Tracing Down Application Errors

An increasingly common problem occurring with workstations running Microsoft Windows NT, 2000 and XP with IBM Rational ClearCase are intermittent memory and application errors. One of the things to look for is a program called new.net.

While not a virus, new.net does install itself without the users knowledge. Its purpose seems to be harmless, it allows users to view websites with non standard domain address, to do this new.net intercepts all out going packets and redirects ones going to their non standard addresses. This causes problems with tools that perform a large number of rpc calls, like ClearCase. It usually can be found in your windows or winnt folder; sometimes it will be in system or ystem32.

So how do we rid ourselves of this? It is perfectly safe to run without this file, but it is tricky to get rid off. If you delete new.net it re-installs itself, if you remove it from the registry it adds itself back in. The new.net website http://www.newdotnet.com has four different removal methods, one should work for you. Once removed you need to protect the system from getting this again. Spy ware programs (like spybot, http://beam.to/spybotsd>http://beam.to/spybotsd) can block new installations, but to date cannot remove new.net.

How did it get there in the first place? It gets downloaded and installed inside other applications; some freeware and shareware have new.net hidden inside it. ClearCase is just one of a dozen or so applications that have errors running with new.net, the cexx.org group has been tracking new.net for a while and has a list of programs that have had problems running with new.net, (http://www.cexx.org/newnet.htm>http://www.cexx.org/newnet.htm)