# Ctrl + Alt + Del Wont work. What gives? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-alt-del-wont-work-what-gives/254472 "2004-07-10T19:59:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CMiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@CMiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CMiller)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-alt-del-wont-work-what-gives/254472/1 "2004-07-10T19:59:13Z")
A few weeks ago I had a virus on my computer, although I don’t remember which one exactly. I am currently running WinXp Home with Norton Anti-Virus 2004 Pro And AdAware and run weekly sweeps with each, both of which come up clean. However, whenever I press Ctrl Alt Del so I can kill a program/process it flashes briefly and then diappearrs. A small green icon appears in the system tray, but that also disappears when I run the cursor over it. The same thing occurs when I try and run sysedit or regedit. I’m sure this is the result of something being left over from the virus, but I’m stumped as to how to get rid of it. Any and all help is appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-alt-del-wont-work-what-gives/254472/2 "2004-07-10T20:09:53Z")
When I had this problem, it wasn’t the result of a virus, it was a result of adware crap. I followed the [instructions found here](http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?showtopic=11150) and it cleared up the problem. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-alt-del-wont-work-what-gives/254472/3 "2004-07-11T02:16:17Z")
Could be a virus, or spyware. You can download and run [Taskill](http://www.siena.edu/antivirus/viruses/spybotworm.htm) (middle of page). It will give you a list of running processes and let you shut them down. Be careful, though if you choose something wrong, a reboot should fix things. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-alt-del-wont-work-what-gives/254472/4 "2004-07-11T02:44:08Z")
Just curious, i had something similar to what you describe. Try running **regedt32**. That virus thing blocked everything except for that. Make sure you delete it out of the Run and RunOnce fields in the registry if you are comfortable with making changes in there. ---
**Author:** ![CMiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@CMiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CMiller)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-alt-del-wont-work-what-gives/254472/5 "2004-07-11T07:13:36Z")
Well I have attempted the various instructions on the web pages listed and on the GQ sticky about computer problems and nothing seems to work. SlickRoenick - I’m comfortable editing the registry, I just need to know where to look. If you can direct me to the run/run once locations it’d greatly appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-alt-del-wont-work-what-gives/254472/6 "2004-07-11T15:49:04Z")
Look in HKEY\_LOCAL\_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion and in HKEY\_CURRENT\_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ In both of those places you will find subkeys named Run and RunOnce. Those 4 places are where to look. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-alt-del-wont-work-what-gives/254472/7 "2004-07-12T02:13:28Z")
[Silent runners](http://www.aaronoff.com/silent_runners/) is a script that will show the contents of all startup locations. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ctrl-alt-del-wont-work-what-gives/254472/8 "2004-07-12T13:49:24Z")
I had a similar problem a while back, taskmanager and other icons kept disappearing from my notification area. Somebody suggested the following: **log off** That is, select log off, not restart. Once I logged off, then logged bavk on again, everything was fine. I’ve no idea what was wrong, or why it worked, but it worked for me. It might work for youi too (no promises.)