CTRL-ALT-DELETE Conundrum

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Box134

My situation is: Compaq Presario laptop running XP Pro. I simply cannot get
Task Manager to run. So as not to get into trouble with Perdita, Amethyst,
and others I did an extensive search on Google for this problem and I did
find a fair number of people with this affliction.

So far I have:

1. Replaced taskmgr.exe. Didn't help.

2. Run Kelly's script CAD, which comes up with a script error both on the
Compaq and on my desktop computer.

3. Run Kelly's taskmgrenable script. Didn't help.

4. Scanned for the Klez and Yaha virii using the Symantec tools. No virii
detected.

5. Attached an external keyboard. In this case CTR-ALT-DELETE produced a
fleeting outline of Task Manager and a task bar icon. I could produce many
icons this way, but as soon as I touched the icon with the mouse pointer it
disappeared without opening, just like pricking a soap bubble.

6. Scanned the computer with the latest version of Ad Aware and removed the
dregs. Didn't help.

7. Changed the registry setting to "Disable Task Manager." ( I forget the
exact place, from article.)

So, I don't know what the heck to try next. Other than this, the computer
runs fine. The previous user of this Compaq says CTRL-ALT-DELETE used to
work at some time.

Might a repair installation help? A common thing with Win95 and to some
extent Win98, I've never had to do this with XP, yet!

I read some reference to the Alerter service and how disabling it can do
this. I couldn't find a thing in the Knowledge Base on how it can be
disabled or enabled.
 
What about a full virus scan with up-to-date definitions?
Klez and Yaha are the best known that cause this, but
others are also known to do this...

To be clear, this is the situation where it shows up
briefly and disappears and/or not at all, or do you get
an error message?
 
I don,t know about the problem CTRL-ALT-DELETE,but if you
right click on my computer,then go down to manage,then at
the very bottom you will find services,open them up at
the top you should find ALERTER,
hope it helps.
 
-----Original Message-----
My situation is: Compaq Presario laptop running XP Pro. I simply cannot get
Task Manager to run. So as not to get into trouble with Perdita, Amethyst,
and others I did an extensive search on Google for this problem and I did
find a fair number of people with this affliction.

So far I have:

1. Replaced taskmgr.exe. Didn't help.

2. Run Kelly's script CAD, which comes up with a script error both on the
Compaq and on my desktop computer.

3. Run Kelly's taskmgrenable script. Didn't help.

4. Scanned for the Klez and Yaha virii using the Symantec tools. No virii
detected.

5. Attached an external keyboard. In this case CTR-ALT- DELETE produced a
fleeting outline of Task Manager and a task bar icon. I could produce many
icons this way, but as soon as I touched the icon with the mouse pointer it
disappeared without opening, just like pricking a soap bubble.

6. Scanned the computer with the latest version of Ad Aware and removed the
dregs. Didn't help.

7. Changed the registry setting to "Disable Task Manager." ( I forget the
exact place, from article.)

So, I don't know what the heck to try next. Other than this, the computer
runs fine. The previous user of this Compaq says CTRL- ALT-DELETE used to
work at some time.

Might a repair installation help? A common thing with Win95 and to some
extent Win98, I've never had to do this with XP, yet!

I read some reference to the Alerter service and how disabling it can do
this. I couldn't find a thing in the Knowledge Base on how it can be
disabled or enabled.

does it work in safe mode(tap f8 while rebooting)?
Click to expand...

if so use msconfig clean boot tshooting to isolate the
cause.
 
I have up-to-date AntiVir software, but I haven't done a full scan. I will
do that.

No error message at all. All I see is a brief hourglass cursor. For some
reason with the external keyboard I get a very fleeting outline of Task
Manager before it settles into a ghost icon on the taskbar. But no, I don't
really see Task Manager at all.

Oh yes, I also tried using Run to launch Task Manager and I also tried the
task bar method too. Also didn't work.
 
No, I haven't tried Safe Mode yet. I've been rather spoiled with XP, haven't
needed to do that yet, but I will check it out!
 
Script: C:\Documents and Settings\myname\My Documents\Downloads\CAD.vbs
Line: 9
Char: 1
Error: Unable to open registry key
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Dis
ableCAD" for reading
Code: 80070002
Source: WshShell.RegRead

I get this error on my laptop and desktop.

I will check out the worms. Thanks for the reply.
 
Once in a while you win one. I discovered that regedit and msconfig wouldn't
run either so it certainly pointed to some rogue software that was
determined to keep me from seeing it. By good fortune I had run across the
tasklist and taskkill functions so I opened a console window and was able to
see a list of processes.

I looked for suspicious items and I saw one called "wincfg.scr" that didn't
look legit. I used taskkill to forcefully shut it down and lo and behold
Task Manager, regedit, and msconfig all ran!

Next step was to keep it from ever starting again. I looked for the file but
couldn't find it until I had it look into hidden folders. It was in the
\system32 folder and I squished it. End of problem.

I searched in Google for "wincfg.scr" but no hits. What do you think this
geedee program was trying to do?


The laptop where I found "wincfg.scr" had been sitting on the shelf for
eight months until I installed a wireless network for it, so I don't know
when this thing was infected. Prior to that my son was using it so who knows
what ungodly things he did with it.

Anyway, thanks to all who took time to reply.
 
from the wonderful said:
Once in a while you win one. I discovered that regedit and msconfig wouldn't
run either so it certainly pointed to some rogue software that was
determined to keep me from seeing it. By good fortune I had run across the
tasklist and taskkill functions so I opened a console window and was able to
see a list of processes.

I looked for suspicious items and I saw one called "wincfg.scr" that didn't
look legit. I used taskkill to forcefully shut it down and lo and behold
Task Manager, regedit, and msconfig all ran!

Next step was to keep it from ever starting again. I looked for the file but
couldn't find it until I had it look into hidden folders. It was in the
\system32 folder and I squished it. End of problem.

I searched in Google for "wincfg.scr" but no hits. What do you think this
geedee program was trying to do?
Click to expand...

Just search for 'wincfg virus' .. first hit is

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/backdoor.elitem.h
tml

I assume the extension randomly varies between .exe, .scr, .com, etc.
etc.
 
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