I really screwed up this time. Where did my WININET.DLL file go?

Computer Dummy | 7/7/04 | nita nupress

[Nita Nupress]

 

Well, it's actually not my WININET.DLL file; it's my Dad's, which makes it even worse.  I'm on my computer right now because his won't reach the Internet.

If you computer experts want to skip the first few (irrelevant) paragraphs about how it happened, you can get straight to the point by going directly to the Maintenance Done, Error Messages,  What I've Tried, and the My Bottomline Questions sections below.  Any help you can give me will be appreciated greatly.  I'm going to describe all the maintenance I did on his computer just in case you need it.  And in an effort to help other computer neophytes such as I, details will be included so maybe someone else can learn from my mistake. For all you computer whizzes out there, please know that I know that you don't need all these details to know what I'm talking about. :-) 

And no, I can't find my Windows '98 CD, and neither can my Dad. :-(

How It Happened:

I went to his house last night to update his MS Windows '98 Security Updates and Norton Anti-Virus because of the recent MS problems.  One is the Trojan Horse (PWSteal.Refest) from Russia that installs itself as a BSO (Browser Helper Object) and then steals your banking information. (More FR information on this virus - click here, here, here, here, and here. Lots of good links on that last thread by Ernest_at_the_Beach.)  

Anyway, while I was there and had the time, I did a lot of other things (described below).  Somewhere in all those updating functions I managed to completely erase some essential .DLL files. Luckily, I kept a record of everything I did.

Maintenance done:

Updates:

Ad-Aware (free spyware) 

Norton AntiVirus - updated everything available (virus definitions, Symantec Redirector, Clean Sweep, etc.)

Zone Alarm (free firewall) - updated to newest version

MS Windows Updates - downloaded 6 "Critical Updates" and 1 driver update for VIA Technologies, Inc. (multimedia software)

Downloads:

Spybot - Search & Destroy (free spyware - also available from download.com)

Other:

1. Did a search for "*.tmp" files and found 11,554 of them on his hard drive!  Deleted all but one, which wouldn't let me delete it.

2. Went to Control Panel and then Internet Properties:

Internet Properties --> Advanced --> Unchecked the "Use inline Auto Complete for web addresses" box.

Internet Properties --> Advanced --> Checked the "Empty Temporary Internet Files when browser is closed" box

Internet Properties --> Advanced --> Checked the "Warn if changing between secure & not secure mode" box

Internet Properties --> General --> Cleared the History, deleted Cookies, & deleted the Temporary Internet Files

Internet Properties --> General --> Changed the "Days to keep in History" to "1"

Internet Properties --> Privacy --> Set the computer to "Prompt for cookies"

3. Went to Control Panel, then Add/Remove Programs:

Uninstalled 3 screensavers that he doesn't use

4. Ran the following programs:

Ad-Aware - Found and deleted 100+ files (cookies, Alexa, Gator, etc.)

Spybot - Found some remaining spyware and deleted it

Norton Anti-Virus - came up clean.

Norton Clean Sweep - deleted cookies & Temporary Internet Files

Norton Fast & Safe CleanUp - This little program may be the culprit. It told me I could safely delete dozens of .DLL files that were "unnecessary" (after making a backup). I only deleted the files that were colored green, which supposedly meant Norton was sure it was safe to do so.

Zone Alarm - Fine tuned it by deleting all unnecessary programs and setting most others to give a "permission alert" before opening.

I think that about does it.  His computer ran fine until he turned it on this morning.  That's when all the error messages started.

Error Messages that come up during startup:

1.  "A required .DLL file, "WINDOWS / SYSTEM / WININET.DLL" was not found.

2.  Error loading messages (probably caused by #1 above?): 

        a.  "PROGRAM~1 / NORTON~1 / DEFALERT.DLL"

        b.  "PROGRAM FILES / MARKETBROWSER / LMT / exposrv.dll"

        c.  "PROGRA~1 / NEWDOT~1 / NEWDOT~2.DLL"

What I've tried thus far:

First, I tried opening in safe mode so I could open the Norton Fast & Safe CleanUp and find those .DLL backups it promised me, but no dice. While the Ad-Aware will run, the Fast & Safe CleanUp and SpyBot will not start without the WININET.DLL file.

Then I did a search for all .DLL files that were changed on 7/6/2004 - the WININET.DLL is not there. I think it vanished when I emptied the Recycle Bin.

To make matters worse, my Dad doesn't have his original WIN '98 CD and I can't seem to locate mine right now either.  I found a website where you can download .DLL files (http://www.5starsupport.com/info/dll.htm), but now that I've copied it, I don't have a clue what to do with it.  I really, really, really don't want to mess up his computer more than I already have!  The "readme.txt" file that came with the .DLL download says to "Use WinZip to extract the file to your windows\system directory."  Does that mean all I have to do is cut & paste the WININET.DLL file to his Win/System folder and then reboot the machine?  It can't be that easy.  This is what the directions on that website say:

If your Windows applications and programs are missing the correct dynamic link library files ( otherwise known as DLL files or .dll ) you've probably been faced with either a reinstallation of your software or a non working application. This DLL download page contains links to the most commonly needed DLL files, most are in zip file format. Using WinZip or similar, most users will simply have to unzip the DLL file they are missing into their default C:/Windows/System directory to restore program functions. 

NOTE: The files listed below are available either as zipped files or as self-extracting executable files. 

Disclaimer: Although the files listed are presumed to be harmless, as with any software or files downloaded off of the Internet, it is advisable to scan with a good anti-virus application prior to installing.  5 Star Support cannot be held responsible for any damage to hardware or software resulting from the downloading of any DLL files. See Terms of Use.

Here are my bottomline questions for the experts:

1. Where do you think the WININET.DLL file went?  Could it have been caused by a virus?  (I didn't run the updated Norton AV program until the very last). But because I ran the Norton Fast & Safe CleanUp next-to-last, I'm thinking that's what zapped it.  Even though I only deleted the .DLL files that were colored green (meaning it's "safe to delete"), maybe the CleanUp program zapped it anyway. Like a dummy, I impulsively emptied the Recycle Bin so now it's gone. (The CleanUp told me it had saved a "backup file" so I didn't worry about it at the time. It didn't tell me those "backup files" would be retrieved from the Recycle Bin!)   
   

2. Is there any way to retrieve a file that's been deleted out of your Recycle Bin?  It wouldn't be a problem on my computer because I have Norton's Utilities Integrator which has an "UnEraseWizard" function to recover deleted files, but I don't know how to do it otherwise.    
   
   

3. Is it possible to just copy the WININET.DLL from my own computer (WIN '98, 2nd ed.) and transfer it to my Dad's computer?    
   

4. If #3 isn't possible and I have to use the .DLL file I downloaded from the Internet here on my computer, do I just save it to his Win/Systems folder and reboot?  Like I said earlier, that sounds too easy.

Oh, and if you're getting tremendous pleasure from this thread and you just can't stop yourself from saying "Screw Microsoft; get a Mac/Linus/RedHat/SuSE/eComStation/Opera/Mozilla/Safari/(fill-in-the-blank)," go ahead and say it.  You'll feel much better, plus you'll be helping to bump the thread. :-)

 

[Diddle E. Squat]

OK, time for a 'safe mode' question. Whenever I try to run safe mode on my Windows ME, the mouse is disabled, with the stupid little white arrow sitting in the middle of the screen. Anyone know how to enable the mouse, or some other way to navigate the screen in safe mode?

[go star go]

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=/servicedesks/fileversion/default.asp?vartarget=msdn

this site will allow you to find out what product installs a dll. i didn't check but i believe the dll you're missing is installed by internet explorer on win98. also, norton or adware could have quaranteened the dll in question.

[LowOiL]

Nita Nuputer

ROFLMBO... That is too funny Luis...Need a New computer.. I love it...

tears of laughter...

[Nita Nupress]

Make a boot floppy, copy the missing DLL to it, boot you dad's machine with the floppy, copy the file to the proper place, reboot without the floppy.

dll files to download for free

Yep, and while your at it, reinstall Nortons, that should take care of those other errors.

Many times when you've inadvertently deleted system files the fix is actually no more complicated than replacing the missing file. If you've got the missing .dll, just try copying it back into the windows\system folder and reboot.

http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?wininet

So, it sounds like it is something easy to fix.  Thanks to all of you!

[Senator Pardek]

I was gonna link to the Google Image Page for "blonde" - but I viewed it and decided it was not such a good idea.

[McGruff]

Try downloading it from this link, copy to floppy and put on your computer.

[visualops]

Newdot is part of spyware. Probably you deleted part of it but not all.
Secondly, if your Dad's machine is factory made (HP, Compaq, etc), then the Win98 install files are probably on the hard drive in the Windows folder (Windows\Options\Cabs).
These two articles might help you:
Description of the System File Checker Tool (Sfc.exe)

HOW TO: Extract Original Compressed Windows Files

[Nita Nupress]

Just tell your dad it's Al Gore's fault. He didn't make the Internet robust enough when he invented it. Good luck!

Ha! He's a Republican so he'll like that one. In fact, I think he already made an "Al Gore" statement similar to that this morning!

[Xenalyte]

That I can't help you with. Windows ME defied all my attempts at rescuing its users. Do you have access to 2000 or XP? I'd recommend XP.

[Nita Nupress]

Ppphfffttt!

[BigSkyFreeper]

So, it sounds like it is something easy to fix.

Yep, pretty straightforward. :)

[ErnBatavia]

Dudette!

[Nita Nupress]

If I don't get his computer fixed, he'll be going out to buy a new one too. Then I'll have my Mom mad at me.

You're right. You can't win for losing in these situations. :-)

[Diddle E. Squat]

Well thanks for trying and the quick reply. I'll probably just plod along on this raggedy old e-machine until I absolutely need 'safe mode', and then it will be a good excuse to finally spend the dough on a new computer.

[BigSkyFreeper]

I was gonna link to the Google Image Page for "blonde" - but I viewed it and decided it was not such a good idea.

"Dumb Blonde" is just as bad! LOL

[Nita Nupress]

Actually, when you reboot at first, I'd boot into Safe Mode (press F8 during boot - I don't know when exactly, so I start pressing it as soon as the DOS screen comes up).

Right after the BIOS POST memory check and before "Loading Windows".

Thank you very much. I was afraid I would break something if I just sat on the thing.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Did that first one gnaw her hand off?

[Senator Pardek]

Seriously - when I was installing my DSL software a few years ago, the disc I got was screwed up and it kept telling me that files (.dll) were missing. I would just look for them on the net and download them to the installation folder. I was shocked that it worked.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Hold the key too long you'll hear a long string of beeps, that is the computer telling you to take your finger off the F8 key. LOL :)

[deadmenvote]

jeeeez, and I got out of the shower for this