To make manual inspection and removal more difficult, malware often disables access to Task Manager. Fortunately, a few quick Registry edits are usually all that are needed to regain control. Here's how.
Note: If you are not familiar with editing the Registry, view the tutorial "How to Edit the System Registry". A more complete description of the Registry can also be found in the Windows System Registry Tutorial.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 5 minutes
Here's How:
- Click Start
- Click Run
- Type REGEDIT
- Click OK The Registry Editor will now open
- Browse to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Policies\system - In the right pane, look for the value: DisableTaskMgr
- Right click DisableTaskMgr and select Delete. (When prompted with "Are you sure you want to delete this value", select Yes.
- Now browse to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\policies\system - In the right pane, look for the value: DisableTaskMgr
- Right click DisableTaskMgr and select Delete. (When prompted with "Are you sure you want to delete this value", select Yes.
- Close the Registry by choosing File | Exit
- You should now be able to access Task Manager. If not, reboot into Safe Mode and repeat the steps outlined above.
