Can't re-enable Task Manager in registry

[Guest]

I got error message that Task Manager has been disabled and found the MS KB
913623 that instructed me to modify the registry. I am a novice at regedit
but the instructions were clear and I decided to do it. Unfortunately, when
I got to the registry, the line involving "Disable Taskmgr" wasn't there and
I could not reset the value.

I had no confidence in my ability to modify the registry without explicit
instructions from reliable help. Thank.s

 

[Ronaldo]

There is a .reg file available for download in the following page, it
contains the correct registry editions to fix your registry with a simple
click. Look in line 113

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

 

[Detlev Dreyer]

I got error message that Task Manager has been disabled and found the
MS KB 913623 that instructed me to modify the registry.

If you are the Administrator and the Task Manager has been disabled, you
can bet that this has been caused by Malware being installed with your
administrative(!) privileges. Scan the system for Malware rather than
messing around with the registry. However, note that Malware being able
to disable the Task Manager may easily bypass any Anti-Virus as well.

 

[Guest]

Hate to sound like a complete novice, but I ran a complete virus scan and a
spyware scan, both of which were clean. What should I do to deal with your
malware threat?

Thanks.

 

[Detlev Dreyer]

Hate to sound like a complete novice, but I ran a complete virus scan
and a spyware scan, both of which were clean. What should I do to deal
with your malware threat?

Well, nothing comes out of the blue and there are several viruses around
which disable the task manager one way or the other. If you logon with
administrative privileges even in cases when not necessary, that Malware
has admin privileges as well, being capable to fool any anti-virus. That
Malware is hard to detect as long as Windows is running although some-
times, it may be detected by an online scanner. The safest way, however,
is booting the system with a BartPE CD having an integrated anti-virus.
Good luck.

 

[Guest]

Well, nothing comes out of the blue and there are several viruses around
which disable the task manager one way or the other. If you logon with
administrative privileges even in cases when not necessary, that Malware
has admin privileges as well, being capable to fool any anti-virus. That
Malware is hard to detect as long as Windows is running although some-
times, it may be detected by an online scanner. The safest way, however,
is booting the system with a BartPE CD having an integrated anti-virus.
Good luck.

I found the problem with Adaware and was able to remove it. I then fixed
the Task Manager problem with an automated registry merge file provided by
William Crawford, which appears to have solved that problem. Thanks. BUT,
running SpyBOT, I found two other registry contaminants. both in
\SecurityCenter, disabling antivirus notify and firewall notify. I cleaned
them but don't I have to fix the registry?

This is where I need help. Registry scares me. I either need reliable
automated programs to merge in like I used for Task Manager or for someone to
walk me through the precise syntax of registry editing, including all of the
spaces and punctuation. I think I see it, but Microsoft's warning about
exploding your system if you make regedit mistakes intimidates me.

Thanks.

 

[Detlev Dreyer]

I found the problem with Adaware and was able to remove it. I then
fixed the Task Manager problem with an automated registry merge file
provided by William Crawford, which appears to have solved that
problem. Thanks. BUT, running SpyBOT, I found two other registry
contaminants. both in \SecurityCenter, disabling antivirus notify and
firewall notify. I cleaned them but don't I have to fix the registry?

Well, spyware is not really interested in a disabled task manager and a
disabled anti-virus notify. Mostly 'hard-core' viruses will do this and
they're doing that just for self-protection. In the meantime, they
usually open backdoors while loading additional software in order to
control your system. There is no anti-virus tool and there is no anti-
spyware tool being able to find these backdoors and that additional
downloaded software. In other words, removing the original Malware and
messing around with the registry does *not* clean the system safely.

This is where I need help.

Sorry. If you are interested in patchwork, someone else may want to
waste his time and help out since a reliable cleanup is not possible
from afar. And if you read this article, you'll know why.

"Cleaning a Compromised System"
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/secmgmt/sm0504.mspx