access disabled by administrator

[Bigdawg25404]

I have recently found a trojan on my computer and used avast to delete it.  I now have a clean computer as far as the avast scan goes, however, now when i try to run my command prompt or task manager I get a message that says they have been disabled by the administrator.  There is only one account in windows and it is the administrator account.  I am running windows xp.  If someone could help me out here i would appreciate it.  Thanks

[1101doc]

I'm glad that avast found and removed it.  Often these baddies are like snakes, they travel in groups.  Not all scanners find everything.  Sometimes a hidden file can cause the malware to return.  Before you get too far into working changes into your Windows, I suggest that you make sure that you are completely free from malware.  This site offers a good guide to self help: http://forums.tomcoyote.org/index.php?showtopic=57813  and here is a page of online scanners: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=online+malware+scanners&btnG=Google+Search  I suggest using several.  You may find that after completely cleaning your system that the above described issues are corrected.  In addition to the fine tools offered in the first site, I find A-Squared to be an excellent anti-trojan/spyware tool:http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/download/  The free version is on demand scan/remove.  The paid version is a real-time client.

Good Luck and post back with your progress

[Bigdawg25404]

Well, I have so far used Spybot S&D, Ad-Aware, and A-Squared free.  The three programs found a total of about 1000 corrupt or suspicious files.  After quarantine I now have access to my task manager once again, but I am still getting a message that access has been disabled by administrator when I attempt to use the command prompt.  Could there possibly be something wrong in my registry?  I have very little knowledge in that area, as the last time I had a major problem was back when I had a 33mhz 386 processor and windows 3.1 was the most state of the art system on the market.  I do thank you for your help thus far and look forward to any other help you or anyone else could offer.

[dl65]

 Bigdawg25404...... You might wish to download and install ..... ccleaner .
Get it at .....  http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/  .......  
When doing the install ...don't install the Yahoo toolber ........ set it up as directed in this post .....  http://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1149558249  

Once you have it installed and configured ...... run the [highlight]cleaner[/highlight] part ..... ( it's safe to remove anything that is found)
Then run the [highlight]issues[/highlight] function ....... ( do the backup when prompted to do so ) . The cleaner will ( issues part ) will fix up a number of registry issues and will not remove anything that shouldn't be removed ....... We recommend it to our members .

dl65    

[Bigdawg25404]

I ran the CCleaner.  Wow i didnt realize i had this much crap on my computer.  It runs much more efficient all around which is very nice however i still have no access to my command prompt.  Is there anywhere within windows that i can change access to individual programs?  All i can find is how to change the default programs for various file types, and set user accounts to have admin priveledges.  Again, I want to thank you all for your support and suggestions.

[fffreak]

I ran the CCleaner.  Wow i didnt realize i had this much crap on my computer.  It runs much more efficient all around which is very nice however i still have no access to my command prompt.  Is there anywhere within windows that i can change access to individual programs?  All i can find is how to change the default programs for various file types, and set user accounts to have admin priveledges.  Again, I want to thank you all for your support and suggestions.

Doing as you said you could just navigate to C:\WINDOWS\System32\ and find cmd.exe and command.exe and see if you can set them to administrative rights. Then try to run both to see if it works. Hope that helps .

[edit]Or perhaps this may help.[/edit]

[Bigdawg25404]

dude thats awesome!  I now have access to my command prompt again.  Thanks everybody for helping such a newb.

[1101doc]

Super happy to hear about your progress.  Now a wet blanket.
The way in which you were using your computer was the real problem to begin with.
Strong firewall, antivirus, and antispyware are very important, but so are cautious browsing, download, and email habits.  All the protection in the world can't help me if I bring the bad stuff home on purpose.  Please take a little more time to learn about the most common dangers and how to avoid them.  Tom Coyote is a good place to start, but there are lots of great links at ASAP :http://asap.maddoktor2.com/  IMHO peer to peer of any kind is not safe.  (I know I'll get an argument here)  It just opens your system to potential problems.  If you are not behind a router, that is an excellent piece of hardware to buy.  I got a Linksys WRT54G Wireless/wired combo unit at Wal-Mart for $50. and with the included set-up CD had everything automatically connected and configured in about 15minutes.  Painless.  Using the tools and knowledge you have learned during this process I hope that you will keep your computer protected, clean, and quick so that you can continue to use it effectively to learn and grow in all your areas of interest.
Good luck and keep visiting the forum.

[fffreak]

Routers will not always save you, anybodies computers can be breached, it's just a matter of exploiting the faults. Yes routers can help out alot though. So I would also recommend you get one. A router I use is from SAM's it is a Linksys WRT54GC and I only paid $25 while at walmart the same router is priced at $50.

[Bigdawg25404]

i do have a wireless netgear router...but i mainly use my laptop and psp to browse the net, my wife and son use the desktop most often.  But again i want to thank everyone for their help and advice