Automatic Updates disabled by virus

OS: Microsoft Windows XP / Home Edition / Version 2002 / Service Pack 3
PC: Dell brand XPS 410


VirusRemover2008 (or something which came packaged with or containing) has
disabled Automatic Updates and all attempts to reenable it from Windows
Security Center, System Properties (which displays Automatic Updates as
enabled), and Services (services.msc) fail due to the virus automatically
switching Automatic Updates off again (in the case of Services, even before
the configuration tab is closed). The virus also changes Internet Explorer's
security settings to accept all cookies and prevents security from being
enabled again in the same manner.

My question is whether there is a way to manually access updates for
Windows. My hope is that either my virus detection software will advance
enough to detect this type of virus and fix the damage, or a Windows update
will help block the exploit the virus is using to forcibly change these
configurations. While Automatic Updates is disabled, however, the
conventional update methods don't work, hence my problem.

(If there is a log file or some sort of data archive which would tell me
where the instructions are coming to change these security settings,
theoretically I could figure out how to disable them manually as well, but
I'm pretty inept with computers, so I'm hoping AVG or Windows Update will
provide an easier answer.)

VirusRemover2008 Removal Guide (Uninstall Instructions)

You'll either have to remove the hijackware or format & reinstall Windows.
NB: A Repair Install will NOT help.

Chances are that you're seeing the affects of a hijackware infection.

1. See if you can download/run the MSRT manually:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/ma...e/default.mspx

2. Run this online scan (in safe mode w/networking, if need be):
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/center/howsafe.htm

3. Run additional checks for hijackware, including posting your hijackthis
log to an appropriate forum.

Checking for/Help with Hijackware

When all else fails, HijackThis v2.0.2

If the procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting this
isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and
independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA) computer repair shop.
=====================

Or you can...

Start a free Windows Update support incident request:
https://support.microsoft.com/oas/de...spx?gprid=6527

Support for Windows Update:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/wusupport

For home users, no-charge support is available by calling 1-866-PCSAFETY in
the United States and in Canada or by contacting your local Microsoft
subsidiary. There is no-charge for support calls that are associated with
security updates.

I had problems with Microsoft Windows Automatic Update as well as lots of
others involving pop-ups. I found that I had several viruses on my machine.

Searching for information on how to remove the series of "Vundo",
"Virtumonde" and "Smithfraud-c" trojan viruses from my computer. I tried
Microsoft Onecare.live site and downloaded the software. It located some of
the viruses but did NOT remove them... much to my disappointment! One of the
viruses prevented Automatic Windows Update from operating and it would not
allow the Automatic Updates to be set from the Microsoft Windows XP Security
Center. I searched the Microsoft.com Communities Newsgroups and found that
there have been several hundred people who experienced the same problems
cause by this "Vundo" virus family. I tried many of the solutions proposed by
various contributors... some by Microsoft employees, but none of them worked.
I tried Spybot, Norton 360 and AdWare SE... they did not work either. The
saving grace was that I found buried a post provided by a person named
"ronrieger" on 12/30/2008. He described how he downloaded free software from
ran it and found the trojans that other programs
failed to find AND better yet, it removed them! Then he went back to WUAUSERV
and was able to set the Automatic Updates entry to "Start" and the problem
was resolved! I give all the credit to "ronrieger". I repeated his suggestion
and it worked! I would suggest that Microsoft inform ALL it's Windows users
that this is a quick and easy solution to the Automatic Windows Update
problem and that it is an excellent software which Microsoft should recommend
to the hundreds or thousands of users experiencing the same problem. It would
save thousands of manhours of work and frustration to your users. Thanks
again to ronrieger and the creators of SuperAntispyware.com. I will indeed
make a voluntary donation to these people. Obviously they have a superior
product!

I stumbled upon this website with the exact same problems and SuperAntiSpyware removed all of the Vundo variants etc. and I was able to restore Windows update............to say the least, I will be purchasing a full copy today..........great, great software!

This is probably the best virus removal instructions in the web, especially the one by PA Bear [MS MVP]

However, the readers should be aware that the postings by DrJoeJr and John above are malicious and actually installs the virus on your machine."Virusremover2008" is moving around with different names like SuperAntispyware etc and the postings by DrJoeJr and John actually installs the user to those websites..

GoogleGal is dead wrong. I have to doubt her intentions (ie I assume she's a spammer or virus writer), since it takes seconds of searching the net to verify that <superantispyware.com> as being the solution and a very upstanding company.