Another about:blank removal

Hello Folks,
Thank you for opening this request for help. Any help will be appreciated.

About;blank has been appearing in address window frequently but not always for the last several months. Example: on chess.com when in a game if I click on "analyse" about;blank appears in address window for a second or sometimes a few seconds while on the lower left of screen in toolbar various sites are being loaded,i.e/., "doubleclick", etc. It slows the system down and seems to being getting worse, that is, happens more frequently and takes longer to get to the page I actually selected.

Also have noticed in last few weeks, Spyblaster has some of the files disabled in the Mozilla Firefox segment. Today it has the file "Antimalware Guard" disabled in the Restricted sites Protected segment. ?

I tried to follow all steps and instructions you have set forth and attach 2 logs specified. The Rrlog.txt is not available as the program told me it will not run on 64bit system. I am unable to find the other two logs. Both were empty but I can't find them.

Thanks for your time and trouble. For years I have run Avast, Spyblaster, Spybot and used Malwarebytes and Ccleaner without incident. Occassionally they would pick up something but it was handled without any big deal. This about:blank is the only thing I've got that is a mystery.

thanks again.

 

I figured out how to get the Malwarebytes log and attach it now. I am rerunning Superantispyware and will attach send it along next.

 

Here is the Superantispyware log.

 

Hi budman547,

http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/4746/programsandfeatureswin7.gif From Programs and Features (via Control Panel), please uninstall the below:

• Coupon Printer for Windows
• Driver Mender
• HijackThis 1.99.1
• MarketResearch

http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/2648/hjt.gif Run C:\MGtools\analyse.exe by double-clicking it (Vista/7 right-click and select Run as Administrator)
Shut down your protection software now (antivirus, antispyware...etc) to avoid possible conflicts.
Choose "Do a system scan only" and select the following lines but do not click fix until you exit all explorer windows and all browser sessions including the one you are reading in right now:

R3 - URLSearchHook: (no name) - {472734EA-242A-422b-ADF8-83D1E48CC825} - (no file)
O2 - BHO: Java(tm) Plug-In 2 SSV Helper - {DBC80044-A445-435b-BC74-9C25C1C588A9} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\jp2ssv.dll (file missing)

After clicking Fix, exit out of Trend Micro HiJackThis - v2.0.4


http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/4930/combofix.gif Fixing items using ComboFix
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.
Shut down your protection software now (antivirus, antispyware...etc) to avoid possible conflicts.
Open Notepad and copy/paste the text in the below code box into Notepad:

Code:

[COLOR="DarkRed"]KillAll::[/COLOR]
[COLOR="DarkRed"]ClearJavaCache::[/COLOR]
[COLOR="DarkRed"]Driver::[/COLOR]
is3srv
szkg5
[COLOR="DarkRed"]FireFox::[/COLOR]
FF - ProfilePath - c:\users\Owner\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\fi6cbeu5.default\
FF - prefs.js: browser.search.defaulturl - hxxp://search.conduit.com/ResultsExt.aspx?ctid=CT2866332&SearchSource=3&q={searchTerms}
FF - prefs.js: keyword.URL - hxxp://search.conduit.com/ResultsExt.aspx?ctid=CT2866332&q=
[COLOR="DarkRed"]File::[/COLOR]
C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Roaming\GhostObjGAFix.xml
C:\Windows\tasks\Error Fix Scan.job
C:\Windows\tasks\Error Fix Startup.job
[COLOR="DarkRed"]Folder::[/COLOR]
C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\Conduit
C:\Program Files (x86)\Conduit
C:\Windows\CD95F661A5C411AFB2CCABCD21A325B8.TMP
c:\program files\Registry Easy
c:\program files (x86)\AA Antimalware
C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\{26CD9F3C-F854-4C08-BAA3-8B9F4BB4B5C2}
C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\{5CC1BD11-62E2-4478-BF1A-5392DBF06558}
C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\{65741535-A4F8-4690-9AFF-AA52B55B894B}
C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\{961171F3-C752-4966-A393-06F82B939797}
C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\{B27C9F95-D744-41B3-9C1E-D8C0F45FDEEE}
C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\{D6E285B7-350F-4431-9171-7AB28B78E7CF}
C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\{DADCFD42-5E52-4166-980B-19E54D1ADF1C}
C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\{E0B15790-D8CB-4BC1-993A-005612F3347B}
[COLOR="DarkRed"]RegLock::[/COLOR]
[HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-3798857466-842898252-2989128317-1000\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.eml\UserChoice]
@Denied: (2) (LocalSystem)
"Progid"="WindowsLiveMail.Email.1"
.
[HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-3798857466-842898252-2989128317-1000\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.vcf\UserChoice]
@Denied: (2) (LocalSystem)
"Progid"="WindowsLiveMail.VCard.1"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{A483C63A-CDBC-426E-BF93-872502E8144E}]
@Denied: (A 2) (Everyone)
@="FlashBroker"
"LocalizedString"="@c:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\Macromed\\Flash\\FlashUtil10k_ActiveX.exe,-101"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{A483C63A-CDBC-426E-BF93-872502E8144E}\Elevation]
"Enabled"=dword:00000001
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{A483C63A-CDBC-426E-BF93-872502E8144E}\LocalServer32]
@="c:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\Macromed\\Flash\\FlashUtil10k_ActiveX.exe"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{A483C63A-CDBC-426E-BF93-872502E8144E}\TypeLib]
@="{FAB3E735-69C7-453B-A446-B6823C6DF1C9}"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}]
@Denied: (A 2) (Everyone)
@="Shockwave Flash Object"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}\InprocServer32]
@="c:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\Macromed\\Flash\\Flash10k.ocx"
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}\MiscStatus]
@="0"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}\ProgID]
@="ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.10"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}\ToolboxBitmap32]
@="c:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\Macromed\\Flash\\Flash10k.ocx, 1"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}\TypeLib]
@="{D27CDB6B-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}\Version]
@="1.0"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}\VersionIndependentProgID]
@="ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{D27CDB70-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}]
@Denied: (A 2) (Everyone)
@="Macromedia Flash Factory Object"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{D27CDB70-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}\InprocServer32]
@="c:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\Macromed\\Flash\\Flash10k.ocx"
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{D27CDB70-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}\ProgID]
@="FlashFactory.FlashFactory.1"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{D27CDB70-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}\ToolboxBitmap32]
@="c:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\Macromed\\Flash\\Flash10k.ocx, 1"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{D27CDB70-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}\TypeLib]
@="{D27CDB6B-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{D27CDB70-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}\Version]
@="1.0"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{D27CDB70-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}\VersionIndependentProgID]
@="FlashFactory.FlashFactory"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\Interface\{E3F2C3CB-5EB8-4A04-B22C-7E3B4B6AF30F}]
@Denied: (A 2) (Everyone)
@="IFlashBroker4"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\Interface\{E3F2C3CB-5EB8-4A04-B22C-7E3B4B6AF30F}\ProxyStubClsid32]
@="{00020424-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\Interface\{E3F2C3CB-5EB8-4A04-B22C-7E3B4B6AF30F}\TypeLib]
@="{FAB3E735-69C7-453B-A446-B6823C6DF1C9}"
"Version"="1.0"
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Nico Mak Computing\WinZip]
"SymbolicLinkValue"=hex(6):5c,00,52,00,65,00,67,00,69,00,73,00,74,00,72,00,79,
   00,5c,00,4d,00,41,00,43,00,48,00,49,00,4e,00,45,00,5c,00,53,00,6f,00,66,00,\
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\PCW\Security]
@Denied: (Full) (Everyone)
[COLOR="DarkRed"]Registry::[/COLOR]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{1E648A66-EA59-4BEE-97A7-AB258586E914}]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{1E648A66-EA59-4BEE-97A7-AB258586E914}]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{C04B7D22-5AEC-4561-8F49-27F6269208F6}]

Save this file as CFScript.txt to your desktop. So now you should have both CFScript.txt and ComboFix.txt on your desktop.
Now use your mouse to drag CFScript.txt on top of ComboFix.exe and then release.
http://softvisia.com/users/Night_Raven/Security/cfsdnd2.gif
This will launch ComboFix.
Note: Do not mouse-click ComboFix's window while it is running. That may cause it to stall.
Allow ComboFix to update itself if prompted.
When ComboFix finishes, a log will be produced at C:\ComboFix.txt
Attach this log to your next message. (How to attach)

Put your computer back into Normal Startup Mode and reboot before proceeding to the next step. See >> Use MSconfig to setup for Normal Startup Mode

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/9049/javaz.gif Now install the current version of Sun Java from: Sun Java Runtime Environment

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/3214/baticonvista7.gif Now run C:\MGtools\GetLogs.bat by right-mouse clicking it and then selecting Run as Administrator
This updates all of the logs inside MGlogs.zip.
When it is finished, attach C:\MGlogs.zip to your next message. (How to attach)

 

Thank you very much for your work on my problem ! Attached are the two logs you said to send.
Thanks again for you interest.

 

These logs are clean. What malware problems (if any) are you still experiencing?

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 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 if it present
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 through the below link:
    • How to Protect yourself from malware!

 

Thanks Thisisu, for the clean logs. Unfortunately the about:blank continues to appear in the address window. I went to Chess.com clicked on the game in progress then clicked on the analyses button and got about:blank in the address window again. If its still appearing, I assume it continues to do whatever its there for...

btw, when I was deleting programs as the first step, I was unable to find MarketResearch. I went to the start and typed in marketresearch but got notihing. Looked all over but don't see it anywhere.

 

Review the following link to see if it helps: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/162253-internet-explorer-9-new-tab-change-what-page-opens.html

The "problem" you are experiencing is not due to malware.

Surf safely!

 

Thank you very much for your help and bringing this to a finish.

 

You're welcome. Take care and be safe!