Registry and task manager locked, help!

LarcSakurai · July 2009

I've been having this problem on and off for some time now but I'm absolutely sick of having to wipe out my machine and start over because of this. I was in Maine for three weeks, which the system was running fine, and came home to the ever dreaded "task manager/registry editing disabled by system administrator" when I AM the system admin.

I found a command line online to fix the task manager problem but if I restart my computer then it's locked all over again.

I found a way to hack into my system registry but... lo and behold.. the path is MISSING a step!

This is the path everyone says to follow online for XP pro:: HKEY_CURRENT_USER/software/microsoft/windows/currentversion/policies/system.

However.. I don't have the "system" part of that thread. When I open up Policies, all I have there is Explorer. MBAM and Avira don't find anything no matter how many times I scan.. HELP!

Katana · July 2009

Please note that all instructions given are customised for this computer only,
the tools used may cause damage if used on a computer with different infections.

If you think you have similar problems, please post a log in the HJT forum and wait for help.

Hello and welcome to the forums

My name is Katana and I will be helping you to remove any infection(s) that you may have.

Please observe these rules while we work:

Please Read All Instructions Carefully
If you don't understand something, stop and ask! Don't keep going on.
Please do not run any other tools or scans whilst I am helping you
Failure to reply within 5 days will result in the topic being closed.
Please continue to respond until I give you the "All Clear"
(Just because you can't see a problem doesn't mean it isn't there)

If you can do those few things, everything should go smoothly

Some of the logs I request will be quite large, You may need to split them over a couple of replies.

Please Note, your security programs may give warnings for some of the tools I will ask you to use.
Be assured, any links I give are safe

but I'm absolutely sick of having to wipe out my machine and start over because of this.

Do you mean that you have reformatted your machine and the problem still exists ?

Download and Run RSIT

Please download Random's System Information Tool by random/random from here and save it to your desktop.
Double click on RSIT.exe to run RSIT.
Click Continue at the disclaimer screen.
Once it has finished, two logs will open:
- log.txt will be opened maximized.
- info.txt will be opened minimized.
Please post the contents of both log.txt and info.txt.

Please Download GMER to your desktop

Download GMER and extract it to your desktop.

***Please close any open programs ***

Double-click gmer.exe. The program will begin to run.

**Caution**
These types of scans can produce false positives. Do NOT take any action on any "<--- ROOKIT" entries unless advised by a trained Security Analyst

If possible rootkit activity is found, you will be asked if you would like to perform a full scan.

Click Yes.
Once the scan is complete, you may receive another notice about rootkit activity.
Click OK.
GMER will produce a log. Click on the Save button, and save the log as gmer.txt somewhere you can easily find it, such as your desktop.

If you do not receive notice about possible rootkit activity remain on the Rootkit/Malware tab & make sure the 'Show All' button is unticked.

Click the Scan button and let the program do its work. GMER will produce a log.
Click on the Save button, and save the log as gmer.txt somewhere you can easily find it, such as your desktop.

DO NOT touch the PC at ALL for Whatever reason/s until it has 100% completed its scan, or attempted scan in case of some error etc !

Please post the results from the GMER scan in your reply.

Registry and task manager locked, help!

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