HOW To find/shut AVAST hidden process so Combofix won't complain

Discussion in 'Malware Help (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by zapp, Mar 19, 2010.

  1. zapp

    zapp Staff Sergeant

    folks I have used Combofix a number of times with some good 'wins' - I have one issue I wanted to ask the collective: on machines running AVAST home edition, even in safe mode with no visible AVAST processes showing in Task Manager, c-fix will flag the warning "need to close the running instance of Avast". Since I can't find the handle, I can't close the process. :-o

    anyone know whether this may be an errant message? or if true, how do I get a grip on that process?
     
  2. Kestrel13!

    Kestrel13! Super Malware Fighter - Major Dilemma Staff Member

    You can just go ahead and run Combofix anyway. If you are running our malware procedures you must follow steps in order:

    Welcome to Major Geeks!

    Please read ALL of this message including the notes before doing anything.

    Pleases follow the instructions in the below link:

    READ & RUN ME FIRST. Malware Removal Guide


    and attach the requested logs when you finish these instructions.
    • **** If something does not run, write down the info to explain to us later but keep on going. ****
    • Do not assume that because one step does not work that they all will not. MGtools will frequently run even when all other tools will not.

    • After completing the READ & RUN ME and attaching your logs, make sure that you tell us what problems still remain ( if any still do )!
    Helpful Notes:

    1. If you run into problems trying to run the READ & RUN ME or any of the scans in normal boot mode, you can run the steps in safe boot mode but make sure you tell us what you did later when you post logs. See the below if you do not know how to boot in safe mode:
    2. If you have problems downloading on the problem PC, download the tools and the manual updates for SUPERAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes ( links are given in the READ & RUN ME) onto another PC and then burn to a CD. Then copy them to the problem PC. You will have to skip getting updates if (and only if) your internet connection does not work. Yes you could use a flash drive too but flash drives are writeable and infections can spread to them.
    3. If you cannot seem to login to an infected user account, try using a different user account (if you have one) in either normal or safe boot mode and running only SUPERAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes while logged into this other user account. Then reboot and see if you can log into the problem user account. If you can then run SUPERAntiSpyware, Malwarebytes, ComboFix and MGtools on the infected account as requested in the instructions.
    4. To avoid additional delay in getting a response, it is strongly advised that after completing the READ & RUN ME you also read this sticky:
    Any additional post is a bump which will add more delay. Once you attach the logs, your thread will be in the work queue and as stated our system works the oldest threads FIRST.
     
  3. zapp

    zapp Staff Sergeant

    i did. got a bunch of windows errors - "windows has encountered a problem" sort of thing and wondered if it were due to the 'conflict' if there was one.
     
  4. Kestrel13!

    Kestrel13! Super Malware Fighter - Major Dilemma Staff Member

    Hmmm well I too have avast home edition and have had no problems with the running of combofix. What operating system do you have and are we talking about avast 4 or avast 5?
     
  5. Kestrel13!

    Kestrel13! Super Malware Fighter - Major Dilemma Staff Member

    Another option would be for you to temporarily uninstall avast while you run scans.
     
  6. zapp

    zapp Staff Sergeant

    Win XP Pro SP3, AVAST Home Edition 5. Its quite consistent, as I've seen it give this warning on several machines I've debugged. I wonder if it is an errant reading in combofix itself. I should send them a message
     

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