Hi,

Recently I ran combofix.exe after a friend suggested it. I wasn't aware of this site and the help available on it before running it.

Now, when I reboot my laptop I get an error on startup stating that C:\ComboFix\hidec.exe cannot be found (or something of that nature)

Using Registrar Registry Manager I did a search of my entire registry for hidec.exe and in the following 3 entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\77ABD80A805C3B07DC88D25A48263C5D\\ImagePath

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet003\Services\77ABD80A805C3B07DC88D25A48263C5D\\ImagePath

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\77ABD80A805C3B07DC88D25A48263C5D\\ImagePath

The Image Path value for all 3 entries is:

cmd /k start /i "/d%systemdrive%" "C:\ComboFix\HIDEC.exe" "C:\ComboFix\SWREG.EXE" ACL "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_Beep" /RESET /Q


How do I safely remove this so I don't run into this error on Startup?

C:\ComboFix\ is currently empty.

First I would uninstall Combofix

• Click START then RUN
• Now type Combofix /u in the runbox and click OK
• 
  Note: There's a space between Combofix and /
  
• 

Its not unusual to receive such an error after using specialized fix tools.

A "Cannot find...", "Could not run...", "Error loading... or "specific module could not be found" message is usually related to malware that was set to run at startup but has been deleted. Windows is trying to load this file but cannot locate it since the file was mostly likely removed during an anti-virus or anti-malware scan. However, an associated orphaned registry entry remains and is telling Windows to load the file when you boot up. Since the file no longer exists, Windows will display an error message. You need to remove this registry entry so Windows stops searching for the file when it loads.

To resolve this, download Autoruns, search for the related entry and then delete it.

Create a new folder on your hard drive called AutoRuns (C:\AutoRuns) and extract (unzip) the file there. (click here if you're not sure how to do this.)
Open the folder and double-click on autoruns.exe to launch it.
Please be patient as it scans and populates the entries.
When done scanning, it will say Ready at the bottom.
Scroll through the list and look for a startup entry related to the file(s) in the error message.
Right-click on the entry and choose delete.
Reboot your computer and see if the startup error returns.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

I am not 100% sure uninstall will fix the problem, so to delete the service also do this:

1. Click on the start menu
2. Click on the Run button
3. In the open field type cmd and press the OK button.
4. Type the following and then press enter:
   
   sc delete 77ABD80A805C3B07DC88D25A48263C5D
   
   Please note that there is a space between sc and delete and between delete and 77ABD80A805C3B07DC88D25A48263C5D.
5. Type exit to exit the command prompt.
6. Reboot and the error should be gone.

Worked great. Thanks! No more problems on start-up with hidec.exe

Glad we could help!

Hi,
This proceedure worked for me as well. I had run CF following a friends advice to do the Majorgeeks.com recommendation for XP cleaning, which went haywire at the CF stage. While their proceedure did eliminate the original problem thanks to Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware, their solution to the hidec.exe error was to run CF and MGTools, which I didn't want to do as CF caused this error msg problem to begin with.
I am now a dedicated Bleepingcomputer fan! You guys rock!
Cheers
mannshands