Display Properties Tabs Deleted

[cleary71]

I recently got hit with a form of the about:blank virus. After recovery I noticed that some (at least one) of the tabs for display properties has been deleted. I only have screen saver and settings. I believe there is at least one more that sets background. Also when I right click on a picture, I can not set it as my background, as these feature has now been deleted too. If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Qashlan]

Although You did not mention the OS you use, I'll suppose that it is Windows XP.

You can repair the OS using its bootable CD.

Boot using Win CD ..

after loading the essential files, you will be asked :

to install windows XP press Enter

to repair Windows press R .............. Press Enter ...

after a while ... the same form of quistion .... Now press R

this will repair your OS ... and I hope it will solve your problem.

[tarquel]

also Qashlan's suggestion most likely will work, I imagine that there is a quciker, simpler way.

The virus/spyware has probably altered some registry settings....

Can you answer these questions for us?:

- Are you using XP Home or Professional? Do you have the latest Service Pack installed (SP2)?

- Do you have anti-spyware software running? (as in MS AntiSpyware) and have other scanners installed also? i.e. Spybot, Ad-Aware, SpywareBlaster

[just for infomation in case you are wondering why I ask]

- Have you been into Safe Mode to see whether you get the same problem happening?

[in safe mode, try both the normal user account you use - and also look at the Administrator user]

Be mindful that although the above Repair option may indeed fix it, it may cause you more problems as it imports/uses the existing registry i believe and may end up not solving anything and may cause other things not to work.

Regards,

N.

[Takeshi]

If it's the Desktop tab in Desktop > Display Properties, then it's a policy reg key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

NoDispBackgroundPage

Just delete it this subkey.

In fact anything else there is probably put in without your consent. If in doubt, post your reg key details here.

If you do decide to take the plunge to do a repair installation, bear in mind that you will have to reinstall all the subsequent hotfixes (and SP2 if your CD isn't SP2) and most programmes. So it's worth a try of the above simple measure first.