Something attaches to explorer.exe!

Discussion in 'Malware Help - MG (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by cleacock, Nov 19, 2008.

  1. cleacock

    cleacock Private E-2

    Hello,

    I have problem that began on Saturday, Nov. 14th that I am hoping someone can help me with.

    We have a network at home with one server and two PCs connected by a Linksys 4-port router. We use my wife's PC for audio recording so we disconnect the network cable and then disable Norton to avoid interference with the audio signal. We reverse it all when we're finished.

    Well, without my knowledge my wife plugged the cable back in, downloaded a torrent and opened it up without re-enabling any security. So now we have a problem.

    The symptoms: explorer.exe will ramp up cpu and memory utilization and take my internet ping times from 40ms to as much as 850ms (to google). If I pull the cable my bandwidth comes back and cpu/memory goes down. Eventually I'll get the "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem" error and the explorer.exe proc will stop and start regardless of whether I choose to send an error report or to not send it. If I plug back into the network it will eventually (usually within 30 seconds) start ramping up again.

    What I've done: Norton doesn't detect anything but I'm also not getting the shield anymore. I've run Ad-Aware and cleaned some stuff off but it didn't fix it. I've run Trend Micro's HouseCall and it reported that it found and cleaned what Symantec calls Infostealer.Gamepass but it didn't fix the problem either.

    So instead of spinning my wheels I decided to come to you for help. I've followed the "READ & RUN ME FIRST" removal guide religiously and am attaching the log files as stated in Step 3.

    I understand that I have to wait in line so whenever you can get to me I'd certainly appreciate the assistance.

    Thank you in advance!
     

    Attached Files:

    cleacock, Nov 19, 2008
    #1
  2. cleacock

    cleacock Private E-2

    Something attaches to explorer.exe! Part 2

    Here is the final attachment.
     

    Attached Files:

    cleacock, Nov 19, 2008
    #2
  3. cleacock

    cleacock Private E-2

    Please disregard this thread. I figured it out and was able to clean the PC.
     
    cleacock, Nov 20, 2008
    #3
  4. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    I'm having a strange feeling of deja vous....:)

    If you had waited for a reply, I would have suggested doing this:

    Please disable all anti-virus and anti-spyware programs while we do the following ( be sure to re-enable when we are finished):


    Run C:\MGtools\analyse.exe by double clicking on it. (Note: if using Vista, don't double click, use right click and select Run As Administrator). This is really HijackThis (select Do a system scan only) and select the following lines but DO NOT CLICK FIX until you exit all browser sessions including the one you are reading in right now:
    NOTE: HJT may popup an error about the AppInit_DLLs line. Ignore it and click OK to continue.

    After clicking Fix, exit HJT.

    Now 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.
    Now download The Avenger by Swandog469, 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.
    * Do not change any check box options!!
    * Copy everything in the Quote box below, and paste it into the "Input script here:"
    part of the window:

    * Now click the Execute button.
    * Click Yes to the prompt to confirm you want to execute.
    * Click Yes to the Reboot now? question that will appear when Avenger finishes running.
    * Your PC should reboot, if not, reboot it yourself.
    * A log file from Avenger will be produced at C:\avenger.txt and it will popup for you to view when you login after reboot.

    Also delete all files in the below folders except ones from the current date (Windows will not let you delete the files from the current day).
    C:\WINDOWS\Temp
    C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Temp

    Now run the C:\MGtools\GetLogs.bat file by double clicking on it. Then attach the new C:\MGlogs.zip file that will be created by running this and also attach the log from Avenger.

    But I guess I don't need to post this now...:(
     
    TimW, Nov 21, 2008
    #4

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