Windows 7 x86
Infected customer machine, it was trying to do a system restore on first boot, cleared that, booting properly. Hardware tests fine. Avast Internet Security had been previously installed, unknown why uninstalled (didn’t want to pay?). Uninstalled old antivirus (AVG Internet Security trial), removed malware, installed Avast Internet Security. BSOD/reboot loop. Safe mode, uninstall, reboots fine. Reinstalled. Repeat of problem. Installed Avast Pro. Repeat of problem. Reinstall WITHOUT reboot, virus scan runs clean. Reboot, BSOD/reboot loop. Aswclear in safe mode. Reboot, install Avast free. BSOD.
BSOD stop error: 0x0000007F (0x00000008, 0x801DE000, 0x00000000)
According to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/137539:
Double faultA double fault occurs when an exception occurs while trying to call the handler for a prior exception. Normally, the two exceptions can be handled serially, however there are several exceptions that cannot be handled serially and in this situation the processor signals a double fault. The two primary causes for this are hardware and kernel stack overflows. Hardware problems are usually related to CPU, RAM, or bus. Kernel stack overflows are almost always caused by faulty kernel-mode drivers.
Continued research. Found this article: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/windows-7-blue-error-screen-stop-code-0x0000007f/a93e141e-556c-4a9f-9ea4-2809002c9593
Disabled NetBIOS over TCP/IP. Same result.
Uninstalled Avast free in safe mode using Revo Uninstaller in advanced mode. Deleted all registry keys left behind (holy crap there’s a ton!) and all files left behind (also a ton!), manually removing C:\Users\All Users\Avast folder after killing the still-running process (it was expecting a reboot).
Installed Avast IS again. Reboot yielded same result. Uninstalled using Revo. Boots fine again, no antivirus now.
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” - Albert Einstein
Padded room preparation imminent. :o