XP Home Security and its inherent crap

Hello,
For several days now I have been earnestly trying to clean/fix my computer from a plethora of spyware programs/malware/virii/trojans. I have run several anti-virus/spyware programs and none are able to remove Surf Side Kick. I downloaded Unlocker and when I tried to unlock a file it said there was debug error because I do not have 'permission' to do that on my XP Home account.

Convenient - I own the computer, but I can't access the files.

Anyway, I read a thread here after finding the search option to 'take ownership of files/folders.' I did what it said - going to Safe mode and doing the security ownership/permissions, despite the special permissions being grayed out, thing and now, viola, when I boot up my computer in non-Safe Mode I can't access ANYTHING. In an attempt to grant myself 'full control' I now have little to no control. I've tried several times to reassign and I don't know what to do.

Is there ANY WAY to change the f***in' security permissions in XP that will give me TRUE access? Is there any way I can remove this SurfSideKick?

It all started with the windows permission thing. It won't let me do Run: "Crogram Files\SurfSideKick 3\ssk.exe" /u or whatever the line is. It says I have not permission.

I can't do a HiJack This log being as I'm on a computer that's working.

Thank you for your help! PLEASE respond ASAP!

- Sean

 

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

Do what ever you can. If you can't run the scanners in Safe Mode, run them in Normal Mode. Post all your logs as attachements. We'll work with what we can get. If HijackThis won't run, I need to know that.

- 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.

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

When you return to make your next post, make sure you attach the following logs and that you have run these scans in the following order too (these scans are covered in steps 6 & 7 of the READ & RUN ME sticky)

• Bitdefender
• Panda Scan
• HijackThis

 

OK I ran all of the things from the link in the above post, but I still have oodles of problems. I shall attach the logs from the programs in which I saved them. I still have some messed up permissions/ownership issues, but I guess getting rid of the malware is more important now. It all worked when I booted in safe mode, meaning I didn't have to run any scanning program whilst in normal mode, except HiJackThis. Anyway, if someone who knows how to understand the log file could please respond ASAP I would greatly greatly appreciate it! Thanks a lot!!

 

Download
- Pocket Killbox

Using Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel; uninstall the following:
ViewPoint (Everything)

SpyHunter at one time was considered to be a "Rogue" Ant-Spyware application. Frankly it's not real that good of an application. Free alternatives like Spybot S&D and AdAware SE are far better.

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 Windows Overlay Components ... 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'. Press '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, and then the 'Misc tools' button ... select 'Delete an NT Service' ... copy/paste the following into the box that opens, and press 'OK':

Windows Overlay Components

In HJT Choose Open the Misc Tools Section choose Process Manager, Highlight:

Choose Kill Process

Now Run HijackThis. Click the 'Do a system scan only' button. Place a checkmark in the box next to the following lines:

Click on the 'Fix checked' button. Wait for HijackThis to finish; close HijackThis.

Now run Pocket Killbox:

Choose Tools -> Delete Temp Files and click the RED X.

Run Killbox.exe. Paste the below filenames into KILL BOX one at a time. Check mark the box that says "Delete on Reboot" and checkmark the box "Unregister DLL" (If available) Click the RED X and it will ask you to confirm the file for deletion say YES and when the next box opens prompting you to reboot now...click NO...and proceed with the next file. Once you get to the last one click YES and it will reboot. Note many of the file list below may not exist but we need to check for them anyway.

If Killbox does not reboot or you get a Pending Operations type error message just reboot your PC yourself.

Now boot into SAFE MODE

Open Windows Explorer navigate to and DELETE the following: (Some of these may have already been deleted by Pocket Killbox)

Now run CCleaner. If you have Windows XP delete the contents of C:\WINDOWS\Prefetch.

Then, as an added precaution, Go to Start -> Run and type: cleanmgr and then click OK. Make sure the boxes for these are checked:
Temporary Files
Temporary Internet Files
Recycle Bin

And Click OK.

REBOOT to Normal Mode.

Post a fresh HijackThis log.

 

Thank you for reply and your help! I greatly appreciate it. I am attaching the HJT this log, as requested. I do, however, have some questions:

How can I get rid of Spyhunter? It does not come up on the Add/Remove Programs list, and for some reason I have 2 instances of it running when I boot up. I also have another program that I wish to get rid of but it doesn't show up on the Add/Remove Programs list either.

And, if my computer is ready, meaning no more spyware/trojans/malware, I would like to be able to use my old profile. Somehow I managed to make a new profile unwittingly and I can't logon to the other one. Thanks for all of your help!

 

Look in C:\Program Files\SpyHunter for an uninstaller; if one is present run it.

Otherwise do the following:
In HJT Choose Open the Misc Tools Section choose Process Manager, Highlight:

Choose Kill Process

Now Run HijackThis. Click the 'Do a system scan only' button. Place a checkmark in the box next to the following lines:

Click on the 'Fix checked' button. Wait for HijackThis to finish; close HijackThis.

Reboot to Safe Mode.

Open Windows Explorer, Navigate to C:\Program Files\SpyHunter, delete the entire folder

Reboot

Your HijackThis log appears to be clean.

As for your other profile. Sounds like you did a 'Repair' Install of XP at one time. You can transfer files between the 2 profiles, but you won't be able to log into the old one.

 

Thank you so much for the help!

Actually, to let you know how my profile thing got messed up...

I was very frustrated at Windows not letting me have security permissions for my computer so I searched in earnest for a way to do it. I discovered a page on the Microsoft site (I think it was linked from somewhere on these forums - don't know for sure) that said that I could assign permissions to different users. I did the steps in it, which involved logging into 'Administrator' in Safe Mode, and gave ownership of everything to what I thought was myself. Turns out I somehow made a new profile or something.

Now there are 2 main folders in Documents and Settings:

C:\Documents and Settings\A.SEANSCOMPUTER

and

C:\Documents and Settings\A

the latter is the one that I guess had been used before I messed it up and the former is the one it defaults to. Anyway to get it to default to the 2nd one, or am I simply out of luck?

Thanks for your help!

 

That's a question best asked in the Software Forum. Someone there could help you, in short order.

 

Thank you for your help, again, I appreciate it greatly. You saved my computer from certain death! Thanks for the reference... I shall check it out.

 

You're Welcome