Trendmicro site. Also forgot about F8 and the "last known good"... thanks!

usually if I have problems like this, it's on my audio or video boxes, not my main box, so when the main box gets hosed, it's like I lose all problem-solving abilities and start panicking...

tonight I'm in exile, so I should have a few straight hours to work on it and see if I can fix it.

thanks for all the input - if anyone has more suggestions, tricks or ninja fixes, keep them coming!

[housepig]

okay, got everything working, and I'm in the process of running image files of all my stuff...

big thanks to everyone, esp. Capmaster. I replaced the .dll file with a different copy and the machine booted fine.

[zanos]

sounds like you may have some sort of spyware installed on your computer. Use a program called HiJackthis to scan your system for the dll file and delete it if this is the case.