Taskmgr strangeness

[misanthropic777]

Task manager does not respond to either a right click in the task bar or
ctrl-alt-delete. taskmgr.exe does exist in C:\Windows\system32, and if I
rename it to ANYTHING else I can double-click that file and it runs. However
if I just double-click the file (ie directly in that directory) or try to run
from the command line, I get a message saying "Windows cannot find
'C:\Windows\system32\taskmgr.exe'. Make sure you typed the name correct...."

I can rename/copy that exact file to anywhere else, including renaming in
the same directory, double-click it and it runs fine. Almost immediately a
new version of taskmgr.exe shows up but it still won't run.

I have run a full AVG virus scan, ad-aware, spybot, ccleaner and everything
else I can think of. I have verified that the DisableTaskMgr registry entry
exists. I have plowed through all the tips in this forum and on
kellys-korner-xp.com, with no luck.

Any ideas? Is it possible that some software I have purposely installed
would behave like this and if so, what might that be? Any
suggestions/pointers are appreciated.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "misanthropic777" <[email protected]>

| Task manager does not respond to either a right click in the task bar or
| ctrl-alt-delete. taskmgr.exe does exist in C:\Windows\system32, and if I
| rename it to ANYTHING else I can double-click that file and it runs. However
| if I just double-click the file (ie directly in that directory) or try to run
| from the command line, I get a message saying "Windows cannot find
| 'C:\Windows\system32\taskmgr.exe'. Make sure you typed the name correct...."
|
| I can rename/copy that exact file to anywhere else, including renaming in
| the same directory, double-click it and it runs fine. Almost immediately a
| new version of taskmgr.exe shows up but it still won't run.
|
| I have run a full AVG virus scan, ad-aware, spybot, ccleaner and everything
| else I can think of. I have verified that the DisableTaskMgr registry entry
| exists. I have plowed through all the tips in this forum and on
| kellys-korner-xp.com, with no luck.
|
| Any ideas? Is it possible that some software I have purposely installed
| would behave like this and if so, what might that be? Any
| suggestions/pointers are appreciated.


Download MULTI_AV.EXE from the URL --
http://www.pctipp.ch/ds/28400/28470/Multi_AV.exe

http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

English:
http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2008/01/09/scan-your-computer-with-multiple-anti-virus-for-free/

To use this utility, perform the following...
Execute; Multi_AV.exe { Note: You must use the default folder C:\AV-CLS }
Choose; Unzip
Choose; Close

Execute; C:\AV-CLS\StartMenu.BAT
{ or Double-click on 'Start Menu' in C:\AV-CLS }

NOTE: You may have to disable your software FireWall or allow WGET.EXE to go through your
FireWall to allow it to download the needed AV vendor related files.

C:\AV-CLS\StartMenu.BAT -- { or Double-click on 'Start Menu' in C:\AV-CLS}
This will bring up the initial menu of choices and should be executed in Normal Mode.
This way all the components can be downloaded from each AV vendor's web site.
The choices are; Sophos, Trend, McAfee, Kaspersky, Exit this menu and Reboot the PC.

You can choose to go to each menu item and just download the needed files or you can
download the files and perform a scan in Normal Mode. Once you have downloaded the files
needed for each scanner you want to use, you should reboot the PC into Safe Mode [F8 key
during boot] and re-run the menu again and choose which scanner you want to run in Safe
Mode. It is suggested to run the scanners in both Safe Mode and Normal Mode.

When the menu is displayed hitting 'H' or 'h' will bring up a more comprehensive PDF help
file.

Additional Instructions:
http://pcdid.com/Multi_AV.htm


* * * Please report back your results * * *