can't open control panel or change any settings

[R. Choate]

I had a virus and something is still messed up after it was supposedly found and removed. When I try to open Control Panel, I get an
error message that says "This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your
system administrator."

I AM the administrator and I am using one computer, XP-Pro OS w/sp2, Router between me and the cable modem. I use Ad-Aware and
SpywareBlaster + McAfee AV ver 8.0 w virusscan ver 12.0

Also, if I go thru start menu and click on either "Accessories" from the Programs menu, or click on "Administrative Tools", or just
about anything that would give me control over settings, the menu just instantly closes before I can even see the choices. How can I
get my computer back?

Thanks !!

 

[rayzor]

I just had the same problem, the virrus may be gone but the damage it did is
still there I had to restart in safe mode as administrator change the
password to a new one then create a new user with a new password with
administrator access and then deleted old user. you should also create a user
with limited access for web use. restart in owner run spyware again never us
your computer online as owner or administrator unless needed.I am not sure if
this is the correct way to fix that problem but it worked and I did know how
to rewrite

 

[Devil_Himself]

Start > Run > regedit > Navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\policies\Explo
rer

 

[TonyFrim]

Have a similar problem. Have already looked in the reg key suggested but the
control panel entry does not exist.

Additionally, I can't get into My Computer properties with the same error
message, and I can also not run Windows Update.

My version is XP Home.

I ran Spybot to remove various other entries successfully and am now running
Kaspersky which picked up the virus that caused all these problems. (McAffee
was previously installed and didn't pick it up!)

Tony