Suspicious hidden objects and spoolsv is gone! Help!

Discussion in 'Malware Help - MG (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by mimi@mimisrugs, Jan 23, 2011.

  1. mimi@mimisrugs

    mimi@mimisrugs Private E-2

    Hi and thanks in advance for your help.

    About a month ago, my computer started SERIOUSLY slowing down. I use Spybot and Avast and did the normal scans but nothing seemingly horrible was found. Then about a week later, Avast started giving me rootkit warnings just after start up (suspicious hidden object has been found, recommended to delete but then even after delete and bootscan, they still came back he files appear to be MBR:\\.\PHYSICALDRIVEO and \\.\PHYSICALDRIVEO MBR:TDL4). Then, this week all of a sudden my printer was disabled and when I tried to reinstall the driver, Windows told me the printer spooler was not running and could not be found (spoolsv.exe) I checked in system settings and the spoolsv.exe is still commanded to start at startup but it can't find the file.

    It seems like a combination of stuff, so I've attached a HijackThis log below. I don't know much about this, so the only things that stand out are that reggenie should not be there (I downloaded it as a result of a Google search for spoolsv.exe and then realized it wasn't what it seemed, so I uninstalled it) and I uninstalled Norton years ago, but it still seems to have something operating!?

    Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.4
    Scan saved at 6:54:35 PM, on 1/23/2011
    Platform: Windows XP SP3 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
    MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP3 (6.00.2900.5512)
    Boot mode: Normal

    Edit by chaslang: Inline HJT log removed. READ & RUN ME FIRST. Malware Removal Guide sticky not followed.


    Thank you!
    Mimi
     
  2. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    Welcome to Major Geeks!


    Download TDSSKiller from Kaspersky to your directly onto your Desktop
    • Now double click the TDSSkiller.exe file to run it ( if using Vista or Windows 7 do not double click on it but rather, right click and select Run As Administrartor. )
    • If TDSSKiller does not run, try renaming it. To do this, right-click on TDSSKiller.exe, select Rename and give it a random name with the .com file extension (i.e. 123tdk.com).
    • Allow the application to run if prompted by Windows or any security programs you have installed
    • It will start the scan and run rather quickly and will notify you of whether anything is found or not.
    • Follow the instructions to delete/quarantine if asks you what to do when if finds something.
    • Whether an infection is found or not, a log file should be created on your C: drive ( or whatever drive you boot from) in the root folder named something like TDSSKiller.2.1.1_27.12.2009_14.17.04_log.txt which is based on the program version # and date and time run. Please attach this log to your next reply. (See: HOW TO: Attach Items To Your Post )


    Now please read ALL of this message including the notes before doing anything.

    Please follow the instructions in the below link:

    READ & RUN ME FIRST. Malware Removal Guide


    and attach the requested logs when you finish these instructions.
    • **** If something does not run, write down the info to explain to us later but keep on going. ****
    • Do not assume that because one step does not work that they all will not. MGtools will frequently run even when all other tools will not.

    • After completing the READ & RUN ME and attaching your logs, make sure that you tell us what problems still remain ( if any still do )!
    Helpful Notes:

    1. If you run into problems trying to run the READ & RUN ME or any of the scans in normal boot mode, you can run the steps in safe boot mode but make sure you tell us what you did later when you post logs. See the below if you do not know how to boot in safe mode:
    2. If you have problems downloading on the problem PC, download the tools and the manual updates for SUPERAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes ( links are given in the READ & RUN ME) onto another PC and then burn to a CD. Then copy them to the problem PC. You will have to skip getting updates if (and only if) your internet connection does not work. Yes you could use a flash drive too but flash drives are writeable and infections can spread to them.
    3. If you cannot seem to login to an infected user account, try using a different user account (if you have one) in either normal or safe boot mode and running only SUPERAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes while logged into this other user account. Then reboot and see if you can log into the problem user account. If you can then run SUPERAntiSpyware, Malwarebytes, ComboFix and MGtools on the infected account as requested in the instructions.
    4. To avoid additional delay in getting a response, it is strongly advised that after completing the READ & RUN ME you also read this sticky:
    Any additional post is a bump which will add more delay. Once you attach the logs, your thread will be in the work queue and as stated our system works the oldest threads FIRST.
     
  3. mimi@mimisrugs

    mimi@mimisrugs Private E-2

    The TDSSKiller found malware in the rootkit and 'cured' it. Once I'd done a few rounds of reboots and rechecks to make sure all was clear, I tackled the missing spoolsv file by searching for duplcates of thate file elsewhere - I found 3 and took the oldest one (2008) and copied it into system32, after a reboot the printer profiles were back and all seems clear. I'll do a bootscan via Avast and do a Spybot scan as well but all is BETTER! Thanks! I'll repost if anything starts to go awry.
     
  4. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    You're welcome. If you do find you have other malware problems, you should complete the other instructions I gave.
     

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