strange behaviour, possible ransomware?

Discussion in 'Malware Help - MG (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by bingo, May 2, 2014.

  1. bingo

    bingo Private E-2

    Hi There, Geek Angels!!
    Months after being forced onto Win 7x64 w/4gb RAM when my last xp machine died the real death, I began to notice 'strange behaviour' which I've now been seeing for a month or 2: files and folders being locked that didn't seem like they should be (always able to give administrator permission and get past that, it seems), random occasional apparent changes in configuration, unexpected hibernation, that sort of thing, and also most-recently (since replacing an ancient usb-hub) the occasional message on restart that one or more of my external drives needs to be formatted to be used (which I just close and the drive responds normally), and, well, unreasonable slowness in various areas.
    ...Since I'm a pretty careful user, I've assumed some of this had to do with the absurd number of files I keep on my desktop and ridiculous number of tabs I keep open in Firefox, but I figured I'd do a bit of tidying and disk-clearing and have a visit with 'READ & RUN ME FIRST', which I ran rigorously (logs attached).
    I continue to see (what seems to me) some 'strange behaviour', and RogueKiller found some registry entries it doesn't like...

    ...as a separate question, since I haven't gotten up-to-speed with tweaking Win7, does the MS-link you provide to 'Optimize Windows Vista for better performance' apply to Win7 as-well, or is there another source you'd recommend? I'm still a little suspicious of a system running 85+ processes ;-) ...I used to use 'The Ultimate Troubleshooter' on xp but last I knew it was thought they'd stopped really giving it their best.

    Anyhow, here're the logs, please have a look and let me know what you think, and on behalf of financially-marginal users everywhere, bless you all!
    thanks,
    Kevin
     

    Attached Files:

  2. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    Not problems! These are normal settings changes. You problems actually sound like problems with Windows not malware and your logs do not show any real malware issues. Please post non-malware related questions in the Software Forurm.

    Give the below a run just for the heck of it to see if it helps at all.


    Be patient while doing the below. The fixes can sometimes take quite awhile to run. Especially the permissions repairs. It may be best to kick it off and goto bed or do something else. It is better not to run anything while the repairs are going on.

    Download Windows Repair by Tweaking.com and unzip the contents into a newly created folder on your desktop.
    • Now run Repair_Windows.exe by double clicking on it ( if you are running Vista or Win 7, use right click and select Run As Administrator)
    • Now select the Start Repairs tab.
    • The click the Start button.
    • Create a System Restore point if prompted.
    • On the next screen, click the Unselect All button to first deselect all repairs.
    • Now select the following repair options:
      • Reset Registry Permissions
      • Reset File Permissions
      • Register System Files
      • Repair WMI
      • Remove Policies Set By Infections
      • Repair Winsock & DNS Cache
      • Repair Proxy Settings
      • Repair Windows Updates
      • Set Windows Services To Default Startup
    • Now on the lower right side check the box to Restart/Shutdown System When Finished
    • Then make sure the Restart System radio button is enabled.
    • Shutdown any other programs that you are running now before continuing.
    • Now click the Start button.
    • Be patient while the tool repairs the selected items.
    • It should reboot automatically when finished.
     
  3. bingo

    bingo Private E-2

    Wow, that was FAST! Thanks a ton, Chas, I'll give that a try :)
    -k
     
  4. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    You're welcome.

    Since you are not having malware problems, it is time to do our final steps:
    1. We recommend you keep Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for scanning/removal of malware.
    2. If we had you use ComboFix, uninstall ComboFix (This uninstall will only work
    3. Renable your Disk Emulation software with Defogger if you had disabled it in step 4 of the READ & RUN ME.
    4. Go to add/remove programs and uninstall HijackThis. If you don't see it or it will not uninstall, don't worry about it. Just move on to the next step.
    5. If running Vista, Win 7 or Win 8, 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.
    6. Now goto the C:\MGtools folder and find the MGclean.bat file. Double click ( if running Vista, Win7, or Win 8 Right Click and Run As Administrator ) on this file to run this cleanup program that will remove files and folders related to MGtools and some other items from our cleaning procedures.
    7. Any other miscellaneous tools we may have had you install or download can be uninstalled and deleted.
    8. After doing the above, you should work thru the below link:
     

MajorGeeks.Com Menu

Downloads All In One Tweaks \ Android \ Anti-Malware \ Anti-Virus \ Appearance \ Backup \ Browsers \ CD\DVD\Blu-Ray \ Covert Ops \ Drive Utilities \ Drivers \ Graphics \ Internet Tools \ Multimedia \ Networking \ Office Tools \ PC Games \ System Tools \ Mac/Apple/Ipad Downloads

Other News: Top Downloads \ News (Tech) \ Off Base (Other Websites News) \ Way Off Base (Offbeat Stories and Pics)

Social: Facebook \ YouTube \ Twitter \ Tumblr \ Pintrest \ RSS Feeds