Several spyware problems.

Hi guys,

Boy, seems like I've somehow walked into a hornet's nest of spyware. I wouldn't say I'm the most computer saavy kid in the world but I can generally keep away from spyware or clean it up by following the steps here on the forums.

Not this time.

Symptoms:

~ Started with a TagUs icon on the desktop. Could not be removed via Add/Remove programs.

~ Intermittent pop-ups for various things from medical equipment to sexual exploitation.

~ Browser homepage redirected from Google.com to MSN.

~ IE7 has become unstable / severely slowed-down. Moreso than usual, that is. Even as I type this, the browser "skips" and misses letters that are being typed. It's extremely odd.

~ Rebooted computer and noticed by Quicklaunch bar had disappeared. I can get it back, but it should've never disappeared in the first place.

~ MS-Dos error upon start-up. Did not occur until everything else started going downhill. - C/Windows/system32/DLLH8J~3.exe

What I've Done

~ Ran CCleaner.

~ Ran ASquared Free, which picked up plenty of registry traces but nothing more.

~ Spybot S&D revealed 59 instances of malware upon first scan. Corrected them.

~ Rebooted. Spybot S&D revealed 80 instances of malware. Corrected. It recognized such beauties as SmitFraud, Vundo, and CoolWWWSearch.

~ Downloaded recommended fixes for all thngs listed above. Rebooted. Problem not solved.

And now I'm out of ideas.

My Hijack This log is attached. Thanks for the help. - Joe

 

Welcome to MajorGeeks.com, please follow our standard cleaning procedures:

Run ALL the steps in this Sticky thread READ & RUN ME FIRST Before Asking for Support

• Make sure you check version numbers and get all updates.

Very Important: Make sure you tell us the results from running the tutorial...was anything found? Were you unable to complete any of the scans?...Were you unable to download any of the tools?...Did you do the on-line scans as suggested? etc.

After doing ALL of the above and you still have a problem, make sure you have booted to normal mode and run the steps in the below thread to properly use HijackThis and attach the log:

Downloading, Installing, and Running HijackThis

• Make sure you also rename HijackThis.exe as suggested in the procedures. Use analyse.exe for the new name. This is very important due to some new infections going around..

When you return to make your next post, make sure you attach the following logs and that you have run these scans in the following order too:

• CounterSpy
• AVG Antispyware log - ONLY IF NEEDED you were not able to run CounterSpy
• Bitdefender - from step 6
• Panda Scan - from step 6
• runkeys.txt - the log from GetRunKey.bat
• newfiles.txt - the log from ShowNew.bat
• HijackThis

NOTE: You can only attach 3 files in a single message so it will require that you use two messages to attach all of these logs!

 

Here are the logs you requested.

I was unable to gather a log from PandaScan, as IE7 shut itself down thanks to some pop-ups that became non-responsive.

Evaluating these, I've positive I've got several problems that all seem to be Trojan horses. Here are some further "symptoms" I've encountered:

~ At one point, I was locked out of the Task Manager by "Administrator" even though I am using the Administrator account.

~ While no pop-up windows are not activated, sound bytes will begin playing on my computer (advertising the VGA's or some nonsense).

~ Magicantispyware and Outerinfo have installed themselves. I've uninstalled them via Add / Remove programs, but it probably didn't mop everything else up.

 

The rest of the logs:

 

UPDATED 8/9/07

Hi again,

I went ahead with several steps that have hopefully brought me closer to removing the malware. For now, my system is cured of unwelcome pop-ups, the browser is no longer unstable, and there are not random soundbytes playing over my .mp3's. However, CounterSpy tells me that my system is still very sick -- it still recognizes at least 8 Trojans infecting my system?

As a result of all this, here are all the steps I've taken and updated logs for CounterSpy and HiJack This.

~ CounterSpy recognized that I was infected with SmitFraud. I downloaded the SmitFraud fix, ran it, and it is no longer being detected.

~ CounterSpy recognized that I was infected with Vundo. I re-downloaded VundoFix, and was able to turn up (and hopefully) fix a couple of files through VundoFix.

~ I also downloaded the Avengur and input the script manually, per another forum topic with Virtumonde problems. CounterSpy is still picking up Vundo.

~ This seems to be a part of a bigger problem. Looking at the CounterSpy log and trying to decipher it, I've got a Trojan Downloader (through Agent.Qt) that needs to be defeated before the rest of the mop-up can begin.

This is way over my head. I'll wait for further instructions.

 

First, please disable any antivirus and/or antispy programs you have installed so they will not block this fix.

Please look in Add/Remove Programs for the following and uninstall them if found:

Viewpoint Manager (Remove Only)
Viewpoint Media Player
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 11
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0
Think-Adz Search Assistant removal

Make sure you reboot after uninstalling the above!

After reboot, now install the current version of Sun Java from: Sun Java Runtime Environment


Please print out these instructions so that you can operate with All Browser Windows CLOSED.

Please make sure the Viewing of Hidden Files & Folders is enabled per the READ ME.

Now, look in Task Manager (Ctrl-Alt-Del) for the following running processes and, if you see any of them, try to END them:

ViewMgr.exe

sacyvuh22011.exe

Now scan with HijackThis and check the boxes for the following entries:
( Make sure ALL browser windows are closed when you click FIX )

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TkBellExe] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe" -osboot
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_01\bin\jusched.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [i34yuc387] C:\WINDOWS\i34yuc387
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [{1A-AB-BD-DF-ZN}] c:\windows\system32\lqdsregk.exe D4M001
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [sacyvuh] C:\Program Files\WindowsUpdate\sacyvuh22011.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ouwk] C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\ouwk\ouwkm.exe

Again, make sure ALL browser windows are closed when you click FIX.

Now download The Avenger by Swandog46, and save it to your Desktop.

• Extract avenger.exe from the Zip file and save it to your desktop
• Run avenger.exe by double-clicking on it.
• Check the 'Input script manually' box.
• Click on the magnifying glass icon.
• Copy everything in the Quote box below, and paste it in the box that opens:

• Now click the 'Done' button.
• Click on the traffic light icon and OK the prompt.
• You will be prompted to restart, OK the prompt and your PC should reboot, if not, reboot it yourself.
• A log file from Avenger will be produced at C:\avenger.txt

Copy the contents of the below Quote Box to Notepad. Then click File and then Save As. Change the Save as Type to All Files. Name the file fixme.reg and then click save. (make sure you save it somewhere you can find it. Saving it to your Desktop may make that easy.) Then double-click on the fixme.reg file on your desktop (or locate it with Windows Explorer and double click on it if not saved to the Desktop) and when it prompts to Add in to the registry, say yes.

Please download ATF Cleaner by Atribune. This program does not require an installation. The executable actually runs the program.

NOTE: This program is for Windows XP and Windows 2000 only. ATF Cleaner will remove all files from the items that are checked so if you have some cookies you'd like to save. Please move them to a different directory first.

• Double-click ATF-Cleaner.exe to run the program.
• Under Main choose: Select All
• Click the Empty Selected button.

If you use Firefox browser

• Click Firefox at the top and choose: Select All
• Click the Empty Selected button.
  • NOTE: If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.

If you use Opera browser

• Click Opera at the top and choose: Select All
• Click the Empty Selected button.
  • NOTE: If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.

Click Exit on the Main ATF Cleaner menu to close the program.

After you complete the above, REBOOT and proceed with the rest of this fix...

Next Reset Web Settings & Default Security Settings

Note for IE 6 users:
To Reset Web Settings:
Right click on your desktop Internet Explorer icon and select Properties. Then click the Programs tab and then click "Reset Web Settings". Now go back to the General tab and set your home page address to something useful like www.majorgeeks.com. Click Apply. Click Delete Cookies, Click Delete Files and select Delete all Offline content too, Click OK. When it finishes Click OK.

If you do not have an Internet Explorer icon on your Desktop, click Start, Control Panel (for some systems it may be Start, Settings, Control Panel), Internet Options, Programs tab and then click "Reset Web Settings". Now go back to the General tab and set your home page address to something useful like www.majorgeeks.com. Click Apply. Click Delete Cookies, Click Delete Files and select Delete all Offline content too, Click OK. When it finishes Click OK

To Default Security Settings:
Right click on your desktop Internet Explorer icon and select Properties. Then click the Security Tab and click Default Level for Internet, Local Intranet, Trusted Sites, and Restricted Sites. For IE 7 users, simply click the "Reset all zones to default level" button.

Note for IE 7 users:
Select Internet Options, then the Advanced Tab and then the Reset button under Reset Internet Explorer Settings.


Finally, I would like you to flush your System Restore points. Please follow the instructions below:

• Disable and Re-enable System Restore
  
• Turn OFF System Restore to flush any bad Restore Points.
  
• Then, follow the instructions at the bottom of the linked page to Re-enable the Restore Utility which will create a fresh restore point.

After you complete the above reboot once more and then attach the following logs.

• HijackThis Log
• ShowNew Log
• GetRunKey Log
• Avenger Log

Let me know of any problems you may have encountered with the above instructions and also let me know how things are running now.

 

Hi,

Followed all the steps without any problems.

I would like to note: After running Avenger, Quicktime no longer boots up at start-up. This doesn't break my heart and I'm not even looking for an explanation -- just thought it might be interesting to note.


You requested an updated Avenger log but I wasn't sure how to go about producing one without any input. I've attached the other 3 logs, which (as far as I can tell, which isn't very far) seem fairly clean.

CounterSpy scan was clean.

Looks like this one might be nipped in the bud. Here are the updated logs as you requested.

I appreciate the help. No idea how I ended up with this spyware in the first place!

 

It will be located "C:\avenger.txt"