3 replies to this topic

[symbiosis7]

Hi - I seem to have acquired something that most people are calling "ransomware", although it has not asked me for money. My computer starts up, the generic blue desktop shows up briefly, and then the entire screen from bezel to bezel goes white, with a short message in the upper left that says "Please connect to the internet....".

 

I took it upon myself to try a simple fix from a Microsoft tech website, and I booted as Administrator in safemode and reverted to a System Restore Point approximately a week before the white screen first showed up. The machine now boots normally, except that I receive an error message late in the startup process:

 

"avguard.exe has encountered a problem, and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience". 

 There is information screen about the error signature, but it is composed entirely of blank fields or zero values (ex. ".0.0.0.0")

 

Is there more that I should do? It's an old machine with Windows XP home, SP3.

 

Thanks,

Tom

 

 

 

 

[OCD]

Hi symbiosis7,

I apologize for the delay. If has been quite a few days since you generated the logs for review. If you still need assistance, please run the following scans and post the corresponding logs generated.

The avguard.exe error message you are receiving is related to AVG anti-virus software.

=========================

My name is OCD. I would be more than happy to take a look at your log and help you with solving any malware problems you might have. Logs can take a while to research, so please be patient and know that I am working hard to get you a clean and functional system back in your hands. I'd be grateful if you would note the following:

• I will be working on your Malware issues, this may or may not, solve other issues you have with your machine.
• The fixes are specific to your problem and should only be used for the issues on this machine.
• Please continue to review my answers until I tell you your machine appears to be clear. Absence of symptoms does not mean that everything is clear.
• It's often worth reading through these instructions and printing them for ease of reference.
• If you don't know or understand something, please don't hesitate to say or ask!! It's better to be sure and safe than sorry.
• Please reply to this thread. Do not start a new topic.
• Copy and Paste logs directly into the reply window. DO NOT attach the logs unless specifically instructed to do so.

IMPORTANT NOTE : Please do not delete, download or install anything unless instructed to do so.

DO NOT use any TOOLS such as Combofix or HijackThis fixes without supervision. Doing so could make your system inoperable and could require a full reinstall of your Operating System and losing all your programs and data.

Please stay with this topic until I let you know that your system appears to be "All Clear"

Important: All tools MUST be run from the Desktop.

=========================

Security Check

Download Security Check by screen317 from here or here.

• Save it to your Desktop.
  • Windows XP : Double click on the icon to run it.
  • Windows Vista, Windows 7 & 8 : Right click and select "Run as Administrator"
• A Notepad document should open automatically called checkup.txt; please post the contents of that document.

=========================

aswMBR

Download aswMBR.exe and save it to your desktop.

• • Windows XP : Double click on the icon to run it.
  • Windows Vista, Windows 7 & 8 : Right click and select "Run as Administrator"
• When asked if you want to download Avast's virus definitions please select Yes.
• Click Scan
• Upon completion of the scan, click Save log and save it to your desktop, and post that log in your next reply for review. Note - do NOT attempt any Fix yet.
• You will also notice another file created on the desktop named MBR.dat. Right click that file and select Send To>Compressed (zipped) file. Attach that zipped file in your next reply as well.

=========================
OTL

Download OTL to your desktop.

• Make sure all other windows are closed and to let it run uninterrupted.
  • Windows XP : Double click on the icon to run it.
  • Windows Vista, Windows 7 & 8 : Right click and select "Run as Administrator"
• When the window appears, underneath Output at the top change it to Minimal Output.
• Check the boxes beside LOP Check and Purity Check.
• Under Custom Scan paste this in
  
  %USERPROFILE%\..|smtmp;true;true;true /FP
  %temp%\smtmp\*.* /s >
  /md5start
  iexplore.*
  explorer.*
  winlogon.*
  dll
  zx.dll
  hlp.dat
  consrv.dll
  services.*
  /md5stop
  netsvcs
  drivers32
  %SYSTEMDRIVE%\*.*
  %systemroot%\Fonts\*.com
  %systemroot%\Fonts\*.dll
  %systemroot%\Fonts\*.ini
  %systemroot%\Fonts\*.ini2
  %systemroot%\Fonts\*.exe
  %systemroot%\system32\spool\prtprocs\w32x86\*.*
  %systemroot%\REPAIR\*.bak1
  %systemroot%\REPAIR\*.ini
  %systemroot%\system32\*.jpg
  %systemroot%\*.jpg
  %systemroot%\*.png
  %systemroot%\*.scr
  %systemroot%\*._sy
  %APPDATA%\Adobe\Update\*.*
  %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Favorites\*.*
  %APPDATA%\Microsoft\*.*
  %PROGRAMFILES%\*.*
  %APPDATA%\Update\*.*
  %systemroot%\*. /mp /s
  dir "%systemdrive%\*" /S /A:L /C
  CREATERESTOREPOINT
  %systemroot%\System32\config\*.sav
  %PROGRAMFILES%\bak. /s
  %systemroot%\system32\bak. /s
  %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu\*.lnk /x
  %systemroot%\system32\config\systemprofile\*.dat /x
  %systemroot%\*.config
  %systemroot%\system32\*.db
  %PROGRAMFILES%\Internet Explorer\*.dat
  %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\*.lnk /x
  %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\*.exe
  %PROGRAMFILES%\Common Files\*.*
  %systemroot%\*.src
  %systemroot%\install\*.*
  %systemroot%\system32\DLL\*.*
  %systemroot%\system32\HelpFiles\*.*
  %systemroot%\system32\rundll\*.*
  %systemroot%\winn32\*.*
  %systemroot%\Java\*.*
  %systemroot%\system32\test\*.*
  %systemroot%\system32\Rundll32\*.*
  %systemroot%\AppPatch\Custom\*.*
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update\Results\Install|LastSuccessTime /rs
  BASESERVICES
  DRIVES
  CREATERESTOREPOINT
• Click the Run Scan button. Do not change any settings unless otherwise told to do so. The scan wont take long.
  • When the scan completes, it will open two notepad windows. OTL.Txt and Extras.Txt. These are saved in the same location as OTL.
  • Please copy (Edit->Select All, Edit->Copy) the contents of these files, one at a time, and post it with your next reply.
  • You may need two posts to fit them both in.

=========================

In your next post please provide the following:

• checkup.txt
• aswMBR.txt
• attach MBR.zip
• OTL.txt
• Extras.txt

[OCD]

Hi symbiosis7,

Just checking in to see if you still need help?

[OCD]

Due to inactivity this topic will be closed.
If you need help please start a new thread.

New members follow the instructions here http://forums.whatth...ed_t106388.html and start a new topic