Cannot open control panel

[Gene]

I click on Control Pamel and get the hour glass and then the hour glass
disappears and then my cursur will no longer work when I click on any thing.
I think some kinda of virus has taken over my computer. I H ave run Pest
Control, Adaware amd McAfee virus scan to no avail. I keep getting the
following message on startup: Error has occurred with the "Dr Watson
Postmortum Debuuger" I am not sure but I think that is the culprit. Can
anyone help?

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Visit http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm and scroll down to
Item #256 (Restore the Control Panel).

[Courtesy of MS-MVP Kelly Theriot]

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

Be Smart! Protect Your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.mspx

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Gene" wrote:

| I click on Control Pamel and get the hour glass and then the hour glass
| disappears and then my cursur will no longer work when I click on any thing.
| I think some kinda of virus has taken over my computer. I H ave run Pest
| Control, Adaware amd McAfee virus scan to no avail. I keep getting the
| following message on startup: Error has occurred with the "Dr Watson
| Postmortum Debuuger" I am not sure but I think that is the culprit. Can
| anyone help?

[Gene]

entered the address in various search engines, plus clicking on address in
your response to me and keep getting the message page not availaqble, etc.

"Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote:

> Visit http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm and scroll down to
> Item #256 (Restore the Control Panel).
>
> [Courtesy of MS-MVP Kelly Theriot]
>
> --
> Carey Frisch
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows XP - Shell/User
> Microsoft Newsgroups
>
> Be Smart! Protect Your PC!
> http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.mspx
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Gene" wrote:
>
> | I click on Control Pamel and get the hour glass and then the hour glass
> | disappears and then my cursur will no longer work when I click on any thing.
> | I think some kinda of virus has taken over my computer. I H ave run Pest
> | Control, Adaware amd McAfee virus scan to no avail. I keep getting the
> | following message on startup: Error has occurred with the "Dr Watson
> | Postmortum Debuuger" I am not sure but I think that is the culprit. Can
> | anyone help?
>

[Malke]

Gene wrote:

> entered the address in various search engines, plus clicking on
> address in your response to me and keep getting the message page not
> availaqble, etc.
>
> "Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote:
>
>> Visit http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm and scroll down
>> to Item #256 (Restore the Control Panel).
>>
The link works fine from here, so I must conclude that there is
something amiss with your computer. Even though you've already done
some scanning, I would run through the following malware removal steps
again. It is crucial that you do all work with updated tools in Safe
Mode:

1) Scan in Safe Mode with current version (not earlier than 2004)
antivirus using updated definitions.

Before you remove malware, get LSPFix (or WinSockFix for XP which you
can get from MajorGeeks) - see links below.

2) Remove spyware with Spybot Search & Destroy and Ad-aware. These
programs are free, so use them both since they complement each other.
There is a new version of CWShredder from Intermute. I would not
install the other Intermute programs, however. Alternately, there are
CoolWebSearch malware removal steps at SilentRunners.

Be sure to update these programs before running, and it is a good idea
to do virus/spyware scans in Safe Mode. Make sure you are able to see
all hidden files and extensions (View tab in Folder Options).

If the malware remains even after you used Ad-aware and Spybot, you can
scan with HijackThis. HijackThis is an excellent tool to discover and
disable hijackers, but it requires expert skill. See below for
HijackThis links, including sites where you can post your HJT logs. A
combination of HijackThis and About:Buster works well in removing the
About:Blank homepage hijacker. Again, this is an expert tool and
novices should get help with it.

3) If you are running Windows ME or XP, you should disable/enable System
Restore after the system is clean because malware will be in the
Restore Points. With ME, you must disable System Restore completely.
With XP, you can delete all but the most recent (presumably clean)
System Restore point from the More Options section of Disk Cleanup
(Run>cleanmgr).

4) Make sure you've visited Windows Update and applied all security
patches. Do not install driver updates from Windows Update.

5) Run a firewall.

Links to help with malware:

Software/Methods:
http://www.safer-networking.org - Spybot Search & Destroy
http://www.lavasoftusa.com - Ad-aware
http://www.majorgeeks.com - good download site
http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshredder_download.html
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_cwsremoval.html. - SilentRunners
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm - Repair Winsock 2 settings after
removing spyware
http://www.spychecker.com/program/winsockxpfix.html - WinsockXPFix.exe

HijackThis:
http://www.aumha.org/a/hjttutor.htm - HijackThis tutorial by Jim
Eshelman
http://aumha.net - forums
http://spywarewarrior.com/viewforum.php?f=5 - Spyware Warrior HijackThis
forum
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/

General:
http://aumha.net - look under "Security" for various forums
http://rgharper.mvps.org/cleanit.htm
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://www.aumha.org/a/parasite.htm - The Parasite Fight
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

Malke
--
MS MVP - Windows Shell/User
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"