Malware and disabled security center

I am using a HP laptop that has Windows XP Home SP2 edition. The security center is disabled due to some virus. It is used by my daughter and she is not really aware about the infection. I checked the firewall which was disabled and also windows update is not working at all. There are some applications which are not working fine. I had installed McAfee in that and scanned the system. There was no infection detected at all. I had used the manual way of updating antivirus. All settings in Security Center is grayed out and it does not allow me to do anything. What can be done here to fix the issue.

Try to scan your system in safe mode. That is the a much better option I think. In safe mode many services are stopped and even there are less chances that virus will be working. Running a full system scan in safe mode is the best option to clean system. You can use multiple antivirus at a time. Like you can install Malwarebytes also. It keeps a eye on malware in your system.

Change your antivirus if the existing one fails to find any infection. Windows Security Center is not disabled or there is no settings to completely block the settings. You can turn on and off Windows Update and also Firewall. It looks some recent virus has done major changes in your system. First thing I will advice you is to keep a data backup. And then go with cleaning process. You can start with system restore. It is quiet best way to fix the problem.

I think you have to run a repair setup. That would be the only best way to fix the problem. You can scan your system for virus but if the same is not detected then there is nothing more you can do. Just use your Windows installation disc and run a repair setup. Or if you are having a internal recovery partition then restore your system.

This is not necessary bad. You get this message when Windows Automatic Updates is turned Off. Many people like me don't turn on the annoying automatic updates for windows.

Well, to tell you the truth! I have had all sorts of "malware" ruining Windows Server 2003! Although I had all kinds of security precautions one could ever think of, at the end the server was "nailed"! After trying all kinds of malware utilities (and also purchased some of them since they showed me possible solutions that could only be solved by registration) most of the problems weren't solved. The BEST SOLUTION that I came across, and I am sure it will LITERALLY make your problems disappear, was Malwarebytes' Anti Malware. The great thing about this software is that it will perform fixes without any kind of purchase! The demo period is fully functional!

Malwarebytes' Anti Malware can be downloaded from: http://www.malwarebytes.org/

I wish you all the best of luck!

As per my experience once this virus has disabled the internal component it is quiet complicated to get rid of it. I had use a series of antimalware utilities that really did not helped much. I thought that it would be beneficial but it is really complicated to fix those stuff. System restore is a good option, but it does not remove the virus. It still lies in your system. Cleaning your system by installing windows from scratch and then using a good antivirus is some of the best thing you can do.

If you know the approximate date the infection got in there is a quick way of restoring the computer to what it was before the malware came in, go to system restore. Click Start/Accessories/System Tools and select System Restore.

Follow the instructions and when you get to the calender for the date you want to restore to, simply select one of the dates in bold text that is a couple weeks before you started having problem.

Simply let Windows restore to this point. XP is good with this because XP writes lots of restore checkpoints. Vista doesn't seem to do this so well automatically.

When the restore has finished, your system will be as it was on the date you chose. Note though that whatever actual program file creating the infection is in the computer will still be there, however, it will never get accessed to actually run. Additionally, any programs that were installed after the System Restore date will no longer be installed. They will be physically there on the hard disk but will not likely run and will have to be re-installed.

even better listen you dnt have a virus and those other coments can be disregarded cause THEY WILL NOT WORK LISTEN this is a strange form of malware it comes thrue JAVA chat client it pops up wall you go on google or internet explorer if you click on it it self extracts a file cabinent that isent a virus its filled with TONS OF VIRUSES and it imatates a antivirus software that spams and prevents you from opening anything icludeing the main things to help you get rid of it it shuts down your defender updates firewall and it locks you out of task manager and further more no virus can pick up on it its undetectible and will manifest in your computer itle take you to a porno site when you click on it and it atacks your ports i was able to locate the file by quickly starting task manager before it started this thing is wered cause its not a program at all infact its an image that imates a virus witch was kinda weard the only way to fix this is TO CREATE A NEW USER ACOUNT AND SET THAT ACOUNT AS STANDARD THEN REMOVE IT FROM YOUR PC if you delete the acount it subsides in theres no way it can afect the rest of your pc so yull be able to get firewall back up its your only option windows database dnt have anything on it no virus software has found it on scan after the atack im still strugleing to get my security center to work again i no WERE THE FILE IS LOCATE AS WELL LOOK IN YOUR /LOCAL APPS DATA yull see a wered cabinent that will be holding surprizes inside lol anyway thats true itle have a wered name you dnt normaly see