71 replies to this topic

[chrisofdeath]

i have done what you told me to do, i have opened the command prompt and typed in regedit.exe but what do i have to do once i have opened that, i can see the reg keys but i don't know what to do next.

julie

Hi Julie

First you'll need to click on the plus next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to view the 'tree' structure' of the registry. Then click on the plus next to Software and so on until you've reached:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Once you're there, look at the keys listed on the right side of the screen. Towards the middle of those listed, you should see one labeled LegalNoticeCaption and another labeled LegalNoticeText. Double click on the key to open the edit window, click field just under "Value Data", delete any values that are there, and if there are none, space once, then backspace to force the key to be updated. Then click okay. Do the same for the key labeled LegalNoticeText.

Then navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurentVersion\policies\system

and follow this procedure once again. Once you're through, close the Registry Editor (changes are saved automatically once it's closed) and reboot the computer. Hopefully, this should take care of that annoying message dialog on startup. Good luck, and make sure to report back your results.

[wange]

hi there, i think i have found the right registry folder although what do i ammend in this registry key?

Hi mehere,

had same problem - found this on microsoft site which helped me locate what to amend. For xp,
insstead of gpedit, follow instructions below. If still want to use regedit directly, instructions here also at bottom.
Hope this helps.
I'm new to the forum, but have fixed this exe & lnk problem quite a few times now on various pcs, all xp, and in my opinion, something is misleading adwatch into believing it needs to take some action to defend the registry. ( it only does it automatically if adwatch is set to automatic, and lock executable files etc is ticked (see earlier posts in this thread)). Each time I have had the problem it has been immediately after fast user switching, so I would also recommend turning this off ( in user accounts), although I cannot be sure whether there are other triggers.
If you are set to manual in adwatch, the same thing might still happen again in the future, but you get the chance with each notification, whether to accept or block the change to registry. in my experience, you need to accept the change, not block. The change strangley appears to be putting things right, and if you block them, the same exe & lnk problem returns.
good luck with your repairs !

Configuring a Group Policy Setting for Windows XP
1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click Administrative Tools.
2. Double-click Local Security Policy.
3. In the left pane, expand Local Policies, and then click Security Options.
4. In the right pane, click Interactive logon: Message title for users attempting to log on, and then type the text that you want to appear in the title bar of the message dialog box. ( or for this fix space then backspace)
5. In the right pane, click Interactive logon: Message text for users attempting to log on, and then type the text of the message that you want to appear in the message dialog box. ( or for this fix space then backspace)


Configuring the Group Policy Setting by Using Registry Editor
1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurentVersion\policies\system
3. In the right pane, double-click legalnoticecaption, and then type the text that you want to appear in the title bar of the message dialog box. ( or for this fix space then backspace)
4. In the right pane, double-click legalnoticetext, and then type the text that you want to appear in the message dialog box. ( or for this fix space then backspace)
5. Close Registry Editor.

[mehere]

Thank you very very very much! i have managed to stop this box from appearing but although i just now need to fix the system tray problem then thats all! not all of them show up even though they are supposed to.
Cheers!

[Cybernaut]

I'm having the same problems mentioned in this thread (Cannot run any exe programs and missing lnk associations). I cannot run system restore or reg edit and I'm not running XP (I'm running Windows ME) so I cannot do what is suggested here. This happened after a scan and after starting ad-watch. Help! Please. How do I fix this?

Edited by Cybernaut, 08 March 2007 - 10:05 AM.

[drifter99]

Thanks all for providing the info to fix the .lnk trbl. Did what you recommended and it clear it right up. Now should I leave adware running or should I shut it down?

[benkeboy]

It seems to work now!
At least after using your instructions and the lnk and exe file association fixes from doug knox.

also: restart needed (default IT fix?)

i have now and had then (ie after the file association got busted)
a message window before logging on to the pc that only states "[]".
the title of this box is also [].

AVG 7.5 has not detected anything unusual.

anyway so the moral of this is to always accept changes when ad-aware or ad-watch prompts for changes?
if so, why do i have it installed?

[Ai_Tak]

It's a bug in ad-watch that causes it to forget everything and think everthing is new, and gives you the option to reset things (from a confused ad-watch, this means delete everything, not good).

With ad-watch you shouldn't be saying yes or no all the time, you should know what it is asking about and then decide. For example, if you're just installing a program from a vendor you trust, chances are you should allow.

The new ad-watch 2007 in beta testing doesn't seem to have this bug, so when that comes out this won't be a problem anymore.

[Alan DeRego]

My dad was click happy and then told me what happened.
I think it is safe to say that Ad-Watch is the cause of this.
Now that the damage is done what can be done to fix this?

I tried all of the previous fixes and none of them worked.
The part that it hangs up on is the REG files.
I can't run the repair for the REG.
I really would hate to reinstall XP.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Alan

[chrisofdeath]

My dad was click happy and then told me what happened.
I think it is safe to say that Ad-Watch is the cause of this.
Now that the damage is done what can be done to fix this?

I tried all of the previous fixes and none of them worked.
The part that it hangs up on is the REG files.
I can't run the repair for the REG.
I really would hate to reinstall XP.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Alan

I take it the reason you can't repair the "REG" is that you can't open regedit, right? Navigate to C:\Windows and rename regedit.exe to regedit.com. Then double-click to run it and follow the instructions listed in the thread. Let us know if this works, or if I'm barking up the wrong tree.

[KangXi]

I have found a fix the system tray icons not showing up! Go into your control panel > Sound and Audio Devices. Place a check in the box that says "Place volume icon in the taskbar" Press apply and all your icons should reappear. I can't believe how simple it turned out to be, after I spent weeks trying to figure it out.

[Alan DeRego]

Ok,
I got it fixed.
When I tried to open the REG file it came up with a window that asked what I wanted to do with the file.
The choices were check online or use a selected program.
I chose to use a selected program and selected Registry Editor.
When that was done I could fix the EXE and the LNK files.

All is well...For Now

Thanks for all the help...

Alan

[Patel]

Ok guys here is the solution to broken/missing .exe and .lnk file.
just go to this website http://filext.com/fa...association.php

or follow this instruction:
open MY Document folder OR Any folder

click on TOOLs
Click on Folder Options
Click on File Types Tab
Scroll down to where .EXE would be in the alphabetical order and make certain .EXE is NOT there.
Finally, select the NEW button
Type in EXE for the extension and select the ADVANCED button.
From the list pick "Application."


Do the same thing for LNK but under advance button select SHORTCUT from list (not Application)


Ok guys good luck.

[phil424]

Hey !! Thanks to all the guys on this thread - especially ChrisofDeath !!

A couple of weeks ago, I got the Adwatch treatment - registry trashed and all of the lnk / exe file association problems. Luckily, I was still able to AOL and found the [ Briliiant ] Doug Knox site for myself.

When it first happened , I went into an utter panic and thought me and my 'puter were goners !

But I still had the pesky strange dialog box appearing on Win bootup. Fixed with Chris's instructions.

Now all I need is to figure out how to make Adwatch work again in realtime looking for tracking cooies.
It seems to boot, but never gives me any alerts and I don't believe that 'cos AOL normally does loads.

If anyone has any bright ideas on this, I would be very pleased to hear.

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks to all on this forum for 1. making me realise that it wasn't my fault and I wasn't the only one to lose the lnk / exe stuff; and 2. all the help in sorting it out.

Regards,
Phil

[netsaver]

Hi ( Lavasoft admin, technical staff and all senior members ),
I got problem with ad-watch...... when all my .exe files has changed to .lnk file and and all this file ( also in desktop ) is totally malfunction. It feel like disaster to fixed it but still can't...... I think all the new customers faced the same problem like me. Please explain step-by-step including .jpeg images how to settle this problem. If this problem couldn't be fixed, I think I feel afraid continue with this Ad-Aware and Ad- watch again. Please anyone could answer.
Thank you.

[bendunn135]

Hi everyone.

I recently (about 3 days ago) had this problem with the .lnk's and .exe's etc, and sure enough it was ad-aware that was messing it all up, but i've got all that bit sorted now. Only problem I still have is the window that opens up on startup.

I've tried following chris and wange's instructions but encounter problems with both of them.

Chris:
In the registry, I updated the values for LegalNoticeCaption and LegalNoticeText in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon successfully, but when I try looking under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurentVersion\policies\system there are no fields to be changed at all (except default), let alone the two specified. I have tried created my own fields named LegalNoticeCaption and LegalNoticeText, and ensuring they both have null values, but it didn't make any difference.
Any idea why I can't see the fields?

Wange:
I followed your XP Home directions on how to fix this, but when I came to 'Administrative Tools', there is no 'Local Security Policy' for me to click. All I see is:

- Component Services
- Computer Management
- Data Sources (ODBC)
- Event Viewer
- Microsoft .Net Framework 1.1 Configuration
- Microsoft .Net Framework 1.1 Wizards
- Performance
- Services

Is this unusual? Are there any other administrative tools that should be there that I can't see? My user account does have full admin rights.


One last thing, I tried starting my computer up in safe mode so I could try both sets of instructions again, but for some reason F8 isn't doing a thing.

If anyone has any ideas let me know.

Cheers.

[drifter99]

Thanks all for providing the info to fix the .lnk trbl. Did what you recommended and it clear it right up. Now should I leave adware running or should I shut it down?

I've been running wih adware turn off and I haven't had this trbl since.Guest I will leave it turn off unless someone has a fix.

[drifter99]

I've been running wih adware turn off and I haven't had this trbl since.Guest I will leave it turn off unless someone has a fix.

Well I guest it is goodbye to lavasoft and hello to spybot . I've had no problem since I installed spybot and have taken off lavasoft.

[Ramone144]

Hello all, I also had the problem with the Ad-Watch bug where the file associations went awry. I followed the steps that Ad Astra provided and the file assocations were restored, as well as chrisofdeath's steps to remove the message box that appears right before the login screen, thank you Ad Astra and chrisofdeath!

I didn't have any problems with the system tray icons, but I do, however, have a problem that I didn't see mentioned here in this thread. I also searched the forums and nothing came up as well. After what happened with Ad-Watch, the Turn Off Computer option disappeared from the log in screen, the icon and the text. Does anyone know how to restore it? After reading this thread and fixing the problems, it seems like there would be an option in the registry to hide/restore it.

[miekiemoes]

the Turn Off Computer option disappeared from the log in screen, the icon and the text.

This should be a policy set.

Not really sure here if you are talking about the shut down option or the Log off option, since both are different. Anyway, we'll cover them both..

To fix it, Open notepad and copy and paste next present in the quotebox below in it:
(don't forget to copy and paste REGEDIT4)

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoClose"=-
"NoLogOff"=-

Save this as fix.reg Choose to save as *all files and place it on your desktop.
It should look like this:
Doubleclick on it and when it asks you if you want to merge the contents to the registry, click yes/ok.
(In case you are unsure how to create a reg file, take a look here with screenshots.)

Let me know if that solved it.

[benkeboy]

I had the same problem with link and exe files (Adwatch striked again)
Using the info and files on the site by Doug Know fixed both lnk and exe problem
but the icons for all exe and lnk files are not showing up.

when right clicking for properties of the icons
the correct icons are shown under change icon
but not in the icon itself.

any tips?