Whenever I start-up my laptop computer the following error message appears: “C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\oclwjqp.dll is not valid win32 application”. I have no idea what this error message means or how to stop it from appearing. Could this also be causing a different problem on my computer where iTunes will not load, or is that a separate issue?

This is a bit of a tricky question as when researching your problem, and searching for the oclwjqp.dll, no results are returned for this particular file name. That is probably because this file name is a random generated string of characters, indicating that the file was most likely created by a virus or malware on your computer. Not the best news in the world to hear, but before we jump to conclusions we should scan your computer to check whether any threats are detected. I recommend that you download, install and then scan your computer using Ad-Aware Free (www.lavasoft.com) and Spybot Search & Destroy (www.safer-networking.org). If you do not have an antivirus product on your computer then I also recommend Microsoft Security Essentials (www.microsoft.com/security_essentials) which is a free antivirus and antimalware software package provided by Microsoft.

Once you scan the computer using these utilities to remove any detected threats, restart to check whether the problem continues. Should you find the message still appears then it is possible that as part of the removal process some references to the virus or malware remained behind and need to be manually removed. In this case the references are in the Windows registry telling Windows that it needs to load the “oclwjqp.dll” on startup. Be aware, you may also find yourself at this point if no threats are detected on the computer, since it is possible that the malicious program was removed from your computer at some point in the past and left this behind. In any case, since that message appears on startup we can fortunately use the System Configuration Utility to find and remove that file from loading on startup, as opposed to delving deep into the Windows registry. Go to the Start menu and type “msconfig” into the search box and press ENTER (given the path of the oclwjqp.dll file in your question I assume that you are running Windows Vista or Windows 7). If you encounter difficulties then you can also press the Windows Key + R combination to open the “Run” box and type the command into that box to execute.

In the System Configuration Utility window that appears, click the “Startup” tab. This will list all programs (and other items) which load on Windows startup. Look through all of the entries, paying particular attention to the “Command” column (which you may need to expand in order to see the entire command) for reference to the “oclwjqp.dll” file. Once you have found the entry (or entries) relating to this file untick that line. This will disable that entry from loading on startup. Click OK to save the changes and then restart the computer. Hopefully the message should no longer appear when Windows starts. Be aware, a new message may now appear on startup warning that Windows is running in selective startup mode. This is nothing to be worried about – it is simply informing that you have selectively disabled some items from loading on startup (in this case, the oclwjqp.dll file) and therefore Windows is selectively starting items. You can tick the box not to show that message again and then dismiss the message.

Just be aware that given the name of the file indicates that this was placed on your system as a result of some infection and you should take necessary precautions. To reiterate the advice which I have given in previous columns, when your computer has become infected with a virus, malware, or some other malicious program, even if you manage to “clean” the system using a particular utility, the computer can never be trusted again since there could be bits and pieces remaining behind, as the error message which you are encountering shows. My advice following an infection is to backup all important data then format the hard drive and complete a full clean reinstallation of Windows. Some people say this is a heavy-handed approach, and they would be quite correct. However, given the reliance on computers for completing sensitive transitions, such as credit card purchases online and internet banking, I am very careful and would never trust a computer which has been infected with a virus or malware. The only way that you can be totally certain that all the remnants of the threat have been removed is through completing a clean reinstallation of Windows.