Problems with comp

Discussion in 'Malware Help (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by zak0707, Apr 29, 2007.

  1. zak0707

    zak0707 Private E-2

    Five days ago I noticed that my laptop was running severely slow, out of nowhere. I spent some time defragging, deleting old programs I no longer use and cleaning up, but the computer is still loading windows slowly and running much slower than usual. Then this morning I noticed that the clock in the lower right hand corner of my desktop had magicallly been set back 40 minutes, so I decided to go through the processes detailed in the sticky post here and see if I could find any malware. I was able to do everything as described except for run BitDefender, as there was a problem getting the activex controls when I tried to run it in safe mode w/ networking. I also had an error pop up when I ran getrunkey.bat that said "error: the system was unable to find the specified registry key or file" however, it still ran afterwards and the log will be attatched along with the others.

    As I went to attach all the logs I realized I did not properly save the log from CounterSpy, however I remember the results and the only problems find were weatherbug and some old poker software. (I had it remove both). Thanks in advance for your help
     

    Attached Files:

  2. zak0707

    zak0707 Private E-2

    Heres my HJT log
     

    Attached Files:

  3. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    Slow PCs are not always due to malware. While you have a few things to fix, you don't have major problems.

    Uninstall the Sunbelt CounterSpy trial since we are finished with it now! Then delete the below two folders which may be left behind by the uninstall:
    C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Sunbelt Software
    C:\Program Files\Sunbelt Software

    Now also uninstall the below old versions of software:
    Java 2 Runtime Environment, SE v1.4.2_03
    My Way Search Assistant <-- should have been uninstalled in step 0 of the READ ME
    Viewpoint Manager (Remove Only) <-- should have been uninstalled in step 0 of the READ ME
    Viewpoint Media Player <-- should have been uninstalled in step 0 of the READ ME

    Make sure you reboot after uninstalling the above!

    After reboot, now install the current version of Sun Java from: Sun Java Runtime Environment
    • Now Click on Start, then Run ... type services.msc into the box that opens up, and press 'OK'.
    • On the page that opens, scroll down to CWShredder Service
    • then right click the entry, select Properties and press Stop Service.
    • When it shows that it is stopped, next please set the Start-up Type to 'Disabled'.
    • Click OK until you get back to Windows.
    • Next, run HJT, but instead of scanning, click on the None of the above, just start the program button at the bottom of the choices.
    • At the lower right, click on the Config button
    • Then click the Misc tools button
    • Select Delete an NT Service
    • Copy/pasteCWShredder Service into the box that opens, and press OK
    • If you receive any error messages just ignore them and continue.
    • Now exit HJT but do not reboot when it tells you it needs to. We will do that further down after running HJT again to fix some other items.

    Run HijackThis and select the following lines but DO NOT CLICK FIX until you exit all browser sessions including the one you are reading in right now:

    R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://www.dell4me.com/myway
    R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.hotmail.com/
    R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://www.dell4me.com/myway
    R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.dell4me.com/myway
    O9 - Extra button: Coral Eurobet Poker - {050AC5CD-E1E1-41ab-8CE0-61B56EFA7FA1} - C:\Program Files\CoralEurobetPoker\coraleurobetpoker.exe (file missing)
    O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Coral Eurobet Poker - {050AC5CD-E1E1-41ab-8CE0-61B56EFA7FA1} - C:\Program Files\CoralEurobetPoker\coraleurobetpoker.exe (file missing)
    O9 - Extra button: PartyCasino.com - {B4B52284-A248-4c51-9F7C-F0A0C67FCC9D} - C:\Program Files\PartyGaming\PartyCasino\RunCasino.exe (file missing)
    O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: PartyCasino.com - {B4B52284-A248-4c51-9F7C-F0A0C67FCC9D} - C:\Program Files\PartyGaming\PartyCasino\RunCasino.exe (file missing)
    O9 - Extra button: PartyPoker.com - {B7FE5D70-9AA2-40F1-9C6B-12A255F085E1} - C:\Program Files\PartyGaming\PartyPoker\RunApp.exe (file missing)
    O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: PartyPoker.com - {B7FE5D70-9AA2-40F1-9C6B-12A255F085E1} - C:\Program Files\PartyGaming\PartyPoker\RunApp.exe (file missing)

    After clicking Fix, exit HJT.

    Now we need to Reset Web Settings:
    1. If you have an Internet Explorer icon on your Desktop, goto step 2. If not, skip to step 3.
    2. Now right click on your desktop Internet Explorer icon and select Properties. Then click the Programs tab and then click "Reset Web Settings". Now go back to the General tab and set your home page address to something useful like www.majorgeeks.com. Click Apply. Click Delete Cookies, Click Delete Files and select Delete all Offline content too, Click OK. When it finishes Click OK. Then skip step 3.
    3. If you do not have an Internet Explorer icon on your Desktop, click Start, Control Panel (for some systems it may be Start, Settings, Control Panel), Internet Options, Programs tab and then click "Reset Web Settings". Now go back to the General tab and set your home page address to something useful like www.majorgeeks.com. Click Apply. Click Delete Cookies, Click Delete Files and select Delete all Offline content too, Click OK. When it finishes Click OK.
    Note for IE 7 users: You need to select Internet Options then the Advanced tab and then Reset Internet Explorer Settings!

    Now reboot in normal mode

    Now attach the below new logs and tell me how the above steps went.

    1. ShowNew
    2. HJT


    Make sure you tell me how things are working now!

    Reminder Note: Once we have determined you are malware free you will need to disable System Restore, reboot, and re-enable system restore per step 1 of the READ & RUN ME. This only applies to if using WinXP or WinMe.
     
  4. zak0707

    zak0707 Private E-2

    I just finished going through the steps detailed in your response, thank you very much for your help thus far. A couple of notes about what happened:

    There were no folders leftover after uninstalling Sunbelt Counterspy, so I did not have to manually delete either of those listed.

    I was unable to locate My Way Search Assistant to delete it. It was not listed under add/remove programs.

    CWShredder service was already stopped when I ran services.msc, however it was not disabled on start-up so I did change that setting and subsequently delete the NT service through HJT.


    Everything else went as scripted, attached are my updated logs and thanks again for all the help this site is amazing.
     

    Attached Files:

  5. zak0707

    zak0707 Private E-2

    I also have not disabled system restore and rebooted yet, nor have I rehidden files and folders usually hidden, Im not sure if I should have done this by now but I am waiting for a final ok to do so.
     
  6. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    Not until I tell you to do this. Also you really do not need to rehide files, but when we finish you can do that if desired. Just remember that when you do that, you also give malware a few hiding places.

    Okay but it is still there. Run this Getting Uninstall Programs List From The Registry and attach the requested log. We will remove it manually.



    Now since you are complaining of a slow PC, you can have HJT fix the below lines. These are not malware. They are just unnecessary items loading everytime you startup your PC. This slows down bootup and also impacts overall performance.
    Run HijackThis and select the following lines but DO NOT CLICK FIX until you exit all browser sessions including the one you are reading in right now:

    O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_01\bin\jusched.exe"
    O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MSMSGS] "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background
    O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [updateMgr] "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\AdobeUpdateManager.exe" AcRdB7_0_7 -reboot 1
    O4 - Global Startup: Adobe Reader Speed Launch.lnk = C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\reader_sl.exe
    O4 - Global Startup: Microsoft Office.lnk = C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\OSA.EXE
    After clicking Fix, exit HJT.
    Now reboot in normal mode

    Now attach the below new logs and tell me how the above steps went.

    1. ShowNew
    2. HJT


    Make sure you tell me how things are working now!
     
  7. zak0707

    zak0707 Private E-2

    Last night before bed I downloaded IObit smart defrag and went through the tips listed in the sticky here for improving overall computer performance. Things were still relatively slow and my laptop seemed to labor all the time. However after going through the steps listed in your latest response performance seems VASTLY improved. Windows loaded quicker and programs are responding and running much faster. Here are the newly requested logs.
     

    Attached Files:

  8. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    See that! I told you it was not always due to malware. ;)

    Now let's finish removing My Way Search Assistant.

    Now Copy the bold text below to notepad. Save it as fixME.reg to your desktop. Be sure the "Save as" type is set to "all files" Once you have saved it double click it and allow it to merge with the registry.

    If you are not having any other malware problems, it is time to do our final steps:
    1. If we used Pocket Killbox during your cleanup, do the below
      • Run Pocket Killbox and select File, Cleanup, Delete All Backups
    2. If we used ComboFix you can delete the ComboFix.exe file and associated C:\combofix.txt log that was created.
    3. If we user SDFix you can delete all the SDFix related files and folders from your Desktop or whereever you installed it.
    4. If we used VundoFix, you can delete the VundoFix.exe file and the C:\VundoFix Backups folder and C:\vundofix.txt log that was created.
    5. If we had your run FixWareOut, you can delete the Fixwareout.exe file and the C:\fixwareout folder.
    6. If we had you run Avenger, you can delete all files related to Avenger now.
    7. If we had you download any registry patches like fixme.reg or fixWLK.reg (or any others), you can delete these files now.
    8. You can delete the ShowNew.Zip and GetRunkey.Zip files and the files that you extracted from the ZIP files. You can also delete the C:\newfiles.txt and C:\runkeys.txt logs that were created
    9. If you are running Windows XP or Windows ME, do the below:
      • go back to step 8 of the READ & RUN ME 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:
     

MajorGeeks.Com Menu

Downloads All In One Tweaks \ Android \ Anti-Malware \ Anti-Virus \ Appearance \ Backup \ Browsers \ CD\DVD\Blu-Ray \ Covert Ops \ Drive Utilities \ Drivers \ Graphics \ Internet Tools \ Multimedia \ Networking \ Office Tools \ PC Games \ System Tools \ Mac/Apple/Ipad Downloads

Other News: Top Downloads \ News (Tech) \ Off Base (Other Websites News) \ Way Off Base (Offbeat Stories and Pics)

Social: Facebook \ YouTube \ Twitter \ Tumblr \ Pintrest \ RSS Feeds