Can't Access Control Panel

[Ausimax]

Hi,
I had an urgent call by a friend late yesterday arvo who knows zip about computers - said his Nortons AV was reporting a virus -"W32.HLLW.Gaobot.gen" and he could not find how to deal with it. He could not access the internet to get help.
I downloaded the removal tool and as much info as I could from the Symantec site, mounted my charger and rode of into the sunset.
He is running Windows XP home that's about as much as I can tell you about his system - first time I've seen it! Tried to shut down System Restore - could not access it - only a message to the effect it could not find the link or you were not allowed to access.
The system isn't set up to require administration rights to access. That having failed - I ran the removal tool twice, both times it reported no traces of -"W32.HLLW.Gaobot.gen".
I then ran Norton AV again - it reported 7 infections - 6 it was able to repair and the seventh was - you guessed it -"W32.HLLW.Gaobot.gen" I quarantined it and all seemed well with access to the internet  restored.
However, access to functions in Control Panel were still unavailable as before, some functions worked but all the important ones like "System" don't - I can find no mention that this is a result of the virus nor can I find any fixes.
I am also doubtfull that the Virus/Trojan has been removed - if Norton AV is capable of dealing with it why the special removal tool?
Hoping someone out there in cyberspace can supply an answer.

Ausimax

[Raptor]

Scan in safemode.

Once you have removed all entries, boot using the Windows XP CD as a bootdisk and Repair the installation.

[Ausimax]

Thanks for the help, seem to have got rid of the Trojan it appears the Control Panel problem may derive from another program installation - wearing it down bit by bit. :-/

Ausimax

[Raptor]

What kind of error is shown when you attempt to access the Control Panel?

Are you refering to the videocard's drivers control panel?

[merlin_2]

make another users account...can you access the control panel...

[Ausimax]

 
Hi,
Thanks to all for their response.
The Control Panel that could not be accessed was the WinXP Control Panel.
Seem to have overcome the problems for the most part, friend says computer running best it has for months, to be on the safe side I downloaded a copy of Trojan Hunter and ran a scan with it, it found and removed seven trojans, nothing seems to be finding any traces of the original virus so hopefully the system is now clean. He must be dead unlucky - only been on the internet for a couple of months and he has caught more than I have in seven years.
Regarding the Control Panel problem I trace that to his firewall- he is running Kerio V 4.0.1.3 and it loads at Windows start, however when it is enabled it stops access to the Control Panel and this message is displayed "Windows cannot access the specified device, path or file. You may not have the appropriate permission to access the item."

All you have to do is disable the firewall at the taskbar and you can gain access and re-enable the firewall when finished, so it's no longer a critical problem - will have to do a bit more research and find a fix.

I would add that when I entered the exact above message into Google most of the fixes suggested a clean re-install to correct the problem, however I am lazy by nature and like to try the easy fixes first, it seems that this happens with other software also so I would suggest anyone striking this problem start by systematically disableing running applications, mainly newly installed software as the first step to take.

Ausimax  

[Raptor]

He must be dead unlucky - only been on the internet for a couple of months and he has caught more than I have in seven years.

Not unlucky. Naive.