dad left his computer to my sister, and it has fsecure AV installed. i cannot get it to scan in safe mode. the interface won't pop up. there are 3 icons to choose from on the "start" list, and the same 3 in the "all programs" list (with the addition of help). the most obvious icon that should get the desired result is titled "fsecure AV2006". left click gets no response. right-click>open gets an hourglass that lasts about 5 seconds. right-click>run gets a red X with a message that says C:\program files\fsecure\internet security\FSGUI\fsavgui.exe service cannot be started in safe mode.
a great company like fsecure wouldn't have an AV programme that couldn't be used in safe mode, would they?
any ideas would be most appreciated.

YOU still can scan in normal mode? This behavior is typical for a trojan which blocks antivirus applicaqtions to start.

Download and scan with SUPERAntiSypware Free for Home Users

* Double-click SUPERAntiSpyware.exe and use the default settings for installation.
* An icon will be created on your desktop. Double-click that icon to launch the program.
* If asked to update the program definitions, click "Yes". If not, update the definitions before scanning by selecting "Check for Udates". (If you encounter any problems while downloading the updates, manually download and unzip them from here.)
* When done, select "Scan for Harmful Software".
* There are three scanning options. Choose "Perform Complete Scan" and click "Next".
* When done, a Scan Summary will appear with potentially harmful items that were detected. Click "OK".
* Make sure they all have a checkmark next to them and click "Next".
* A notification will appear that "Quarantine and Removal is Complete". Click "OK" and then click the "Finish" button to return to the main menu.
* Click Preferences and then click the statistics/logs tab.
* Click the dated log and press View log. A text file will appear so you can see the results.
* Select close to exit the program.
* Scan in SAFE MODE

After that, download DrWeb-CureIt & save it to your desktop. DO NOT perform a scan yet.

Reboot your computer in SAFE MODE using the F8 method.

Scan with DrWeb-CureIt as follows:

* Double-click on drweb-cureit.exe to start the program. An "Express Scan of your PC" notice will appear.
* Under "Start the Express Scan Now", Click "OK" to start. This is a short scan that will scan the files currently running in memory and when something is found, click the Yes button when it asks you if you want to cure it.
* Once the short scan has finished, Click Options > Change settings
* Choose the "Scan tab" and UNcheck "Heuristic analysis"
* Back at the main window, click "Select drives" (a red dot will show which drives have been chosen)
* Then click the "Start/Stop Scanning" button (green arrow on the right) and the scan will start.
* When done, a message will be displayed at the bottom advising if any viruses were found.
* Click "Yes to all" if it asks if you want to cure/move the file.
* When the scan has finished, look if you can see the icon next to the files found. If so, click it, then click the next icon right below and select "Move incurable".
(This will move it to the C:\Documents and Settings\userprofile\DoctorWeb\Quarantine folder if it can't be cured)
* Next, in the Dr.Web CureIt menu on top, click file and choose save report list.
* Save the DrWeb.csv report to your desktop.
* Exit Dr.Web Cureit when done.
* Important! Reboot your computer because it could be possible that files in use will be moved/deleted during reboot.

fozzie,
i have cleaned this computer with hijackthis, and was given the ok.
i will definitely use superantispyware in safe mode. i already have, a while ago, but i'll do it again. no problem. in fact, there are several other programmes i have scanned in safe mode with, adaware, spybot s&d, asquared, and avg antispyware. i have no problem with those programmes, just fsecure.
i will also use dr web cure it, and see if that helps.
thanks for the reply.