off topic - cross posted to xp basic ng, msconfig won't run anymore

[Alex Andra]

Hi,

Somehow Apple Quicktime infected my computer and was running in the back
ground all the time. I had to un-installe it to get rid of it, because I
can't
get msconfig to run. I was going to just uncheck it in there. This is a
new problem. It used to work fine.

So, I turned off the system restore points, rebooted about 10 times, got a
new version of msconfig.exe from microsoft's website, tried to run it, but
the same thing happens. It opens, and then closes in a second or two.

I couldn't find anything searching via google or yahoo except for a site
that said it knew how to fix it but it wanted auto debiting of a crdit card
at $10 a month to view the fix.

Does anybody have ideas on how to fix this or what caused it in the first
place, and how to prevent it form happening again.

The system is about 3 months old. Nothing fancy, just a normal xp box
running comcast broadband via a router, with a single user account with
full privlidges.

TIA

A

ps: I posted this to the xp basic ng, but I'm not real hopeful getting
a reply from them. This group has a huge group of knowledgeable
people using it. Hope it's not too far afield.

 

[JAD]

V I R U S and you have not done some of the patches that MS has
released to protect you from certain exploits.

 

[Alex Andra]

"Pick updates to install

There are no critical updates available at this time.

However, Windows Update has found other updates for your computer.
To browse through these updates and select the ones you want to install,
click a category title in the list."

Thanks for the idea JAD, I checked just now to be sure, and
the above is what I got. The additional ones I don't want,
they are not critical and have to do with meadia players,
net frames, etc.

Thanks for the quick reply.

I'm also running AVG 6.0, and it doesn't report any
virus activity.

A

 

[JAD]

hmmm ok try this open other utility programs
try -ctrl-alt-delete does the window stay up or collapse in a few
seconds? 'internet options' from the control panel does it stay up?
AVG is up-to-date? Are you getting windows pop-up messages? (spam)

 

[JAD]

This behavior is common when a system is infected with
W32.Spybot.Worm.

It infects the task manager and other system tools such as msconfig
and
regedit, causing them to close automatically.

You can try downloading something like Spybot Search and Destroy, and
that may take care of it, or follow the removal instructions here
(beware of
line-wrap):

http://securityresponse.symantec.co..pybot.worm.html

 

[Alex Andra]

Jad, you were right. It was a virus. It's fixed now.
I went to microtrend's realtime virus scanner on line
and let it look at my system. It found a bagle_AH virus
but couldn't fix it.
A google search led to a few sites with info. One of them,
Grisoft, had a fix for it I could download that runs from safe mode.
The file is only 60 kb long. Anyway, it runs from a
dos prompt window and, get this, it found 267 infected
files on the c drive and 57 more on the i, drive. Partitions
with data weren't involved. It took about an hour to run it.
Or so it seemed watching it. It fixed them all.
So I ran msconfig and it launched fine.

I keep the critical fixes up to date, and also keep virus
definitions current. I use Grisoft's AVE 6.0, it's free,
but somehow it didn't catch this. That's truly amazing
seeing as how they have a fix for it on their web site.

I also regularly run spybot and adaware weekly.

Thanks for taking the time to help,
you put me on the right track.

A

 

[JAD]

glad you got it.....sorry my link to Symantec was broken,,, just
realized the misspelling.