Firewall and AV won't start

G'day all;

I'm running XP Media Center version 2002, w/SP3 v.3311. Up until the last
few days, it was on auto-update, running along smoothly on my HP Pavilion,
M7680N, as it has for years...

The problem I'm having started a few weeks ago with Outlook; in that every
time I fired it up, it would come up in that stupid 'non-"Show Full Menus"
mode'. I always have full-menus set, and didn't change from that in any way
that I can think of.

During some back-&-forth with MVP's in the Outlook forum, it was finally
suggested that my registry hive must have become corrupted, and it was
suggested that I run: UPHClean. Did that. Didn't help any more than any of
the dozen or so other things that had been suggested to me...

In any event, the next morning I come in and find the 'Security Center'
telling me that the 'Firewall' is off as well as the 'Virus Protection'.
None of the instructions on how to turn on the FW do anything, as all option
boxes are grayed out. I've run HiJackThis!, and can see what's running, and
all seems to be okay. I've also run both the local and remote versions of
LOC as well. My usual ace-in-the-hole, CounterSpy, won't install and/or run
citing, "The system administrator has set policies to prevent this
installation". I am the system admin! I (overtly) set no such thing! I
take all the defaults and never fool around in the "policy editor", as I
don't even really know what it is (nor do I want to...).

Finally, having had enough of this, I thought I'd revert back to a restore
point a few days past. No such luck. The restore function WILL NOT allow
me to restore to an earlier point. I get, "Restoration Incomplete. Your
computer cannot be restored to: <date>..." I tried a number of other
restore points. All get the same reply.

I'm fresh outta ideas....any suggestions?


TIA,
Dusty - Everett, Wa.

On Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:52:56 -0700, DustyB wrote:

> G'day all;
>
> I'm running XP Media Center version 2002, w/SP3 v.3311. Up until the last
> few days, it was on auto-update, running along smoothly on my HP Pavilion,
> M7680N, as it has for years...
>
> The problem I'm having started a few weeks ago with Outlook; in that every
> time I fired it up, it would come up in that stupid 'non-"Show Full Menus"
> mode'. I always have full-menus set, and didn't change from that in any way
> that I can think of.
>
> During some back-&-forth with MVP's in the Outlook forum, it was finally
> suggested that my registry hive must have become corrupted, and it was
> suggested that I run: UPHClean. Did that. Didn't help any more than any of
> the dozen or so other things that had been suggested to me...
>
> In any event, the next morning I come in and find the 'Security Center'
> telling me that the 'Firewall' is off as well as the 'Virus Protection'.
> None of the instructions on how to turn on the FW do anything, as all option
> boxes are grayed out. I've run HiJackThis!, and can see what's running, and
> all seems to be okay. I've also run both the local and remote versions of
> LOC as well. My usual ace-in-the-hole, CounterSpy, won't install and/or run
> citing, "The system administrator has set policies to prevent this
> installation". I am the system admin! I (overtly) set no such thing! I
> take all the defaults and never fool around in the "policy editor", as I
> don't even really know what it is (nor do I want to...).
>
> Finally, having had enough of this, I thought I'd revert back to a restore
> point a few days past. No such luck. The restore function WILL NOT allow
> me to restore to an earlier point. I get, "Restoration Incomplete. Your
> computer cannot be restored to: <date>..." I tried a number of other
> restore points. All get the same reply.
>
> I'm fresh outta ideas....any suggestions?
>

Did you get the HJT log analysed? If not:
Download and execute HiJack This! (HJT)
http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en...HJTInstall.exe

Please, do not post HJT logs to this newsgroup.
Fora where you can get expert advice for HiJack This! (HJT) logs.

NOTE: Registration is required in any of the below before posting a log

http://www.theeldergeek.com/forum/in...showf orum=29
http://www.thespykiller.co.uk/index.php?board=3.0
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/index.php?showforum=27
http://www.5starsupport.com/ipboard/...p?showforum=18
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/viewforum.php?f=5

Other suggestions:

1.CCleaner - Free
Cleans temporary internet files, cookies, history, recent urls, application
MRUs, etc. ...
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/
If Windows Defender is utilized go to Applications, under Utilities
uncheck "Windows Defender".

2.Download David H. Lipman's MULTI_AV.EXE from the URL:
http://www.pctipp.ch/ds/28400/28470/Multi_AV.exe
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp
English:
http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/...irus-for-free/

and/or

Kaspersky® AVPTool
http://downloads5.kaspersky-labs.com/devbuilds/AVPTool/
There's no updating involved since the scanning engine is updated
several times a day and you simply download the updated scanner whenever
you want to do a scan.

Dr.Web CureIt!® Utility - FREE
http://www.freedrweb.com/cureit/

Malwarebytes© Corporation - Anti-Malware
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam/program/mbam-setup.exe
Note:
It is Free for private use.
Just download (do NOT buy) and install.

SuperAntispyware - Free
http://www.superantispyware.com/supe...freevspro.html

After the software is updated, it is suggested scanning the system in Safe
Mode.
How do you boot to Safe Mode?
By pressing/tabbing F8 (or F5 on some keyboards) during re-boot.
Alternatively:
click onto Start==>Run, type "msconfig" (without quotation marks), click
OK. Then click onto BOOT.INI tab and 'check' /SAFEBOOT then OK and click
Restart. To go back to Normal Mode, you must access the System
Configuration utility again and click the General tab then click/check the
radio button 'Normal Startup'- load all device drivers and services'.
A description of the Safe Mode Boot options in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=315222

Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by deceptive software
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827315

Run a /thorough/ check for hijackware, including posting your hijackthis log
to an appropriate forum.

Checking for/Help with Hijackware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878
http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_R...:_Introduction
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...moving_Malware

When all else fails, HijackThis v2.0.2
(http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.exe) is the preferred tool to use.
It will help you to both identify and remove any hijackware/spyware with
assistance from an expert. **Post your log to
http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30,
http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22,
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html, or other appropriate forums for review
by an expert in such matters, not here.**

If the procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting this
isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and
independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA) computer repair shop.

--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002
AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
DTS-L http://dts-l.net/

DustyB wrote:
> G'day all;
>
> I'm running XP Media Center version 2002, w/SP3 v.3311. Up until the last
> few days, it was on auto-update, running along smoothly on my HP Pavilion,
> M7680N, as it has for years...
>
> The problem I'm having started a few weeks ago with Outlook; in that every
> time I fired it up, it would come up in that stupid 'non-"Show Full Menus"
> mode'. I always have full-menus set, and didn't change from that in any
> way
> that I can think of.
>
> During some back-&-forth with MVP's in the Outlook forum, it was finally
> suggested that my registry hive must have become corrupted, and it was
> suggested that I run: UPHClean. Did that. Didn't help any more than any
> of
> the dozen or so other things that had been suggested to me...
>
> In any event, the next morning I come in and find the 'Security Center'
> telling me that the 'Firewall' is off as well as the 'Virus Protection'.
> None of the instructions on how to turn on the FW do anything, as all
> option
> boxes are grayed out. I've run HiJackThis!, and can see what's running,
> and
> all seems to be okay. I've also run both the local and remote versions of
> LOC as well. My usual ace-in-the-hole, CounterSpy, won't install and/or
> run
> citing, "The system administrator has set policies to prevent this
> installation". I am the system admin! I (overtly) set no such thing! I
> take all the defaults and never fool around in the "policy editor", as I
> don't even really know what it is (nor do I want to...).
>
> Finally, having had enough of this, I thought I'd revert back to a restore
> point a few days past. No such luck. The restore function WILL NOT allow
> me to restore to an earlier point. I get, "Restoration Incomplete. Your
> computer cannot be restored to: <date>..." I tried a number of other
> restore points. All get the same reply.
>
> I'm fresh outta ideas....any suggestions?
>
>
> TIA,
> Dusty - Everett, Wa.

G'day "Kayman" & all;

"Kayman" <kaymanDeleteThis@operamail.com> wrote in message
news:O354yDq4IHA.2348@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
....
>> I'm running XP Media Center version 2002, w/SP3 v.3311. Up until the
>> last
>> few days, it was on auto-update, running along smoothly on my HP
>> Pavilion,
>> M7680N, as it has for years...
....
> Did you get the HJT log analysed? If not:
> Download and execute HiJack This! (HJT)
> http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en...HJTInstall.exe
Yes. I've analyzed and reanalyzed it. All looks well.

....
> Other suggestions:
>
> 1.CCleaner - Free
Thanks. But that did nothing.

....
> 2.Download David H. Lipman's MULTI_AV.EXE from the URL:
> http://www.pctipp.ch/ds/28400/28470/Multi_AV.exe
> http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp
> English:
> http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/...irus-for-free/
Thanks. While I'm sure that it's a great tool, I prefer to stick with my MS
Live OneCare solution. It used to work just find. Now it won't. Changing
to another horse is an option, but I'd rather fix and understand this one
instead.

....
> Kaspersky® AVPTool
> http://downloads5.kaspersky-labs.com/devbuilds/AVPTool/
> There's no updating involved since the scanning engine is updated
> several times a day and you simply download the updated scanner whenever
> you want to do a scan.
Thanks. Another interesting proggy for my tool kit. But it gets the same
answer as the reply for the previous suggestion.

> Dr.Web CureIt!® Utility - FREE
> http://www.freedrweb.com/cureit/
Ran it. Interesting proggy, that. It found lots of stuff already snagged or
quarantined by other tools. But nothing new...yet...

> Malwarebytes© Corporation - Anti-Malware
> http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam/program/mbam-setup.exe
Already have it. Used it again just to be sure... Nada!

....
> SuperAntispyware - Free
> http://www.superantispyware.com/supe...freevspro.html
Another new item. Thanks for the tip. But it got nada!

> After the software is updated, it is suggested scanning the system in Safe
> Mode.
Good point. Did that--hadn't done that before. Still no joy.

I think that what I've done is conflate several issues into a single post.
My bad! So, to get back to the subject of this post, the original problem
was that the Security Center reported that neither the firewall nor the AV
was working. LOC's been taking care of that task for some years now.
That's what I want to recover.

I've taken a heap of advice over the last few days, all I'm certain well
intentioned, but not all "safe". In the course of taking some of it, I've
managed to screw-up the registry, lock myself out from recovering previous
restore points, and I still can't fire up LOC!

All of these results were from my original query about how to permanently
set that *&^%$#X@!~ 'ALWAYS SHOW FULL MENUS' option in Outlook. Damn it!
My guess is that there's some mysterious setting in Office somewhere that
controls all of that. But now every time I fire up Outlook, or Word, or
whatever, those damned short menus show up. And as if that weren't enough,
now even NOTEPAD.exe has gotten into that act. When I try to save a simple
text file, it asks me about Unicode characters. Unicode? I don't care
about Unicode! Just save the damned text like it's been doing for the last
couple of decades w/o asking me more silly questions... Darn it all!
Updates! Phbbbbbbt!

I've managed to get the firewall working, by uninstalling LOC. Of course, I
can't get LOC working, as the installer file blinks at me briefly when I
click it, and then shows only a stony face of silence...<big sigh!>

After years of good service, this sure has become a lot of trouble...which
started right after I ran "UPHClean"....<very big sigh!>


L8r all as I continue to scratch my butt looking for solutions...
Dusty -- Everett, Wa.