Computer Crashing. Bombarded by Popups. Help!!
Wed Aug 15, 2007 3:58 pm
I am running Windows XP, Home Edition, SP2.
So, a few days ago, I started getting random popups saying that I supposedly needed to clean my computer with DriveCleaner 2006 (I think?). I closed it and thought nothing of it. But a couple days later (yesterday) Symantec Antivirus's Auto-Protect stopped a few viruses from installing, but it said 1 of them got past it. And all of a sudden, WinAntispyware 2007 appears and installs on its own (we've never even heard of it until now) and starts scanning, finding over 3,800 threats in 30 seconds. We went to "Add and Remove Programs" and uninstalled it, but when we checked in Program Files - WinAntispyware 2007, a few files remained. If I tried to delete them, it would say something like: "Cannot delete the file. Make sure it is write-protected or not currently in use". I gave up after a while of trying to delete them. So, I scanned the computer with Symantec, it found nothing. I scanned with Ad-Aware SE, and it found 12 files associated with WinAntiSpyware 2007, I clicked Remove, and it said they were deleted. We thought we were fine.
Now today, whatever it is, is back and bombarding us with pop-ups and trying to download WinAntiSpyware again. We scanned with Ad-Aware SE, but it crashed completely after a couple seconds (it found the virus right before it crashed) and shut down the computer. We did HijackThis! and ComboFix (Cannot get the Combofix log at the moment, will in a few minutes), here is the HijackThis log:
Ad-Aware SE crashes if I scan the computer at all, and the computer will restart. Can anyone help? (And if you are giving advice on the log, please be 100% sure)
EDIT!
We downloaded Spysweeper and it said it removed 2 Adware programs, and 28 Spy Cookies. Hopefully that fixed the problem, but I will post any updates about the situation later
So, a few days ago, I started getting random popups saying that I supposedly needed to clean my computer with DriveCleaner 2006 (I think?). I closed it and thought nothing of it. But a couple days later (yesterday) Symantec Antivirus's Auto-Protect stopped a few viruses from installing, but it said 1 of them got past it. And all of a sudden, WinAntispyware 2007 appears and installs on its own (we've never even heard of it until now) and starts scanning, finding over 3,800 threats in 30 seconds. We went to "Add and Remove Programs" and uninstalled it, but when we checked in Program Files - WinAntispyware 2007, a few files remained. If I tried to delete them, it would say something like: "Cannot delete the file. Make sure it is write-protected or not currently in use". I gave up after a while of trying to delete them. So, I scanned the computer with Symantec, it found nothing. I scanned with Ad-Aware SE, and it found 12 files associated with WinAntiSpyware 2007, I clicked Remove, and it said they were deleted. We thought we were fine.
Now today, whatever it is, is back and bombarding us with pop-ups and trying to download WinAntiSpyware again. We scanned with Ad-Aware SE, but it crashed completely after a couple seconds (it found the virus right before it crashed) and shut down the computer. We did HijackThis! and ComboFix (Cannot get the Combofix log at the moment, will in a few minutes), here is the HijackThis log:
Ad-Aware SE crashes if I scan the computer at all, and the computer will restart. Can anyone help? (And if you are giving advice on the log, please be 100% sure)
EDIT!
We downloaded Spysweeper and it said it removed 2 Adware programs, and 28 Spy Cookies. Hopefully that fixed the problem, but I will post any updates about the situation later
Last edited by Siouxper on Sat Oct 06, 2007 1:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Computer Crashing. Bombarded by Popups. Help!!
Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:56 pm
They have a new version of Ad-Aware, Ad-Aware 2007.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
You should definately download it if your computer can run it, the program seems to work a lot better. (Even though it does take a while to finish)
Do a Kaspersky Online Virus Scan to see if it can find anything, just in case. Note: Only works in Internet Explorer
http://usa.kaspersky.com/products_servi ... canner.php
I believe it doesn't remove spyware/viruses, but it does point you in the right direction. They do have a free download of their program, though it is only a trial. I seem to stay away from telling others to try panda scan, which I used to use... It doesn't like my computer.
Oh, and be sure to post an updated version of your hijack this log file so we could see if there's anything left.
Edit: I took a look through your log right now, I see a few things, but you should really do the other scans first and make a log file so it's a bit easier to remove things.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
You should definately download it if your computer can run it, the program seems to work a lot better. (Even though it does take a while to finish)
Do a Kaspersky Online Virus Scan to see if it can find anything, just in case. Note: Only works in Internet Explorer
http://usa.kaspersky.com/products_servi ... canner.php
I believe it doesn't remove spyware/viruses, but it does point you in the right direction. They do have a free download of their program, though it is only a trial. I seem to stay away from telling others to try panda scan, which I used to use... It doesn't like my computer.
Oh, and be sure to post an updated version of your hijack this log file so we could see if there's anything left.
Edit: I took a look through your log right now, I see a few things, but you should really do the other scans first and make a log file so it's a bit easier to remove things.
Re: Computer Crashing. Bombarded by Popups. Help!!
Wed Aug 15, 2007 10:48 pm
If your computer keeps crashing during the scan, try running a scan on safe mode.
When your computer starts booting up, hit the F9 key repeatedly to open up the menu that allows you to start up in safe mode.
When your computer starts booting up, hit the F9 key repeatedly to open up the menu that allows you to start up in safe mode.
Re: Computer Crashing. Bombarded by Popups. Help!!
Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:46 am
Universal Senja wrote:If your computer keeps crashing during the scan, try running a scan on safe mode.
When your computer starts booting up, hit the F9 key repeatedly to open up the menu that allows you to start up in safe mode.
Make that F8.
Re: Computer Crashing. Bombarded by Popups. Help!!
Tue Aug 21, 2007 6:01 pm
It seems to be fixed now. We eventually went into "Running Processes" and disabled a few. But they started back up after a reboot, so we downloaded SpySweeper 2007 and scanned, found 2 Ad-ware's, and removed them. And we followed up with a Symantec Antivirus scan to be sure it was all gone.
Re: Computer Crashing. Bombarded by Popups. Help!!
Sat Oct 06, 2007 11:12 am
Sounds like spyware/adware.
Go to start -> run -> msconfig -> startup... The spyware should be fairly obvious, untick them, and then press OK. This will stop the spyware from starting up when you log on. It won't get rid of it, but it'll just render it obsolete. This should leave you free to do your scan with NOD32/Adaware/Spybot, or all three!
Good luck.
Go to start -> run -> msconfig -> startup... The spyware should be fairly obvious, untick them, and then press OK. This will stop the spyware from starting up when you log on. It won't get rid of it, but it'll just render it obsolete. This should leave you free to do your scan with NOD32/Adaware/Spybot, or all three!
Good luck.