ComboFix frozen

Hello,

I had been running into a series of peculiar problems on my laptop recently so decided to follow the "How to protect yourself from malware" guide on MajorGeeks. I got to the point where one actually runs ComboFix, and am now at a standstill. My laptop has been on the same screen for the last 3 hours: blue screen advising that it has completed Stage 7. The cursor is blinking on the next line.

What is it doing? I have tried to follow bleepingcomputer's "A guide and tutorial on using ComboFix" as accurately as possible, but it has now lead me to a standstill. Should I continue to wait? should I perform a hard shut down of the laptop? I understand that if you don't know what you are doing with the program, it can really mess up your computer, so I would really like some advice and reassurance before I do anything further.

Thanks.

 

Hi,

Thanks for correcting me on the link (I had followed too many links and end up posting the wrong one).

The problem that truly sparked my search for a solution was a slew of pop up messages reading: "Cannot load PowrProf.dll", which would then incapacitate various aspects of my system, including on occasion the system Shut Down option. My only option on such occasions was to force a hard reboot.

- I performed a Windows Disk Cleanup
- I updated Symantec AntiVirus (2004) and ran a full scan with no results.
- I updated SUPERAntiSpyware, Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE Personal, and Spybot - Search and Destroy.
- I ran the 3 malware removal programs and removed anything that came up.

The problem still persisted.

- I turned to MajorGeeks hoping that someone might be able to assist me if I posted a HijackThis log (not yet performed).
- At a MajorGeeks page I was advised to perform a series of steps "READ & RUN ME FIRST" before proceeding with HijackThis.
- I installed IObit SmartDefrag and rand it.
- I checked the Add/Remove Programs for malware (none)
- I uninstalled all of my Java components and installed the latest from the link provided.
- I set the Msconfig to Normal
- I emptied all antivirus Quarantine files (none)
- I emptied the recycle bin
- I installed CCleaner and ran it as instructed
- I enabled viewing of hidden files
- Following the Windows XP cleaning Procedures:
- I downloaded SUPERAntiSpyware, SpyBot - Search & Destroy, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, combofix.exe, and MGtools.exe
- I uninstalled all of my anti-spyware programs and began installing and running each of the newly downloaded programs sequentially
- My computer found nothing with the first 2 programs but found 4 with the 3rd program (Adware.PopCap, Hijack.System.Hidden, and 2 Trojan.Agent).
- My computer then froze just after completing Stage 7 of ComboFix.
- Following your suggestion I forced a hard reboot.

I have not had any further "issues" yet. However, it would be nice to know for sure whether I am actually now completely free of said viruses, spyware, adaware, etc.

Thanks for your patience.

 

Hi,

As I hadn't made any changes to my software before this other than allowing Windows XP Service Pack 3 to install itself automatically, my reasoning was that I must have contracted something that would thus adversely affect my software's smooth running. I was therefore inclined to check on for malware.

Thanks.