Security Center broken after virus cleanup

  • Thread starter Thread starter UUtopia
  • Start date Start date
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UUtopia

After using Ewido, Stinger, Panda's on-line scanner, etc., to help get
rid of Spy Sherrif, a win32 trojan and other stubborn nasties, some of
my security features no longer work. The security center loads but the
"virus protection" portion doesn't show up and "change the way Security
Center alerts me" is greyed out. The following error message is also
displayed:

'The Security Center is currently unavailable because the "Security
Center" service has not started or was stopped. Please close this
window, restart the computer (or start the "Security Center" service),
and then open the Security Center again.'

When I go to Administrative Tools > Services, there is no "Security
Center" listed. The system is clean and appears to work normally
otherwise. The Windows Firewall is ON and I cuurently have Avast's
anti-virus program + Ewido running.

Any ideas?

Thanks...
 
Using Panda's online scanner ,make sure your computer is clean.
Then,if you're clean,do a repair install if your Windows.

Take your Windows CD which you received when you bought your Windows.
Start-Turn off Computer ...- Restart and immediately insert the CD.Then
you'll manually or automatically boot from the CD and follow carefully the
instructions do do a repair without formatting.

Make sure your are clean ,it is important.

Panda_man
 
Panda_man -

When I try to use Panda's online scanner, it runs at first but then
freezes while "scanning files", then IE closes with no error or warning
message. I tried disabling Avast resident protection temporarily to see
if this would help but it did not (probably a BIG mistake -
this may have allowed new viri/trojans to enter my system).

I also tried running Trend Micro's "House Call" online scanner and it
reported that it found "Troj_Adload.exe". When I clicked on "clean up",
it froze also, but did not shut down my browser (this time I was
running Firefox).

I then downloaded and ran Trend Micro's Sysclean, but it found nothing.
None of my other scanners (a-squared, Ewido, AdAware SE, Spybot, Avast)
could find anything, either.

Looking at Windows Explorer, I can see that my C: drive directory has
been renamed 4Rv. I don't know how or why this happened, but I'm
betting it can't be good.

Please help with my next move in this battle :(
 
UUtopia said:
Panda_man -

When I try to use Panda's online scanner, it runs at first but then
freezes while "scanning files", then IE closes with no error or
warning message. I tried disabling Avast resident protection
temporarily to see if this would help but it did not (probably a BIG
mistake - this may have allowed new viri/trojans to enter my system).

I also tried running Trend Micro's "House Call" online scanner and it
reported that it found "Troj_Adload.exe". When I clicked on "clean
up", it froze also, but did not shut down my browser (this time I was
running Firefox).

I then downloaded and ran Trend Micro's Sysclean, but it found
nothing. None of my other scanners (a-squared, Ewido, AdAware SE,
Spybot, Avast) could find anything, either.

Looking at Windows Explorer, I can see that my C: drive directory has
been renamed 4Rv. I don't know how or why this happened, but I'm
betting it can't be good.

Please help with my next move in this battle :(
Click to expand...

Did you do all scans in Safe Mode? See:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

Otherwise, either flatten the system and clean-install Windows, drivers,
programs, restore data from backups or take the machine to a local
professional.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install

Do not connect to the Internet with a new installation until you have
SP2 installed, its firewall on, and an antivirus program installed.

Malke
 
May be the easiest would be to do a back-up of only the important files such
as documents ,pictures or music and then format the hard drive and reinstall
the Windows.
After creating the back-up ,check it for viruses and after the reinstall
,install a better antivirus software such as Panda or Nod32.You can download
trials of them here:

Panda Internet Security 2005 ( 90 day trial )
http://www.pandasoftware.com/about/resp_social/children_internet/ally.htm

Nod 32 ( 30 day trial )
http://www.eset.com/download/trial.htm


As Malke says ,do not connect to internet until you have a firewall ON.
Learn how to protect your PC :
http://pandaman.hit.bg -> Protect your PC section


Panda_man
 
I performed a Repair Install. It was almost finished when at the
"Windows will now help you set up your computer" screen, the mouse
cursor froze and a recently installed Kerio firewall came up asking for
permission to allow automatic Windows Updates. At this point everything
stopped and the Kerio dialogue box just kept flashing.

Remembering that sometimes a USB mouse driver goes brain-dead when
there is a system problem, I killed the power, switched to a serial
mouse and then rebooted. Everything came up OK this time and I had
mouse control again.

While Kerio is obviously a serious firewall, I have had trouble with it
dominating my system before, and also slowing it down somewhat. I think
I may go back to XP's built-in firewall even though I know it isn't as
effective.

Subsequent scans in safe mode using all the programs I mentioned
previously show everything is clean. My system even runs faster than
before so I'm a happy camper. I have seen info on the net confirming
that NOD32 and Panda are both superior to Avast, so I will definitely
look into them.

Anyway...thanks so much to Panda Man and Malke (your webpage link on
malware is terrific!) for your help in fixing my system. I really do
appreciate it :)
 
UUtopia said:
I performed a Repair Install. It was almost finished when at the
"Windows will now help you set up your computer" screen, the mouse
cursor froze and a recently installed Kerio firewall came up asking for
permission to allow automatic Windows Updates. At this point everything
stopped and the Kerio dialogue box just kept flashing.

Remembering that sometimes a USB mouse driver goes brain-dead when
there is a system problem, I killed the power, switched to a serial
mouse and then rebooted. Everything came up OK this time and I had
mouse control again.
<snipped>
Click to expand...

Post Script ...

When I finally got around to using my Epson USB scanner (& Canon
Powershot camera), both no longer work on my system. I tried installing
new USB drivers for each one, but XP Home won't detect either device
and they don't show up in Device Manager. A USB Corsair Flash Drive IS
detected & works fine, however (I am not using a hub).

I ran TuneUp Utilities 2006 right after the virus cleanup. I'm
wondering if this or one of the cleanup programs / online scans messed
up my USB system permissions or something...

!
 
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