Can't Browse to Add Networked Printer after Virus/Malware ..

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Neighbor's Dell 8250 PC. XP Home. Comcast. Linksys WRT54GS. Cleaned the
PC a month ago, installed Norton 2005, WiFi setup on her new Dell
laptop (also running XP Home), shared the printer, everything worked
GREAT until she got hit with a NASTY piece of malware. Popups like mad
.... she soon discovered she could no longer print from the laptop. I
Installed Microsoft Antispyware, found and cleaned some stuff. Then
rand Trend Micro's online spyware scan, found even more. Popups gone,
system is stable, but we still cannot print via the laptop. Printer is
shared properly and operating normally via the desktop.

Checked USENET and Microsoft.com - began suspecting Windows Firewall
was compromised. It was OFF (and I know it had been ON before), all
settings were dimmed out, message @ top: "For your security, some
settings are controlled by Group Policy." User is a local
administrator. Can't run Policy Editor in XP Home, but I found
reference to PolicySettings.xls, which has registry keys for every OS.
Saw reference to this key:

HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network
Connections!NC_PersonalFirewallConfig

And found something similar, in the same area, enabled it, and was told
the Firewall service was not started, was asked to start it, did so,
and the firewall came on. Settings on the firewall config page are
still dimmed, but the firewall is ON, and "Don't allow exceptions" is
available (but unchecked). Exceptions are properly in place for File &
Printer Sharing.

When attempting to add the printer, she sees the workgroup fine, and
the host PC, but no printers appear under it.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

-kj-

kj99gt printer

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

I would try repairing the system files, since this is definitely not normal behavior. After that you can try some repair of the
registry, but its not that easy to spot some hack in there.

Some things like the ICPM settings may give you back control.
Manually Configuring Windows Firewall in Windows XP Service Pack 2:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/cableguy/cg0204.mspx

It may be true that just uninstalling SP2, and then reinstalling it would reconfigure the firewall.

875350 - How to remove Windows XP Service Pack 2 from your computer: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=875350 How to
Perform a Windows XP Repair Install: http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

--
Mark L. Ferguson
FAQ for Windows Antispy http://www.geocities.com/marfer_mvp/FAQ_MSantispy.htm
"email-address-is-invalid" <kevin_jarrett@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1122827908.464647.322050@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Neighbor's Dell 8250 PC. XP Home. Comcast. Linksys WRT54GS. Cleaned the
> PC a month ago, installed Norton 2005, WiFi setup on her new Dell
> laptop (also running XP Home), shared the printer, everything worked
> GREAT until she got hit with a NASTY piece of malware. Popups like mad
> ... she soon discovered she could no longer print from the laptop. I
> Installed Microsoft Antispyware, found and cleaned some stuff. Then
> rand Trend Micro's online spyware scan, found even more. Popups gone,
> system is stable, but we still cannot print via the laptop. Printer is
> shared properly and operating normally via the desktop.
>
> Checked USENET and Microsoft.com - began suspecting Windows Firewall
> was compromised. It was OFF (and I know it had been ON before), all
> settings were dimmed out, message @ top: "For your security, some
> settings are controlled by Group Policy." User is a local
> administrator. Can't run Policy Editor in XP Home, but I found
> reference to PolicySettings.xls, which has registry keys for every OS.
> Saw reference to this key:
>
> HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network
> Connections!NC_PersonalFirewallConfig
>
> And found something similar, in the same area, enabled it, and was told
> the Firewall service was not started, was asked to start it, did so,
> and the firewall came on. Settings on the firewall config page are
> still dimmed, but the firewall is ON, and "Don't allow exceptions" is
> available (but unchecked). Exceptions are properly in place for File &
> Printer Sharing.
>
> When attempting to add the printer, she sees the workgroup fine, and
> the host PC, but no printers appear under it.
>
> Any ideas? Thanks in advance!
>
> -kj-
>
> kj99gt printer
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Thanks Mark. Repair install seemed to complete normally however now the
system hangs @ the Windows logo. Safe Mode is possible, but takes ~ 3
minutes to load to Desktop. Investigating now. Actually, preparing for
a format & reinstall. What could be causing the delay? I've downloaded
BootVis but am pretty sure I can't install in Safe Mode becayse the
Windows Installer isn't available, correct? What else can I check into?
Thanks again. -kj-

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Update...checked Device Manager and found a yellow caution flag next to
Microsoft System Management BIOS Driver. Searched USENET and found many
references to this slowing down bootup. Also found it was/is an SP2
remnant. Then I read that XP isn't "happy" when you try to do a repair
install on an SP1 CD on a system that had SP2 previously. Is that
correct? I should have specified that beforehand. Am I looking at a
format & reinstall? If so I'm ready, I have the data moved safely off
the HD. I'd have punted and formatted the biotch two hours ago but this
has my curiosity piqued...what doesn't kill you makes you strong,
right? :# One last thought, is there any way to uninstall SP2 while in
Safe Mode, or, via some other method that doesn't require Windows to be
running? TIA

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Update...checked Device Manager and found a yellow caution flag next to
Microsoft System Management BIOS Driver. Searched USENET and found many
references to this slowing down bootup. Also found it was/is an SP2
remnant. Then I read that XP isn't "happy" when you try to do a repair
install on an SP1 CD on a system that had SP2 previously. Is that
correct? I should have specified that beforehand. Am I looking at a
format & reinstall? If so I'm ready, I have the data moved safely off
the HD. I'd have punted and formatted the biotch two hours ago but this
has my curiosity piqued...what doesn't kill you makes you strong,
right? :# Now looking into a manual uninstall of SP2 then a repair
install.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875350

TIA, kj

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Disregard. After spending several hours on it, exploring event manager
entries, and searching like mad, I punted at midnight, dumped data onto
a USB drive in Safe Mode, then did a clean install. All is well now...