How to enable Task Manager disabled by Virus - 3 ways to fix

So you’ve been greeted by the pop up window below when trying to access windows task manager. The message says Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator but truth be told, this mostly happens due to an infection. In the next few steps, let’s learn how to enable the task manager again.

You may want to learn about the best antivirus combo to use to prevent such occurrences in the future.

In this guide, we'll learn 3 ways to try and enable Task Manager.

1. Registry Editor Method

• First, let's launch the registry editor using run. To do this, press Windows + R.
• Type regedit in the text field and click on OK.
  

 

This should launch the registry editor like you see in the image below. The next steps is to configure a DWORD value in your registry editor to enable your task manager.

• Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System from the left pane of the registry editor window, labeled 1 in the image.
• Once you click on System, you should see item(s) at the right pane. Look for DisableTaskmgr. If it is not present, create one by;
• Right-clicking on any free space of the right pane. Then,
• Point to New and Click on DWORD (32-BIT) Value. Name it as DisableTaskmgr. This should set the value for the just created DWORD to 0. Therefore, you should have to do nothing else. But if the DisableTaskmgr DWORD exists already,
• Right-click it and click on Modify (labeled 2 and 3 in the image below respectively).
• In the pop up that appears, change the number for If the DisableTaskmgr DWORD exists alreadyValue Data: to 0 (labeled 4 in the image below).
• Click on OK (labeled 5 in the image below).
  

 

• Well done, open your task manager to confirm it is fixed.

2. Group Policy Editor

Sometimes, viruses target different places to ruin your operating system. After following the first method, it is possible to fail to launch the fix the task manager. The registry editor could be disabled as well, hence, here's another method to try.

• Press Window + R to launch the Run window.
• Type gpedit.msc and press OK. This should launch the Group Policy Editor Window.
  
• Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Ctrl+Alt+Del Options from the right pane of the Group Policy Editor Window.
• From the right pane, right-click on Remove Task Manager.
• Click on Edit.
   

• In the Pop up that appears, Select Not Configured or Disabled (as illustrated in the image below.
• Click on OK.
  

3. Re-Enable

In some instances, both methods will still not work. Here is a third-party one-click software to assist you.

• Download Re-Enable v2 from the download button below.
• Double-click the program file to launch Re-Enable.
• Select Task Manager as illustrated in the image below
• Click on Re-Enable.
• In the pop up that appears next, select Yes to reboot your computer.
   

Hope you found this guide helpful.