What is a Nail.exe file. Everytime I turn my computer on a box comes up saying it can't find nail.exe?

Answer 1

One site says that it is a virus/trojan another claims it is malware. In either case it should be removed from your computer.

In your case I suspect that it put in a registry entry so that it is trying to load upon bootup but part of the virus has been removed.

From One SIte.
DISABLE AND REMOVE nail.exe IMMEDIATELY. This process is most likely a virus or trojan... nail.exe is a is a hijacker which means it will intermittently change your Internet Explorer settings / Desktop to the link of it's author's sponsors.

Removal Instructions From Web Site:

First, check for Nail.exe in the C:\Windows directory. If it's there, delete it. If it reappears, Aurora is at work on your system. The other place to check is in the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. The Shell key will have the value "Explorer.exe c:\windows\nail.exe". If you try to modify this setting back to c:\windows\explorer.exe, the aurora software automatically renames it back to include the reference to nail.exe.

The latest Symatec definition identifies this virus as "BetterInternet" and provides a remover that doesn't stop the behavior noted above. To stop the behavior noted above, I took the following steps:

(1) From a command prompt, go to the Windows/System directory and type dir>nail.exe (this changes the contents of nail.exe and their software doesn't try to remedy this situation)

(2) Reboot. Upon startup you'll get an error message, but ignore it. You can now delete Nail.exe and it will not reappear.

(3) Finally, using RegEdit, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon and change the shell key to "c:\windows\explorer.exe"

Reboot and your system is now clean.

Answer 2

previous post is correct .... its a hijacker... You need to remove it and put protection programs on your machine to prevent new invasions...If you don't have any you can get free ware.
.I suggest you go to www.download.com There is a search bar at the top. Type in :
AVG FREE anti-virus download it then update it.. Then look for SPY BOT Search and Destroy..download it and update it.. After you update Spy Bot , click on "Immunize" on the main Spy Bot page.. let it run ..A window may pop up telling you, so many things have been blocked and there are so many that can be blocked... if it does , then click immunize at the top. This loads the definitions. Click block pages silently also.. Look for and download , Zone Alarm free fire wall also..You need one of these too. Then go to www. lavasoft.com and look for AD-Aware SE personal edition..Download it and then update it... These programs are all free..Then run all three programs. The Firewall runs itself.. You will need to run all three programs at least once a week..The AVG protects constantly. And can be set up to automatically update, and scan for problems. But you will have to open and check for updates and run the programs manually for the other 2.. I also recommend Abexo registry cleaner ( also available at download.com) but be careful when you delete registry files it may be something you want to keep look at each one before you delete them.

Answer 3

That is spyware/hijacker. You need to remove that.

Please go here to get more info on removal: http://yourtechonline.com/seo/art_nail.html