Cannot reset WINS

Question

I have a Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 computer with a rogue entry in the winsock catalog which I cannot remove. I've tried all of the following logged in as the local administrator and running from an elevated command prompt:

• netsh wins reset - Error: Access is denied
• psexec -i -s netsh wins reset - Error: Error establishing communication with PsExec service on MYCOMPUTER: The network lcoation cannot be reached.
• at xx:xx /interactive netsh wins reset (where xx:xx is 1 minute after the current time) - Warning: Due to security enhancements, this task will run at the time expected but not interactively. and Error: The service has not been started
• net start "Task Scheduler" - The task scheduler service could not be started. The service did not report an error. In event viewer, it logs event 404 with this message "Task Scheduler service has encountered RPC initialization error in "RpcServerUseProtseq:ncacn_ip_tcp". Additional Data: Error Value: 1721.
• Using regedit and navigating to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\WinSock2\Parameters\Protocol_Catalog9 I checked manually took ownership of all keys in Catalog_Entries and Catalog_Entries64, then set full control permissions for the Adminstrator account. I tried to delete the rogue key and I get this error "Cannot delete 00000000001: Error while deleting key."

The computer has ESET Smart Security 7.0.302.26 which I have disabled (both HIPS and real time scanning). There are no other anti virus programs I am aware of.

Answer 1

Most of the time, disabling the antivirus program does not turn off the kernel hooks nor the program's "self-protection" features. You'll probably need to completely uninstall it first.