IE pop-up pages, invisible voice ads, and odd behavior

Discussion in 'Malware Help (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by AnotherSN, Jul 27, 2010.

  1. AnotherSN

    AnotherSN Private E-2

    Hello Gurus,

    I looks like I am yet another victim to the random IE pop-ups and invisible audio ads. I do not think I am having any wave volume issues. This all started about a week ago.

    I have run through the necessary cleaning and malware removal procedures (Logs Attached).

    However, today I am also noticing that after I have performed all necessary cleaning I can no longer access or use my IE Favorites. Any new favorite that I add does not do anything, and any of my existing favorites do not navigate to any web pages. Is there a way to fix this as well?

    Thank you in advance for all your help.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. AnotherSN

    AnotherSN Private E-2

    Adding MGlogs.
     

    Attached Files:

  3. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    Please also download MBRCheck to your desktop

    • Double click MBRCheck.exe to run (vista and Win 7 right click and select Run as Administrator)
    • It will show a Black screen with some information that will contain either the below line if no problem is found:
      • Done! Press ENTER to exit...

    • Or you will see more information like below if a problem is found:
      • Found non-standard or infected MBR.
      • Enter 'Y' and hit ENTER for more options, or 'N' to exit:

    • Either way, just choose to exit the program at this point since we want to see only the scan results to begin with.
    • MBRCheck will create a log named similar to MBRCheck_07.16.10_00.32.33.txt which is random based on date and time.
    • Attach this log to your next message.
     
  4. AnotherSN

    AnotherSN Private E-2

    Thanks TimW


    Log is below:
    MBRCheck, version 1.1.1

    (c) 2010, AD

    \\.\C: --> \\.\PhysicalDrive0

    \\.\D: --> \\.\PhysicalDrive0

    Size Device Name MBR Status

    --------------------------------------------

    149 GB \\.\PhysicalDrive0 Unknown MBR code

    Found non-standard or infected MBR.

    Enter 'Y' and hit ENTER for more options, or 'N' to exit:

    Done! Press ENTER to exit...
     

    Attached Files:

  5. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    Do you have all important data backed up? You really should do this before continuing since we will need to rewrite your MBR to fix this and while most times this can be done without any problem, these infections can react badly and that could result in a PC not being bootable. You really don't have much choice though since these infections are too dangerous to your security to leave on a PC.

    Also note if you have a Dell PC which uses a non-standard MBR ( or another manufacturer's who does similar to Dell) , fixing the mbr may prevent access the the Dell Restore Utility, which allows you to press a key on startup and revert your computer to a factory delivered state. There are a couple of known fixes for said condition, though the methods are somewhat advanced. If you are unwilling to take such a risk, you should not continue but you risk serious problems leaving this infection in place and thus your only other option would be to try using the Dell Restore Utility to return a factory ship state which will remove everything you additional you have put onto the PC.


    Now if you wish to continue and fix the malware - please do the following:

    * Run MBRCheck.exe
    * Wait until you see the following lines:
    o Enter 'Y' and hit ENTER for more options, or 'N' to exit:
    o Options:
    [1] Dump the MBR of a physical disk to file.
    [2] Restore the MBR of a physical disk with a standard boot code.
    [3] Exit.
    Enter your choice:

    * Please push the 'Y' key and then press Enter
    * When the program asks you to Enter your choice: enter 2 to Restore the MBR and press the Enter key
    * Now the program will ask you to "Enter the physical disk number to fix (0-99, -1 to cancel):"
    o Enter 0 and press the Enter key.
    * The program will show Available MBR codes as below

    * You need to select your version of Windows from the list. For example, enter 0 or 1 for XP or enter 3 for Vista.....etc. and then press Enter.
    * The program will prompt for confirmation. Type 'YES' and hit Enter.
    * Left click on the title bar (where program name and path is written). From menu chose Edit -> Select All
    * You will see all the text in the window get highlighted.
    * Hit the Enter key on your keyboard to copy all of the text into the clipboard.
    * Paste that text into Notepad, save it to your desktop as MBRfix.txt
    * Restart your PC.
    * Attach the MBRfix.txt file to your next message..

    Now please re-run MBRCheck.exe and attach that log also.

    Then run the C:\MGtools\GetLogs.bat file by double clicking on it (Note: if using Vista, don't double click, use right click and select Run As Administrator).

    Then attach the below logs:

    * C:\MGlogs.zip

    Make sure you tell me how things are working now!
     
  6. AnotherSN

    AnotherSN Private E-2

    Thanks again TimW for the quick response.

    All steps have been completed and logs are attached. I will have to keep an eye and ear out for any more pop-ups and ads.

    I am still having an issue with my IE links though. Please see attached jpeg - Any new favorite that I add does not do anything, and any of my existing favorites do not navigate to any web pages. Is there a way to fix this as well?
     

    Attached Files:

  7. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    You may need to create a folder on your desktop and export your favorites to that folder and then uninstall IE. Then run CCLeaner ( both the cleaner and the registry --> make the backup when prompted) and then reinstall IE and import your favorites.

    Just a couple of things to deal with:

    * Make sure that combofix.exe that you downloaded while doing the READ & RUN ME is on your Desktop but Do not run it!
    If it is not on your Desktop, the below will not work.
    * Also make sure you have shut down all protection software (antivirus, antispyware...etc) or they may get in the way of allowing ComboFix to run properly.
    * If ComboFix tells you it needs to update to a new version, make sure you allow it to update.
    * Open Notepad and copy/paste the text in the below code box into it (make sure you scroll all the way down in the code box to get all lines selected ):
    Code:
    KILLALL::
    
    Driver::
    KGJRMYMRKZO
    
    File::
    C:\WINNT\Temp\100.dat
    C:\WINNT\Temp\flabe.tmp
    
    
    * Save the above as CFscript.txt and make sure you save it to the same location (should be on your Desktop) as ComboFix.exe
    * At this point, you MUST EXIT ALL BROWSERS NOW before continuing!
    * You should have both the ComboFix.exe and CFScript.txt icons on your Desktop.
    If it asks you to overide the previous file with the same name, click YES.
    * Now use your mouse to drag CFscript.txt on top of ComboFix.exe
    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v666/sUBs/CFScriptB-4.gif
    * Follow the prompts.
    * When it finishes, a log will be produced named c:\combofix.txt

    Note:

    Do not mouseclick combofix's window while it is running. That may cause it to stall.

    Now tell me what issues you may still have, if any.
     
  8. AnotherSN

    AnotherSN Private E-2

    Thanks TimW.

    ComboFix log is attached. I ran the script as instructed - when combofix was initializing system reset I got some .dll error messages because "system was shutting down". I clicked 'ok' on them and after a few seconds system continued to reset.

    Still have the IE Favorites issue but will need to attempt an uninstall - however, I was under the impression that it was virtually impossible to actually uninstall Internet Explorer as it is integrated into windows. I would think there has to be another way around it.

    Came across this link: http://thetazblog.taznetworks.com/2005/04/internet-explorer-favorites-or.html

    Any opinions?

    Thanks,
    Andy
     

    Attached Files:

  9. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    You could give that info a try. If it still doesn't work, I suggest you post in the software forum for additional assistance.

    Your logs look good.

    If you are not having any other malware problems, it is time to do our final steps:

    1. We recommend you keep SUPERAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for scanning/removal of malware. Unless you purchase them, they provide no real time protection. They do not use any significant 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" /uninstall
        • Notes: The space between the combofix" and the /uninstall, it must be there.
        • This will uninstall ComboFix and also reset hidden files and folders settings back to Windows defaults.


    3. Go back to step 6 of the READ ME and renable your Disk Emulation software with Defogger if you had disabled it.
    4. Any other miscellaneous tools we may have had you install or download can be uninstalled and deleted.
    5. If we had you download any registry patches like fixme.reg or fixWLK.reg (or any others), you can delete these files now.
    6. 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.
    7. Go to add/remove programs and uninstall HijackThis.
    8. Goto the C:\MGtools folder and find the MGclean.bat file. Double click 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.
    9. If you are running Win 7, Vista, Windows XP or Windows ME, do the below:
      • Refer to the cleaning procedures pointed to by step 7 of the READ ME
        for your Window version and see the instructions to Disable System Restore which will flush your Restore Points.
      • Then reboot and Enable System Restore to create a new clean Restore Point.

    10. After doing the above, you should work thru the below link:




    Support MajorGeeks!
     
  10. AnotherSN

    AnotherSN Private E-2

    Thanks for all your support TimW.

    FYI - I had to reset IE to my default web browser again in order to get my favorites links to work.
     
  11. AnotherSN

    AnotherSN Private E-2

    Also - Any news as to why so many of these cases (MBR) are popping up?
     
  12. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    It's just a new twist on an old problem. People write malware to either mess with your system, steal info, or just out of spite. It's malware that is evolving and trying to be harder and harder to deal with.
     

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