Windows XP Problems

[HeyFellas]

Hello, me again, with yet more computer trouble.

My control panel seems messed up since I had a virus a while back, I can't change my desktop or screensaver.



^^^See where it says change theme, change resolution? It used to say change desktop / screensaver as well.

And in the display options.......



.......it only has three tabs, themes / appearance / settings, but it should have about six, to change the desktop, screensaver and something else I can't remember.

Any idea what could be wrong? I cleared out the virus with a couple of good programs, and I'm not even sure that was what caused the trouble, could it be a setup issue?

Also, I've just auto-downloaded Windows XP Service Pack Three, whatever that is. When I went to install it I was advised to back up my system, but I have no removable storage. Should I not bother with the update, or is there another way to backup?

Big thanks for any help guys and gals, I'm really not good with this techie stuff. :thumbsup: :wave2:

 

[foxycougar]

do you have more than one account on your computer. As in, do you select an account to sign in....say an administrator account and a different one?

You can use the system restore to "back up" your system. You won't actually be saving a copy of it but you can go back to the way your system was before you install the Service Pack if things go wonky. To do this go to Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore and follow the directions from there.

 

[tired1979]

You Might wanna check ''yahoo answers'' or go to google and type in problem usually someone always has the answers

 

[HeyFellas]

Foxy: Yes, I have three accounts to choose from, one for me with Admin priviledges, one just for Admin stuff, and one for other people (so they don't see my porn stash :1orglaugh).

I tried system restore when I first got the virus, but it didn't work, probably because the virus got so deep into the system, but I'm still reluctant to try that way just in case. Is this Service Pack thing worth the risk? :wave2:

Tired1979: I thought I'd try the guys here first, they've been very helpful in the past. :thumbsup:

 

[YMIHERE]

I think your video card driver may be corrupted. Reinstall or download the driver for your specific video card.

 

[ticketshtick]

I think your video card driver may be corrupted. Reinstall or download the driver for your specific video card.

I agree, video driver. Did you just reload or something?

 

[HeyFellas]

OK, don't know what a video driver is but I'll look around the files for it. I have VLC Player and Windows Media Player, if that helps?

This change occured at the time I contracted Antivirus XP 2008, which is what makes me think it caused the problem. As far as I remember, nothing else happened around that time, I certainly didn't change anything myself as I wouldn't know how. :dunno:

 

[HeyFellas]

Damn, after that last post you must think I'm really stupid. :bowdown:

Here's a pic of my driver list, if it helps:



Microsoft site says Video0 is the important one, but I may have misunderstood, like I said I'm not good with this stuff. How can I reload it or check it's working correctly? :wave2:

 

[foxycougar]

Eh, I don't know if he should go digging around in his registry if he doesn't really know what he's doing. That could end with some serious issues....

 

[HeyFellas]

You're damn right, I just read a whole page of Microsoft instructions, then found out they were for Windows 2000, not XP! But I'm a quick learner, as long as you keep the instructions simple. :thumbsup: :wave2:

 

[rockyroad]

best way to fix it...quit surfing cheap porn sites

 

[Torre82]

::groans in desperation::

I cant save them all! This one doesnt pass muster. NEXT!

 

[hedonis]

Problems with XP? Never had a one. This doesn't sound like a problem native to XP, it sounds like you need to start using spyware/adware/virus software.

And You Might want to just start over with a wipe and a re-install of XP. If you really want to clean up and start over, get some true hard drive wiping/cleaning software, and then re-install. Tinkering around in your directories... that way lies madness.

H

 

[rand21althor]

OK, don't know what a video driver is but I'll look around the files for it. I have VLC Player and Windows Media Player, if that helps?

This change occured at the time I contracted Antivirus XP 2008, which is what makes me think it caused the problem. As far as I remember, nothing else happened around that time, I certainly didn't change anything myself as I wouldn't know how. :dunno:

Wait, you installed Antivirus XP 2008? There's your problem. That's not an authentic program, it's just spyware. I've heard a lot of problems with this ersatz program in the past month. Uninstall that, for starters.

 

[Aces&Jacks]

Here is your problem in a nutshell. Your computer has been infected by a number of virus/trojan/malware. You need to completely remove them.

1 - Windows XP Antivirus 2008 - Download the free program "MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware". Install it and run it. Make sure you've got the latest version to remove all instances of the Windows XP Antivirus 2008 program.
http://www.malwarebytes.org/

2 - You also have a virus that has turned of active desktop and probably turned off your automatic update service and possibly your firewall. - I can't remember which program I used because I used both, but either Spybot or Ad-aware will inform you that you have a registry change to the desktop and will change it back to normal for you. Both programs are free so you should also download them, install and run.
http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html
http://lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

3 - I would then do a complete scan using whatever commercial virus scanner with updated signatures that you use.

 

[billyoatmeal]

I have that same damn problems with my other computer. now it's so damn slow i can't even get on it.

 

[foxycougar]

Format!!! lol

 

[HeyFellas]

Right, where to start.

1:I know AV XP 08 is a virus type thing, I didn't install it, it did that by itself.

2:I do use anti-virus stuff, AVG, Spybot, and Stinger. I also had Windows Defender, but it never found anything or blocked bad files so I removed it. I also had Ad-Aware but it kept crashing two minutes into a scan so I got rid of that too.

3:I know the problem is not XP, it was just a way to say which OS I have so people could give me the relevant advice.

Since Stinger everything else seems fine, it's just this one problem with the control panel display which I would like to fix, I assumed it was a setup issue that I could change back to normal. I should add it is working fine in the other accounts, only my main private account seems affected.

Does that clear it up? :crash:

 

[Ceska]

Right, where to start.

1:I know AV XP 08 is a virus type thing, I didn't install it, it did that by itself.

2:I do use anti-virus stuff, AVG, Spybot, and Stinger. I also had Windows Defender, but it never found anything or blocked bad files so I removed it. I also had Ad-Aware but it kept crashing two minutes into a scan so I got rid of that too.

3:I know the problem is not XP, it was just a way to say which OS I have so people could give me the relevant advice.

Since Stinger everything else seems fine, it's just this one problem with the control panel display which I would like to fix, I assumed it was a setup issue that I could change back to normal. I should add it is working fine in the other accounts, only my main private account seems affected.

Does that clear it up? :crash:

Hi HeyFellas,
Just using any "Antivirus stuff' isn't enuf my friend. You need to use the right ones. You should follow Aces&Jacks instructions. MalwareBytes is your best bet in this case. The reason why your settings have changed (such as those related to your screen saver) is because the corresponding registry settings have changed. Even if you think all visible "problems" are gone others may still exist of which you are unaware.

Although I am not positive I believe a trojan associated with this malware is Trojan.Blusod.
So it will impact your registry values associated with system restore:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore\"DisableSR"

and ScreenSaver:
1) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\"ScreenSaveActive"
2) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Sysinternals\Bluescreen Screen Saver\"EULAAccepted"

and others

You can check your registry values to see if they have been altered if you want and even update them manually if you feel comfortable with that. I would recommend that you run Malwarebytes in any case.

cheers

 

[georges]

I updated to service pack 3 with out any probs. I always made sure my motherboard and graphic card drivers were always updated before running another windows upgrade.