BleepingComputer.com: Malware resistant to purging - search redirect behavior

Greetings and thanks in advance for any help you can provide -

I am running Windows XP Service Pack 2.

Computer was running fine, with minimal software load (have only had the computer for 6 months) when I noticed a common problem reported here: when typing in searches in any browser (Firefox, IE, for example) I am often redirected to other sites and noticing a lot of "google-analytics" in the bottom left corner of the browser. Certainly appears that I somehow got some malware that has embedded a piece of malware that is redirecting my clicks after I hit on a search result. It does it mainly with malware or software-related searches, but has hit other links as well.

The computer is not functioning slowly at all, it is just getting redirected most of the time.

I have run AVG, Kaspersky (from a bootable CD drive), Spybot S&D, PCTools, and Avast. All have declared the computer clean. However, I did notice the last time I ran Spybot S&D, it gave me only one minor virus hit, but about 200 lines that said it had an error reading certain hex addresses. It was as if SPYbot found an anomoly, but the malware prevented it from identifying it as a malware and it read out as a read error instead.

I have n doubt that this is a common problem you have seen. This malware is really annoying, but has never ocked up or shut down my computer, and I believe this is the result of a single, limited piece of malware as opposed to a systemic and multiple amount of malware on my system. This is the first and only time my computer has "acted" up and I have always had Avast running and up-to-date. It is possible I (or my girlfriend) launched an executable in an email and let in some malware that otherwise would have been unable to penetrate Avast.

Please let me know the procedure you would like me to use to diagnose and hopefully cure the problem.

Or, should I just upgrade to Windows 7 and will that do such a restructuring of the system that it is almost guaranteed to obliterate any problems. I had planned on migrating to Windows 7 anyway and maybe that is the easier path?

Thanks,

Victor

This post has been edited by hamluis: 22 October 2010 - 04:31 PM
Reason for edit: Moved from XP forum to Am I Infected ~ Hamluis.

Hi, start off by doing a scan with Malwarebytes Antimalware

Quote

~ Courtesy of boopme

Please download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and save it to your desktop.

• 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 or here and just double-click on mbam-rules.exe to install.
  
• 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 you're using other security programs that detect registry changes, they may alert you after scanning with MBAM. Please permit the program to allow the changes.
For a complete visual tutorial of MBAM, see http://thespykiller.co.uk/index.php/topic,5946.0.html

Please include the following in your reply:
MBAM log