MS Spyware - many problems

[gweilo]

Hello.

I installed the MS Spyware application on a pc yesterday
and ran a scan which picked up a no. of items. I chose
to remove these and the software then proceeded to remove
the first one. It got to the point where it
says "Removed ..." but then hung. After 10 minutes I
tried to kill the task but could not even access Task
Manager. Rebooted pc and then many very strange
problemss - see below...

- Desktop icons all auto-aligned but cannot now be moved
(the auto-arrange etc options are all off).
- The general copy and paste functions no longer work.
- The keyboard "Start" key no longer works.
- The MS Firewall software is "Off" now when the pc
starts but then starts up about 10 minutes later.
- Excel reports a VB error on startup and won't run.
- Word reports a registration errors on startup.
- Outlook Express reports an out of memory error when
creating a new message (even though there is sufficient
free memory - have checked in Task Manager).
- Trying to run, uninstall or reinstall MS Spyware gives
critical 101 error.
- Have tried to install Norton AV and Norton Firewall but
both come back saying the install failed (but no reason
why).
- Internet Explorer About shows no version number.
- When running applications are minimised they disappear
or go to the deskptop, not the taskbar.
- Accessing the Windows Update site via IE comes back
with a blank page.
- When starting up the pc I'm now give 3 options -
Windows XP Home, Windows or Windows Recovery Console (in
msconfig the time option for the menu is set to 3 seconds
and I cannot set it to less).

Very very strange. Really cannot see why so many
problems occurred and how they can be related. Literally
all that I did was install and run MS Spyware and then
restarted the pc when it hung.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Racked my
brains for hours yesterday but it just seemed to get
worse and worse!

Regards

gweilo

 

[D@annyBoy {4XX961}]

Please submit a Tools, suspected spyware report from the infected machine!

Have you tried scanning with Microsoft Antispyware in safe mode?
Run a full system scan, check the 3 boxes

 

[Guest]

Hi. Tbanks for replying. I can no longer run MS
Antispyware on the pc - even in Safe Mode.

 

[Guest]

But I will get my father-in-law (it's his pc) to check
again - I'm not longer at the pc. How do we start in
Safe Mode?

 

[D@annyBoy {4XX961}]

F8 I suppose

 

[Andre Da Costa]

Potential issue with network connectivity and Windows Firewall when removing
some programs that install a layered service provider
Some programs install layered service providers (LSPs) on computers to
gather data on your Web browsing and network activity. When you use Windows
AntiSpyware to help remove these programs, it also removes the LSPs. In some
cases Windows AntiSpyware does not properly restore the LSP configuration
data.



If this happens, you may find that your computer is unable to connect to the
Internet or your network. You may also see an error message stating that
Windows cannot start Windows Firewall service or the Internet Connection
Sharing (ICS) service.



To resolve this problem, you need to use Windows to rebuild the LSP
configuration data. The following steps apply if you are running Microsoft
Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2).



To use Windows to rebuild the LSP configuration data

1. Log on to your computer with an account that is part of the
Administrators group.
2. Open a command prompt window. To do this, click Start, click Run, type
cmd, and click OK.

3. At the command prompt, type netsh Winsock reset and press ENTER.
4. When the Winsock reset is finished, The command window shows the
following message:
Successfully reset the Winsock Catalog. You must restart the machine in
order to complete the reset.
If you see this message, restart your machine.

If you are not logged in with an administrator group, you will receive the
following error message:
Unable to reset the Winsock Catalog. Access is denied.
If you receive this message, log off of your computer, and log on with an
account that is part of the Administrators group. Repeat steps 2-4.

5. After you restart your computer, see the KB article at
support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;892350 for more information.

Other

* If you click Spyware Scan, Realtime Protection, or Advanced Features while
a scan is running, the scan is terminated. No request for confirmation is
provided before canceling the scan.



* If you see a dialog box with the following message after you start your
computer or when you start Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware, you need to repair
or reinstall Windows AntiSpyware. The following message can also refer to
Error 102 or Error 103:

Warning: Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware has encountered a critical error
(Error 101). Please restart Windows AntiSpyware and run the program again.
If you continue to experience this problem, please uninstall the program and
install the most recent version of Windows AntiSpyware. You can use Add or
Remove Programs in Control Panel to uninstall this version of Windows
AntiSpyware.

You can repair Windows AntiSpyware using Add or Remove Programs in Control
Panel. Click Microsoft AntiSpyware and click Change. Click Next, and then
click Update.

If you see the critical error message again, uninstall Windows AntiSpyware
and reinstall it. To do this, use Add or Remove Programs in the Windows
Control Panel. Click Microsoft AntiSpyware and click Remove. You can
reinstall Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware at
www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software.

Additionally - Steve Dodson has said he wants to hear from folks with
critical error 101 problems (e-mail address removed)

Send you error log, located under c:\programs files\Microsoft AntiSpyware

 

[Guest]

To resolve this problem, you need to use Windows...

Thanks - will try this.

(Error 101). Please restart Windows AntiSpyware and run

No good. If I try to run it when I start the pc I get
the 101 error. If I try to uninstall it, I get the same
error and if I try to re-install without uninstalling the
same error.

You can use Add or
Remove Programs in Control Panel to uninstall this
version of Windows AntiSpyware.

Same 101 error.

Additionally - Steve Dodson has said he wants to hear...

E-mail sent but not just on the 101 error. Pc is pretty
much unusable since installing MS Antispyware.

 

[Guest]

You can run MSAS in Safe Mode either - 101 error. Nor
can you uninstall or change it.