Can't get to Control Panel

[DWall]

I'm trying to clean-up my son's laptop. It is infected with spyware, and
Internet Explorer keeps getting hijacked by other security programs trying to
sell me their product. I've run Spysweeper and McAfee, but it's still
clogged. I've had problems with McAfee before so I want to uninstall McAfee
and install Norton. I had a similar problem on my desktop about a year ago.
As soon as I got rid of McAfee and installed Norton, everything's been GREAT.


PROBLEM. Whenver I try to get to the Control Panel or use the Security
Center to use the Install/Unintall utility, I get this message: "This
operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in affect on this computer.
Please contact your system administrator." This is a standalone PC. My son
is the only user. He says he's used Control Panel before, but lately he's
gotten the same message. I suspect some malicious software installed itself
and did this.

How to I undo it?

 

[nass]

I'm trying to clean-up my son's laptop. It is infected with spyware, and
Internet Explorer keeps getting hijacked by other security programs trying to
sell me their product. I've run Spysweeper and McAfee, but it's still
clogged. I've had problems with McAfee before so I want to uninstall McAfee
and install Norton. I had a similar problem on my desktop about a year ago.
As soon as I got rid of McAfee and installed Norton, everything's been GREAT.


PROBLEM. Whenver I try to get to the Control Panel or use the Security
Center to use the Install/Unintall utility, I get this message: "This
operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in affect on this computer.
Please contact your system administrator." This is a standalone PC. My son
is the only user. He says he's used Control Panel before, but lately he's
gotten the same message. I suspect some malicious software installed itself
and did this.

How to I undo it?

Restore control panel - see line 256 at :
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Another the registry by opening a run command and type in:
regedit click [OK] and on the Registry editor locate this Key:
[-]HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer =
In the right pane/Window locate this "NoControlPanel" Edit if the Folder
Option is set to 1 set it to Zero.
[-]HKEY_LOCAL-MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer =
In the right pane/Window locate this "NoControlPanel" Edit if the Folder
Option is set to 1 set it to Zero.

Then Go through these Cleaning steps:
1... First, try to clean up your caches, Internet files and delete cookies
by doing this:
Click Start >> Control Panel >> Double click Network and Internet
Connections >> Double click Internet Options.
On the IE properties windows you will see these Tabs:
General | Security | Privacy | Content | Connections | Programs |
Advanced
Under General Tab clear your History, Internet Files and Cookies.
Then click on Advanced tab and scroll down to under the Browsing Option:
[&] Browsing
[ ] Enable Third-Party browser extensions (Req Rest) uncheck this box.
Then click on Programs Tab and click Manage Add-Ons and Disable all non
Verified Add-Ons (You should Renable them later one-by-one and see the
culprit and update it or remove it.
How to manage Add-Ons:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/883256
Scan for malware from here:
SuperAntispyware - Free
http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html
RootkitRevealer v1.71
By Bryce Cogswell and Mark Russinovich
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Security/RootkitRevealer.mspx


Run a scan from here on-line:
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
Download Avast Cleaner (offline scanner) from here:
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-virus-cleaner.html
Lots of tools to download and disinfect your machine (offline scanner):
http://www.bitdefender.co.uk/site/Downloads/browseFreeRemovalTool/

After the scan run disk cleanup on your drive.

HTH.
nass