Invalid Windows and more

Hi,

I posted already in the wrong section, sorry. Last week my Windows Vista (Home Premiun OEM) suddenly decide it was fake, and ordered me to authenticate. However, the necessary ID numbers were missing and after long discussions with MIcrosoft I gathered that something weird was going on. I then noticed that system restore and chdsk were both disabled. I could not run a windows reinstall or format the disk with dban as neither could find the c drive. Norton anti-virus refused to scan and then after a few days refused to update and then began to say the computer was at risk. I was also reciving a strange Windows error "The number of secrets in that may be stored in a single system has been exceeded" every time I tried to introduce the serial number into windows. I tried all the scanners and anti malwares I could find but nothing worked. Finally I tried Combofix (I know it's supposed to be dangerous but I was desperate) and it found rootkits (the name was long string of seemingly random characters beginning ovg....) and deleted them. Immediately, the machine went back to normal, windows authenticated and norton started working again. Unfortunately a few hours later the same Windows message appeared and windows is invalid again etc. I have checked the drive with WD tools, my Windows is authentic and I'm getting fairly desperate to fix this as I use my computer for a lot of things and I can't really send files or check private data knowing that the machine is infected.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Jon.

Edited by Jon27, 21 April 2009 - 01:11 PM.

Do you have a bunch of encrypted files?

A Windows NT 4 and Windows 2000 error that occurs when more than 4096 files have been encrypted on the system. This is the full error message:

1381L ERROR_TOO_MANY_SECRETS The maximum number of secrets that can be stored in a single system was exceeded. The length and number of secrets is limited to satisfy the United States State Department export restrictions.

Yet another wonderful case of the ever-helpful US government restricting the rights of users world-wide. In order to circumvent this, you need to have the domestic high encryption patch for Windows, which allows you to have more than 4096 encrypted files on the system.
everything2.com

Hi, thanks for the answer. I don't know what encrypted files are or how to find them. If it just means putting a pasword on folders then I have never done that at all. Does that error refer to Windows Vista too?

Edited by Jon27, 23 April 2009 - 05:15 AM.

Does that error refer to Windows Vista too?

I would assume so. That is the only that i could find to match the strange wording of that error message
Let's run some scans and see what shows up
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The process of cleaning your computer may require you to temporarily disable some security programs. If you are using SpyBot Search and Destroy, please refer to Note 2 at the bottom of this page.

Please download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and save it to your desktop.
alternate download link 1
alternate download link 2

• 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.

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.

Note 2:
-- MBAM may make changes to your registry as part of its disinfection routine. If you're using other security programs that detect registry changes (like Spybot's Teatimer), they may interfere with the fix or alert you after scanning with MBAM. Please disable such programs until disinfection is complete or permit them to allow the changes. To disable these programs, please view this topic: How To Temporarily Disable Your Anti-virus, Firewall And Anti-malware Programs

MBAM found nothing at all.

I've just used Dban to nuke the entire drive as I was getting really fed up of it. So I've reinstalled everything now. I have my fingers crossed that the problem won't come back but I'm not too optimistic.

Thx for help.

Edited by Jon27, 24 April 2009 - 01:16 PM.

Good Luck
Hope it works