Effects of a Work Virus on WIndows XP

[Bill Rosman]

A worm got into our Windows XP laptop. I was able to stop
it form loading by going into the registry...it was
loading a file called SMSC.EXE all over the place. But I
haven't been able to get rid of the aftereffects of what
it did.
For example, whenever I try and load a Microsoft Security
Patch, it gives me this message: Cannot verify the
integrity of UPDATE.INF, please load Cryptographic
services.
Secondly, I can't download the latest virus definitions.
When ever the security certificate is about to load and
ask permission, I get this message: Cannot load ACTIVEX
controls..please change security settings. The problem
is...no matter how I change security, I can't get rid of
that message.
I can try to run an anti-virus to get rid of this, but
becuase of these effects I'm not sure I can install it.

thanks
bill

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

1) Open Windows Explorer to C:\Windows\system32, right-click/rename the
catroot2 folder to catold. Then retry the Windows Update installations. When
finished, there will be a new catroot2 folder and you can safely delete the
old renamed one.

2) You may still be infected. Download stinger from
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/, then restart in Safe mode and logon as
administrator. Run stinger here where the interference from nasties will be
minimized.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org