Windows explorer crashed

[pvo01]

hi,
i am having difficulty of fixing this errror message that i got.

each time i right click on my c, e, or d drives and navegate to property, a windows pop up.
it said "windows explorer has encountered a problem and need to be close. we are sorry for the inconvenience".
it has an option of send or don't send. If i click any one of those botton, the screen would went blank and reappear afer a few second. that message would gone, and whatever program was open before would stil be there. but if i chose not to click the send or don't send, and leve the pop up in background, i can still use the computer without anyproblem- and if i were to right click and go to propery again, it will just be fine- no more popup.
my pc is running xp pro sp2 with the latest update from windows. I am runnig kaspersky antivirus. I tried kaspersky scan for virus but it does not found any except the following,

c:\program files\ ibm\updater\ucgather.exe ****this one got quarantined**riskware suspicious driver installation.
and the following
c:\program files\microsoft office xp\office10\powerpnt.exe
c:\program files\microsoft office xp\office10\excel.exe
c:\program files\microsoft office xp\office12\excel.exe
c:\program files\microsoft office xp\office10\winword.exe
c:\program files\microsoft office xp\office10\outlook.exe
c:\IBMTOOLS\apps\nortonav\nav\external\norton\app\navapsvc.exe
c:\program files\adobe\acrobat7.0\reader\acroRd32.dll
c:\program files\common files\microsoft shared\office10\mso.dll
c:\windows\system32\macromed\flash\flash9b.ocx
****all of the above have highly dangerous or very dangerous description under comment.
quite honestly, i am not even sure if i can delet those .exe file.
anywat, I have searched here and there, visisted many forums and i got lots of ideas from diffrent members. I have try things such as reinstall IE7, sfc /scannow, shellexview. besides, i also enable the turn on DEP for all program and services except those i select, and i select windows explorer. defragment, delete cookies, history, unuse fiiles...and still the problem is not fix.
I don't want to run windows cd repair or reformat until the last minute. I wish to try everything i could before that.
please, i really need to get this thing fix. any advice or suggestion is deeply appriciated.
thanks ou.

 

[gguerra]

Sounds to me like a add-on to the explorer context menu is making your system crash. some of the files you describe as being infected are the main executables for MS office. Try uninstalling 3rd party apps that are not essential one at a time. In other words something that would normally come up on the menu when you right click your drives and is not part of basic windows. Does the same thing happen when you right click a single file and not a drive?

 

[kimsland]

Have a look at:

Viruses/Spyware/Malware Preliminary Removal Instructions

 

[pvo01]

do i need to uninstall and reinstall my Office pack one at a time?

it only happen when i right click a drivers, like c, e, d.
namely, if i double click on the c drive then i can do everything in it. even if i right click go to property of a file in my c drive, nothing will hapen. it works just fine.
could it be something wrong with my bios config?

 

[kimsland]

Actually it's more likely context menu handlers corrupt
But I'd say the link above to the Virus/Malware removal would probably (likely) fix it

 

[Bobbye]

I agree with kimsland. The only way to determine if there is malware is to run the cleaning programs and attach the logs.

My thought is that the Kaspersky went out to dinner to do that scan! None of the processes listed, themselves, are malware.
Even this:

Ucgather.exe is related to IBM's Update Connector for ThinkPad. Manufacturer: IBM Corp.

Additional info from a user:

ucgather.exe (which runs during each boot) uses a python routine called pdtcomp.pyc (developed by Paul Plaskonos of IBM) that claims to be a byte compiled version of pdtcomp.py. I kill python.exe when this occurs; but it is annoying. My questions are: is Lenovo using the information gathered on each boot by the IBM ucgather program and is there an elegant method of discontinuing the startup run of this program if no one is using it? ... or alternatively is pdtcomp.py availble?

Follow the link kimsland gave in Reply #3. Seeing the logs after you run the programs is the only way we can determine if or where there is an infection.

One tip to rule out for the Windows Explorer crash: Control Panel> Folder Options> View tab> UNCHECK 'show hidden files and folders' if checked> Apply> OK.
I'm not sure why, but Explorer does not like it if these files remain unhidden and will cause 'unexplained' crashes.

 

[pvo01]

i have done what kimsland told

attached is a log of hijackthis program. the problem stil persists. I hope someone can help find out what the problem is.
thanks.

 

[Bobbye]

Please run Malwarebytes and SuperAntispyware. AFTER running them, rerun HijackThis and attach all 3 logs.

See Steps 4 and 5 here: https://www.techspot.com/vb/post645589-1.html

Also, please clarify/verify whether this is your ISP: amer.prgx.com

You are also running active remote connection processes. Are you aware of this? Did you set them up?