How to Fix Internet Explorer Crashes

Internet Explorer to me is a very delicate browser. There are some major improvements in IE 7 but the base remains the same. People find it very difficult when Internet Explorer crashes and all the data is lost. Sometimes, the Internet Explorer keeps on crashing. There are several reasons behind this but the most common reason is the add-ons which are installed in Internet Explorer.

How to Find Out the Installed Add-ons:

Internet Explorer 7 includes an add-on manager which can be accessed from Internet Explorer Tools Menu –> Manage Add-Ons –> Enable or Disable Add-Ons.

Internet Explorer 6 or less has this option in Tools –> Internet Options –> Programs –> Manage Add-Ons..

Here you will see all the Add-Ons which are installed in Internet Explorer. The most common reason of Internet Explorer crash is that some application has probably installed an add-on for Internet Explorer and it’s not working properly.

How to Fix Crashes:

When Internet Explorer is constantly crashing, go to Control Panel –> Internet Options –> Programs –> Manage Add-Ons.

See in your Crash error report that will be displayed after the crash, which module has created the crash. If you can’t find it, just try disabling the enabled add-ons one by one and see if your Internet Explorer start working again or not. Keep on doing this until you get the module which was creating troubles. Disable it and enable all others.

Having more problems?

Microsoft has a very good troubleshooter regarding Internet Explorer. If you are having more problems with Internet Explorer, I would recommend going to the following site and troubleshoot your problem.

http://support.microsoft.com/gp/pc_ie_start

Make Folder A Drive In My Computer

There are several methods to make a drive in My Computer. I will list a few of them.

Method 1 - Map Network Drive

1- Right Click the folder you want to make a drive. Go to Properties –> Sharing.
Share the folder with a name.

2- Go to My Computer –> Tools –> Map Network Drive.
Select the Drive letter and browse to the folder which you shared.

Method 2 - Using subst command

Open Command Prompt (type cmd in Run) and type the following commands to create the folder as a drive in My Computer

SUBST [drive1: [drive2:]path]

For Example if I want to create a drive of C:\Windows and the drive name is W. Then I will use the following command:

subst W: C:\Windows

For more options type subst /?

The problem with this method is that it is temporary. If you restart your computer, all the virtual drives will be gone. You need to write a batch script and put it in your startup to make the changes permanent.

Method 3 - Using Software

There is a small handy utility which does all the work which subst command does. It also lets you keep the drives as permanent even when you’re restarting. It’s name is Virtual Drive Manager.

How To Remove infostealer pws-yahmali Virus

Today I got a mail from John stating that he wanted to remove pws-yahmali virus. So I have researched on the removal of this virus. McAfee detection center calls it pws-yahmali trojen and Symantec calls it infostealer.yahmali. It’s risk level is very low. And it’s only a password stealer. It attempts to steal the password of the yahoo messenger (whichever user logs in) and sends to hxxp://www.ilam-mind-makers.com.

How It Infects The System

The Trojan may be downloaded or may arrive in spammed email as one of the following files:

• %Temp%\services.exe
• %Temp%\LSASS.EXE
• %Temp%\SMSS.EXE
• %Temp%\CSRSS.EXE
• %Temp%\WINLOGON.EXE

Once executed, the Trojan creates one of the following file:
%CurrentFolder%\[RANDOM FILENAME]

It also creates and modifies some registry keys.

The Trojan specifically checks for Yahoo! Messenger with the following text in the window title:
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice (BETA)

How to remove pws-yahmali

First of all I would strongly suggest that all the users should have a good antivirus installed in their systems so that chance of malware is as less as possible. Here is my article of how to get a 6 months trial of Kaspersky Internet Security.

After scanning with an antivirus, follow the instructions below to remove pws-yahmali completely:

1. Disable System Restore (How to disable system restore)
2. Clean all the temporary files on the system. Use CCleaner to clean your system. You can use the third method of cleaning which is described in the following article (How To Edit Run Command History)
3. Delete the following registry keys: (Go to Start –> Run –> regedit and find the following key and delete it)
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\”shell” = “explorer.exe “C:\DOCUME~1\ADMINI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\[ORIGINAL TROJAN FILENAME].exe [RANDOM CHARACTERS]“
4. Run the following commands: (Go to Start –> Run and copy and paste the following commands one by one):

REG add HKCU\software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced /v HideFileExt /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

REG add HKCU\software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced /v ShowSuperHidden /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

This is all you have to do. If you are still having problems, please let me know. Also share your experiences in comments

How To Restore Compressed (Zipped) Folder in Send To Menu

Kavi from Gujrat has asked about how to restore compressed (Zipped) Folder in Send To Menu. Here is his question reproduced:

Recently i am facing one new problem. in my pc when i try to send any file to Compress doing right click on it, where the option SEND TO COMPRESSED FOLDER should be visible, that is disappear from the menu.
I have to send about 10mb of excel files to my company and such file must be compressed, i don’t know suddenly why this facility gone from the right click menu,

The file compression utility is included in Windows XP by default. If you can’t find the shortcut of Compressed (Zipped) Folder in your Send To menu, please follow the instructions below:

Method 1:

Go to Start –> Run and copy and paste the following command:
rundll32 zipfldr.dll,RegisterSendto

This will automatically restore Compressed (Zipped) Folder in Send To Menu.

Method 2:

Just download this Compressed (Zipped) Folder file, unzip it and save it in the following location:

C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\SendTo
where C is your Operating System drive and %username% is your user folder which you’ll find in Documents and Settings.

If you still have problems, please let me know through comments. Share your experiences.