Hello BlindNero.
It seems I am looking at computer repairs, so I wanted a second opinion while I have access to a friend's laptop.
Last night, my security suite ended up flagging and quarantining two files due to 'suspicious behavior' that my firewall blocked. One was a bunch of random number running from a temp folder (in a sub-folder in documents and settings), the second being a file called eex.exe.
Although my security suite works fine, nothing else seems to work right now. Only my security suite and internet connection icon shows up in the sys tray.
Whenever I try to run a program, one of two things happens.
1: I get the 'menu' to select a program to open the file/program with.
OR
2: I get an error stating the rundll32 file is missing,
Checking for the rundll32 file, I see it is there, but its icon is a 'blank page'.
I discovered by accident that some things that don't start up due to #1 can still be started other ways.
I can get Winamp to start if I doubleclick on a music file, even though Winamp will give me problem #1 when I try to click on its own icon.
I can also get Firefox to open by double clicking on a flash file, even though it will not start up normally.
A second problem is things that do run no longer detect the internet. The connection checks out, but when I get Firefox to work (via getting to open with a flash file) it says it cannot connect to the internet. My security suite, when I try to check for updates, also cannot detect the active internet connection.
My computer is still the same, running XP 32 bit (Home edition if I recall correctly)
On a side note, my search online via my friend's laptop turned up one possible cause of my problem, something called WORM_MYDOOM.AD seems to be the closest match to the cause and other factors, such as the eex.exe file.
Is there much I can do, or would it be best to take it to a computer shop to have the pros take care of it?