Slow Computer - Malware?

Welcome. Thank you for using Dell Community Forums.

I am reviewing your log. At first glance I see that you have a dialer on there: http://www.spywareguide.com/product_show.php?id=456

We should take care of that as soon as possible. While I review the rest of the log, you can help me by addressing the following:

* Have you have posted this issue on another forum? If so, please provide a link to the topic.

* If you have disabled System Restore in an attempt to begin cleaning malware, please enable it now. We will flush System Restore when we are finished cleaning and we are sure that everything is running smoothly.

* If you are using any cracked software, please remove it. In addition to being illegal, when you install cracked software, you are running executable files from dubious, unknown sources. You are giving these sources access to information on your hard disk, and potential control over operation of your computer. Definition of cracked software HERE.

* If you are using any P2P (file sharing) programs, please remove them before we clean your computer.  The nature of such software and the high incidence of malware in files downloaded with them is counter productive to restoring your PC to a healthy state. That includes BitTorrent and similar programs. There is a list HERE.    

* If this computer belongs to someone else, do you have authority to apply the fixes we will use?

* Have you already fixed entries using HijackThis? If so, please restore all the backups and then post another log.

* After we begin working, please print or copy all instructions to Notepad in order to assist you when carrying out procedures. Please follow all instructions in sequence. Do not, on your own, install/re-install any programs or run any fixes or scanners that you have not been instructed to use because this may cause conflicts with the tools that I am using. Please note that these fixes are not instantaneous. Most infections require more than one round to properly eradicate. It is understood by the trained analysts that once a helper replies to a log, he continues working with you until the issue is resolved.

* During the course of our cleanup please do not do any additional online work or surfing until we have verified that your system is clean.

* We may be using some specialized tools during our fix. Certain embedded files that are part of legitimate programs or specialized fix tools such as process.exe, restart.exe, SmiUpdate.exe, reboot.exe, ws2fix.exe, prcviewer.exe and nircmd.exe may at times be detected by some anti-virus/anti-malware scanners as a "RiskTool", "Hacking tool", "Potentially unwanted tool", or even "malware (virus/trojan)" when that is not the case. Such programs have legitimate uses in contexts where an authorized user or administrator has knowingly installed it. These detections do not necessarily mean the file is malware or a bad program. It means it has the potential for being misused by others. Anti-virus scanners cannot distinguish between "good" and "malicious" use of such programs, therefore they may alert you or even automatically remove them.

* If your replies do not fit in one post while we are handling your issue, please reply to yourself until all text is submitted. It may take several posts.

I look forward to your reply so we can begin cleaning.

Instructions posted for this user are customized for this user only. The tools used may cause damage if used on a computer with different infections. If you think you have similar problems, please post a log at the top of this board to start a new forum topic.

Thanks for the quick and thorough response. My replies to your questions are below.

[collapse]-----Original Message-----
From: DELL COMMUNITY - Automated Email [mailto:noreply@dell.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 6:02 PM
To: g.riddell@comcast.net
Subject: Re: Slow Computer - Malware?

Re: Slow Computer - Malware?
By Bugbatter in Malware Removal

Welcome. Thank you for using Dell Community Forums.

I am reviewing your log. At first glance I see that you have a dialer on there: http://www.spywareguide.com/product_show.php?id=456

We should take care of that as soon as possible. While I review the rest of the log, you can help me by addressing the following:

* Have you have posted this issue on another forum? If so, please provide a link to the topic.  NO

* If you have disabled System Restore in an attempt to begin cleaning malware, please enable it now. We will flush System Restore when we are finished cleaning and we are sure that everything is running smoothly.  ENABLED

* If you are using any cracked software, please remove it. In addition to being illegal, when you install cracked software, you are running executable files from dubious, unknown sources. You are giving these sources access to information on your hard disk, and potential control over operation of your computer.Definition of cracked software HERE.  NONE

* If you are using any P2P (file sharing) programs, please remove thembefore we clean your computer.  The nature of such software and thehigh incidence of malware in files downloaded with them is counterproductive to restoring your PC to a healthy state. That includes BitTorrent and similar programs. There is a list HERE.  NONE  

* If this computer belongs to someone else, do you have authority to apply the fixes we will use? N/A

* Have you already fixed entries using HijackThis? If so, please restore all the backups and then post another log. NOT YET

* After we begin working, please print or copy all instructions to Notepad in order to assist you when carrying out procedures.Please follow all instructions in sequence. Do not, on your own, install/re-install any programs or run any fixes or scanners that you have not been instructed to use because this may cause conflicts with the tools that I am using. Please note that these fixes are not instantaneous. Most infections require more than one round to properly eradicate.It is understood by the trained analysts that once a helper replies to a log, he continues working with you until the issue is resolved.

* During the course of our cleanup please do not do any additional online work or surfing until we have verified that your system is clean.

* We may be using some specialized tools during our fix. Certain embedded files that are part of legitimate programs or specialized fix tools such as process.exe, restart.exe, SmiUpdate.exe, reboot.exe, ws2fix.exe, prcviewer.exe and nircmd.exe may at times be detected by some anti-virus/anti-malware scanners as a "RiskTool", "Hacking tool", "Potentially unwanted tool", or even "malware (virus/trojan)" when that is not the case.Such programs have legitimate uses in contexts where an authorized user or administrator has knowingly installed it. These detections do not necessarily mean the file is malware or a bad program. It means it has the potential for being misused by others. Anti-virus scanners cannot distinguish between "good" and "malicious" use of such programs, therefore they may alert you or even automatically remove them.

* If your replies do not fit in one post while we are handling your issue, please reply to yourself until all text is submitted. It may take several posts.

I look forward to your reply so we can begin cleaning.

Instructions posted for this user are customized for this user only. The tools used may cause damage if used on a computer with different infections. If you think you have similar problems, please post a log at the top of this board to start a new forum topic.

For some reason I have no Reply botton on your last post, so I hope this reply lands in the right place.

Please disable TeaTimer so it does not interfere with our tools:
Go to Start>Run. Type Msconfig > OK. On the next window that opens > Startup tab UNcheck the entry for TeaTimer until this is over...
1. Open Spybot
2. Click Mode -> Advanced Mode
3. Click Yes
4. Click Tools (located in the bottom left corner) -> Resident
5. Uncheck 'Resident "TeaTimer" (Protection of over-all system settings) active'
6. Then close Spybot.
Reboot.
Verify that TeaTimer is not running.
After ALL cleaning of your system has been completed and we have confirmed that your computer is clean, reverse these steps and re-enable the protection applets for TeaTimer.

Let's try scanning with MBAM. * If you are unable to download or install MBAM on your computer, see if you can use a friend's or family member's computer to download MBAM. Use the update link mentioned below to manually update. Once downloaded, rename the program installer "mbam-setup.exe" file to something else like "lookinhere.exe". Copy the installer file and the update file to a CD or flash drive. Transfer the file to the infected computer. Install the "lookinhere.exe" file, then run the update so that you will have the current definitions. After that, run a full system scan and select to have the program REMOVE whatever it finds.

  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.
  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 along with a fresh HijackThis log into 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 (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.

**If you need to re-install MBAM but encounter issue in re-installing, try using the MBAM Cleanup Utility by downloading it from HERE

Upon re-starting after running the MBAM scan, the computer fails to start. The computer starts to hang up in the start-up sequence when it's "detecting IDE Drives" then displays this message when it stops booting:

DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

I'm looking into this.

Still working on this.  I'll be back in touch ASAP.

Do you remember what MBAM forund and if you got any messages regarding what it wanted to do with the malware?

Yes, please try that. It would be really helpful to see that report. Thanks.

I have been unable to start in Safe-Mode. I got into the Bios set-up and the system cannot detect my hard drive. 

I have a dead computer. Any thoughts?

Bugbatter: I'm really counting on your help. My computer is dead. Please respond with any suggestions about how I might revive my PC.  

Thanks,

George

Sorry I did not get back sooner. I was out of town yesterday.

The information that I received from an expert was that when this happens it usually means that there is a problem in the MBR, ntldr is missing, or the motherboard battery has failed so the system has forgotten the proper boot sequence.

If we could recover that MBAM log that may give some clues as to what happened. We'll need to look for the log in the default location here:
C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Application Data\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\Logs

We could first use a Linux "live" CD  such as that provided by Knoppix.
Here is the link to Knoppix:
http://www.knoppix.net/

Here is a tutorial:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,1918305,00.asp

Once we find the MBAM log and have some idea what happened, an In-Place reinstall of Windows will, most likely, fix the missing boot files that Windows need to have.

If the motherboard battery has failed, it will not fix that.

If this seems too advanced, there is no shame taking the computer to a shop for help.

Best of luck.  Let us know how things go.