recycled/boot.com is not a valid Windows32 application

Sometimes when you try to open your drives, they do not open which is quite frustating and annoying... a message showing ‘recycled/boot.com is not a valid Windows32 application’ pops up.

Do not worry this is nothing to do with the drives or harddisk errors. Its just that you havent paid enough attention to your antivirus program. Why? Since this is being caused by a virus!

Fix: Please download latest virus definitions for your antivirus program.

Clean your harddrives and any other removable drives.

• Delete any hidden ‘autorun.inf' files from all the drives. These files will be present in the root folder.
• Scan the registry and find the words ‘recycled’ and ‘boot.com’ and delete the keys. Take a backup of the registry before doing so using any registry cleaner software.
• Scan and delete all files that state boot.com in the folder ‘C:\Windows\system32\dllcache’
• Scan and delete all files that state boot.com in the folder ‘C:\Windows\prefetch’ or just clear the folder.
• Clear the temp folder, cookies, and Internet cache.
• Disable the Autorun feature before accessing any external drives (USB lash drives, cameras, etc.) and CD/DVDs or just hold down [Shift] for 15 seconds when plugging in the drives. This will prevent the ‘autorun.inf’ file from executing the virus. Do not double-click on the drive letter, instead right-click and select ‘Explore’ to open it.
• Delete all files and folders with names ‘autorun.inf’ and ‘resycled’ from all drives and folders.

My Suggestion: Use a software called the USBShield which doesnt allow your external drive to execute any virus'.
And always keep your antivirus program up to date when using shared external media or if you download unknown software often. Keep Windows updated using the automatic update feature.

Ref: Chip