4 replies to this topic

[Lottie]

Hello,

I have a problem with my computer and would be grateful for some help. Here is an account of what I changed on my system before the problem arose:

• Yesterday I installed and ran CCleaner.
  
• I did *not* take a backup of the registry - I saw the error in this today when I came looking for a solution to my current problem.
  
• After running CCleaner I also installed Sophos antivirus software.
  
• Following these actions everything seemed to be running fine.

Today I turned on my computer and have the following situation:

• Windows loads up to the point of showing the desktop background, but does not show the bar along the bottom with the start menu on, or any desktop items.
  
• If I ctrl+alt+del I get the task manager up. This shows explorer.exe to be running. I tried to open it via the file->run option but did not get a window to navigate in.
  
• I can start windows in safe mode. Don't get the impression that I'm competent with computers though - I did this for the first time only a week ago!

I'm not sure what other details are relevant. My OS is Windows XP pro SP3. The upgrade from SP2 to SP3 was done over the last few days, and rebooted fine following that. I would be very grateful for help. Thanks in advance.

[Andavari]

I'd recommend uninstalling anything you put on your computer just before this happened, first start with the antivirus product then reboot and see if that remedies the issue. If it was the cause use a recent Restore Point to make sure it's completely off your system.

[Lottie]

Thanks for posting :) I will try this and get back to the board with the result. ... I'm sure everyone's waiting with anticipation ;)

[Lottie]

Hello again,

I am delighted to say that my computer is now back up and running again!

When I read the recommended advice to uninstall anything I'd put on my computer just before this happened, I remembered that along with CCleaner and Sophos, I also recently installed a program called 'TeamViewer'. This allowed a friend to see my desktop from their computer halfway around the world, and to have control of the mouse, ability to type... full functionality as if they sat in front of my computer I think. This was to help me run CCleaner and also to have a look round at my settings and programs, as I had been having trouble with my computer previously.

So, out of the new programs - CCleaner, Sophos and TeamViewer - I thought that TeamViewer was probably the least robust, so decided to tackle this as my first step. In safe mode, I opened TeamViewer and unchecked the box to load the program at startup. I then shutdown and started up again, and everything loaded as normal

To check that this wasn't a random occurance, I decided to check the box again to load TeamViewer at startup, and see if it went back to the old problem. When I did this in the TeamViewer options and clicked 'ok', a window came up saying that 'Windows cannot access the specified device, path or file. You may not have appropriate permissions to access the item'. This was accompanied with a pop-up message from Sophos saying 'File "C:\Program Files\TeamViewer\Version4'TeamViewer_Service.exe" belongs to adware/PUA TeamViewer (of type Remote administration tool).'

From this I gathered that Sophos had a problem with TeamViewer, as I guess that sometimes it can be used maliciously. So I didn't get to finish my test of whether it was a random occurance, but I did learn that perhaps there is a conflict between TeamViewer and Sophos. I am happy to leave this as a mystery because I am happy to leave TeamViewer set NOT to start at startup, or perhaps to uninstall it altogether, I haven't decided yet.

Thanks again for your help, Andavari. Do let me know if you think it's important that I get rid of the TeamViewer program altogether, and/or if I should still use a recent Restore Point (I assume this is the same as doing a System Restore?).

[Andavari]

It's probably not necessary at this time to restore your system with System Restore since you found the conflict, and it may create more headaches than it solves if you're not having any other issues.

From what I can tell TeamViewer looks like a legit application since it's listed on Softpedia.com, and McAfee SiteAdvisor lists their site as safe. Maybe submit the file to Sophos that their antivirus product is detecting so they can update their virus detection database if it's a false positive. It wouldn't hurt to contact the TeamViewer developers so they know on their end, and can resolve the issue, as in them contacting Sophos.

In the meantime I'd recommend following this post to make sure your system is clean, and without any malware just to be sure.