Solution:
We received this same error message on one of our WinXP machines, and the cause of the error messages stumped us for several days. Fearing the worst, we consulted a few online virus encyclopedias only to discover the computer had contracted one of the most insidious worms ever created: Haptime.
Haptime, also known by its full name VBS.Haptime.x@mm (here "x" can be a variety of letters because there are many variants), situates itself in place of the computer's default Desktop wallpaper file so that when Windows attempts to load the wallpaper the Haptime worm loads instead. The really scary thing is that the worm takes advantage of two security holes in Internet Explorer, Outlook, and Outlook Express that let the worm execute without the user manually opening the email attachment it rides in on. Worse, the worm can infiltrate your computer when you open an email that's formatted in HTML (HypertextMarkup Language) and appears to have no attachments but actually has the worm embedded within.
Our first clue should have been the fact that the wallpaper we normally had on the Desktop mysteriously disappeared at precisely the same time the error message appeared. Fortunately, we were lucky: The virus was unable to deliver its payload before we rooted it out and cleaned it off the computer. The computer in question didn't have updated antivirus software, which would have detected the virus. We hadn't applied any of the security patches to the IE6.0 browser or Outlook Express email software, either, after having freshly installed the operating system and all other applications.
The lessons here are obvious: Use Windows Update, Office Update, and any updating tool that comes with your antivirus software immediately after installing them and at least once a month thereafter to prevent viruses and worms, such as Haptime, from infecting your PC. If you see an odd message or your computer exhibits strange behavior, such as email messages being sent without you doing anything, run a virus scan immediately. Visit your antivirus manufacturer's Web site to see if there are any viruses that exhibit the same behavior you are seeing. If you see the error message described above, don't let the ActiveX control interact with anything until you've investigated thoroughly.
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