After rootkit virus removal programs can't run or reinstall

Hi, after receiving some much appreciated assistance in the malware removal forum my dell winxp sp2 laptop seems to be up and running again.

The start menu and shortcut items were completely erased though and the desktop icons are transparent as if they are read-only. That's not a huge problem as I can re-do the start menu, etc.

Oddly, most programs are able to run as before, except for Adobe dreamweaver CS3. I don't think it's a problem related to the program, perhaps something in the registry was deleted or corrupted - I can't seem to figure it out. I tried to reinstall the program but it just hangs after I insert the disc and it starts initializing.

I tried running PC Tools registry mechanic to fix the registry, to no avail. Other programs on the laptop seem to run fine, i.e. ms word, excel, etc.

 

Thanks for your response - unfortunately, for some odd reason, when I go to control panel, then 'add remove programs' and select 'Add or Remove Adobe CS3 Web Standard' then select the change/remove button, windows just hangs and does nothing. I even tried doing it in safe mode.

I've been able to add/remove proggrams via the control panel recently, and re-install other programs via the original disk - for some reason, this program seems to lock up whenever I try to re-install / uninstall it.

Oddly, I'm able to run fireworks and flash, but dreamweaver seems to lock up. For what it's worth, that program was open and running when the laptop was infected, so that may have something to do with it.

I really appreciate any suggestions in advance!

 

I just went ahead and ran the adobe cleaner without uninstalling the previous version.

The cleaner ran successfully (apparently ) until I checked and all the programs, folders, etc. were still there. I can't reinstall anything, the programs are just a mess.

I think it has something to do with windows folders being changed to read-only for some weird reason - I can't change the attribute from the c:\ prompt with the attrib -r -s c:\Program Files\Adobe command.

I think a reinstall of windows or a complete re-format of the disk may be my only solution - the programs are a mess and windows is not working normally at all.

 

Thanks for your help - I was able to get the program to install!