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General discussion

MSHTML.DLL crashing IE 5.5

Dec 15, 2003 11:07AM PST

I am running IE v5.5 on a Dell Pentium III with Win98SE. Today 12/15/03 I have started getting an error on SOME webpages with this dll. The last software install I did was 12/13 SimCity3000. I was on the internet both sat and Sunday and experienced no problems on the web pages I am now crashing out on.

MSHTML.DLL, version 5.50.4134.6000, MS HTML viewer.


IEXPLORE caused an invalid page fault in
module MSHTML.DLL at 0167:70e2ba82.
Registers:
EAX=01a72148 CS=0167 EIP=70e2ba82 EFLGS=00010206
EBX=00000001 SS=016f ESP=0058d838 EBP=0058d858
ECX=01a256c0 DS=016f ESI=01b50a70 FS=3d77
EDX=0000000c ES=016f EDI=01a66b90 GS=0000
Bytes at CS:EIP:
39 77 18 74 06 4a 83 c0 04 eb ef 89 51 08 89 71
Stack dump:
01a256c0 00000000 70e2babb 01b50a70 01a256c0 00000000 00000002 00000000 0058d880 70d6dd80 01b50a70 00000000 0058d87c 00000000 0042d4b8 01b50a70

I can enter Yahoo, read and delete mail but when I exited YAHOO I received the following error.

IEXPLORE caused an invalid page fault in
module MSHTML.DLL at 0167:70d6e306.
Registers:
EAX=00000000 CS=0167 EIP=70d6e306 EFLGS=00250246
EBX=00000000 SS=016f ESP=0058d7f8 EBP=0058d81c
ECX=01c487c0 DS=016f ESI=01c487c0 FS=46a7
EDX=01c487c0 ES=016f EDI=01b975d4 GS=0000
Bytes at CS:EIP:
8b 08 8d 55 fc 52 68 d0 87 c4 70 50 ff 11 8b d8
Stack dump:
01609d30 0058d880 fffffff8 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 01b975d4 00000000 0058d848 70d6e453 01c10d60 800113be 029ba3a8 0058d880 0058d878

I am completely lost how to fix this problem or what caused it. I can find no indication of malicious software.

Thanks

Discussion is locked

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Re:MSHTML.DLL crashing IE 5.5
Dec 15, 2003 11:15AM PST
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Re:MSHTML.DLL crashing IE 5.5
Dec 15, 2003 11:17AM PST

"I can find no indication of malicious software."

Before we go looking for such, do try shutting the machine down and letting it cool off. Heat can product such. Be sure to run Disk Cleanup and clear out the IE Cache. Reboot and see if the problem vanishes.

Then I would try the scans I note in a post I made called the Anti-Parasite Suite at http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-6132-0.html?forumID=32&threadID=1313&start=0

Bob

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Malicious software
Dec 19, 2003 9:20AM PST

Started IE ton ite after logging in my online account and the website FastSearch.com came up. Seemes to me I saw this sneaky s.o.b. a last year on my other machine.

Default home page option is stll set to about:blank. I did find an odd program in my root C:\directory called soundmx.exe that also got into my startup (msconfig). Only 25k and has a date of Nov 2000 but that is probably bogus.

Downloading spy tools tonite to nail the scum.

Hope this works.

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Re:MSHTML.DLL crashing IE 5.5
Dec 17, 2003 6:04AM PST

Just an off the wall thought. I use 1stPage2000 for creating and editing webpages.Just a few days ago i began experimenting with anchors on a web page ( for a "back to the top" on a long page. I have never had any problems with this program. I can preview my web pages in an external browser with no problem at all.

I read a tech article on MSHTML that says this might cause a problem with and XLS or something file, but the article applied to Win98ME.I don't know how much operating difference theree is between SE and ME, but could the problem (and therein the solution) be the same?

Does the location for my page error have to match EXACTLY the location referenced in the tech article?

Would upgrading my IE to version 6 solve the problem also.

Have not yet had the time to download and try the Adaware and other files you suggested.

Thanks

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Re:MSHTML.DLL crashing IE 5.5
Dec 18, 2003 9:38AM PST

Still working to download suggesting files and resolve problem. I am curious though. After booting my machine I accidently clicked on my taskbar icon for IE instead of my AT&T icon.

My IE is set to default to a blank page. But I was offline and when IE came up, the following "link" code was in the address box-

http://%69%6e%2e%77%65%62%63%6f%75%6e%74%65%72%2e%63%63/%2d/?%79%64%74%66%73%20%20about:blank

Is this a sign of a corrupted file?

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Re:MSHTML.DLL crashing IE 5.5
Dec 19, 2003 10:51AM PST

FOUND the s.o.b. I downloaded and ran Adaware, Spybot and a few other tools suggested. My system was basically clean except for a few cookies.

The culprit seems to have been the soundmx.exe file. I changed the name and removed the item from my startup group with msconfig. After rebooting, I logged on the internet and my IE came up to a blank page, as it should.

I accessed three key sites that were crashing my IE and all loaded with no problem.

I have saved the soundmx.exe file for reference if anyone is interested.

Thanks for a major help.

Merry Christmas

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soundmx = spyware
Dec 19, 2003 5:30PM PST

Search on google for soundmx spyware and you'll be convinced.

According to your experience, it isn't catched by any of the five tools from the anti-parasite suite. It's always good to view the startup-list yourself, and investigate any unknown entries, as you did. After all, you're the only one who is supposed to know what should be in it, and what not.

Nice to read you finally solved this problem (with a little bit of help from this forums members).

Kees

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Re:soundmx = spyware
Dec 20, 2003 12:31AM PST

Yeah, this forum rocks when it comes to fast and helpful support. Ran Adaware and the other spybots and my system was very clean except for the cookies. And I use WindowWasher to clean those out every few days.

Went to google as you suggested and opened the first link that came up. Only understood about half the stuff but saw a reference to -fntldr.exe- which my autoexec had been altered to also run on startup. I only discovered that little beauty the first time I rebooted when I received an error that the fntldr.exe did not exist, just the folder. Folder is now toast.

Thanks everybody again.