That's the message I got when moving Firefox from XP to Vista. Here is the full message I got:

Could not initialize the browser's security component. The most likely cause is problems with files in your browser's profile directory. Please check that this directory has no read/write restrictions and your hard disk is not full or close to full. It is recommended that you exit the browser and fix the problem. If you continue to use this browser session, you might see incorrect browser behavior when accessing security features.

But, let's take a step back for now. My XP computer was starting to behave strangely for some time now. I knew it was not the XP because I could not boot at all. It would hang before detecting the first hard drive when booting. Also, XP would completely freeze that I had to unplug the computer.

In my case, all my data, including Firefox, are on another hard drive. Yes, I have 2 hard drives: one for XP and the other for my source code, Firefox/Thunderbird, my documents... So, before my computer decide to die or not on me, I decided to buy another computer. I then moved the second hard drive to the new computer.

I did not buy the fastest computer but something faster than my current one and available in stock at the stoe. If I could, I would had waited but sometimes, you don't have a real choice. I will make a post later on.

Back to my "Could not initialize the browser's security component".

After some research, I could still not make Firefox work but found 4 reasons:

1. Hard Drive capacity

That could not been it since I was low with less than 1 GB out of 250GB capacity. But okay, I'll bite and moved some files around. Even with 5Gb of free space, I still had the same message. So, it was not that.

2. Files permissions

I'm not sharing my files but they also mentioned cert8.db must not be read-only. After verification, it was not read-only. So, it was not cert8.db.

3. Corrupted File

They also mentioned cert8.db could possibly be corrupted. Having crashed a few time and had to close the computer with on/off or unplug it, it could had been the best possibility so far. I deleted cert8.db but it did not work and let Firefox recreate one for me. So, it was not file corruption.

4. New profile

A new profile could become corrupted for any reason. Mine is an old profile so it was not that but the corrupted files scenario did worry me.

So, I installed Thunderbird and had the same message: "Could not initialize the browser's security component" or something similar. Thunderbird is in the same main folder that my Firefox files.

That's when I got a feeling it must be something about the folder itself.

The solution

I looked again but saw in the Security tab that \Administrator and \Users both did not have their permissions to allow Full control. Since, I moved the drive and not copy the data from the drive, it did not give me Full control on that folder. After editing the Permissions and allowing both users Full control, I was able to open Firefox and Thunderbird normally.

After that, I had the same problem saving an existing text file with notepad. So, I did the same thing on my whole hard drive.

Bye, Bye "Could not initialize the browser's security component"

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What is Zlob Trojan? 

It's one nasty virus that install malware at the same time like pageforsafety, secureinvites, webpagesupdates...and many more from what I can read.  It looks like what smitfraud-c did with virus heat on my father's computer  a month ago.

How I was introduced to Zlob?

A friend of the my father was  infected with the  Zlob Trojan.  Knowing that a knew about computers, I tried to help him over the phone.

Solution

Unfortunately for some reasons, what I did last month on my dad's computer did not help him on his computer. I recommended that he bought PC Tools Spyware Doctor(download, 3 PCs) or  PC Tools Spyware Doctor(Box) from Amazon.com. With the latter, he would had saved money but he would have to be patient while he waited for the box.

He bought and downloaded the software instead(faster). He called me back to say that Zlob was cleanup. I said to him to shutdown the computer, open it again and redo a second scan.

Conclusion

I will recommend PC Tools Spyware Doctor(download, 3 PCs). Yes, it will cost some money but think about the time saved. If you go in the computer shop, what do you think they will use? That's right, a spyware remover and you still won't be safer.  You can still install other free spyware like Spybot(free) and AVG free(anti-virus)  as backup because none can detect 100%.  Just buy it and take the time to update all of them.

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What is Virus Heat?

Virus Heat is a fake anti-spyware giving false virus result. Many popups will open mentioning that you are at risk, infected... It's very annoying. Also, Internet Explorer has it's home page changed to go to their homepage.

How I was introduced to Virus Heat?

My father told me his computer was infected. At first, I used Adware and then Spybot Search & Destroy. Spybot almost removed it but it was still there. So, I searched a little and found some things here and there on how to remove it manually. I expected to go in Safe Mode anyway. But beware, some solution that I found were selling another software solution. Who can you trust in that case? I tried to find reputable sources but that was harder. At least, most mentioned the same files.

I was able to remove Virus Heat 3.9.exe and it's parent folder(C:\Program Files) of the same same. But when I started to search for iinqyl.dll, it was no where to be found. The same was for ecxwp.dll and tvtpwp.dll. Only wuuawkz.dll was found in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32. But in Safe mode, I was not able to unregistered it because it was in use or not in the registry. That's way I think that Spybot Search & Destroy removed part of it. Smitfraud-c appeared but was not removed.

So, I had to reboot in Safe mode with Command Prompt. There, I finally deleted wuuawkz.dll.

I scanned again using Spybot Search & Destroy again and Smitfraud-c was still there.

What is Smitfraud-c?

I thought that Smitfraud-c was part the Virus Heat but it's a trojan that downloaded the Virus Heat or other fake spyware. Yes, when I removed Virus Heat, I had another one. Often, it's downloaded when you go see a video on the web and it ask to download a "special" codec to see the video.

My father is using Firefox and the sites when it appeared was about tv actors and he did not used Internet Explorer. So, I don't know how exactly he got infected. I did not want to revisit the sites just in case. I told him to go on imdb.com instead next time.

I had to use AVG free(anti-virus) to remove Smitfraud-c and it found C:\Program Files\NetProject\wamdl.dll that was infected. Because I did not know what Netproject was about, I renamed it just in case. Other files included in the folder were: scm.exe, waun.exe, ot.ico, scu.exe, scit.exe.

Then I use again Spybot Search & Destroy. Smitfraud-c was still found in the registry. After rebooting, I scanned the computer with Spybot and AVG. That's was for being sure that no residual traces were left in the registry or files.

Solution

In short, scan with AVG first, scan with Spybot Search & Destroy and reboot and scan again. If you have Windows Defender or other software, it won't hurt to scan with it too.

Steps(free way):

1. Open AVG free and make sure it's up to date
2. Scan with AVG
3. Open Spybot(free) and make sure it's up to date
4. Scan with Spybot
5. Restart the computer
6. Scan with other anti spyware if you got one
7. Redo from step 2, skip 3 to make sure that all were removed

If the solution worked great for you, why not Scratch my back (see sidebar) ? It's way cheaper than what it would had cost if you took your computer to the shop . Plus, you get some publicity in return.

If you are not sure or the solution did not worked, just buy PC Tools Spyware Doctor(download, 3 PCs) or PC Tools Spyware Doctor(Box) from Amazon.com. With the latter, you will some money but you must be patient while you wait for the box. Read further below about the review is got from PCMag.

I also created a "super folder" on the desktop and move all shortcuts in it. So, if my dad see another icon on the desktop, he will know something fishy is going on. I will try that for a time.Otherwise, I will have to create a new account with restricted privilege forcing my dad to login each time. The computer is already slow to boot with one account gaving him time to do other stuff while it was booting.

Conclusion

Virus Heat was a pain to remove from my dad's computer. Plus, I had Smitfraud-c to deal with at the same time making it harder. But, I did not have to buy any new software. I lost many hours on this and hope you won't by reading this.

Reading recent computer magazine sites like PCMag, PC Tools Spyware Doctor(download, 3 PCs) was highly recommended because it was the best to find them. But when I started to read the comments(link above on Amazon) on Spyware Doctor by users, it seemed to slow down the computer. My advice would be to buy it if you want but not install the resident in memory if possible. So, if you think you are infected, just scan the computer or do a scan with Spyware Doctor weekly instead for prevention.

Edit 1: AVG has updated the virus signature to better detect Smitfraud-c. The filed in folder(netproject) that I had renamed are now being seen as infected. So, I deleted them. I also, made the instruction more clear now.

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Last week, my sister bought a new HP computer with Vista. She wanted me to set it up and I said that she could do it herself. Hey! it's supposed to be friendly for everyone and I wanted her to be more independent. I told her to just answer the question that the HP would asked via the many installed software. I did help her, by phone, to download Firefox from this blog(bottom page) and OpenOffice.

Note: I only use Vista on the HTPC(mostly for testing my 2 freeware MIS Info Video, Info2MIS) and still use Windows XP Pro on my main computer. So, my knowledge is limited for now.

Guest who is coming for supper?

Yesterday, she called me on how to transfer the Thunderbird email account from the old to the new computer(XP). She did not want to to do it at that moment but later in the week. I said that I would help her by phone. She however invited my parents and me for small supper last night. So, I took the opportunity to do a quick transfer and I did not want do that all night.

To share or not to share

I said to myself that I would just create a network share on the old XP computer and be done. The XP was connected to the router but was never shared before. I found the Thunderbird(281MB) folder and shared it.

I went to the Vista computer and activated the share on the public folder. One problem, they did to see each other. Ok, I found out that the Workgroup was the same and change it. It did not work so I restarted both computer. Nothing!

I knew that sharing was not needed so for the time being and I decided to use her USB key.

Let the fun begin

Now, the USB key was only 256MB and needed 281MB. Ok, I would just zip it but found it strange it was that big. I open Thunderbird and their were not many emails. I wanted to see how many MB each folder was taking without going into Windows Explorer. Unfortunately, the column for the folder pane only showed the unread messages columns. I went into the options but, for the life of me, could not find that option. It was so long that I activated it on my own computer that I taught it was a second level tab/button. It was in the Advanced tab starring at me all along. I think it was laughing at me. I hate it when that happens. "The supper is ready", she yelled because I was downstairs.

Came back from eating and saw that she never compacted the folders. Now, it was only 18MB and she will be able to see the columns from now on. I showed her how to compact folders.
Transfer This!

Now everything was getting back on track. I got the Thunderbird folder on the USB key and only needed to copy it in the Vista computer. Now, on Vista the folder is not in the same place. It is now in the USER folder but where? I could not see it. Ok, I will create a dummy email account an check where it was created. I saw it in Thunderbird but not in Windows Explorer. In Vista, the application folder is hidden by default. I had to change the setting in Windows Explorer to be able to see it. That folder should not be hidden or Thunderbird should create the accounts where it's more visible(My Documents). Why? Because it would make it easier to backup. I copied the folder and it is now working.

I was able to enjoy the rest of the evening.

Conclusion

Take your time with Vista and don't expect to do thing fast like I did. It's not XP and many things changed that I lost many minutes to figured where it was located in Vista. Eventually, I will move to Vista(SP1) and will be a little more used to Vista on the HTPC.

Still, I'm glad I went over there because it would had been a pain to do by phone. Sure, I want my sister to be more comfortable with Vista but to a certain degree. I also want to be invited often with the BBQ season just starting.

P.S. The resolution was 1024x768 on 19' HP widescreen LCD(1440x900). She told me it was like that by default. The native resolution was not possible with the HP own drivers and I had to choose 1280x768. One more thing to look at the next time. Sis, I will take 2 hot dogs, please.

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