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Thread ID: 139321	2015-04-14 02:35:00	cmd.exe missing	B.M. (505)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1398500	2015-04-14 02:35:00	Here’s a curly one, my faithful old ASUS laptop running XP professional SP3 has decided to notify me every start-up that cmd.exe in the system32 folder can’t be found. See Screenshot: 6386 However, cmd.exe is definitely where it should be and works perfectly by double clicking it and from the RUN facility. I’ve done all the normal housework like running CCleaner, Malware Bytes, virus scan but no joy. I even ran sfc /scannow from the cmd.exe and it didn’t ask for the XP disk once. Further, I did a restore from a point when I knew it was working fine and it restored no problems, but the notification is still there at start-up. Everything else seems to be fine, so I figure it is a false alert but what’s causing it? Any suggestions? :thanks	B.M. (505)
1398501	2015-04-14 02:48:00	Sounds a lot like the left overs of an infection as mentioned windowsxp-missing-system32-cmd-exe-417618.html (www.realgeek.com) Try this -- Go to the link in the post, www.dougknox.com the fix, pictured below. 6387	wainuitech (129)
1398502	2015-04-14 03:51:00	Thanks Wainui but unfortunately that didn't work. :crying	B.M. (505)
1398503	2015-04-14 04:07:00	Further, a statement from that link you provided Wainui has me scratching my head. "cmd.exe is not a Windows file" 6388 A search of the computer found it in the system32 folder and the i386 folder???????? 6389 :confused:	B.M. (505)
1398504	2015-04-14 04:51:00	That site -- The message means its not a actual windows file, its actually a infection masquerading as a cmd.exe Have a look in msconfig / Startup tab to see if anything relating to CMD is ticked /told to run, it shouldn't be. Also look for any entry that's running from C:\Documents and setting\........ There should be any. All those locations are fine, they are meant to be there.	wainuitech (129)
1398505	2015-04-14 06:13:00	That site -- The message means its not a actual windows file, its actually a infection masquerading as a cmd . exe Have a look in msconfig / Startup tab to see if anything relating to CMD is ticked /told to run, it shouldn't be . Also look for any entry that's running from C:\Documents and setting\ . . . . . . . . There should be any . All those locations are fine, they are meant to be there . Ok, to start at the top . This is weird because cmd . exe does appear to be a genuine windows file . :confused::confused: I say this because another XP Computer I have shows it in the same place and the same size . Also, double clicking it in the system32 folder produces this screenshot . 6390 Maybe someone else with XP might care to take a look at theirs? Moving onto the start-up there was quite a few items I hadn’t seen before, however google didn’t list any of them as a problem as long as they weren’t impostors, but how do you tell? Anyway, I un-ticked the ones I wasn’t sure about but that didn’t fix the problem either . However, I had another thought and started the computer on Safe Mode and the problem was gone . Unfortunately, it’s back in normal mode . This really is becoming quite a challenge . :badpc:	B.M. (505)
1398506	2015-04-14 06:24:00	Hey BM, At startup? So you are not running cmd.exe yourself? You need to find which startup item it is, and fix it from there. The error is suggesting that a program that gets executed by cmd.exe does not exist anymore. If you discover which startup item is requesting it and remove it, you should not be bugged by this anymore. Someone should be able to recommend the tools to check it, maybe msconfig would work but I'm sure there's better alternatives. If there's batch files on start up, check inside them for anything suspicious. Cheers, KK	Kame (312)
1398507	2015-04-14 06:33:00	What kame posted is what i suggested. Lets have a look at whats starting -- Assuming you have Ccleaner - open it, On the left -- Tools / start up -- Then down the bottom Right click Save to text file - post its contents here. OR hijackthis -- run save as text file ( from memory) post its contents.	wainuitech (129)
1398508	2015-04-14 06:44:00	OR use the inbuilt tools you have -- Open a command Prompt ( as Admin). Copy / paste or type out exactly the following into the window wmic startup get caption,command > c:\StartupApps.txt <press Enter> Go to your C drive there will be a text file called startupapps copy its contents here.	wainuitech (129)
1398509	2015-04-14 06:50:00	No kame, not running it myself at start-up. I only found it and clicked on it to see where it took me which I thought might be a clue. No such luck. I interpreted the message as saying the system couldn’t find cmd.exe which just so happens to be where it’s looking. All very confusing. :)	B.M. (505)
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