Barraged with ".. valid app.." errors!

A few days ago, after installing a game (Roma Victor), I encountered a few errors with the launcher for the game and I was told to turn on UAC to fix it. After doing so and since then, I've been plagued with various "yaddayadda is not a valid Win32 application." when trying to run various games and other software.

I tried turning it back off from the User Accounts menu, but clicking the link simply does nothing.

I tried using System Restore but after clicking the icon, I'll receive a "C:\Windows\System32\rstrui.exe is not a valid Win32 application."

What the hell is going?! This is an admin account!

I would start by removing Roma Victor. Then, see what problems you have.

I can't even uninstall any thing, I'll get "an error has occured... " message.

Go get Windows Installer Cleanup from Microsoft.

Description of the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility

There's a good likelihood that you've been infected by a virus. "Blah is not a valid win32 image" means that the OS does not feel that what it's being asked to run constitutes a valid "program". Every executable (notepad.exe, calc.exe, winword.exe...) must contain some essential building blocks that are necessary for it to function, and their internal structure must also conform to certain standards.

Some viruses spread themselves by grafting code onto executables - either replacing portions of what was already there or adding to it so the file becomes physically larger afterwards. If the virus is not particularly good at what it does, its attempt to infect the executable ends up damaging it instead, and when you try to run it "blah is not a valid win32...".

Anti-virus apps can sometimes also produce similar effects. The act of them "cleaning" the executable does remove the malicious virus code, but it may also render the leftovers invalid.

When these errors start popping up in greater and greater numbers, a progressive malware infestation is one possibility. You may also have a bad disk (the images really are bad - have you done a chkdsk lately?), or even a damaged hardware component elsewhere but that is less likely.

I would say it could be the Roma Victor was not designed for Vista and did something to the registry. Could be a virus. I would say something broke Vista and caused the system restore to be using a different DLL set from Roma Victor and it can't load properly. Start with Windows Installer Cleanup. Then, SFC /Scannow.

I do agree don't run as an administrator account for your user.

Thanks for the advice.

I downloaded the Windows Installer Cleanup, but I can't even start that up;

"Scipt:
C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Temp\IXP000.TMP\StartMsvi.vbs
Line: 17
Char: 1
Error: Permission denied
Code: 800A0046
Source: Microsoft VBScript runtine error"

I'll run a virus scan from here, then try a disc check.

Try Malwarebytes and Trendmicro.com free scan. I would also backup your important data.

I can't even run either of those free scanners! But thankfully I just remembered I still have AVG on this computer, and a scan revealed that I have about 17 trojans on my computer and AVG was only able to remove 5 of them. Ugh...

I think at this point I'll just back up my important data and do a complete reboot, but any other input before I do so will be greatly appreciated.

I would boot into administrator. Try to get Malwarebytes to work. I would say your best bet is backup and reinstall. Make sure you remove the partitions completely. Shutdown for 20 minutes to clear everything from memory. Once you get the OS reinstalled, install the service packs and all patches. Then, your anti-virus.

Assuming the "infection" diagnosis is correct, and it seems that way, all further activity is likely to lead to more damage. If you have another (known-clean) computer, I'd suggest shutting down the problem box, taking its drive out and temporarily adding it as a secondary on the other computer. That way you can back up your data first (it's likely to be infected, but at least you'll have backups) and then run multiple AV scans. Make sure you don't execute anything from the problem drive though!

I don't like putting an infected drive in as a slave. You are just asking for problems. Be very careful doing this. Make sure your new OS install is fully patched and anti-virus is completely working.

A better method is using a CD based anti-virus boot disk to scan your drive and repair it.