BleepingComputer.com: Multiple Bsod's

I recently changed antivirus programs from my school supplied Symantec Antivirus, to Kaspersly Antivirus and this is when my problems began... I received the first of four BSODs with the reason of "Bad Pool Caller" i realize this is usually a driver issue or an issue caused by a buggy program, so i figured my copy of kasperksy was bad somehow, and i uninstalled and switched to the free version of Avast! and had it run a boot up scan. It found a virus called "CTX" so i put it in the quarantine (called the chest for some reason in this program.) I have not had a blue screen since i performed the boot scan, and here is the stop error code that same up with it:

0x000000c2 (0x00000007, 0x00000cd4, 0x00005728, 0x86df1bc0)


it gave an event id of "1001" as well. what could my problem be? Oh, last thing, i ran the panda active scan earlier and it did not find any virii, only some spy ware that i used spybot s&d to remove.

What should I do? would a hjt log be appropriate in helping to diagnose this issue?

on edit: sorry im a bit frazzled about this whole thing, I have windows XP on a intel 2.8Ghz CPU; 1GB of RAM, and OS is on a 40 GB Hdd. no external videos cards or audio cards are used. (i have a dell dimension 3000)

This post has been edited by purple frog: 01 April 2008 - 12:33 AM

I believe this is either a memory issue or a clash between to AV's, but a lost certain it is not malware. Have you been able scan with either? When did you last scan and was it clean? I've a recommendation or two. I am also moving this topic to the AntiVirus, Firewall and Privacy Products and Protection Methods for now.

After running the this tool Download and run the Norton Removal Tool and un/reinstalling the Kaspersky see if it is working now and the BSOD has stopped.

If not start a new topic in the internal hardware section. I feel it may be a memory issue. You can also read this on the error. Bad Pool Caller
.

Well, one of my thoughts was the hardware issue, but I ran the Memtest 86 thing last night all night (started it just before i went to bed, and ended it once i got up in the morning) and it had no errors at all reported from any of the tests. something new though is that it stayed on all day today while i was at class/work, but when i got home tonight and tried opening firefox, i got another blue screen, but not the bad pool caller instead i got:

0x1000000a (0x00000000, 0x00000002, 0x00000001, 0x804dc11d).

I ran the debugger on the crash dump and got this:

BugCheck 1000000A, {0, 2, 1, 804dc11d}

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for aswMon2.SYS
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for aswMon2.SYS


Probably caused by : aswMon2.SYS ( aswMon2+6a1e )

Followup: MachineOwner

I believe that is for my antivirus, but i have never seen something needing to have the 2 after it, implying to me that this would be a second monitor for my antivirus i am currently using (which is Avast! free as of now)

aswmon2.sys information. There are numerous reports at the avast forums but most of them are old.

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Have you ever performed an online scan with Panda ActiveScan?

pskavs.dll and pskahk.dll are a legitimate files installed by Panda ActiveScan but there are some anti-virus vendors that flag them as malicious - i.e. Win32:CTX.

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avast detects ActiveScan as virus

yes, I did perform an active scan before running avast! avast just recently detected a rootkit in the pgfilter.sys file for peerguaridan 2 Im not sure if that is real or not either, but something fishy is going on with my computer.

Some rootkits can trigger BSODs, shutdowns and error messages so download and scan with AVG Anti-Rootkit or Sophos Anti-rootkit.

well i ran the sophos anti rootkit and nothing was found, but after about 4 more blue screens, I got into safe mode long enough to get rid of Avast! and my Peer Guardian, so far i havent had any issues (i have been on for 1.5 hours so far) but now I am in need of a trust worthy antivirus bc kaspersky and Avast seem to give my computer fits.

Free:
Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus (also provides some rootkit detection and removal))

Paid for:
NOD32 Anti-Virus Personal

thanks, and so far no more BSODs since uninstalling PG and avast! I think im going to reinstall peerguardian though because i really liked it blocking the badies; I am currently using teh free trial for bitdefender and so far i really like it. I havent noticed any large footprint that it leaves like some other antiviruses i have used (except for when it was doing the deep scan obviously) Thank you for your help, feel free to close this topic.

Your welcome.

To protect yourself against malware and reduce the potential for re-infection, be sure to read:
• "Simple and easy ways to keep your computer safe".
• "How did I get infected?, With steps so it does not happen again!".
• "Best Practices - Internet Safety for 2008".
• "Hardening Windows Security - Part 1 & Part 2".