Windows Vista Admin account "corrupted?"

Note I have also posted this question in BleepingComputer.
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I have a desktop PC with Vista Home Premium, and five user accounts (for the family) includign my own as admin.

My wife complained to me that she was having problems with sound on the PC so I went to check it out for her.

When I logged into my admin account I see the old Windows 2000 or XP look (rectangular windows & Start button, grey backgrounds etc). I just assumed I had accidentally changed the theme, but when I try to reset it to my own theme I get a message saying "The visual styles could not be applied. Access has been denied"

Now when I switch user to my Wife's account it seems she still has the regular theme and all looks OK

But now the odd thing - when I go to switch user back to my admin account, the screen blanks out then reloads the user login screen & doesnt let me switch to my account. I have to restart the PC to get to it.

I am pretty sure this isn't malware as I have up to date McAffee installed


Hope you can help ....

 

Though you have McAfee, it could still be malware. I have cleaned up after Norton, and McAfee more times than any other anti-virus programs over the years.

If you could do a MalwareBytes scan, and a scan with TDSSKiller they will most likely find something McAfee did not. Not to be negative about a software suite, but my experience with them has been less than stellar but I run AVG as my antivirus and still run MalwareBytes free scanner as well because frankly no one is perfect.

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

http://usa.kaspersky.com/downloads/tdsskiller

 

I agree with the mekanic, you need to run additional antimalware scanners to rule out infection. I would suggest that you run a boot-time scanner, as malware will be dormant then and unable to block your attempts at scanning. To do that, you need to download an ISO file and burn it to a boot CD, then reboot with the CD in your optical drive. Here's a list of some boot-time rescue scanners:

FSecure: http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/f_secure_rescue_cd.html
eScan: http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/escan_rescue_disk.html
Avira: http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/avira_removal_tool_for_windows.html
AVG: http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/avg_rescue_cd_(for_usb_stick).html
Kaspersky: http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/kaspersky_rescue_disk.html

Once downloaded, you need to burn the downloaded ISO file to CD using the following program:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/cdburnerxp.html

Note that one or more of the above downloads may be EXE (executable) format rather than ISO format. These files have the equivalent of built in CD burners and need only be executed (double clicked) to create a bootable CD.

Once you have created a bootable antiviral rescue disk, simply place it in your CD/DVD tray and reboot. The system should boot the CD although you may receive a message telling you to press any key in order to boot to CD (in that case press a key). If the system insists on booting to Windows then you'll need to change the drive order in your BIOS.

If this seems confusing to you, or you don't know how to change your BIOS settings, then you can instead download a scanner that runs in Windows protected mode, and does not require any burning whatsoever.

Dr. Web Virus Scanner: http://www.freedrweb.com/livecd/?lng=en

Just download it to your desktop and double click on it. It will download the newest viral definitions and then run a full scan on your system.

If you find that you do indeed have an infection, then you should start your foray into the malware forum by going to the following page:

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407

Good Luck

 

Guys - thanks for the advice.

As I mentioned earlier I also posted this on bleepingcomputer.com and have had similar suggestions from them. I don't want to waste folks time, as I know you are all doing this as volunteers, so for now I will progress this through bleepingcomputer to avoid parallel paths.

Hopefully that will get me to resolution, but if not I may return and avail of your help.

I hope this is OK & I apologise for any wasted time so far