Error message

[[email protected]]

Getting a error message as follows:

Wtoolsa has caused an error in KERNEL32.DLL. Wtoolsa will
now close.

How can I rectify this?

[Mike M]

There have been multiple posts where users are experiencing this problem in
the last couple of days and wtoolsa.exe is malware and appears to be a new
member of the IBIS Toolbar family
(http://www.pestpatrol.com/PestInfo/i/ibis_toolbar.asp) or possibly a variant
of HuntBar (http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/HuntBar.html). It certainly
doesn't form a part of the Win Me operating system.

Boot to Safe Mode, open MSConfig (Start, Run, enter MSConfig in the box and
click OK), open the Startup tab and uncheck the entry being used to launch
wstoolsa.exe, possibly labelled something like WinTools.

Empty your Temporary Internet Files - Control Panels | Internet Options |
General | Delete Files and ensure that you check the box "Delete all offline
content", then click OK and Apply.

Now check Add/Remove Programs and uninstall any entry for WinTools.

You should also delete the entire Wintools folder which is probably
located as a sub-folder in C:\Program Files\Common Files or alternatively in
C:\Windows\System.

Now reboot back into Normal Mode and check your system for commercial
parasites.

This might be a good time to download yourself a copy
of the free Ad-Aware 6.0 from Lavasoft
(http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/) and also SpyBot
(http://www.safer-networking.org/) and scan your system for and remove all
unwanted parasites, adware and spyware that might be hiding on your PC.

I would suggest you download and run merijn's CWShredder which targets the
CoolWebSearch parasite. CWShredder can be downloaded from
(http://www.zerosrealm.com/downloads/CWShredder.zip or
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/cwshredder.zip). Details of the many
forms of the CoolWebSearch hijacker can be found at
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/cwschronicles.html and also
http://www.pestpatrol.com/pestinfo/c/cws.asp.

If you continue to have problems download a copy of HijackThis from
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html). Create a folder called
hijackthis on C: and copy the file you downloaded to that folder. Close as
many applications as you can including all instances of Internet Explorer and
then run hijackthis.exe and post back the log, provided that it isn't too
long, to this thread, otherwise to the HijackThis Forum at
http://www.spywareinfo.com/forums/ and hopefully this will enable someone to
identify the cause of your problem.
--?
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



> wrote:

> Getting a error message as follows:
>
> Wtoolsa has caused an error in KERNEL32.DLL. Wtoolsa will
> now close.
>
> How can I rectify this?