BleepingComputer.com: Unknown Device installed

Hi, I had an "Unknown Device Installed" window coming up at start up, could anyone give me some advice please?

Here's what I did:

- I tried to remote log in to my other computer via logmein.com (a site that I've been using for a long time)
- I was prompted to grant user account control rights to install an active x control, I've seen it before, so I did that
- Then another pop up came up saying that "A website wants to open web content using this program on your computer". The program is an AVG scanning module (avgcsrvx.exe) that belongs to my AVG, so I clicked allow.

After that, I rebooted my PC, and once it's been rebooted I see a window on my desktop titled "Driver Software Installation", with the content:

Unknown Device installed
The software for this device has been successfully installed.
Unknown Device Ready to use

I haven't initiated any installation, and the only devices I have connected are my mouse and my scanner, both of which have been installed for a long time.

I restarted in Safemode to look at my system restore points, no installation/updates are reported for today.
Can't see anything on my Add/Remove programs on my Control Panel.
I ran Spybot & Destroy, as well as Malware Bytes, and nothing came up.

Is there any way to find out what unknown device was installed on my machine?
And, does this look like a malware?

I have Windows Vista, using IE7.

Many thanks for your help! Really appreciate it.

This post has been edited by garmanma: 20 February 2009 - 06:12 PM

In Device Manager, right click on The unknown device and select Properties, then click on the Details tab, then on Hardware ID in the dropdown box. It should be in this format "PCI\VEN_4444&DEV_0016&SUBSYS_40090070&REV_01"

The 4 numbers/letters after the first _ are the Vendor ID; the 4 numbers/letters after the second _ are the Device ID.
Go to this website ( http://www.pcidatabase.com/ ) and enter the Vendor ID into the Vendor Search box. In the next page, click on the link for the vendor of that device. In the next page, search for the Device ID and let us know what it says.

This post has been edited by garmanma: 17 February 2009 - 03:04 PM

Thanks garmanma. I did see an Unknown Device (under the USB Controllers category) on my Device Manager last night, but when I restarted my PC today it's no longer there. I don't know if it's gone, or if it's displayed under a different name now. Is there anything I can do now?

Actually, if it is a virus, will I be able to get rid of it by reformatting my PC?

Thanks!

[/b]

Quote

It was probably one of Vista's little hiccups. Lord knows it has enough of them
Reformat is a last resort. If it will put your mind at rest, run a SAS scan:[/b]

ATF
Please download ATF Cleaner by Atribune & save it to your desktop.

• Double-click ATF-Cleaner.exe to run the program.
  
• Under Main "Select Files to Delete" choose: Select All.
  
• Click the Empty Selected button.
  
• If you use Firefox browser click Firefox at the top and choose: Select All
  
• Click the Empty Selected button.
  If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.
  
• If you use Opera browser click Opera at the top and choose: Select All
  
• Click the Empty Selected button.
  If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.
  
• Click Exit on the Main menu to close the program.

Note: On Vista, "Windows Temp" is disabled. To empty "Windows Temp" ATF-Cleaner must be "Run as an Administrator".

------------------------------------

SAS,may take a long time to scan
Please download and scan with SUPERAntiSpyware Free

• Double-click SUPERAntiSypware.exe and use the default settings for installation.
  
• An icon will be created on your desktop. Double-click that icon to launch the program.
  
• If asked to update the program definitions, click "Yes". If not, update the definitions before scanning by selecting "Check for Updates". (If you encounter any problems while downloading the updates, manually download them from here. Double-click on the hyperlink for Download Installer and save SASDEFINITIONS.EXE to your desktop. Then double-click on SASDEFINITIONS.EXE to install the definitions.)
  
• In the Main Menu, click the Preferences... button.
  
• Click the "General and Startup" tab, and under Start-up Options, make sure "Start SUPERAntiSpyware when Windows starts" box is unchecked.
  
• Click the "Scanning Control" tab, and under Scanner Options, make sure the following are checked (leave all others unchecked):
  • Close browsers before scanning.
    
  • Scan for tracking cookies.
    
  • Terminate memory threats before quarantining.
  
  
• Click the "Close" button to leave the control center screen and exit the program.
  
• Do not run a scan just yet.

Reboot your computer in "Safe Mode" using the F8 method. To do this, restart your computer and after hearing your computer beep once during startup (but before the Windows icon appears) press the F8 key repeatedly. A menu will appear with several options. Use the arrow keys to navigate and select the option to run Windows in "Safe Mode".

Scan with SUPERAntiSpyware as follows:

• Launch the program and back on the main screen, under "Scan for Harmful Software" click Scan your computer.
  
• On the left, make sure you check C:\Fixed Drive.
  
• On the right, under "Complete Scan", choose Perform Complete Scan and click "Next".
  
• After the scan is complete, a Scan Summary box will appear with potentially harmful items that were detected. Click "OK".
  
• Make sure everything has a checkmark next to it and click "Next".
  
• A notification will appear that "Quarantine and Removal is Complete". Click "OK" and then click the "Finish" button to return to the main menu.
  
• If asked if you want to reboot, click "Yes" and reboot normally.
  
• To retrieve the removal information after reboot, launch SUPERAntispyware again.
  • Click Preferences, then click the Statistics/Logs tab.
    
  • Under Scanner Logs, double-click SUPERAntiSpyware Scan Log.
    
  • If there are several logs, click the current dated log and press View log. A text file will open in your default text editor.
    
  • Please copy and paste the Scan Log results in your next reply.
  
  
• Click Close to exit the program.

Thanks a lot Mark!

I will download and scan with SAS tonight when I get home and will post the log here. Cheers.

Hi Mark,

I just finished scanning with SAS in Safemode and two items were found. I couldn't find where the log file is stored so I will just type what I saw on the screen here:

Adware.MyWebSearch/FunWebProducts[2 items]

Registry Keys

HKCR\CLSID\{9ABF....}
HKCR\CLSID\{9ABF....}\TreatAs

I googled the above and it looks like they are related to Ask.com toolbar. I never installed that myself, but I found in on my list of IE add-ons so I suppose they came with my PC or got bundled up with something else I had installed.

Another thing I noticed today, the network configuration window (the one where you select whether you are using a home network, work network, or public) came up itself once my machine restarted. I hadn't done anything that can be related to my network connection. Does it look like something that I have to pay attention to?

Thanks again.

This post has been edited by ohanna: 19 February 2009 - 12:11 AM

Quote

They add those stupid toolbars everywhere. Ifit bothers you, try searching for the ask toolbar folder and delete it

Quote

Let us know if it continues and I'll research some more

Why don't we try one more different scan
---------------------------


Please download Dr.Web CureIt, the free version & save it to your desktop. DO NOT perform a scan yet.

Reboot your computer in "Safe Mode" using the F8 method. To do this, restart your computer and after hearing your computer beep once during startup (but before the Windows icon appears) press the F8 key repeatedly. A menu will appear with several options. Use the arrow keys to navigate and select the option to run Windows in "Safe Mode".

Scan with Dr.Web CureIt as follows:

• Double-click on launch.exe to open the program and click Start. (There is no need to update if you just downloaded the most current version
  
• Read the Virus check by DrWeb scanner prompt and click Ok where asked to Start scan now? Allow the setup.exe to load if asked by any of your security programs.
  
• The Express scan will automatically begin.
  (This is a short scan of files currently running in memory, boot sectors, and targeted folders).
  
• If prompted to dowload the Full version Free Trial, ignore and click the X to close the window.
  
• If an infected object is found, you will be prompted to move anything that cannot be cured. Click Yes to All.
  
• When complete, click Select All, then choose Cure > Move incurable.
  (This will move any detected files to the C:\Documents and Settings\userprofile\DoctorWeb\Quarantine folder if they can't be cured)

• Now put a check next to Complete scan to scan all local disks and removable media.
  
• In the top menu, click Settings > Change settings, and UNcheck "Heuristic analysis" under the "Scanning" tab, then click Ok.
  
• Back at the main window, click the green arrow "Start Scanning" button on the right under the Dr.Web logo.
  
• When the scan is complete, a message will be displayed at the bottom indicating if any viruses were found.
  
• Click "Yes to all" if asked to cure or move the file(s) and select "Move incurable".
  
• In the top menu, click file and choose save report list.
  
• Save the DrWeb.csv report to your desktop.
  
• Exit Dr.Web Cureit when done.
  
• Important! Reboot your computer because it could be possible that files in use will be moved/deleted during reboot.
  
• After reboot, post the contents of the log from Dr.Web in your next reply. (You can use Notepad to open the DrWeb.cvs report)

Thanks Mark. The "set network location" window repeated twice yesterday, haven't seen it today... yet.

My network has been very slow (it's just a problem with my ISP) and I haven't been able to download DrCure, so instead I downloaded gmer.zip, unzipped it to a temporary location, and ran gmer.exe from the temp location. It started to run and was scanning. I came back 5 minutes or so and saw a window saying that gmer has been stopped do you want to check for online solution. I closed that window, copied gmer.exe from the temp location to my desktop, restarted it, and then saw a blue screen (please see below for details).

I restarted windows in safe mode and restored my PC, and it seems to be okay now. Is there anything I can do at this point? The blue screen was pretty frightening.

Many thanks for your help.

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 1000008e
BCP1: C0000005
BCP2: 993BEA48
BCP3: A68B4BF0
BCP4: 00000000
OS Version: 6_0_6001
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 768_1

Files that help describe the problem:
-> These files are no longer present