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[Cajoes]

>.>

So far I haven't seen this so I'll mention it: format your hard-drive

Then reinstall an OS of your choice.

It's a last-resort option, but it's probably good to keep it in mind.

-(e)EP

Afaik: A factory reset would be a better option since it doesn't irreversibly destroy all your data. (just your installed programs and settings.)

[beorn080]

Well it depends on how long his OS has been installed for and how much stuff he has done over the years.

If a system gets bad and its been over a year since the OS has been installed, and lots of stuff has been done like installing and possibly viruses, then a full reinstall is probably a good idea.

If it is less then a year since the install, or not much installing and suchlike has been done, then a system rollback or factory reset is a much better idea.

Oh yes, in your control panel, assuming your running winblows, there should be a system rollback option somewhere in there. Just roll the system back to before you installed winrar if you can.

[Nirur Torir]

Do a search on removing file associations for your OS... It's not that hard to do.

Try this. Your OS most likely thinks that everything with .zip opens with WinRAR. For Windows XP, open any folder, click the Tools menu, go to Folder Options, click the File Types tab, scroll down to where it says ZIP, click it, and change "Opens With" to something more useful, such as "Compressed (zipped) Folders."

[Sowelu]

I'm just having trouble identifying what the problem IS from the posts.  Clearly it's something very big that's wrong, but I can't tell where.  I don't understand the whole recycling not deleting things stuff.  Some error messages would help if they exist...

Oh, and you can perma-delete stuff instantly with shift-delete instead of just delete.

[Puck]

I'm just having trouble identifying what the problem IS from the posts.  Clearly it's something very big that's wrong, but I can't tell where.  I don't understand the whole recycling not deleting things stuff.  Some error messages would help if they exist...

Oh, and you can perma-delete stuff instantly with shift-delete instead of just delete.

I wouldnt be surprised if windows "protects" certain files from being deleted once they have the according registry entries.

[dreiche2]

Yeah, it's not clear if you actually tried to uninstall it or just moved some files into the recycle bin...

And to clarify, uninstall means, either look in the start menu if winrar has its own uninstall script, or go into systems settings / software and select it there from the list to uninstall it (or whatever the exact directions are, I'm on a linux machine right now so I can't check).

If you broke too much already to do that now, reinstall it and then do the above (as has been suggested before).

As for getting rid of files for good, I think that can be difficult because sometimes they end up in some backup related folders...

[Chaoswizkid]

Wait... seriously? Such drastic measures as reformatting?

Let me try to help...

Have you ever opened a file with notepad, and then every file with that extension also opens with notepad?

It's a very similar type of thing here.

If you open one .zip extension with winRAR, windows (I wouldn't know about other OS's) goes, "Oh, hey, you'd like to open EVERY ZIP FILE with winRAR. Right on it, then."

The easiest way to change this would be to right click the file you want to access, go to "Open With...", and then choose an alternative program... or go to "Properties" and change what program the file opens with there.

Now, if you mean .exe files try to open from winRAR, then I haven't a clue. winRAR is NOT a virus, as I have it as well. I did have a similar problem, but as I just changed what certain files opened with, I soon no longer had a problem. However, as I said, if it opens even .exe files, then there's a serious problem that I can't help you with. winRAR even being able to open .exe files doesn't make sense to me.


I hope this does help you, especially before you go so far as to wipe your computer completely.

[Sowelu]

Please don't assume that it's not a virus.  Surely someone in the history of computing has put a virus in WinRAR.

[sonerohi]

Do a search on removing file associations for your OS... It's not that hard to do.

Try this. Your OS most likely thinks that everything with .zip opens with WinRAR. For Windows XP, open any folder, click the Tools menu, go to Folder Options, click the File Types tab, scroll down to where it says ZIP, click it, and change "Opens With" to something more useful, such as "Compressed (zipped) Folders."

This seems to be the solution. My main reason for being so upset, for those commenting on it, was that I had used the uninstall and then deleted related files. Look it up again and - OH HELLO DER I R BACK. I sought out a friend that's taking the proper courses to be a pro at this sort of problem and he recommended exactly what I'd already done. I told him as much and he just said "well shit, I'll do some research". Tried everything I could think of doing, and checked here again. Called my friend, told him what Nirur Torir said and he figured that sounded like what he'd been taught (way to go with those courses). My only problem is that I have a Vista (birthday present, not my own choice) and can't find the Folder Options area.

[sonerohi]

Well jeeze, found the File Options folder right under my mouse, but it has no thing about File Types.

Edit: Found the Vista equivalent underneath Default Programs. It isn't allowing me to change the default programs away from WinRAR though, and it has automatic settings that out of 22 file typs, 20 of them will default undisputably to WinRAR.

[Nirur Torir]

That's very annoying. There are programs out there that delete files so they cannot come back (after the OS shuts down). I see 3 easy solutions: 1) Format 2) Try to get one of these programs (such as TrojanRemover), or 3) use another unzipper program. It might change the default program use away from WinRAR. Running every anti-malware/virus/spyware/etcware program out there might help as well.

You could try The Extractor. http://www.download.com/The-Extractor/3000-2250_4-10624213.html

It isn't the best, but it is free, and since the program is started before the unzipping is done, with the zipped files dragged and dropped into the program, you could most likely unzip .zip and .rar files even with a rogue WinRAR. Of course, you probably still want to do something about WinRAR.

I'm not really a pro at this, so there are probably other solutions.

[AlStar]

I'm a little confused.

You say that you uninstalled winRAR. Then you deleted it (first flag - there should not be anything to delete if you uninstalled it).

Now things are still opening with winRAR, even after the two above.

This behavior is literaly impossible, if you've done what you say you have done. Either of the first two courses of action should make it so that winRAR no longer exists on your computer, so cannot open folders.

In the first case, it shouldn't exist in any form at all, so shouldn't even be a possibility for an "open with..." command.

In the second, it should try to open with winRAR, fail, and throw an error at you (something to the tune of "cannot find winRAR.exe".)

My theory is that whatever you're deleting isn't actually winRAR, and that, for whatever reason, the uninstall did NOT work.

Try uninstalling again.... probably after a re-install, since the uninstall records may well be mucked up from the deletions.


edit: Note, this assumes that you've got a perfectly normal version of winRAR, and not some strange winRAR adware/trojan or something. I've never heard of winRAR as adware or anything (I use winRAR myself, actually), but I suppose it's possible.

If that's the case, try running a full adware/virus scan on the computer.

[sonerohi]

Well, I figured out I'm a dipshit. It has been attempting to download all files into WinRAR archiver, which recommends WinRAR. Since I don't have it, it tries to use it and fails, and opens them as normal. It's an annoyance, but since I'm not tech savvy and don't want to set my computer on fire or anything, it's one I'll just deal with. Thanks for the help everyone.

[beorn080]

20 different file types defaulting to winrar seems like it might be a virus. Granted most of them are probably little used formats like .lzh but it still seems like a lot.

Shame bout the massive virus already on your system though.

[sonerohi]

I'm clear of viruses...