I installed and then uninstalled a malware prevention suite. I used the Add/Remove Programs to do the uninstall. I then rebooted. Immediately I started getting popups from both searchprotocolhost.exe and searchfilterhost.exe saying that entry points in kernel32.dll were missing. I believe that the third party caused the problem. I have received some security patches for XP in May 2017 (in response to WannaCry) and recently in response to the threats posed by Meltdown and Spectre, at least that is what I am assuming. In order to stop the popups I have had to shut down the Windows Search service. Of course, there may be other latent problems which I cannot detect. The creation date on the current version of kernel32.dll is Aug 3, 2004 but the last modification date is March 12, 2014. The size is 993,280 bytes. The file version is 5.1.2600.6532 (xpsp_sp3_qfe.140312-0419). However, this is the one causing problems. I do not have information on whatever version was there before the third party overwrote or failed to restore the original.
Is there any way to check the XP OS and repair it after something like this has occurred? Thank you.
Is there any way to check the XP OS and repair it after something like this has occurred? Thank you.