BleepingComputer.com: No Applications opening [Moved]

Alright, hey there everyone. Thanks for taking the time out to read this.

I went to a website (I've gone to this site before and had no problems. It's a webcomic) and had an issue where Internet Explorer kept opening that same page over and over. I exited out of them as quickly as I could and attempted to open Control Alt Delete to end the program, but I couldn't open it. Eventually I was forced to restart my computer. When it booted up again everything seemed to be okay, until my Comodo firewall popped up and told me something called Sync Windows Services was attempting to connect to the Internet. Before I could say allow or deny, my computer flashed to that blue windows shut down screen and said "Saving your settings..." I had no idea what to do, as I didn't prompt this in any way and I didn't know if it was something dangerous or what was going on. Now, here's where I probably did something really, really stupid: I forced a restart in the middle of that "saving your settings" process. It was my first reaction to something like that popping up out of nowhere, and I'm currently regretting it.

Okay, so, to the meat of the problem. I started my computer up again, but this time when it booted I was greeted with many "<Application> had to close suddenly, would you like to send an error report?" messages. They all seemed to be connected to my taskbar icons, the regular stuff that would start up when my computer did. This was distressing. I went to open Firefox, only to find that absolutely nothing happened. So I tried to open up my MSN browser, which shut down in the middle of the log-in screen and gave me an error message. I'm able to open Internet Explorer, and while it gives me an error message, as long as I don't select the "send" or "don't send" buttons it stays open and I'm able to post this. The little game applications like Hearts and Freecell will open, while my media player will not open. Every couple minutes I'll get an error message about something called "Apple Mobile Device Service," and I'm assuming that's some sort of program that's attempting to start but is getting blocked by whatever's wrong.

Now I'm currently seeing that little windows bubble pop up that says "Your computer is infected with spyware, click here, etc." When I click it, nothing seems to happen. Nothing opens or anything, at least. When I attempt to open my antivirus application, nothing happens.

It occurs to me that maybe this topic should've gone in "spyware" or something, but the bubble didn't come up until I was already in the middle of posting this, and to be honest I'm not sure if Spyware is really the issue here. It may be, I'm not an expert, but I didn't know spyware had the power to mess things up this badly.

Sorry for bothering you with this, folks, I am just at a loss as to what I need to do. I don't even know if this is the proper forum to place this, as I have absolutely no idea what's wrong.

Hello,

I am moving this topic from the XP forum to the Am I Infected forum where folks can help you out.

Orange Blossom

Is there any way I could get some help from someone? >.< All calls and conversations with technicians lead nowhere. I just get transferred over and over.

This sounds like a nasty newer infection called SystemSecurity

Here's a guide for ProcessExplorer temporarily unloading the nasty which will allow you to use other tools to clean with.

http://www.malwarebytes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=17583

Please download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (v1.38) and save it to your desktop.
alternate download link 1
alternate download link 2
If you have a previous version of MBAM, remove it via Add/Remove Programs and download a fresh copy.

• Make sure you are connected to the Internet.
  
• Double-click on mbam-setup.exe to install the application.
  
• When the installation begins, follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
  
• When installation has finished, make sure you leave both of these checked:
  • Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
    
  • Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
  
  
• Then click Finish.

MBAM will automatically start and you will be asked to update the program before performing a scan.

• If an update is found, the program will automatically update itself.
  
• Press the OK button to close that box and continue.
  
• If you encounter any problems while downloading the updates, manually download them from here and just double-click on mbam-rules.exe to install. Alternatively, you can update through MBAM's interface from a clean computer, copy the definitions (rules.ref) located in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware from that system to a usb stick or CD and then copy it to the infected machine.

On the Scanner tab:

• Make sure the "Perform Quick Scan" option is selected.
  
• Then click on the Scan button.
  
• If asked to select the drives to scan, leave all the drives selected and click on the Start Scan button.
  
• The scan will begin and "Scan in progress" will show at the top. It may take some time to complete so please be patient.
  
• When the scan is finished, a message box will say "The scan completed successfully. Click 'Show Results' to display all objects found".
  
• Click OK to close the message box and continue with the removal process.

Back at the main Scanner screen:

• Click on the Show Results button to see a list of any malware that was found.
  
• Make sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.
  
• When removal is completed, a log report will open in Notepad.
  
• The log is automatically saved and can be viewed by clicking the Logs tab in MBAM.
  
• Copy and paste the contents of that report in your next reply and exit MBAM.

Note: If MBAM encounters a file that is difficult to remove, you may be asked to reboot your computer so it can proceed with the disinfection process. Regardless if prompted to restart the computer or not, please do so immediately. Failure to reboot normally (not into safe mode) will prevent MBAM from removing all the malware. MBAM may "make changes to your registry" as part of its disinfection routine. If using other security programs that detect registry changes (ie Spybot's Teatimer), they may interfere or alert you after scanning with MBAM. Please temporarily disable such programs or permit them to allow the changes.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic114351.html

I'm afraid it might not be System Security that's causing all the trouble. I've never downloaded anything like that, and I've never seen the screenshots in the thread you linked to. When running the Process Explorer I cannot find System Security to terminate it.

I attempted to run the MBAM program, and I'll usually get a couple minutes into the scan before the screen pops up saying that MBAM had a problem and will have to close. I'm able to ignore that pop-up and the scan will keep going, but when I eventually get the option of removing the malware, MBAM will freeze and refuse to respond.

Thank you for the response, though, I was so hopeful for a bit there.

If there's any more information I can give to make solving the problem easier, please let me know.

That guide was just one example of an infection that has many variants and changes from week to week.

Please download and run Processexplorer


http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinte...s/bb896653.aspx

Under file and save as, create a log and post here

copy and paste into a reply

Hopefully this is correct.


Process PID CPU Description Company Name
System Idle Process 0 84.62
Interrupts n/a Hardware Interrupts
DPCs n/a 0.77 Deferred Procedure Calls
System 4 1.54
smss.exe 700 Windows NT Session Manager Microsoft Corporation
csrss.exe 748 Client Server Runtime Process Microsoft Corporation
winlogon.exe 780 Windows NT Logon Application Microsoft Corporation
services.exe 828 Services and Controller app Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1068 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
wmiprvse.exe 2728 WMI Microsoft Corporation
unsecapp.exe 2896 WMI Microsoft Corporation
ehmsas.exe 2916 Media Center Media Status Aggregator Service Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1184 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1380 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
wscntfy.exe 2828 Windows Security Center Notification App Microsoft Corporation
wuauclt.exe 2560 Windows Update Automatic Updates Microsoft Corporation
wuauclt.exe 1988 Windows Update Automatic Updates Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1608 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1708 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
aswUpdSv.exe 1824 avast! Antivirus updating service ALWIL Software
LEXBCES.EXE 300 LexBce Service Lexmark International, Inc.
LEXPPS.EXE 692 LEXPPS.EXE Lexmark International, Inc.
spoolsv.exe 728 Spooler SubSystem App Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 2332 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
CTSVCCDA.EXE 2652 Creative Service for CDROM Access Creative Technology Ltd
ehrecvr.exe 2844 Media Center Receiver Service Microsoft Corporation
ehSched.exe 2952 Media Center Scheduler Service Microsoft Corporation
nvsvc32.exe 3404 NVIDIA Driver Helper Service, Version 77.74 NVIDIA Corporation
PnkBstrA.exe 3452
svchost.exe 3536 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 3728 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
ViewpointService.exe 3800 ViewMgr Viewpoint Corporation
mcrdsvc.exe 3864 MCRD Device Service Microsoft Corporation
dlcjcoms.exe 1388 Printer Communication System
iPodService.exe 1956 iPodService Module Apple Inc.
drwtsn32.exe 3000 DrWatson Postmortem Debugger Microsoft Corporation
dllhost.exe 2160 COM Surrogate Microsoft Corporation
alg.exe 1592 Application Layer Gateway Service Microsoft Corporation
AppleMobileDeviceService.exe 4008 Apple Mobile Device Service Apple Inc.
drwtsn32.exe 1704 DrWatson Postmortem Debugger Microsoft Corporation
lsass.exe 840 LSA Shell (Export Version) Microsoft Corporation
explorer.exe 216 0.77 Windows Explorer Microsoft Corporation
rundll32.exe 528 Run a DLL as an App Microsoft Corporation
nvraidservice.exe 548 NVIDIA RAID Service English language NVIDIA Corporation
CTDVDDET.exe 572 CTDVDDET Creative Technology Ltd
CTHELPER.EXE 584 CtHelper Application Creative Technology Ltd
DVDLauncher.exe 608 CyberLink PowerCinema Resident Program CyberLink Corp.
tfswctrl.exe 620 Drive Letter Access Component Sonic Solutions
issch.exe 656 InstallShield Update Service Scheduler InstallShield Software Corporation
dlcjmon.exe 1744 DellDevice Monitor Dell
memcard.exe 1948 Memory Card Manager Executable
MaxMenuMgr.exe 1228 Maxtor Status Icon Maxtor Corporation
RTDCPL.EXE 1996 Realtek AC97 Audio Control Panel Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
ctfmon.exe 496 CTF Loader Microsoft Corporation
daemon.exe 756 DAEMON Tools Lite DT Soft Ltd
iexplore.exe 636 Internet Explorer Microsoft Corporation
dwwin.exe 2508 Microsoft Application Error Reporting Microsoft Corporation
procexp.exe 3940 3.85 Sysinternals Process Explorer Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com
dwwin.exe 2104 8.46 Microsoft Application Error Reporting Microsoft Corporation
drwtsn32.exe 2536 DrWatson Postmortem Debugger Microsoft Corporation
drwtsn32.exe 3336 DrWatson Postmortem Debugger Microsoft Corporation

Looks like a disaster, I wonder if something is fighting avast, can you try to access avast from safe mode and schedule a boot scan?

I did a boot scan with Avast and got rid of everything there. I also managed to complete a full scan with MBAM and it found nothing malicious.

Sadly, nothing has changed.

What did Avast find? A few more clues will help.

Disable Avast, see if you can get Rootrepeal to run even if from safe mode.

http://rootrepeal.googlepages.com/

http://rootrepeal.googlepages.com/RootRepeal.zip

Just use the file tab at the bottom, scan and paste the report into a reply here please

The RootRepeal didn't find anything that hasn't been there for years. It only found two things, saved logos from my Battlefield II game and my saved MSN conversations.

Path: C:\Documents and Settings\<Name Removed>\My Documents\My Pictures\My Games\Battlefield 2\mods\bf2\cache\{D7B71E3E-43D1-11CF-306D-F22200C2CB35}_2696_3\rashaderbmhasuvanimationhasnormalmaphasenvmapusehemimaphasshadowhasstaticglosshasdot3alphatesthashemiocclusion.cfx

Path: C:\Documents and Settings\<Name Removed>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Messenger\<e-mail removed>\SharingMetadata\<e-mail removed>\DfsrPrivate\Staging\CS{847B1E9F-C413-D47C-BF1E-96C14E852CB1}\51\1258-{F2D01E45-E363-4759-BF7B-7E76C3EA2A21}-v1251-{F2D01E45-E363-4759-BF7B-7E76C3EA2A21}-v1258-Downloaded.frx

All of the files look like these two.

-----

I'm afraid I didn't save any names from my Avast scan, but they're gone, right? I can run Avast again and keep track of anything it finds, if that will help.

Try Uninstalling MBAM in add/remove programs, reboot then run the clean tool

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam-clean.exe

Reboot



Please download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (v1.38) and save it to your desktop.
alternate download link 1
alternate download link 2
If you have a previous version of MBAM, remove it via Add/Remove Programs and download a fresh copy.

• Make sure you are connected to the Internet.
  
• Double-click on mbam-setup.exe to install the application.
  
• When the installation begins, follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
  
• When installation has finished, make sure you leave both of these checked:
  • Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
    
  • Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
  
  
• Then click Finish.

MBAM will automatically start and you will be asked to update the program before performing a scan.

• If an update is found, the program will automatically update itself.
  
• Press the OK button to close that box and continue.
  
• If you encounter any problems while downloading the updates, manually download them from here and just double-click on mbam-rules.exe to install. Alternatively, you can update through MBAM's interface from a clean computer, copy the definitions (rules.ref) located in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware from that system to a usb stick or CD and then copy it to the infected machine.

On the Scanner tab:

• Make sure the "Perform Quick Scan" option is selected.
  
• Then click on the Scan button.
  
• If asked to select the drives to scan, leave all the drives selected and click on the Start Scan button.
  
• The scan will begin and "Scan in progress" will show at the top. It may take some time to complete so please be patient.
  
• When the scan is finished, a message box will say "The scan completed successfully. Click 'Show Results' to display all objects found".
  
• Click OK to close the message box and continue with the removal process.

Back at the main Scanner screen:

• Click on the Show Results button to see a list of any malware that was found.
  
• Make sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.
  
• When removal is completed, a log report will open in Notepad.
  
• The log is automatically saved and can be viewed by clicking the Logs tab in MBAM.
  
• Copy and paste the contents of that report in your next reply and exit MBAM.

Note: If MBAM encounters a file that is difficult to remove, you may be asked to reboot your computer so it can proceed with the disinfection process. Regardless if prompted to restart the computer or not, please do so immediately. Failure to reboot normally (not into safe mode) will prevent MBAM from removing all the malware. MBAM may "make changes to your registry" as part of its disinfection routine. If using other security programs that detect registry changes (ie Spybot's Teatimer), they may interfere or alert you after scanning with MBAM. Please temporarily disable such programs or permit them to allow the changes.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic114351.html

Try to be specific about any part that won't work.

There doesn't seem to be anything wrong. I'm so lost on what to do about this.


Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.39
Database version: 2421
Windows 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3

7/28/2009 10:33:57 AM
mbam-log-2009-07-28 (10-33-57).txt

Scan type: Quick Scan
Objects scanned: 115159
Time elapsed: 10 minute(s), 33 second(s)

Memory Processes Infected: 0
Memory Modules Infected: 0
Registry Keys Infected: 0
Registry Values Infected: 0
Registry Data Items Infected: 0
Folders Infected: 0
Files Infected: 0

Memory Processes Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Memory Modules Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Keys Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Values Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Data Items Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Folders Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Files Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Use process explorer to unload some of the non essentials processes and see if it helps

Before we start fixing anything you should print out these instructions or copy them to a NotePad file so they will be accessible. Some steps will require you to disconnect from the Internet or use Safe Mode and you will not have access to this page.

Please download DrWeb-CureIt and 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)

Okay, I'm currently following along with those instructions. The thing is... in the middle of running all of this, Firefox opened. I haven't been able to open Firefox since all of this happened, and it looks like I'm able to open other programs and applications without any error message appearing.

I ran MBAM in Safe Mode, and got rid of one thing. I then ran a boot scan with Avast (it took nine hours to complete, so I really wasn't able to list everything it got rid of). After doing both of those, I restarted and the computer was still broken. Then I started following your directions and installed Dr. Cureit. The quick scan caught something called win32clod.dll and I got rid of it, and then I started the complete scan. A couple minutes after I started the scan Firefox opened and things seemed to be working okay.

I'm not sure what to do at this point, I'm continuing the scan and everything, but I'm slightly afraid to restart the computer lest it turns out that this is some crazy fluke. Is there any way, now that this is working, to better figure out what was going wrong?