Explorer has caused an error in ~7172797935.TMP ive check out some the responses on this site. and responses were .its a virus. trojan? does anyone have an idea . how it got to my computer. everytime i close it . the screen goes blank but everything runs normal. and everytime i boot up or restart it will appear. what is a .TMP file? i have more than 50 of these. can someone help me out. because i dont wanna cause more troubles on my computer. thanks.

TMP. is the extension for a temporary file ,it should be located in the Windows/TEMP folder .You can also do a hard rive search for all .TMP files and then right click on each file and click on delete! Empty your recycle bin after ! Then you should disable the system restore utility ,cause there is a good chance that a copy of this file is in one of your restore points ! To disable system restore and purge all of your restore points ,right click on My Computer then click on the performance tab ,then file system ,troubleshooting ,put a check mark in the disable system restore box ,reboot your computer. You can then go back and remove the check mark reboot again ,then open the system restore utility and create a restore point. Only do that after you have emptied the TEMP folder and ran a full hard drive scan for a virus ,with which ever anti-virus program you are using ! .TMP files are always safe to delete ! Good Luck Nick

Norcal: Follow the instructions to disable system restore, in Me and Xp you have to do that. Other Win OSes...98, 2000, do not have that function. However, after you do that, open an IE window (click on the IE icon) at the top notice 'tools', click on it, and look for 'internet options.' click on it. on the general tab (should be there) click on 'delete cookies,' click ok 'delete files,' and whent he box opens put a check in 'off line content'. click ok, click ok at the bottom of the box. Next, shut down the pc and reboot in safe mode: to do that --as soon as you hit the on botton hold down both 'ctrl; keys on the keyboard (bottom row left and right ends) until you get a menu in black and white. Arrow down to Safe Mode and hit 'enter.' When the Safe Mode screen comes up it will look grainy and bleached out--that's how it is purposed to look. If your help page comes up X it off by clicking the X in the upper right corner of the screen. Now you should have large desk top icons. Click on the icon for your AV and run it in safe mode. If your AV is up to date and it runs clean, it could be that your bug is gone, if you had one. reboot in normal mode. Download these programs and run them in safe mode: Spybot: Download and Read the SpyBot tutorial here: http://s89223352.onlinehome.us/mirror/spybot/index1.php Download it, Unzip the program, and immediately check for updates, install the updates and then do the scan. Let it fix everything marked in red. Reboot but not with restart, shut it down for two full minutes. You’ve got two measely minutes and it’s worth it, and let Spybot run if it indicates. To add an item to your ‘Ignore List” click on the little ‘+’ sign next to the item and left click it to highlight it, then right click it and a menu appears, select the function you want. When you are done reboot again same way. Two full minutes shut sown is best. Tea Time discussed by designer here: http://forums.net-integration.net/index.php?showtopic=13433 Also, go to the update page. Notice 3 icons across the top. Between "Search For Updates" and "Download Updates" there is an icon for the download mirror location. After you click on ‘search for updates,’ the one in the middle will change. If it doesn't say "Spybot.US by Rootboxen.net USA" click on the dropbox arrows and click on Rootboxen, and use only that one. If you got a "checksum error" trying to download --that's why. Ad-Aware: Download AdAware from http://www.lavasoft.de/ check for updates at "webupdate". I use these settings (green check) From main window click "Start" then make sure " Activate in-depth scan" has a green check next to it. Put a black dot nest to "Use custom scanning options” and click Customize" next to it, then green check these options: "Scan within archives" ,"Scan active processes", "Scan registry", "Deep scan registry" ,"Scan my IE Favorites for banned URL" "Scan my host-files" At the top of the “STATUS” page notice the Tweak (gear) icon. Click on it. The first setting is “Scanning Engine.” Click on the little plus sign next to it, and in the drop-down green check "Unload recognized processes during scanning", and “include basic Ad-Aware settings in log file”. Next click on the ‘+’ next to "Cleaning Engine" and in the drop-down green check "Let windows remove files in use at next reboot" and Delete quarantine objects after restoring” Click "proceed", that will save those settings. Click "Scan" When the scan finishes, mark everything for removal and delete it. Right-click the window and choose "select all" from the drop down menu, press ‘next’ and then ‘yes’ to the prompt: “remove all these entries”. However, if you have certain programs running that will give a false indicator of a browser hijack attempt, such as Script Sentry, which places a monitoring function in the registry and looks like a browser hijacker but is not, then you may want to add that to the ignore list because you want to keep it there to do it’s job. To add an item to the ignore list, put the a cursor on the file it reveals and left click it to highlight it, then right click it and a menu appears. Click on ‘ignore list.’ I always shut down for two minutes, but it's optional, and let Adaware run on reboot if it indicates. You have to update and run them every three days or so for them to be worthwhile. Also, if you are getting trojans you need a firewall: Free Sygate firewall: http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm That is the one I use, it is free, effective, and simple, set it to run on 'normal.' If your AV finds a trojan, download and run these in order: Trojan Scan: http://www.windowsecurity.com/trojanscan/ SWATIT: http://swatit.org/download.html It looks like a lot, but it really isn't, nect week it'll be second hand. You have to be thorough these days, there is a lot of nasty malware out there. Thresher

i have deleted old .TMP files except for the one that pops out with an error. ~7172797935.TMP this the file name that pops out with an error. can i delete this?

Have a look at this, and see if it helps, with your problem. Good luck

If you are in Safe Mode everything will delete that you highlight. If it's a temp file you do not need it if you have rebooted since your last download at least once.... Thresher