"All Programs" empty after malware removal

Discussion in 'Malware Help - MG (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by gigtime, Sep 3, 2008.

  1. gigtime

    gigtime Private E-2

    I've gone through all the steps as instructed. Before coming to the forum, an Avast scan found 2-3 Trojans which were all sent to the chest and then subsequently deleted per the instructions in this forum.

    I'm Running XP Pro with the latest updates and SP's.

    I've attached the SuperAntiSpyware log which I believe found false positives. I don't believe those two files mentioned in the log are trojans but I deleted them anyway.

    MBAM & Spybot found nothing. Mbam log is attached.

    Combo Fix log attached.

    With a max of 3 attachments, I uploaded MGlog.zip Here.

    If I got everything, I still have a few problems. The main problem is my Start>All Programs Directory is empty. The programs are installed. Is there a way to rebuild this beyond manually adding shortcuts for all my programs? And I'm not even sure how to do that for things like the Accessories and the programs that come with XP.

    Beyond that, I've got a Skype Error that pops up when I reboot. "Exception EFCreatedError in module SkypePM.exe at 00021cf9". When I try updating Skype, it finds a new version but it won't install saying it can't write to disk which may be full. Actually, there are 20gb on the disk and it's not giving me the option to choose another disk (I've got three on the machine). I'm sure I can sort this out with Skype but am mentioning this since this only started happening with this malware incident.

    Thanks in advance for your help.

    Bill
     

    Attached Files:

  2. gigtime

    gigtime Private E-2

    Re: "All Programs" found now - But is my system clean?

    Ok, found all the programs. They were hidden and now I've restored them.

    Please let me know if my logs indicate I'm malware free.

    All the best,

    Bill
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 4, 2008
  3. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    Welcome to Major Geeks!
    As stated in the READ & RUN ME, you just needed to put it in a second message. I attached it for you in your second message.

    Did you knowingingly install the VMN Toolbar ? It is considered adware.

    Other than the above, your logs are clean. Other items you mentioned in your first message are not malware issues.


    Now we need to cleanup some items from running ComboFix.

    Copy the bold text below to notepad. Save it as fixme.reg to your desktop. Be sure the "Save as" type is set to "all files" Once you have saved it double click it and allow it to merge with the registry.
    Make sure that you tell me if you receive a success message about adding the above
    to the registry. If you do not get a success message, it definitely did not work.

    If you are not having any other malware problems, it is time to do our final steps:
    1. We recommed you keep SUPERAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for scanning/removal of malware. Unless you purchase them, they provide no protection. They do not use any significan amount of resources ( except a little disk space ) until you run a scan.
    2. If we had you use ComboFix, uninstall ComboFix (This uninstall will only work as written if you installed ComboFix on your Desktop like we requested.)
      • Click START then RUN and enter the below into the run box and then click OK. Note the quotes are required
      • "%userprofile%\Desktop\combofix" /u
        • Notes: The space between the combofix" and the /u, it must be there.
        • This will uninstall ComboFix and also reset hidden files and folders settings back to Windows defaults.
      • Delete the C:\combofix folder from combofix.
    3. If we had you download any registry patches like fixme.reg or fixWLK.reg (or any others), you can delete these files now.
    4. If running Vista, it is time to make sure you have reenabled UAC by double clicking on the C:\MGtools\enableUAC.reg file and allowing it to be added to the registry.
    5. Go to add/remove programs and uninstall HijackThis.
    6. You can delete the C:\MGtools folder and the C:\MGtools.exe file. You can also delete the C:\MGlogs.zip
    7. If you are running Vista, Windows XP or Windows ME, do the below:
      • Refer to the cleaning steps in the READ ME for your Window version and see the steps to Disable System Restore which will flush your Restore Points.
      • Then reboot and Enable System Restore to create a new clean Restore Point.
    8. After doing the above, you should work thru the below link:
     
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2008

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