Add & Remove Programs corrupt (?)

[E-Double]

After ridding a machine of numerous viruses and other malware, the Add &
Remove Programs applet and options appears to still be corrupt. None of the
programs in there have an option to Change or Remove the program. If we
install a new program, then the Change or Remove option appears and works
okay. But for all of the existing programs we do not have any options there.
We reinstalled the Windows Installer 3.1 program, but to no avail. Is there
anything else that can be done to fix this issue? TIA ...

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

How have you determined that the machine is 100% free of all hijackware?

=============================

Restore Change or Remove Programs (Line 337 Right)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

 

[E-Double]

Hi, We are not 100% sure - but we did several scans and several reboots and
rescans with Spyboy S&D 1.5.2, AdAware 2007, Windows Defender, HiJackThis,
and AVG Antivirus in regular mode and some in safe mode and they are all
coming up clean now.

Also, not sure if this matters (it certainly does not look good) but when we
browse to the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Uninstall
folder - the only entries there are for the four new programs we just
recently installed (including most of the aforementioned malware removal
programs).

e.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

When all else fails, HijackThis v2.0.2
(http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.zip) is the preferred tool to use.
It will help you to both identify and remove any hijackware/spyware with
assistance from an expert. **Post your log to
http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22,
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html,
http://forums.subratam.org/index.php?showforum=7,
http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30, or other appropriate forums for review
by an expert in such matters, not here.**
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002
AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
DTS-L http://dts-l.net/

 

[E-Double]

But putting the malware issue aside, if the uninstall keys are gone from that
registry key (ie HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Uninstall\ )
is there any way to get them back (without manually adding keys for each
program) ? To put it another way, is the reason there is not an uninstall
option for those programs in A&R Programs because there are not uninstall
registry keys at that registry location?

e.

 

[R. McCarty]

For those Uninstall keys to have vanished would usually be from a
Registry Recovery where an older Software hive is loaded. I see
this type of problem from time to time. Do the programs still work
on the computer ? ( Those with missing Uninstaller Keys ).

 

[E-Double]

Yeah, all of the programs seem to work fine. Some of them had an Uninstall
option from Start\Programs\(specific program group) which we were able to
successfully use to uninstall them.

e.