Unfortunately, many malicious programmers create utilities designed to trick users into downloading malware. For example, free screensavers and registry cleaners are often nothing more than lures - once a user nibbles and the program is downloaded, the malware takes over. Not knowing the name of the registry fix utility, I can’t say for sure that this happened to you but it may have.
Since downloading doesn’t appear to be an option, try http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ This is a free web-based scanning tool from Trend Micro, a well respected anti-virus and anti-spyware company. This tool should be able to detect and repair malware on your computer.
If you have Windows Vista, your computer should also have Windows Defender installed on it. This is a built-in tool that scans for malware. While Windows Defender does provide real time protection, if the malware is new, it may not have been caught upon installation. Update Windows Defender and run a full scan to see what Defender finds. Go to the Start button, type in Windows Defender, click the program icon, and then click the arrow next to the question mark. Click Check for Updates. Once updated, click on Scan > Full Scan.
Likewise, run a full scan with your existing anti-virus program. Many anti-virus programs do not provide real time detection. This means that viruses can get in and won’t be detected until a scan takes place.
If your computer comes up clean and the registry program is legitimate, it should have a “restore” feature. For example, RegCure, which is a legitimate registry cleaner from another well respected software developer (ParetoLogic Software), makes backups of the registry before making repairs. Should you ever have undesirable results after a RegCure registry fix, you can always go into the software, click on the Backup button, and restore your registry to its original condition. Check your registry fix utility for such a feature and restore your registry if available. By restoring the registry, your related problems should disappear.
Since your desktop is a mess, and you can’t use System Restore via normal methods, try going into Safe Mode and entering the command prompt for System Restore which is:
%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe
Instructions for doing so are found in this Microsoft Knowledgebase article.
Celeste Stewart | August 25th, 2008
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