Opening ANY folder causes XP to freeze

[AndersonK]

Hi all!
I am running Windows XP home edition.

My problem is thus- I cannot open any folders on my desktop without Windows freezing. I can run programs, but I cannot open any folder that leads to a directory. It doesn't matter how I try, either. I can't do it directly from the desktop or through the start menu. I can't use the search feature, or it will freeze as well.

When replying, please keep in mind I cannot get to My Computer, even from the start menu. I can RUN any program just fine, but I cannot open folders containing a directory. Even clicking on my Music folder freezes everything. I CAN use the RUN feature on my start menu, if that helps.

When it freezes, the name of the folder I tried to open is in the upper left hand corner, but the rest of the screen is just white. Cont+Alt+Del does bring up the task manager, but I cannot close the non-responding program. If I try, it will just give me the [[Program Not Responding: End Now or Cancel]] error over and over. No matter which one I choose, nothing happens. This usually stops after about 5 minutes. Then the desktop goes blank, resets itself, and comes back on with all programs closed.

I have updated and run:
Norton Antivirus
AdAware
PcBug Doctor
Windows Washer
Disk Cleanup
Disk Defragment
Full Disk Scan
I also disabled indexing

...and they all came out negative.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have scoured the web, as well as this forum, but I have found no complaints of attempting to open folders causing this to happen.

Thanks!

[JLN]

Does this also happen in Safe Mode? If not, try looking at your services closely and the startup tab from the msconfig screen while in Safe Mode.
JLN

[AndersonK]

The problem does not occur in safe mode.

Also, my startup folder is completely cleaned up. I only have Norton Antivirus enabled on startup.

Other than that, what services should I be looking at/for?
I don't quite understand what you mean.

[AndersonK]

Please help!

[JLN]

Switching from cable to dsl so pardon the delay in responding. What I mean is look at the service's tab in msconfig, check the hide Microsoft services first, then look at what is showing up. Anything that shows as unknown, find out what it is by searching the web or posting here, someone will know what it is. These unknown services can be anything from a video card to a piece of spyware or a virus. Uncheck the questionable ones and reboot to normal windows. This will help figure out what is causing this.
If none of the services marked as unknown make a difference, then you probably are infected!. I just ran across one today that showed a winipcfge.exe running as a service, it was either associated to Mcafee or a virus. Norton did not detect it and they did not have Mcafee installed, ever. Disabling it allowed the system to run normally.

Thus, check your services tab from msconfig and try to look for something out of the ordinary
JLN

[AndersonK]

I went ahead and DISABLED ALL of the programs listed under the services tab. Then I restarted.
This did not fix the problem. It is still freezing exactly as before.

If it helps, I have my Hijack This log.

Logfile of HijackThis v1.97.7
Scan saved at 1:41:02 PM, on 3/26/2004
Platform: Windows XP SP1 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP1 (6.00.2800.1106)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
c:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccEvtMgr.exe
c:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\navapsvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Softex\OmniPass\Omniserv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\wanmpsvc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\SysUpd.exe
C:\Program Files\America Online 8.0\aol.exe
C:\Program Files\America Online 8.0\waol.exe
C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe
C:\WINDOWS\explorer.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Desktop\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer,SearchURL = http://allneedsearch.com/spm.htm
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,SearchURL = C:\WINDOWS\system32\searchbar.html
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Bar = http://allneedsearch.com/spm.htm
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = res://mshp.dll/sp.html#37049
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = res://mshp.dll/index.html#37049
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant = C:\WINDOWS\system32\searchbar.html
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch = C:\WINDOWS\system32\searchbar.html
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = res://mshp.dll/index.html#37049
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = res://mshp.dll/sp.html#37049
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = res://mshp.dll/index.html#37049
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = res://mshp.dll/sp.html#37049
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch = C:\WINDOWS\system32\searchbar.html
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant = http://allneedsearch.com/spm.htm
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchURL,(Default) = http://e-plus.cc/search.php?aff_id=46&keyword=%s
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar,LinksFolderName =
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,SearchAssistant = C:\WINDOWS\system32\searchbar.html
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,SearchAssistant = http://www.websearch.com/ie.aspx?tb_id=50032
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {08227B4B-54FE-4C4D-809F-BCA46292FC5B} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\Zedd4.dll
O2 - BHO: Windows Resources - {2D38A51A-23C9-48a1-A33C-48675AA2B494} - C:\WINDOWS\winres.dll
O2 - BHO: . - {587DBF2D-9145-4c9e-92C2-1F953DA73773} - C:\WINDOWS\msqo\msqo.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {BDF3E430-B101-42AD-A544-FADC6B084872} - c:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\NavShExt.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {DFC56B62-CC0E-4F56-A868-3BFAFE0436E0} - (no file)
O2 - BHO: ShowSearch module - {E2DDF680-9905-4dee-8C64-0A5DE7FE133C} - C:\WINDOWS\msqo\mssearch.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {FD9BC004-8331-4457-B830-4759FF704C22} - C:\WINDOWS\msqo\msiesh.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Norton AntiVirus - {42CDD1BF-3FFB-4238-8AD1-7859DF00B1D6} - c:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\NavShExt.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SysUpd] C:\WINDOWS\SysUpd.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Image] rundll32 C:\WINDOWS\image.dll,Install
O4 - HKCU\..\RunServices: [Image] rundll32 C:\WINDOWS\image.dll,Install
O16 - DPF: {02BF25D5-8C17-4B23-BC80-D3488ABDDC6B} (QuickTime Object) - http://www.apple.com/qtactivex/qtplugin.cab
O16 - DPF: {9F1C11AA-197B-4942-BA54-47A8489BB47F} (Update Class) - http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.co...072.4164467593
O17 - HKLM\System\CCS\Services\Tcpip\..\{FF349E09-6F2B-4546-8B0B-4B2206F2B027}: NameServer = 205.188.146.146
O19 - User stylesheet: C:\WINDOWS\Web\oslogo.bmp (file missing)

Since I don't know what any of this stuff means, I was hoping that someone could look it over for me and let me know if there's anything there that shouldn't be.

Thanks!