wininet.dll not found, white background??

dvdfan

Hi,

Trying to fix a mates pc. Getting this error constantly "This application has failed to start because WININET.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this"

Also the desktop background has become white.

Tried the following.

Tried a system restore and failed
Tried a system restore in safe mode and failed
Tried adding and removing suspicious files from add and remove programs and restarted and none of them re-installed themselves
Tried running avg and no viruses found
have zone alarm setup
Dont have any adaware setup but cant access the internet because of this probem
Tried copying the file wininet.dl_ from the windows restore disk and replaced the old wininet.dll file. The wininet file on the restore disk was called wininet.dl_ and the one currently on my c disc is wininet.dll so i deleted the original file and renamed wininet.dl_ as wininet.dll and restarted in safe mode and still got the same error. I get the same error in safe mode btw

running windows xp on a dell system

tried doing a windows xp upgrade that replaces all the system files but it got to the installing windows stage and keeps getting an error but forgot to write it down, it was one of those big blue screens and said something to do with spooling or something and if i reboot and try the upgrade it keeps giving this error at the same spot.

Any ideas on what to try before trying a complete reinstall????

The obvious choice would be run spyware remover but id imagine this is unlikely to fix the problem because it appears that some system files are damaged.

Also the error says wininet.dll was not found yet it is in the c:/windows/i386 folder or the c:/i386 so whys this, is it probably another system file thats damaged that makes the system think there is no wininet.dll file

Also what about trying sfc.exe /scannow would this be any use considering windows upgrade wouldnt work.

btw im at my own pc now so cant try anything till tommorrow so im just trying to get advice of the different things to try and programs to download onto a disc to bring with me tommorrow because i wont have internet access while fixing his pc.

Am i wasting my time trying to fix it or should i do a full system re-install.

wavin

could try getting WININET.dll from www.dll-files.com and replacing it with that one

8T8

It does sound like a virus/malware (as an example like this one) that replaces the real file with its own custom version a Google search found this thread with some suggestions on replacing the file with the real one in case you have not tried these.

dvdfan

ok, ill try these 2nite and let you know if it works. if anyone has any other suggestions keep them coming