Vista Taskbar Chages To Windows Classic: Cant Get It Back To Vista "normal"

[baker7]

Hello All:

I had a friend today who told me he had been hit with WinAntivirus 2009. Using MBAM in safemode, updated it in "Safemode with Networking," Then ran MBAM, in normal mode, removing this infection and others. In Safemode Vista gives you a taskbar and startmenu that looks like prior versions of Windows, and I want to restore the Vista Looking Taskbar. I used Taskbar and Startmenu and tried to restore the defaults, but the taskbar does not return to normal. This is a Vista Home Basic Machine (Acer Aspire Laptop)

Is there a way to restore the Vista Taskbar to normal? I wonder if MBAM removed something it shouldn't have, but I can't find any way to restore the taskbar to normal, and I don't know why an MBAM scan would have removed this Vista looking Taskbar and start menu......

Any Help you can give me would be great!!

Thanks,

Brian

Edited November 24, 2008 by baker7

[Pete_C]

Most likely , in safe mode the generic drivers used for your video card do not support the fancy vista stuff.

[baker7]

Pete_c:

If this is a driver issue, how do I fix it so that when I am in normal mode, that the correct drivers load? Regardless of which mode is chosen, (Normal or Safe) I still get the classic start button and grey taskbar

Thanks,

Brian

[shanenin]

incase the problem is do to a missing system file, I would try and do the following at a command prompt

sfc /scannow

[baker7]

shanenin:

Will try that, however, I hope that there is a way to restore the startbutton and taskbar to the default ones when you first get Vista - seems really strange, unless Malware or MBAM did damage to the theme

Brian

[shanenin]

that was my thought, maybe important windows files got damaged or removed. Running sfc may repair damaged files and allow you to set the start menu back to the default vista theme.

[CurlingSteve]

I assume you've looked in Personalize under Themes to make sure "Windows Vista" is the active theme.

And that "Windows Aero" is the color scheme.

[Pete_C]

Not sure who helped you or how they removed Antivirus 2009, but I have seen at least one infection where it left behind some files (scr and bmp primarily) after it was removed which still had to be cleaned up.

You may want to have the malware team examine a combofix log to see if they can find any files or registry changes from the same timeframe as the infecton.

[scissorhands7]

Vista *frowns*

Just get ObjectDock for a replacement. It looks x100 better, takes up hardly any system resources. You can have the functionality of a Mac for 1/2 the cost.

[baker7]

Vista *frowns*

Just get ObjectDock for a replacement. It looks x100 better, takes up hardly any system resources. You can have the functionality of a Mac for 1/2 the cost.

scissorhands7:

Thank you for your advice: However, This is a Vista Machine, and I want the machine to return to its default state after removing WinAntivirus 2009. My friend also wishes for me to return the taskbar and start button to the way it was - These instructions seem to be not online, which is why it is annoying: Vista is a good system, However, M$ may want to rethink some of the ways it deals with the system, so Windows 7 is not as buggy or anoying

Brian

[shanenin]

Any luck using sfc?

You could also try a system restore, it is simple but effective

[Pete_C]

Did you check Kellys Korner (Kelly Theriot) or Doug Knox for a vista taskbar repair?

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/taskbarplus!.htm

This application allows you to Repair and Customize the Quick Launch, Taskbar and Notification Area in Windows XP. These are the options available via this tool. Note: The clickable listings are for the individual downloads in lieu of.

Gotta look to see if there is one for vista, because reportedly this is only for XP

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/index.html

Ah, yes the new version is tested for vista

http://www.ntcompatible.com/Taskbar_Repair...lus_c13278.html

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,...escription.html

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/System-...Tool-Plus.shtml

I think that is the version.

All these years using the tips at Kellys Korner and searching for vista info just realized that Kelly is a she.

[baker7]

Pete_C:

Thanks for this information: will Check this out

Brian

[baker7]

Any luck using sfc?

You could also try a system restore, it is simple but effective

Shanenin:

I didn't have to use sfc, but was able to fix the problem. I will post the LINK to the Fix I posted in the Malware Removal Instructions for WinAntivirus 2009 - using these instructions put the taskbar and startmenu in good order in ten minutes!!

Thanks for all the Help and encouragement Team

Brian

[shanenin]

Thanks for the link and update :-)

[baker7]

No Problem Shanenin

Brian

[Pete_C]

Any luck using sfc?

You could also try a system restore, it is simple but effective

Shanenin:

I didn't have to use sfc, but was able to fix the problem. I will post the LINK to the Fix I posted in the Malware Removal Instructions for WinAntivirus 2009 - using these instructions put the taskbar and startmenu in good order in ten minutes!!

Thanks for all the Help and encouragement Team

Brian

Your link did not work for me (kept saying I couldn't edit the thread )

So I presume this is the fix you refer to

http://www.besttechie.net/forums/index.php...mp;#entry121871

1. RIGHT CLICKon the Desktop, Choose Personalize and Left Click on it

2. Choose Window Color and Appearance

3. CHANGE:Window Color and Appearance to be "Windows Vista Basic", Click Apply and OK

4. CHANGE:Desktop Background to your Favorite Picture, and Click Apply and OK

5. CHANGE:Theme to "Windows Vista" and Click Apply and OK

NOTE: It seems as if the MBAM did make changes to the Taskbar and Start Button, but it is unknown wheter this was specifically due to the WinAntivirus 2009 Rogue, or if it was due to OTHER Malware that was on this system when I followed the instructions for cleaning the infection. I post this here so that others that have this issue can recover from it without having to restore their machines from backups. The fix is simple, you just have to UPDATE and run MBAM, remove the infection and then follow these instructions to restore the Taskbar and Start Menu to the Vista Defaults (If it is necessary) ~Brian

NOTE 2: I was also advised to run a "sfc /scannow" from the command prompt to check for corrupted files, but DID NOT, because I did not find a reason to do this, since the problem was solved using this method ~Brian

Looking at that, I bet you had one of the new variants (or maybe it is a secondary infection) which puts in an 024 (desktop component) entry in the hijackthis log and removes the default entry of "my current home page" from the web tab , and puts in a html file and changes the "friendly" and "source" designation in the registry entry.

Your fix sounds like the standard method for dealing with it; although in some cases a reg merge file or combofix script is needed.

[baker7]

Any luck using sfc?

You could also try a system restore, it is simple but effective

Shanenin:

I didn't have to use sfc, but was able to fix the problem. I will post the LINK to the Fix I posted in the Malware Removal Instructions for WinAntivirus 2009 - using these instructions put the taskbar and startmenu in good order in ten minutes!!

Thanks for all the Help and encouragement Team

Brian

Your link did not work for me (kept saying I couldn't edit the thread )

So I presume this is the fix you refer to

http://www.besttechie.net/forums/index.php...mp;#entry121871

1. RIGHT CLICKon the Desktop, Choose Personalize and Left Click on it

2. Choose Window Color and Appearance

3. CHANGE:Window Color and Appearance to be "Windows Vista Basic", Click Apply and OK

4. CHANGE:Desktop Background to your Favorite Picture, and Click Apply and OK

5. CHANGE:Theme to "Windows Vista" and Click Apply and OK

NOTE: It seems as if the MBAM did make changes to the Taskbar and Start Button, but it is unknown wheter this was specifically due to the WinAntivirus 2009 Rogue, or if it was due to OTHER Malware that was on this system when I followed the instructions for cleaning the infection. I post this here so that others that have this issue can recover from it without having to restore their machines from backups. The fix is simple, you just have to UPDATE and run MBAM, remove the infection and then follow these instructions to restore the Taskbar and Start Menu to the Vista Defaults (If it is necessary) ~Brian

NOTE 2: I was also advised to run a "sfc /scannow" from the command prompt to check for corrupted files, but DID NOT, because I did not find a reason to do this, since the problem was solved using this method ~Brian

Looking at that, I bet you had one of the new variants (or maybe it is a secondary infection) which puts in an 024 (desktop component) entry in the hijackthis log and removes the default entry of "my current home page" from the web tab , and puts in a html file and changes the "friendly" and "source" designation in the registry entry.

Your fix sounds like the standard method for dealing with it; although in some cases a reg merge file or combofix script is needed.

Thats the one Pete, Thanks for correcting it for me - Thanks also for the info on the 024 and other info - I never ran HJT this time, on this machine, because MBAM had been run and i KNEW what we had, so I let MBAM knock it out

Brian