desktop trouble...help!!

cutiepie17881 · Apr 24, 2008, 07:50 PM

my computer has been moving slow so we had a friend of ours come up and fix it. well ever since then it wont let me choose a background or even a color. when he fixed it, it had a webpage up that was a joke site and now thats on my desktop.

the area is all grey...

heres what the customized desktop looks like...can anyone help??

IEMC · Apr 24, 2008, 08:35 PM

In that window shown in the second picture, click on the 'Web' tab, then see if there's any web pages selected.

If there is, deselect it.

**ChaosMinionX** · Apr 24, 2008, 11:59 PM

Something tells me your "friend" used a tweaking program that auto-tweaks Windows for performance... and somehow had customization options that disabled the ability to user change things, like your background, screensaver, etc etc.

You might wanna ask him about that.

Tipstaff · Apr 25, 2008, 05:51 AM

Sounds like you got hit by the Smitfraud or SpySheriff crap. What you need to do is take a look for these 2 sections in your registry (to access this click Start, Run, type in Regedit, and then OK).

First, backup the registry by going up to File, Export, and save it somewhere handy.

Next, go to this section: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Policies\

You should only see one listing in here called "Explorer". If you see more than that, delete those listings. Most likely you will see 1 or 2, probably the following:

ActiveDesktop
System

Again, if you see either of those 2 listings inside the Policies section, delete them. Then reboot your machine, and let us know if that corrects it for you.

On a side note, you may want to do some more cleaning of your system by running a couple other spyware removal programs. The first is SUPERAntiSpyware, and the other is Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.11. Both are free to use for scanning and cleaning.

BlueMak · Apr 25, 2008, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tipstaff

Sounds like you got hit by the Smitfraud or SpySheriff crap. What you need to do is take a look for these 2 sections in your registry (to access this click Start, Run, type in Regedit, and then OK).

First, backup the registry by going up to File, Export, and save it somewhere handy.

Next, go to this section: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Policies\

You should only see one listing in here called "Explorer". If you see more than that, delete those listings. Most likely you will see 1 or 2, probably the following:

ActiveDesktop
System

Again, if you see either of those 2 listings inside the Policies section, delete them. Then reboot your machine, and let us know if that corrects it for you.

Are you sure about the System? I have it too, though I don't know why.

Tipstaff · Apr 25, 2008, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueMak

Are you sure about the System? I have it too, though I don't know why.

Depends on what's in there, however that exact section is where SpySheriff, and other desktop hijackers plop the policy that doesn't allow you to change the desktop.

The ActiveDesktop one may or may not be there. It gets added depending on the settings you've created (if you use a program that randomizes your desktop it might be added in that section for instance), however deleting it insures that any other type of malware isn't hiding in there either, and once you reboot Windows it will use the default settings. If any setting in either section is a necessary policy required by a piece of software you have then it will be regenerated when you reboot. If it doesn't, and you get errors, that's where the backup of the registry comes in.

Now, this is all based on XP settings, so I'll have to confirm this on Vista before I say it'll work there too.

Oh, and deleting these listings still depend on you doing a regular scan for malware. If you just delete these sections, but don't remove the other listings that launch the apps, then once you reboot it'll come right back. SpySheriff, in particular, has a few other sections it buries itself into, so those need to be cleaned up too.

**ChaosMinionX** · Apr 25, 2008, 11:44 PM

As far as Spyware goes, I cant recommend anything but Spybot S&D.... I have used it for years and have never had a problem.

EDIT: BTW do I wanna know what your desktop image is? I see "cream | Sexy Beach Bunnies | How I F" and then in another image I see farm animals

**kris23** · Apr 26, 2008, 12:08 AM

this may be related to your Administrative privileges, viruses and such that cause REAL havoc tend to cripple these privileges so you cant do anything. you can return these to normal usually but i dont remember where to go in XP to do this off the top of my head.

PangingJr · Apr 28, 2008, 04:47 PM

how's it going, cutiepie17881?

**kris23** · Apr 28, 2008, 05:27 PM

she probably found what she needed or gave up and aint coming back.... 4 days and i think most people would want to be rid of such an annoying problem

PangingJr · Apr 28, 2008, 05:32 PM

she? how do you know?

**kris23** · Apr 28, 2008, 05:38 PM

who goes around with a name like that, thats a guy?

of course if the guys gay then he may prefer to be called she...... all those gay guys around here seem to like being called she apparently..

lol its pretty much an assumption..... but i could be wrong.....

though i thought mousey was a girl once...

PangingJr · Apr 28, 2008, 05:51 PM

kris23, guess what is panging?

**kris23** · Apr 28, 2008, 06:02 PM

female?

PangingJr · Apr 28, 2008, 06:05 PM

lol no it's a male dog, it's my dog name, but it pass away for sometime now.

**kris23** · Apr 28, 2008, 06:06 PM

aww that sucks...