GiantAntiSpywareUpdater?

I can't swear this is a spyware problem, but I think it is. I am running XP Pro on an AMD Athlon 64. Recently my pc started to take forever shutting down. Also, while in Outlook, clicking on an url would take forever to bring up the browser (Firefox). I ran Hijack and noticed over 70 instances of the logitech messenger, which I understand is pretty close to spyware. I used Hijack to delete them.

This appeared to fix the problem. Both the shutdown and browser problem. For about a week. It seems to be returning now. Past couple of nights very slow shutdown and an instance or two of the problem with Outlook, but not every time. The problem with Outlook seems to build up over the day. I've run Hijack and the logitech messenger is not there.

Last night after starting the shutdown, I used Task Manger to see what applications were running, and the only one I didn't expect was GiantAntiSpywareUpdater. I know this is part of MS Antispyware, but should it be running at shutdown time and could it be causing the delay? I just checked Task Manger and it is not running now.

Thank you for your help.

PS-Just noticed I'm a a Private E2. I haven't been one of those since 1968.

 

That would depend on when you have MSAS configured to Auto-Update, and it might be the cause of shutdown hanging, and then it might not be.

Welcome to MajorGeeks.com, please follow the steps below:

- Run ALL the steps in this Sticky thread READ & RUN ME FIRST Before Asking for Support

• Make sure you check version numbers and get all updates.

- Very Important: Make sure you tell us the results from running the tutorial...was anything found? Were you unable to complete any of the scans?...Were you unable to download any of the tools?...Did you do the on-line scans as suggested? etc.

After doing ALL of the above you still have a problem make sure you have booted to normal mode and run the steps in the below link to properly use HijackThis:

Downloading, Installing, and Running HijackThis

 

Well, I started the "Read & Run Me First" process and didn't get far before encountering a problem. I installed AD-Aware SE (Build 1.06r1) after uninstalling the version I previously had. When I try to update the definitions, and check use proxy, then it just freezed up and task manager says its not repsonding. If I don't use proxy, it get an error retrieving update.

Not sure what's wrong here. This didn't happen in the previous version. BTW, I'm using comcast as my isp.

 

Uninstall Ad-Aware SE and try again.

 

I'm running the AV programs now. Bitdefender found 4 viruses, but it stopped scanning or froze up and had to be canceled via task manager. It did find and remove 4 viruses. I ran Kapersky and it found 2 viruses, but it doesn't do anything about them. Guess I'll visit the symantec site, maybe they'll have something to remove the ones kapersky found.

Kapersky found Trojan-Spy.HTML.Usbankfraud.f and Downloader.Win32.Small.hg. Bitdefender found HTML.Daemonize.Loader.A, Trojan.Bagle.BD, Win32.Bagle.C@mm, and Backdoor.Drat.1.B.

I'll run Trend Micro next.

 

Ok, I have gone through steps 1-7 and still have the problem. Here is a summary of what I did with attachments.
5) Bitdefender did not complete the first time and I did not get a log from it. It did remove HTML.Daemonize.Loader.A, Trojan.Bagle.BD, Win32.Bagle.C@mm, Backdoor.DRat.1.B. After I completed step 6, I ran this program again, it ran much faster and found no problems.

Kapersky found 2 viruses and 24 infected objects but doesn't remove anything. Report attached.

Trend Micro found no viruses.

Trojan Scan found Adware.Altnet.b, which after googling, appears to be ok and I did not remove it.

Panda-Nothing found.
6) Ccleaner ran ok and did find items to clean.
Ad-Aware SE found 7 negligible objects. MRU List items and I did not remove them.
Spybot-Found items and fixed some. Report attached.
MS AntiSpyware found BestOffersNetwork.AtomicClock-it was deleted.
CWShredder-Nothing found
Kill2Me-Nothing found.

I've attached a HijackThis log.

I was appalled at how much crap was found, but I still have the problem. Last night I tried to bring up WinExplorer with the Win/E key combination. Nothing happen. Then I noticed I couldn't bring up any active applications on the task bar at the bottom. Looked at task manager and GiantAntiSpywareUpdater was running. I canceled it and the computer was freed up. However, when I shut down, it still took a long time. I sure wish I knew what was going on.

 

I could only do two attachments per message. Here's Spybot.

 

Yake a look at your Kapersky log; those are infected emails. Open Outlook, locate the infected emails and delete them. Then empty your Outlook Trash folder. Follow the directions for Running Spy Sweeper. Post the Spy Sweeper log and a fresh HijackThis log when finished.