Many avast popups

Sorry for the vague subject line, I don’t really know what to say for it. :-\

Background info;
On Nov 12, a hard drive failure virus thing managed to attack my laptop. I hadn’t done anything different, went to the same sites I’ve visited a hundred times before, but whatever, it happened. It had also 'crash dump’ed that morning, so I don’t know if that was just my computer or if that was also part of this somehow. Of course I didn’t know if it was a virus or if my computer decided to die, so off to google I went (via another computer). I found and followed the instructions I found here; http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-hard-drive-diagnostic but I did not do step 18 - use Secunia PSI to scan for vulnerable programs. I was eager to see if my computer was fixed and thought it could wait/be ignored. Things looked great, my icons had returned, programs were working, and Chrome was even working better than it had been recently.

Current issue;
Unfortunately, the ‘fix’ was short-lived. After a few minutes online, avast started getting multiple red popups (anywhere from 2 to 6 in a row/at once) about blocking sites and things. Browsing the internet, not that I would want to in this state, became impossible because pages seemed to have quit loading altogether at this point. I know now that I don’t even have to have a browser open for the popups to come, being connected to the internet while simply sitting on my desktop is enough.

Nov 13 - I had thought that maybe there were some leftovers of the hard drive thing, so I reran RKill and Malwarebytes, but nothing more came up. I also ran an avast full scan and boot scan, but it didn’t really catch anything at this point either. Since poor avast was seriously working overtime (or going haywire), I returned to google and wound up here. Meanwhile, my laptop has been currently sitting with the wi-fi disabled.

So, I’ve downloaded the programs from the sticky and attached the logs, except for aswMBR as I can’t get it to do anything. I did try to open it in Safe Mode, but that didn’t work either. :-\

Hope you can help my poor laptop out. It’s having a rough week. :-[

Hi lets see if I can determine what the main miscreant is… Do you have access to a USB stick

Warning This fix is only relevant for this system and no other, using on another computer may cause problems

Be advised that when the fix commences it will shut down all running processes and you may lose the desktop and icons, they will return on reboot

Run OTL

[*]Under the Custom Scans/Fixes box at the bottom, paste in the following

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/OTL_Fix.GIF


:OTL
IE - HKU\S-1-5-21-3430403785-2990858830-889330937-1000\..\URLSearchHook: {7b13ec3e-999a-4b70-b9cb-2617b8323822} - No CLSID value found
IE - HKU\S-1-5-21-3430403785-2990858830-889330937-1000\..\SearchScopes\{70D46D94-BF1E-45ED-B567-48701376298E}: "URL" = http://127.0.0.1:4664/search&s=B0AZNoPy2oV2mwp8pzhGc17kB50?q={searchTerms}
FF - prefs.js..extensions.enabledItems: {cd994368-1a91-4839-acc9-f8aa8aeb550c}:1.1.0.2
[2010/03/31 22:20:53 | 000,000,000 | ---D | M] () -- C:\Users\Kei\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\fdon3542.default\extensions\{cd994368-1a91-4839-acc9-f8aa8aeb550c}
[2012/07/25 01:59:50 | 000,741,958 | ---- | M] () (No name found) -- C:\Users\Kei\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\fdon3542.default\extensions\{d10d0bf8-f5b5-c8b4-a8b2-2b9879e08c5d}.xpi
[2012/11/12 17:09:18 | 000,000,000 | ---D | C] -- C:\Users\Kei\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\File Restore
[2012/11/12 17:15:26 | 000,000,168 | ---- | M] () -- C:\ProgramData\-gO99e4sC1V44Njr
[2012/11/12 17:15:26 | 000,000,152 | ---- | M] () -- C:\ProgramData\-gO99e4sC1V44Nj
[2012/11/12 17:13:41 | 000,000,368 | ---- | M] () -- C:\ProgramData\gO99e4sC1V44Nj

:Commands
[resethosts]
[emptytemp]
[CREATERESTOREPOINT]
[Reboot]

[*]Then click the Run Fix button at the top
[*]Let the program run unhindered, reboot the PC when it is done
[*]Open OTL again and click the Quick Scan button. Post the log it produces in your next reply.

THEN

[*] Download RogueKiller and save it on your desktop.

NOTE: If using IE8 or better Smartscreen Filter will need to be disabled

[*]Quit all programs
[*] Start RogueKiller.exe.
[*] Wait until Prescan has finished …
[*] Click on Scan

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/RKScan.GIF

[*]Wait for the end of the scan.
[*] The report has been created on the desktop.
[*] Click on the Delete button.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/RKDelete.GIF

[*]The report has been created on the desktop.

[*]Next click on the ShortcutsFix

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/RKFixShortcuts.GIF

[*]The report has been created on the desktop.

Please post: All RKreport.txt text files located on your desktop.

Ok, here are the new files. While I would prefer to be using a USB stick, I’m making do with a CD-R for now. If it’s ultimately required, I do have access to a USB stick however.

I know you said not to disturb the OTL fix, but it quit responding almost immediately. I tried to let it resume on its own, but eventually I had to restart and run it in Safe Mode.

It is now almost 2:30am in the UK so essexboy will be in bed now. He should be back latter today.

OK if this programme does not run then we will need to resort to the CD

Download the latest version of TDSSKiller from here and save it to your Desktop.

[*]Doubleclick on TDSSKiller.exe to run the application

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/tdss%20start.JPG

[*]Then click on Change parameters.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/tdss%20Change%20param.JPG

[*]Check the boxes beside Verify Driver Digital Signature and Detect TDLFS file system, then click OK.

[*]Click the Start Scan button.

[*]If a suspicious object is detected, the default action will be Skip, click on Continue.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/tdss%20threat.JPG

[*]If malicious objects are found, they will show in the Scan results and offer three (3) options.
[*]Ensure Cure is selected, then click Continue => Reboot now to finish the cleaning process.

[*]Get the report by selecting Reports

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/tdss%20report.JPG

[*]Note: If Cure is not available, please choose Skip instead, do not choose Delete unless instructed.

Please copy and paste its contents on your next reply.

The log was so long, I attached it instead. I hope that is alright.

It did catch something and my computer seems to be happy again. I briefly tried it out and site-hopped around for about 5 minutes without avast going wild with the popups like before. Everything seems fine and intact, except all my bookmarks in Chrome have been wiped. But it’s not taking the several minutes to load properly as it had been recently, so at least that’s something. :wink:

Anyway, I did not want to sign into any sites or do much online without checking back with you to make sure my computer was actually better and good to go.

As a weird side note; initially TDSSKiller did not load. I don’t know what possessed me to do this, but I tossed it into the recycle bin after several tries. Immediately, I decided that maybe I should leave it alone and ‘restored’ it back to the desktop from the recycle bin. THEN it amazingly loaded up with no problem at all. :o

Now that is a nice trick that I must remember ;D

Any further problems before I remove my rubbish

I hope the recycle trick is helpful to someone else. I don’t know why I even did it myself, but I’m glad things worked out in the end. :wink:

I browsed the internet normally last evening/night plus a few hours this morning and everything seems back to normal.

Thank you so much for all your help! :smiley:

Subject to no further problems :slight_smile:

I will remove my tools now and give some recommendations, but, I would like you to run for 24 hours or so and come back if you have any problems

Now the best part of the day ----- Your log now appears clean :thumbsup:

A good workman always cleans up after himself so…The following will implement some cleanup procedures as well as reset System Restore points:

Run OTL
[*]Under the Custom Scans/Fixes box at the bottom, paste in the following

:Commands [resethosts] [emptytemp] [Reboot]

[*]Then click the Run Fix button at the top
[*]Let the program run unhindered, reboot the PC when it is done

Run OTL and hit the cleanup button. It will remove all the programmes we have used plus itself.

We will now confirm that your hidden files are set to that, as some of the tools I use will change that
[*]Click Start.
[*]Open My Computer.
[*]Select the Tools menu and click Folder Options.
[*]Select the View Tab.
[*]Under the Hidden files and folders heading select Do not show hidden files and folders.
[]Click Yes to confirm.
[
]Click OK.

http://users.telenet.be/bluepatchy/miekiemoes/images/javaicon.gif
Your Java is out of date.
Older versions have vulnerabilities that malware can use to infect your system.
Please follow these steps to remove older version of Java components and upgrade the application.

Upgrading Java:
[] Go to this site and click Do I have Java
[
] It will check your current version and then offer to update to the latest version

Now that you are clean, to help protect your computer in the future I recommend that you get the following free programmes:

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/7729/mbamicontw5.gif
Malwarebytes.

Update and run weekly to keep your system clean

Download and install FileHippo update checker and run it monthly it will show you which programmes on your system need updating and give a download link

If you use on-line banking then as an added layer of protection install Trusteer Rapport

It is critical to have both a firewall and anti virus to protect your system and to keep them updated. To keep your operating system up to date visit
[*]Microsoft Windows Update

To learn more about how to protect yourself while on the internet read our little guide How did I get infected in the first place ?Keep safe :wave:

Sorry to bump the thread back up, but I just wanted to let you know that everything has been running normally and I haven’t had any further issues.

I have cleaned up/removed the used programs via OTL, updated Java, let Windows finally auto-update by finally being online ;), kept Malwarebytes and installed FileHippo, from which I updated several other programs. FileHippo is simply amazing, I’ll definitely keep on top of keeping things updated with it!

Thanks again for all your assistance, I really appreciated all of it. :smiley:

My pleasure ;D