Problem with Yahoo Instant Messenger and Possibly Explorer.exe

[evilfantasy]

Checking: Platform: Windows Vista SP1 (WinNT 6.00.1905)

Why not SP2?

Click>> How to obtain the latest Windows Vista service pack

I don't see any malware in the log but that does not mean you are not infected. Malwarebytes is anti-malware, not a substitute for anti-virus. I suggest >>installing this<< and running a full scan.

You might also try this. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/972034

Then update your computer. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/help/windows-update

[DrSatanDracula]

Why not SP2?

Click>> How to obtain the latest Windows Vista service pack

I don't see any malware in the log but that does not mean you are not infected. Malwarebytes is anti-malware, not a substitute for anti-virus. I suggest >>installing this<< and running a full scan.

You might also try this. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/972034

Then update your computer. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/help/windows-update

You think it is necessary to update? I regretted updating to Windows XP Service Pack 2 due to its annoying changes (like file type execution blocking which was extremely cumbersome).

I'll DL the MS virus scanne r and see what it says this evening. Thank you.

[DrSatanDracula]

Okay, I DLed the MS Security, updated, and ran a scan. It found three files that it removed without a hitch. We'll see if that has any effect.

Previous to this, I tried the MS fix. That didn't work to do anything to stop my problem.

I haven't updated to SP2. Would you say it is the best idea?

[patio]

The Service Packs are not just security patches as most think...they are major OS upgrades and yes it should be installed...

[DrSatanDracula]

The Service Packs are not just security patches as most think...they are major OS upgrades and yes it should be installed...

Okay, I'll get to Dling it shortly.

Sadly: The Virus Scanner didn't stop my problem. I thought it had, as I hadn't any Yahoo crashes yesterday. But it went and crashed just now.

I'll upgrade to SP2 soon. Thanks for the advice there.

[evilfantasy]

Might be of some use. http://www.resplendence.com/whocrashed

[DrSatanDracula]

Might be of some use. http://www.resplendence.com/whocrashed

Thanks. This isn't causing the computer to crash, though, just the application and occasionally it makes explorer.exe unresponsive. I think this program will thus be rather ineffective in helping with this specific problem. Again, thanks though: It's actually a really cool program I am going to keep on my computer in case I have an issue with crashes in the future.

Any idea of how to handle the issue with explorer.exe, though? That's really the distressing thing: When it causes that to become unresponsive. It makes me think the problem is deeper than just Yahoo.

[DrSatanDracula]

All right: Now I am almost completely confident that it is an Explorer.exe issue, -not- just a Yahoo problem.

The reason: When explorer.exe hangs because of the Yahoo error popping up, even Antifreeze won't pop up. I tried it and it forced me to do a hard restart by disabling my ctrl, alt, delete functionality. I might as well get rid of Antifreeze as it won't be able to help me with this, but at least it served to show me the issue was beyond Yahoo as I have always suspected it was.

How might I go ahead trying to do a fix of explorer.exe? Should I attempt to remove my current explorer.exe with the one on the Vista disk? Or is there any other method I can do for this?

I mean, I am correct, yes: There is no reason that explorer.exe should hang 1 out of 4 times an error message pops up for a program, right?

[patio]

Never heard of antifreeze...except for that Green gunk i have to pour in the radiator every fall...
Most likely the root of all your issues...

[DrSatanDracula]

Never heard of antifreeze...except for that Green gunk i have to pour in the radiator every fall...
Most likely the root of all your issues...

It was a program recommended on the site referenced by Evil Fantasy. 

Not the green gunk in the garage. That stuff is useful, too, though.

Explorer.exe has been problematic since the start, as I noted way back when. About 1 in 4 error messages it hangs and forces me to logoff windows to clear the Yahoo error and resume explorer.exe functionality.

[jason2074]

Have you tried running this machine to safemode with networking?

[DrSatanDracula]

Have you tried running this machine to safemode with networking?

No.

When I do this, for how long should I keep it up?

[jason2074]

When I do this, for how long should I keep it up?

Wait for yahoomess and explorer.exe crash in this mode. But IMO, since you have no resident antivirus in the first place, I think it is a logical factor on certain crashes. Have you tried installing a free antivirus and running a complete scan? Avira, Avast, Microsoft Security Essentials are known to have very good detection level other than MBAM and SAS being system scanners. I would also check for latest windows system, software and driver updates.

[DrSatanDracula]

Wait for yahoomess and explorer.exe crash in this mode. But IMO, since you have no resident antivirus in the first place, I think it is a logical factor on certain crashes. Have you tried installing a free antivirus and running a complete scan? Avira, Avast, Microsoft Security Essentials are known to have very good detection level other than MBAM and SAS being system scanners. I would also check for latest windows system, software and driver updates.

I'll be running in Safe Mode with Networking in the next ten minutes for about the next 8 hours or whenever it crashes.

I installed MS Security Essentials in line with the suggestion of the Malware expert. It found two viruses that were sneaking about - and I was shocked MalwareBytes didn't catch - but those didn't effect anything.

What device drivers do you think would be most pertinent to this?

[DrSatanDracula]

Okay results from the safe mode. Sorry for the slight delay in reporting:

Over 8 hours while keeping IE open (as that sometimes seems to exacerbate the problem) and Yahoo Messenger on, I did not have any crashing reported in Safe Mode with Networking. However, this is inconclusive as the problem is sparodic and unpredictable.

Also, I noticed that while running in SM with Networking that my computer was working at a slower pace than normal. Might this be due to the drivers being disabled for some features on my mouse? I noticed it especially in mouse speed and onscreen response being sluggish. Or does this perhaps represent Explorer.exe struggles?

Oh, and it goes without saying that the problem returned once I returned to normal Windows operation.

I have not yet updated any device drivers, but that potentially has something to do with it so I shall be doing so, especially if I can figure out which device drivers would be most pertinent to update. I'll begin with one or two (I'll post which ones when I DL them) and report the results here.

Thank you for all your help.