I have a HP with Windows XP.  Whenever I hit ctrl/alt/delete to stop an errant program this is the message I get:  "task manager disabled by administrator"
I was TOLD to go to "start/run and typed in 'msconfig'.  All start up boxes are checked.
Any ideas?

Thanks... Marcusmsconfig has nothing to do with it.
When did you loose the ability to use the task manager? It might be a virus that has disabled it to prevent discovery.
But you can try the following to restore it. (Note that this fix will only work on XP pro.)

Select start and 'run...'.
type gpedit.msc and hit enter.
Now double click 'User configuration', double click 'Administrative Templates'
double click 'System', press 'Ctrl+Alt+Del options'
Now in the left window double click 'Remove Task Manager'
Set the radio button to Disabled.
You may or may not need to restart for the change to take effect.If this is your PC, that is, if the "administrator" is you, and you have not deliberately disabled Task Manager, if this restriction was enabled in your system without you doing anything or without your knowledge, then it's highly likely that a virus has blocked the usage of Task Manager in your system by enabling the DisableTaskMgr policy via the REGISTRY.

I strongly suggest that you perform a thorough checkup of your system immediately.

Try this to get Task Manager back

Click Start, Run and paste this into the box & click OK and then reboot

REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableTaskMgr /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

That will not cure the virus though!
I have XP Home Edition.  I'll try your fix anyways of course. Any suggestions for XP Home if the XP Pro fix does not work?  And thank you very much for your help.

MarcusThank you Contrex... Yes this is my home PC and yes the task manager was diabled without my knowledge.  I do online banking.  Should I redo my passwords? Quote from: markw47 on July 21, 2007, 05:50:22 AM

Thank you Contrex... Yes this is my home PC and yes the task manager was diabled without my knowledge.  I do online banking.  Should I redo my passwords?

It might be that the disabled task manager was just a residue from the virus attack. But you could try an online virus scanner like Panda ActiveScan and see if it finds any problems.