False Windows Disk Manager and Hidden User Files

Discussion in 'Malware Help - MG (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by D3adly, Sep 5, 2011.

  1. D3adly

    D3adly Private E-2

    Hello MajorGeeks!

    The computer I am posting information for has/had a pretty sophisticated malware infection. It presented as a problem with the hard disk drive and would intermittently reboot itself after functioning fine for a few minutes. Upon reboot, "Windows Vista Disk Recovery" would launch, showing a pretend scan and claiming that there were bad sectors on the hard drive and that it wasn't repairable. (This scan was never user initiated and the window could not be closed.) The desktop was just a black background with nothing displayed and none of the original user files were present in My Documents. The system would become unresponsive after a short time and then crash. Any installers for any program initiated by the user would fail, saying that the Windows installer service was already in use, and AVG was no longer working.

    I was able to start the computer in selective startup and was able to end several suspicious .exe files. I was then able to run MalwareBytes and it found two trojans. (I do not have this log, MBAM was uninstalled before I started your process.)

    I am not convinced that everything is removed since I am having trouble interpreting the MGTools and RootRepeal logs. Everything is okay except that while browsing for documents the windows shell won't show up - you have to know the location exactly if you want to save something. This is only a problem because the primary user of this computer is my friend's mom - Her knowledge of computers is reflected in the fact that the computer was running Windows Vista (32-bit) on service pack one with outdated everything.

    So. Tell me what you think?
    And how can I volunteer to help with malware removal?
    -------------------------

    Started: Windows Vista 32-bit SP1
    Current: Windows Vista 32-bit SP2, full updates.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. D3adly

    D3adly Private E-2

    MGTools
     

    Attached Files:

  3. Kestrel13!

    Kestrel13! Super Malware Fighter - Major Dilemma Staff Member

    Hi there.

    Please download and save the below to your Desktop or anywhere else you can find it ( if the Desktop is not showing )

    http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/grinler/unhide.exe

    Now run it. Did that help?



    I want you to run TDSSKiller so refer to the below for how to do so.

    TDSSkiller - How to run



    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. (See: HOW TO: Attach Items To Your Post )

    Becoming A Malware Forum Helper
     
  4. D3adly

    D3adly Private E-2

    Unhide.exe - Seems it did the job!

    TDSkiller - No malicious items detected, log is in the attachment.

    MBRCheck - Indicates something may have been found in the MBR, log attached.



    Thanks for such a quick response!
     

    Attached Files:

  5. Kestrel13!

    Kestrel13! Super Malware Fighter - Major Dilemma Staff Member

    Although MBRCheck reports UNKNOWN MBR code it does not always mean bad news. What I would like to hear back from you now, is how things are running generally for you.

    Also, is browsing the net all as it should be? No redirects or any unusual behaviour?
     
  6. D3adly

    D3adly Private E-2

    Everything is good here on my end.

    No problems during browsing, I believe one of the main problems was that the computer didn't have Vista SP2 and was running at 100% CPU capacity, making me think there was still something wrong.

    The computer is fully updated now and isn't having any problems. The hidden files are now back where they should be and are now visible.


    Thanks for your help!
     
  7. Kestrel13!

    Kestrel13! Super Malware Fighter - Major Dilemma Staff Member

    Good. ;) Then let's go with the final steps.

    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 (If we renamed it please rename it back to Combofix.exe.
      • "%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:
     

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