No Control Panel, can't open anything

[BigBadBeau]

I have seen several people with problems kind of similiar to mine on the
web, including this site, but nothing exactly the same. Here is my
problem:

1) Control Panel has disappeared!
2) Can't click on most desktop icons. I get the hourglass, then
nothing.
3) Can't use "run" for anything. Clicking "OK" just makes that screen
go away.
4) I found regedit myself. Can't click on it. It won't open. Same
result as #2.
5) Can't open System Restore. It won't open. Same result as #2.
6) Most icons within my computer won't open. Same result as #2.
7) Wordpad documents won't open or print. Same result as #2. They still
show .kbs taken up so they must still be there.
8) Documents on my floppies won't open up, either.
9) My .jpgs do still work.
10) Internet Explorer won't open, either. I'm on here by going into
Microsoft Outlook, which works perfectly, and going into any e-mail
message with a link. Clicking the link gets me into the internet. At
that point, Internet Explorer works fine.
11) When I started the computer today, the taskbar had a new icon
saying some Spyware was trying to take over my computer. I ran my Panda
Titanium Virus Scan and it did find a few infected files and fixed them.
It didn't change any of the above, though.
12) When I right click on My Computer once and select Properties I get
an error message that reads "This operation has been cancelled due to
restrictions in effect on your computer. Please contact your system
administrator."

My God, what has gone wrong? Does it sound at least like something a
computer professional that I can bring over here can still fix? How can
any of this be fixed when I can't click into almost everything?

 

[Elmo]

I have seen several people with problems kind of similar to mine on the
web, including this site, but nothing exactly the same. Here is my
problem:

1) Control Panel has disappeared!
2) Can't click on most desktop icons. I get the hourglass, then
nothing.
3) Can't use "run" for anything. Clicking "OK" just makes that screen
go away.
4) I found regedit myself. Can't click on it. It won't open. Same
result as #2.
5) Can't open System Restore. It won't open. Same result as #2.
6) Most icons within my computer won't open. Same result as #2.
7) Wordpad documents won't open or print. Same result as #2. They still
show .kbs taken up so they must still be there.
8) Documents on my floppies won't open up, either.
9) My .jpgs do still work.
10) Internet Explorer won't open, either. I'm on here by going into
Microsoft Outlook, which works perfectly, and going into any e-mail
message with a link. Clicking the link gets me into the internet. At
that point, Internet Explorer works fine.
11) When I started the computer today, the taskbar had a new icon
saying some Spyware was trying to take over my computer. I ran my Panda
Titanium Virus Scan and it did find a few infected files and fixed them.
It didn't change any of the above, though.
12) When I right-click on My Computer once and select Properties I get
an error message that reads "This operation has been canceled due to
restrictions in effect on your computer. Please contact your system
administrator."

What has gone wrong? Does it sound at least like something a
computer professional that I can bring over here can still fix? How can
any of this be fixed when I can't click into almost everything?

Restart in Safe Mode. Run your av and see if that helps. Regedit and
some other programs might run in Safe Mode..

Avast! has a Bootscan option which can remove malware before it
(malware) gets control. This could help. Try installing it from Safe
Mode with Networking. Or download to another computer, put on a
thumbdrive, install in Safe Mode, and set the Bootscan option.

The new icon in the Notification area is a different problem. You'll
probably need antispyware for that one.

You'll probably get quality help posting to a virus newsgroup.

 

[BigBadBeau]

BigBadBeau wrote:-
I have seen several people with problems kind of similar to mine on
the
web, including this site, but nothing exactly the same. Here is my
problem:

1) Control Panel has disappeared!
2) Can't click on most desktop icons. I get the hourglass, then
nothing.
3) Can't use "run" for anything. Clicking "OK" just makes that screen
go away.
4) I found regedit myself. Can't click on it. It won't open. Same
result as #2.
5) Can't open System Restore. It won't open. Same result as #2.
6) Most icons within my computer won't open. Same result as #2.
7) Wordpad documents won't open or print. Same result as #2. They
still
show .kbs taken up so they must still be there.
8) Documents on my floppies won't open up, either.
9) My .jpgs do still work.
10) Internet Explorer won't open, either. I'm on here by going into
Microsoft Outlook, which works perfectly, and going into any e-mail
message with a link. Clicking the link gets me into the internet. At
that point, Internet Explorer works fine.
11) When I started the computer today, the taskbar had a new icon
saying some Spyware was trying to take over my computer. I ran my
Panda
Titanium Virus Scan and it did find a few infected files and fixed
them.
It didn't change any of the above, though.
12) When I right-click on My Computer once and select Properties I
get
an error message that reads "This operation has been canceled due to
restrictions in effect on your computer. Please contact your system
administrator."

What has gone wrong? Does it sound at least like something a
computer professional that I can bring over here can still fix? How
can
any of this be fixed when I can't click into almost everything?-

Restart in Safe Mode. Run your av and see if that helps. Regedit and

some other programs might run in Safe Mode..

Avast! has a Bootscan option which can remove malware before it
(malware) gets control. This could help. Try installing it from Safe

Mode with Networking. Or download to another computer, put on a
thumbdrive, install in Safe Mode, and set the Bootscan option.

The new icon in the Notification area is a different problem. You'll
probably need antispyware for that one.

You'll probably get quality help posting to a virus newsgroup.

I don't know what safe mode is, so I read up on it. Tapping F8 does no
good, the computer still starts up into regular mode. And there's
nothing on the screen normally at my startup (XP) until the blue screen
w/ Welcome followed by my desktop. Also, I read that starting up in safe
mode will not give me anti-virus programs, the internet, etc. So if I
can't run my Panda anti-virus, I have no idea what to do in safe mode.
I'm too much of an advanced beginner to attempt your Bootscan idea.
Also, I forgot to say in my original post that I can't get into Windows
Help either. And for another solution from the web, when I go run, then
type in misconfig, it says "Windows cannot find misconfig." Thanks for
your help, though. Anyone else want to try?

 

[glee]

I don't know what safe mode is, so I read up on it. Tapping F8 does no
good, the computer still starts up into regular mode. And there's
nothing on the screen normally at my startup (XP) until the blue screen
w/ Welcome followed by my desktop. Also, I read that starting up in safe
mode will not give me anti-virus programs, the internet, etc. So if I
can't run my Panda anti-virus, I have no idea what to do in safe mode.
I'm too much of an advanced beginner to attempt your Bootscan idea.
Also, I forgot to say in my original post that I can't get into Windows
Help either. And for another solution from the web, when I go run, then
type in misconfig, it says "Windows cannot find misconfig." Thanks for
your help, though. Anyone else want to try?

Your virus scanner, as well as many spyware scanners, should run in Safe Mode.
You are not tapping the F8 key at the right time in the boot sequence, to get the
menu that offers Safe Mode.
Windows can't find misconfig because there is no such file....it's msconfig.

Considering your apparent beginner's level, you should probably employ a reputable
computer technician with experience removing spyware, trojans and rootkits....not
just some depot at a big-box store, where they will likely just wipe your computer
clean and lose all your files. It does not sound like you have the technical
know-how for the task. This is nothing to be ashamed of, any more than needing a
professional to fix your air conditioner.

You can try the procedures here first, if you wish:
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm

 

[Guest]

Hi .. sorry for jumping in on this but I have/had almost the same problem.

That yellow icon in your task bar is connected to one or more Trojans (I had
the same thing). As long as this Trojan is on your pc it will wreck havoc on
your system.

I was told by my WinXP Group to download & run something called SmitFraudFix
in Safe Mode.

I also had to wipe out all my latest System Restores. Your pc won't restore
to an earlier time if the time you choose is infected.

Then run the online scanner TrendMicro Housecall + various other scans (AVG
... Spybot .. Ad-Aware .. Panda .. Avast .. AVG Anti-Spyware). I also had to
run numerous HiJack This scans & posted them so they could tell me what to
get rid of.

The Trojan is gone but my Control Panel is still not showing up in My
Computer .. when I click "Set Program Access & Defaults or right click Start

Properties .. I still get that error message "This operation has been

canceled due to restrictions in effect on your computer. Please contact your
system administrator." I am the Administrator.

Something in the Registry has been changed or deleted & I've been trying
just about every idea that comes my way to fix this but so far no good.

It's now been a few weeks since I first noticed my Control Panel missing
(along with the other problems) but there are one or two more possible
solutions I still have to check out & if they work I'll let you know.

--

 

[Guest]

Hi again .. just to update you .. in another thread this was brought up & I
followed his directions & my Control Panel is back in My Computer ...

You still have to run the scans suggested here first .. you need to get rid
of that Trojan first .. good luck

 

[BigBadBeau]

Hi again .. just to update you .. in another thread this was brought up
& I
followed his directions & my Control Panel is back in My Computer ...

You still have to run the scans suggested here first .. you need to get
rid
of that Trojan first .. good luck

:
-
Hi .. sorry for jumping in on this but I have/had almost the same
problem.

That yellow icon in your task bar is connected to one or more Trojans
(I had
the same thing). As long as this Trojan is on your pc it will wreck
havoc on
your system.

I was told by my WinXP Group to download & run something called
SmitFraudFix
in Safe Mode.

I also had to wipe out all my latest System Restores. Your pc won't
restore
to an earlier time if the time you choose is infected.

Then run the online scanner TrendMicro Housecall + various other scans
(AVG
.. Spybot .. Ad-Aware .. Panda .. Avast .. AVG Anti-Spyware). I also
had to
run numerous HiJack This scans & posted them so they could tell me
what to
get rid of.

The Trojan is gone but my Control Panel is still not showing up in My

Computer .. when I click "Set Program Access & Defaults or right click
Start -
Properties .. I still get that error message "This operation has
been -
canceled due to restrictions in effect on your computer. Please
contact your
system administrator." I am the Administrator.

Something in the Registry has been changed or deleted & I've been
trying
just about every idea that comes my way to fix this but so far no
good.

It's now been a few weeks since I first noticed my Control Panel
missing
(along with the other problems) but there are one or two more possible

solutions I still have to check out & if they work I'll let you know.

-[/i]

[/QUOTE]

Well, my problems are fixed, but there's no way I can explain it here.
I had a guy come in I found in the phone book. He spent 3 hours here
last night just getting rid of viruses (and I do have Panda and do run
it) then had to take the tower in to bring Control Panel back, etc. He
just brought it back tonight. He said it needed over 400 registry edits
and that no one he knows knows how to fix this problem but him. He had
to reinstall Windows. It cost me $146.00. He said he only charges
around $27.00 an hour when everyone else charges between $75-100 an
hour. What a nightmare. Sorry for wasting everyone's time. I know
people read this stuff and post to find solutions. Sorry I can't really
provide one.

Oh, he did say it was a Windows Update that caused the problem! I
haven't done any Windows Updates in a while, but I did recently try to,
and Windows Update told me I needed to download a patch or something now
so it could tell me which updates I need. I figured that was a result of
time passing and my computer getting older. So I did do that. On that
particular day, after I downloaded it, THEN it gave me the familiar
screen telling me what updates I needed. It said downloading those
updates would take 20 minutes. I didn't have time, so I didn't do it.
That was 2 or 3 weeks ago. I never did do them. I told him, "Unless it
was that patch or whatever you call it that was the problem."

 

[mattinschool2004]

My God, what has gone wrong? Does it sound at least like something a
computer professional that I can bring over here can still fix? How
can
any of this be fixed when I can't click into almost everything?

BigBadBeau


Ok I have been working with computers for about 20 years now (was once
a MCSE and am currently an avide online gamer blah blah blah) and
feel like I am able to provide some good information as to what the
problem you have is (as I am dealing with it myself lol).

Obviously if you did not know already you do have a type of virus.
Your situation is similar to one of the other posters (i.e Kathleen).
In Kathleens case (which I will focus on because I know EXACTLY what
she has on her PC).

Kathleen stated:

"That yellow icon in your task bar is connected to one or more Trojans
(I had
the same thing). As long as this Trojan is on your pc it will wreck
havoc on
your system.

Kathleen what you have is a program called Winantivirus2006 or 07 or
one of its sister variations. This program disables your admin
abilities, not to mention gives you pop up warnings about spyware, and
puts the little yellow triangle with the exclamation mark in your task
bar. This is a Malware program, that uses agressive tactics to try
and make you sign up for their product by saying "your infected click
here now before its to late" (or something similar)

Here is the kicker. The company is called Winsoftware Inc., they are
registered in the Urkraine (good luck holding someone accountable
lol). I searched for a company phone number and did find one! It was
however a number for that country (talk about LD charges). So I
figuard, seeing as they claimed to be a registered trademark, they
would need to have a US presence...right? Right! I found a number
which had a 202 area code (which is DC I used to live there). I found
this number online, in a forum, where another individual had obviously
gotten angry and found the number first.

He had posted a few numbers, the first was disconnected, the second
number (the 202 number) I called. An automated message picks up saying
push 1 for tech support and push 2 for billing (thats all it says, it
does not identify any companies or parties). I pushed 1 and was caller
6 (ETA 10 min) so I waited for 10 minutes and a young woman picks up
the phone. I talk to people all day for a living and feel I know how
to "work the human mind" so to speak...I started by first asking
"what company am I calling" she did not give me an answer, but did
make an attempt to dodge the question and she said they do tech
support for over 100 different companies, I explained my problem with
the program and she actually hung up on me.

Ok hmmm...So I call back and get a guy named Gerald on the phone,
obviously he was being monitored. He had to have received 100's of
these calls, and YES, I called him on it! I let him know this was
nothing personal, but I wanted to know how do I remove the program and
get my computer back? He was also very secretive and actually...we
only used each others first names (covert). I asked him if he was
aware of the program and he gave me the "umm uhh umm" type of response
(again being monitored). Funny thing is he was not in DC? When I
asked him about the 202 area code he did not say where they were
located but did say "NOT IN DC" lol.

So to fix the issue "kinda" (again still working on it myself) he had
me do the f8 safemode boot and do a system restore, using the c:\ to a
point before I had the problem (WINANTIVIRUS2007). I restored to a
previous point and for about 2 minutes problem seemed to be fixed!
Then the little icon came back...grrrrr....

Good news is it seems to have vastly reduced the pop ups and the
sudden Winantivirus2007 web browser openings, and at least lets me see
the control pannel (this is the fix to the OP problem...you will still
be infected however). Bad news is, again my admin right have been
hijacked, so I can ONLY see the control pannel...grrrr.... (no
functions work, with out the "this action has been restricted by the
admin" message).

So when I figuar out the how to fix, I will post it. Don't waste your
time downloading the 100's of different spyware/adware programs out
there (sure 1 or 2 helps) but this is not a fix to your issue. In
summary the GOOD news is we know what the problem is now we can work
at fixing it.

 

[orurn]

My God, what has gone wrong? Does it sound at least like something a
computer professional that I can bring over here can still fix? How
can
any of this be fixed when I can't click into almost everything?

BigBadBeau

Ok I have been working with computers for about 20 years now (was once
a MCSE and am currently an avide online gamer blah blah blah) and
feel like I am able to provide some good information as to what the
problem you have is (as I am dealing with it myself lol).

Obviously if you did not know already you do have a type of virus.
Your situation is similar to one of the other posters (i.e Kathleen).
In Kathleens case (which I will focus on because I know EXACTLY what
she has on her PC).

Kathleen stated:

"That yellow icon in your task bar is connected to one or more Trojans
(I had
the same thing). As long as this Trojan is on your pc it will wreck
havoc on
your system.

Kathleen what you have is a program called Winantivirus2006 or 07 or
one of its sister variations. This program disables your admin
abilities, not to mention gives you pop up warnings about spyware, and
puts the little yellow triangle with the exclamation mark in your task
bar. This is a Malware program, that uses agressive tactics to try
and make you sign up for their product by saying "your infected click
here now before its to late" (or something similar)

Here is the kicker. The company is called Winsoftware Inc., they are
registered in the Urkraine (good luck holding someone accountable
lol). I searched for a company phone number and did find one! It was
however a number for that country (talk about LD charges). So I
figuard, seeing as they claimed to be a registered trademark, they
would need to have a US presence...right? Right! I found a number
which had a 202 area code (which is DC I used to live there). I found
this number online, in a forum, where another individual had obviously
gotten angry and found the number first.

He had posted a few numbers, the first was disconnected, the second
number (the 202 number) I called. An automated message picks up saying
push 1 for tech support and push 2 for billing (thats all it says, it
does not identify any companies or parties). I pushed 1 and was caller
6 (ETA 10 min) so I waited for 10 minutes and a young woman picks up
the phone. I talk to people all day for a living and feel I know how
to "work the human mind" so to speak...I started by first asking
"what company am I calling" she did not give me an answer, but did
make an attempt to dodge the question and she said they do tech
support for over 100 different companies, I explained my problem with
the program and she actually hung up on me.

Ok hmmm...So I call back and get a guy named Gerald on the phone,
obviously he was being monitored. He had to have received 100's of
these calls, and YES, I called him on it! I let him know this was
nothing personal, but I wanted to know how do I remove the program and
get my computer back? He was also very secretive and actually...we
only used each others first names (covert). I asked him if he was
aware of the program and he gave me the "umm uhh umm" type of response
(again being monitored). Funny thing is he was not in DC? When I
asked him about the 202 area code he did not say where they were
located but did say "NOT IN DC" lol.

So to fix the issue "kinda" (again still working on it myself) he had
me do the f8 safemode boot and do a system restore, using the c:\ to a
point before I had the problem (WINANTIVIRUS2007). I restored to a
previous point and for about 2 minutes problem seemed to be fixed!
Then the little icon came back...grrrrr....

Good news is it seems to have vastly reduced the pop ups and the
sudden Winantivirus2007 web browser openings, and at least lets me see
the control pannel (this is the fix to the OP problem...you will still
be infected however). Bad news is, again my admin right have been
hijacked, so I can ONLY see the control pannel...grrrr.... (no
functions work, with out the "this action has been restricted by the
admin" message).

So when I figuar out the how to fix, I will post it. Don't waste your
time downloading the 100's of different spyware/adware programs out
there (sure 1 or 2 helps) but this is not a fix to your issue. In
summary the GOOD news is we know what the problem is now we can work
at fixing it.

This is all fine, but I have the exact same problem that's mentioned
in the first e-mail! How do I get the control panel back??? Please
help me so I don't have to put out a large amount of money to fix this
problem, and, be without my computer. Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Wow, the same thing happened to me. I manually eradicated the files that
kept giving me the message about my computer being infected and that I should
download their software. I still have no control panel. Silly me, I thought
that a registry entry would fix the access issue of the control panel, but
now I read that even getting it back does not solve the problem. IThe control
panel can't be used because of the admin issue. So, now what??? Please
someone find a fix........

 

[glee]

This is all fine, but I have the exact same problem that's mentioned
in the first e-mail! How do I get the control panel back??? Please
help me so I don't have to put out a large amount of money to fix this
problem, and, be without my computer. Thanks.

What if anything have you done to detect and remove any spyware/adware/trojans on
your system?

Can you access Control Panel but the icons are all missing, or can you not open
Control Panel at all?
What happens when you click the Start button> Control Panel?

Do you receive any error messages?

What version of Windows XP are you using....Home, Pro, MCE, SP2?

Have you tried this, from http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_c.htm :

<quote>

Control Panel - Icons Missing

Click Start, Run and enter REGEDIT

Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\don't load

Look in the right pane and you'll see the Control Panel Icons that have been
disabled. You can either right click on the "don't load" subkey and select Delete to
restore all disabled icons, or you can right click on each of the items in the right
pane and select Delete to selectively restore them. Scroll up to Control Panel
Applets for a listing of what each one is.

The change will be seen the next time you open Control Panel.

</quote>