What’s causing this startup error?

QSince installing an update for Windows recently, I now see an error message headed ‘RUNDLL’ that states: “There was a problem starting C:\users\gordon\appdata\local\ Rust06f\rulist.dll. The specified module cannot be found”. I have no idea what this is and cannot find any information about it. Could you throw some light on this problem and help me? Gordon Parkin

AWe have bad news, good news, more bad news and finally more good news. The bad news is that we think your PC has suffered a malware infection. The good news is that either your security software (or Windows Defender) has detected and deleted it.

However, the second bit of bad news is that the removal process has left remnants, which is the cause of what you’re seeing now. The Windows registry still has an entry for the knocked-out nasty, so it tries to launch it when you start your PC.

The final bit of good news is that it should be pretty easy to clean up this last bit of mess, but as it involves editing the registry do back up first. Now press Windows key+r and use the left-hand pane to navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_ User\software\microsoft\windows\ Currentversion\run. Then, in the right-hand pane, look for a suspect entry: it’ll probably have ‘Rust06f’ in it somewhere, but if uncertain search on Google to check that you’re not about to delete something legitimate. Finally, right-click the item then click Delete (see screenshot), followed by Yes to confirm, and then restart your PC.