hijackthis log file

did you boot into the recovery console or just try a regular bootup?

into the recovery console

have you got a command prompt?

no it rebooted again and i am sitting at the password screen for the hardware

OK, this seems like a hardware failure of some type - unrelated to what we have done so far… If you have the time to wait…I have just posted in our experts forum looking for help…. just shut the machine down and hopefully we will come up with a solution to resolve this…there was nothing in that OTLI script to have caused this, so we're dealing with something else…. I may not have an answer till tonight….if you can hold off till then

i would be happy to wait. the hard drive is a western digital, 80GB. it is about two (2) years old. i look forward to speaking with you this evening. thank you. bob b

OK great, I would like to find a resolution for you for this…. thanks for your patience

Hi bobb4503,
,
The Malware Team has invited me here to see if the situation with your machine can be improved.
First I suggest you disconnect your Internet connection (pull the plug) then disconnect any peripherals that are connected to your machine, remove any USB/firewire devices ( unplug them) empty all disc caddies. trays etc, the object is to have just the computer your VDU, power cable, mouse and keyboard connected, and absolutely nothing else. Double check that no memory cards perhaps from your camera or flash drives, printers scanners etc have been overlooked, next, try (once only) a boot into safe mode (last good config)..if no joy then:

I suggest you try this….
1 go here on a working machine:

http://www.digitalalchemy.tv/2008/02/hard-…pair-tools.html
and download the Data Lifeguard diagnostic Tool run it and see how you go.

2 If your hard drive is failing or has failed there's a chance you may be able to access it and copy off any important data….. so try this:

3 Go here on a working machine:
http://www.puppylinux.com/download/index.html
and download Linux Puppy 4.1.2 you will find full instructions on how to burn the iso as an image,
When you have created the bootable cd, boot your machine from it and see if you can access your c drive.. if you can then take the opportunity to bring your back up/archive/copy of all your important files settings and data up to date…..Puppy will be able to handle a USB external hard drive or flash drive to store your back up/archive/copy to make it complete.

4 NOTE you should try to get your important stuff safely copied off at a single attempt…..trying to restart your machine just one or two extra times may expedite the complete failure of your hard drive.

5 If your drive is failing (its not certain,that its failing…but it is a good possibility) then you will need to buy a new drive (fortunately they are very inexpensive nowadays) and then install Windows afresh together with your drivers, applications and of course updates.

6 From your logs it seems that Peer to Peer (P2P) file-sharing applications may have been installed on your machine. File sharing by these methods is a well known vector for the distribution of malicious code and large numbers of machines are infected by this route, the effects can be devastating and sometimes a format and reinstall of the operating system is necessary……For these reasons I recommend that you do not install or use P2P file sharing or similar applications, e.g. Lime wire etc.

7 If your machine has been used to download files (P2P) file-sharing, especially copyrighted material illegally, then your files even though backed up safely to removable media may also be infected and therefore your backup/archive/copy should be considered as potentially compromised.
Let us know how you go.
Regards
paws

hi paws,

thank you for coming over to lend assistance.

i pulled the hard drive and took it to a computer techie i know.

he tested it and found that the drive was ok. there were no bad sectors nor was there a problem with the boot sector or any of about ten other issues he tested for.

the bottom line is that i have to start from scratch and reinstall everything.

in the long run, that probably isn't a bad idea anyway.

i have purchased a new western digital 7200rpm hard drive and i will start installing that in a few minutes.

my computer techie gave me instructions to use this primary hdd as a slave to retrieve my info from it.

luckily, i did not save any important info on it, i saved everything in so far as documents, photos and important files on my d drive.
which was not affected.

i will keep you guys informed as to my progress.

Again, I very much appreciate your efforts and interest in my problem and all the work, thought and help that CatByte and his compatriots rendered in the past few days.

Thank you Guys (and girls, if applicable).

I will be back.

Respectfully,

bob bush
h_bobby***********@comcast.net (E-mail address edited by paws to try and keep the bad guys from flooding your Inbox)

Hi bobb4503, That sounds like a good outcome. A brand new hard drive with a fresh installation of Windows provides some "peace of mind" for the future. When your machine is all up and running, fast and sweet, then maybe its time to consider making a "disc image"of your boot partition using something like, Drive Image, Paragon, Ghost, Acronis etc….. (verify the disc image once its made, to ensure its reproducible)…so If in the future…. disaster strikes again (we all hope it doesn't.. but it's always a possibility) then a disc image kept safe on an external drive can have your machine up and running again in next to no time. This can be a real help when the operating system cannot be fixed in a timely or cost effective way by the usual means. Regards paws

Thank you for the email edit. i was thinking about doing a semi full backup with my second hdd. given your comment, is it something i could do with say a 16gb sandisk usb drive? would that be workable or would i physically need to swap the old and backup hdd to restore as you suggest ? bob b

Hi,
If you are thinking of making a "disc image" then its fine to keep it on a drive separate to your boot drive, and….. no, there is no need to physically open your machine to swop drives should you need to re-image your C drive

A USB flash drive is supported by most modern disc imaging software these days……..as you have a 16GB flash drive, this may or may not provide sufficient capacity depending on the size of your boot partition. In general using a "normal" or "default" compression setting in the disc imaging software (E.G. Acronis or similar) will provide "as a rule of thumb" an image of your boot partition of somewhere around 50% to 60% of its original size. If you are intent on using disc imaging for a complete back up of everything on your machine , then your separate drive (for holding your "disc image") should be at least as large as the total size of the files to be imaged.

Please post back here if you have now completed the operations necessary to get your machine working, and I will return you to the Malware Team so they can move to closing this topic and give you their guidance on keeping free from malware and surfing safely in the future.

if you have any further questions, on disc imaging, then please open a new topic here:
http://forums.whatthetech.com/Microsoft_Windows_f119.html
and we will do our best to help.
Regards
paws