Win/Xp will boot successfully in Safe Mode only

Discussion in 'Malware Help (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by XEyedBear, Aug 26, 2010.

  1. XEyedBear

    XEyedBear Private E-2

    Firstly I have examined the other threads on this forum which deal with this topic, but they provided no additional insights into my problem.

    Win/XP on my Lenovo ThnkPad will not complete the boot process in normal mode. It hangs at the 'Welcome' screen'. If I change the logon method to the legacy 'Ctrl-Alt-Del' approach, I see that the wait is when loading my personal settings. During this wait time, on the first 2 or3 attempts to start the system, I noticed a lot of wi-fi activity.

    The system will boot in safe mode but I do not then have internet or LAN connectivity. Booting in Safe Mode with networking does not complete until I invoke the task manager and close it, without taking any action to close apps. or processes. There is still no internet or LAN connectivity.

    The problem appeared yesterday morning after my first full shut-down/restart cycle after installing TrusteerRapport, as recomended by my bank. I naturally suspected this software but was unable to un-install it in Safe Mode. There is a system message to the effect of the un-installer not being available. This message is not specific to the Trusteer software.
    I finally got help from Trusteer technical support, but their removal advice removed only logs abd directories - there appeared to be no changes to the registry and indeed, after following Trusteer tech. support instructions there were stil many references to Trusteer in the registry. I removed these by hand.

    I note with interest that RapportKELL.sys is still loaded during Safe Mode boot - but clearly this is not causing a problem, because the system still boots successfully in safe Mode.


    I have followed the instruction on how to clean up an XP system. The logs are attached, except for ComboFix. There were a number of process problems with this:

    1. No matter how many times I downloaded Combofix to run it, it always advised me that it was out of date and would therefore run in reduced function mode.

    2. Having no internet connectivity I had to download it on a second computer and then transfer it via a USB stick

    3. I copied it from the USB stick to my desktop and ran it from there.

    4. It always warned me that Comodo Internet Security was active. The un-install option of Comodo didn't work in Safe Mode (for reasons given above - no un-installer). I used the VS Revo UnInstall Pro product to remove Comodo using blunt force and manually made sure the registry had no references to Comodo. Combofix still objected, telling me Comodo was installed.

    5. I ran combofix anyway but it produced no output and gave no messages. I closed the DOS box after and hour or so waiitng.



    None of the malware checks found any issues, as you will see from the logs, but I still have the problem. What is the recommended next step?
     

    Attached Files:

    XEyedBear, Aug 26, 2010
    #1
  2. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    Welcome to Major Geeks!

    This does not seem to be a malware problem. It is more likely a problem due to the software you installed. I will try to give you a fix below to remove left overs from Comodo and Trusteer but I'm not sure it will help.


    Run C:\MGtools\analyse.exe by double clicking on it (Note: if using Vista or Win 7, don't double click, use right click and select Run As Administrator). This is really HijackThis (select Do a system scan only) 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:
    O2 - BHO: (no name) - {5C255C8A-E604-49b4-9D64-90988571CECB} - (no file)
    O20 - AppInit_DLLs: C:\WINDOWS\system32\guard32.dll
    O23 - Service: Rapport Management Service (RapportMgmtService) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files\Trusteer\Rapport\bin\RapportMgmtService.exe (file missing)

    After clicking Fix, exit HJT.





    Now download The Avenger by Swandog46, and save it to your Desktop.
    • Extract avenger.exe from the Zip file and save it to your desktop
    • Run avenger.exe by double-clicking on it.
    • Do not change any check box options!!
    • Copy everything in the Quote box below, and paste it into the Input script here: part of the window:
    • Now click the Execute button.
    • Click Yes to the prompt to confirm you want to execute.
    • Click Yes to the Reboot now? question that will appear when Avenger finishes running.
    • Your PC should reboot, if not, reboot it yourself.
    • A log file from Avenger will be produced at C:\avenger.txt and it will popup for you to view when you login after reboot.
    After reboot look for all of the above files we had Avenger attempt to delete. If you still see them, delete them yourself.


    Now run Ccleaner. Only use the Run Cleaner button. Do not run anything else on any other forms.

    Now run the C:\MGtools\GetLogs.bat file by double clicking on it (Note: if using Vista or Win7, don't double click, use right click and select Run As Administrator).


    Then attach the below logs:
    • C:\avenger.txt
    • C:\MGlogs.zip
    Make sure you tell me how things are working now!

    If the above does not help you get back to normal boot mode, try running System Restore and return to a restore point from a few days before your problems began.
     
    chaslang, Aug 26, 2010
    #2
  3. XEyedBear

    XEyedBear Private E-2


    Thanks for the guidance. All steps have been completed and the logs attached. Some erros reported in the avenger logs reflect the fact that I had deleted some files, as requested by Trusteer systems - who seem to think that the problem is caused by their software (on the basis that they have now called me in UK 4 times from the west coast!)

    At this time the problem remains exactly as it was before. I cannot do a system restore because restore is switched off.
     

    Attached Files:

    XEyedBear, Aug 26, 2010
    #3
  4. XEyedBear

    XEyedBear Private E-2

    A quick update:

    I just pressed F9 instead of F8 when trying to start in Safe Mode. This invoked the Lenovo system recovery/restore functions. This servce immmeditaly detected and offered to fix a bunch of corrupted system files. I chose this option.

    The system now boots normally.

    Thank for your patience and help.
     
    XEyedBear, Aug 26, 2010
    #4
  5. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    Great. Glad to hear you got it to boot up.

    Since you are not having 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
      • "%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 oof 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.
    10. After doing the above, you should work thru the below link:
     
    chaslang, Aug 26, 2010
    #5

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