I can almost guarantee that the problem is really with the registry keys that
it's trying to scan. Booting into Safe Mode will not help with this issue.
What's happened is some spyware that has infected your computer has
corrupted the registry keys associated with it. To accomplish this, the
spyware removed the security of those keys. When MSAS tries to scan those
keys it loops indefinately.
The only workaround is to run a full system scan with the following apps:
ewido
(
http://www.download.com/Ewido-Security-Suite/3000-8022_4-10326287.html),
Ad-Aware (
http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html), or Spybot
(
http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022-10289035.html). ;
Only run one scan at a time, remove whatever it detects, then scan with one
of the two remaining apps, and then do the same with the last app.
When installing ewido, make certain to remove both checkmarks on the
Additional Options screen (one pertaining to background guards and the other
to scan via context menu). Additionally make certain to remove the checkmark
for Immunization when installing Spybot. DO NOT use Spybot's Immunization
feature at all while you are using MSAS' Real-time Protection, or they will
conflict. The same would have happened if you installed ewido's background
guards.
Once you have removed the infection that caused the problem with the
registry, MSAS should work absolutely fine. My guess is that either the
spyware was on your system before installing MSAS or it might have slipped
through while MSAS' Real-time Protection was turned off. If you did turn off
MSAS' Real-time Protection, it's a good idea not to do so, since you have no
protection against infections nor hijack attempts.
Alan
