Uh-Oh...Will this cause big problems?

[Vamp]

I just did an Ad Aware scan and the one critical object that came up is.

Vendor: Windows
Type: RegData
Category: Vulnerability
Object: HKEY.CLASSES.ROOT regfile:shell\open\command...
Comment: Possible Virus Infection

What do I do here? Obviously removing it would cause massive problems with the registry...?

[Barbarossa]

Try using a virus scanner to determine whether there is an actualy virus infection, and to identify it. Then you should be able to find removal instructions.

[Vamp]

I ran AVG, came up with no viruses...Should I just remove the critical object with Adaware or will it definitely cause problems?

[Barbarossa]

Ad aware is for detecting adware and spyware. I wouldn't trust it to identify a virus infection, especially as it only says "possible".

Is your AVG set up to scan the registry? Has it also got an up to date pattern file?

Try Housecall

Also, post the contents of that registry key here so we can see if it looks fucksored.

If you just simply remove it, there's a good chance you will feck up your ability to open files or something...

[Vamp]

How do I find the contents of that key?

[Barbarossa]

Start -> Run. Type Regedit

Expand HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and find the entry that says RegFile.
Expand that, and drill down to shell\open\command. The value is in the right-hand pane.

Mine just has a default string value, data = regedit.exe "%1"

[Vamp]

it just says

Name: (Default)
Type: Reg_SZ

[Barbarossa]

OK, I think all that is wrong is that your PC won't know what to do when it encounters a .reg file. Ad-Aware thinks this could have been caused by a virus.

I don't think it's too serious, you have scanned with AVG and you don't seem to have any viruses.

What you could do is put in what I've got in the data, and re-run ad-aware to see if it is happy. (Be careful when editing the registry though, you really should take a backup of it first, but it should be OK)

Good luck!

[Vamp]

What/Where/How exactly do I put in the data field?

Thanks a lot for your help! I really appreciate it...What problems would be caused by my PC not knowing what to do with a .reg file though?

[Barbarossa]

oh sorry.

In regedit, on the key where you were (regfile\shell\open\command) ... double-click "(default)", and enter:

regedit.exe "%1"

and click OK.

You'd probably not have encountered any problems though, unless you tried to update the registry with a .reg file.. - who knows really?