Hello from Tribalpath55

Welcome to Major Geeks!

All of these problems started when you upgraded to Windows 8? What makes you think it is a malware problem and not a Window upgrade issue?

Nothing will run in Normal Boot mode at all???

If you want to start the check for malware, the below can be run in safe boot mode.

READ & RUN ME FIRST. Malware Removal Guide

 

What about Hitman Pro?

I'm not really seeing too much in the way of malware on your PC. Yes I do see some junkware/adware, but not much else. What is more troubling is the non-malware stuff I see. It looks like you have had a bunch of antivirus programs installed and pieces of them are still present. Also I see Reimage Repair. Did you just run this??? What did you do with it?

I also see Tweaking.Com's Windows Repair. What exactly did you do with it?

I see all of your restore points so they are not gone as you stated.

 

DId you actually really fix anything with Reimage? I don't like what this program does in replacing Windows files as it can cause many incompatibilities and break things ( i.e., could explain why some programs do not run ). As for Tweaking.com. Please try the below.


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
  • Repair Windows Firewall
  • 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.

Now run the C:\MGtools\GetLogs.bat file by double clicking on it (Note: if using Vista or Win7, 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!

Is this the exact word for word message ( no abbreviations ).

Please do not do anything we do not ask you to do while we are working on your PC. We requested this up front in the READ & RUN ME. It can cause much confusion and more breakage.

Perhaps. Every problem requires a controlled approach. Sometimes there may not be a clean fix if there is too much damage to Windows. It is still possible that if we can get system restore to run that we may be able to recover from this. As I stated, there are still some restore points. Do you have your Windows XP Boot CD? There is a manual method to try and recover a restore point but it is quite complex and you will need to be able to follow some detailed instructions from Microsoft to do this.

 

Can you get it to run in safe boot mode?

 

But you need the Windows XP boot CD. The procedure I'm referring to is in the below link:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

Basically it is a way to manually copy registry hives from restore points. Mostly it is used when Windows does not boot, but it can be used to perform a manual restore. And then if things run better and if the System Restore service then runs, you can then perform a full system restore. The above procedure is not a full system restore. It is just a partial registry restore of certain registry hives.

 

But my question is "Does Windows Repair run exactly as requested in safe boot mode".

You will need a Windows XP boot CD so that you can boot to the recovery console.

 

You're welcome. But let's not give up yet. Let's see if we can make any progress by trying a few registry patches. Assuming we can get them to import!

Copy the bold text below to notepad. Save it as servfix1.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.

Make sure that you tell me if you receive a success message about adding the above
to the registry. If you do not get a success message, it definitely did not work.

Now reboot your pc back into normal boot mode.

Now run the C:\MGtools\GetLogs.bat file by double clicking on it (Note: if using Vista or Win7, don't double click, use right click and select Run As Administrator).


Then attach the below logs:

• C:\MGlogs.zip

 

That was going to be my next message since I had seen the "C:\WINDOWS\ERDNT\" folder with a few backups. I just was not sure it would run since you were having problem running many things. I figured first a few quick registry patches could get a few services started.

Glad to hear you have it running now.

 

You're welcome. Glad to hear all is well.

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

1. We recommend you keep Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for scanning/removal of malware.
3. Go back to step 4 oof the READ ME and renable your Disk Emulation software with Defogger if you had disabled it.
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 or Win 7, 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. 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. If we had you download any registry patches like fixme.reg or fixWLK.reg (or any others) and running MGclean.bat did not remove, you can delete these files now.
8. Any other miscellaneous tools we may have had you install or download can be uninstalled and deleted.
10. After doing the above, you should work thru the below link:
    • How to Protect yourself from malware!