Malware Popups - Security Warning - Application cannot be executed...

[Dr Jay]

Arghhhh -- MBAM deleted ComboFix again. It is crazy, when the developer of ComboFix works at Malwarebytes' Corporation, and they detect his own product by accident.

To manually create a new Restore Point

• Go to Control Panel and select System and Maintenance
  
• Select System
  
• On the left select Advance System Settings and accept the warning if you get one
  
• Select System Protection Tab
  
• Select Create at the bottom
  
• Type in a name i.e. Clean
• Select Create

Now we can purge the infected ones

• Go back to the System and Maintenance page
  
• Select Performance Information and Tools
  
• On the left select Open Disk Cleanup
  
• Select Files from all users and accept the warning if you get one
  
• In the drop down box select your main drive i.e. C
• For a few moments the system will make some calculations
• Select the More Options tab
  
• In the System Restore and Shadow Backups select Clean up
  
• Select Delete on the pop up
  
• Select OK
• Select Delete

You are now done

To remove all of the tools we used and the files and folders they created, please do the following:
Please download OTC.exe by OldTimer:

• Save it to your Desktop.
  
• Double click OTC.exe.
  
• Click the CleanUp! button.
  
• If you are prompted to Reboot during the cleanup, select Yes.
  
• The tool will delete itself once it finishes.

Note: If any tool, file or folder (belonging to the program we have used) hasn't been deleted, please delete it manually.

==

Please download TFC by OldTimer to your desktop

• Please double-click TFC.exe to run it. (Note: If you are running on Vista, right-click on the file and choose Run As Administrator).
  
• It will close all programs when run, so make sure you have saved all your work before you begin.
  
• Click the Start
  button to begin the process. Depending on how often you clean temp
  files, execution time should be anywhere from a few seconds to a minute
  or two. Let it run uninterrupted to completion.
  
• Once it's finished it should reboot your machine. If it does not, please manually reboot the machine yourself to ensure a complete clean.

==

Download Security Check by screen317 from SpywareInfoforum.org or Changelog.fr.

• Save it to your Desktop.
• Double click SecurityCheck.exe and follow the onscreen instructions inside of the black box.
• A Notepad document should open automatically called checkup.txt; please post the contents of that document.

[bigthx]

hi Jay - again, thank you for your help.

- Restore point created
- OTC run
- TFC run

OTC does not appear to have removed MBAM, HijackThis, SuperAntiSpyware, or CCleaner.  Are any of these useful to run periodically?

Here's the SecurityCheck log:

 Results of screen317's Security Check version 0.99.1    
 Windows Vista  (UAC is enabled)
 Out of date service pack!!
``````````````````````````````
Antivirus/Firewall Check:
 Windows Firewall Disabled! 
 ESET Online Scanner v3   
 Norton Internet Security   
 WMIC entry does not exist for antivirus; attempting automatic update.
``````````````````````````````
Anti-malware/Other Utilities Check:
 SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition   
 HijackThis 2.0.2   
 CCleaner     
 Java(TM) 6 Update 18 
 Java(TM) 6 Update 7 
 Java Auto Updater   
 Out of date Java installed!
 Adobe Flash Player 10 
Adobe Reader 9.2
``````````````````````````````
Process Check: 
objlist.exe by Laurent
 Norton ccSvcHst.exe
``````````````````````````````
DNS Vulnerability Check:
 GREAT! (Not vulnerable to DNS cache poisoning)

`````````End of Log```````````

[Dr Jay]

OTC does not appear to have removed MBAM, HijackThis, SuperAntiSpyware, or CCleaner.  Are any of these useful to run periodically?

Yes they are.

Please download the newest version of Java from Java.com.

Before installing: it is important to remove older versions of Java since it does not do so automatically and old versions still leave you vulnerable.
Go to the Control Panel and enter Add or Remove Programs.
Search in the list for all previous installed versions of Java. (J2SE Runtime Environment). Please uninstall/remove each of them.

Once old versions are gone, please install the newest version.

==

Please consider updating to Windows Vista Service Packs 1 & 2.
Windows Vista Service Packs 1 & 2 contain all the updates released since the first release plus support for new types of hardware and emerging hardware standards.
It is now available via Windows Update or as a standalone installation here.

==

Please read the following information that I have provided, which will help you prevent malicious software in the future. Please keep in mind, malware is a continuous danger on the Internet. It is highly important to stay safe while browsing, to prevent re-infection.

Software recommendations

AntiSpyware

• SpywareBlaster
  SpywareBlaster is a program that prevents spyware from installing on your computer. A tutorial on using SpywareBlaster may be found here.
  
• Spybot - Search & Destroy.
  Spybot - Search & Destroy is a spyware and adware removal program. It also has realtime protection, TeaTimer to help safeguard your computer against spyware. (The link for Spybot - Search & Destroy contains a tutorial that will help you download, install, and begin using Spybot).
  

NOTE: Please keep ALL of these programs up-to-date and run them whenever you suspect a problem to prevent malware problems.

Resident Protection help
A number of programs have resident protection and it is a good idea to run the resident protection of one of each type of program to maintain protection. However, it is important to run only one resident program of each type since they can conflict and become less effective. That means only one antivirus, firewall, and scanning anti-spyware program at a time. Passive protectors such as SpywareBlaster can be run with any of them.

Rogue programs help
There are a lot of rogue programs out there that want to scare you into giving them your money and some malware actually claims to be security programs. If you get a popup for a security program that you did not install yourself, do NOT click on it and ask for help immediately. It is very important to run an antivirus and firewall, but you can't always rely on reviews and ads for information. Ask in a security forum that you trust if you are not sure. If you are unsure and looking for anti-spyware programs, you can find out if it is a rogue here:
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

Securing your computer

• Windows Updates - It is very important to make sure that both Internet Explorer and Windows are kept current with the latest critical security patches from Microsoft.  To do this just start Internet Explorer and select Tools > Windows Update, and follow the online instructions from there.
  
• hpHosts file replaces your current HOSTS file with one containing well known ad sites and other bad sites. This prevents your computer from connecting to those sites by redirecting them to 127.0.0.1, which is your local computer's loopback address, meaning it will be difficult to infect your computer in the future.
  

Please consider using an alternate browser
Mozilla's Firefox browser is a very good alternative. In addition to being generally more secure than Internet Explorer, it has a very good built-in popup blocker and add-ons, like NoScript, can make it even more secure. Opera is another good option.

If you are interested:

• Firefox may be downloaded from here: http://www.getfirefox.com
  
• Opera is available here: http://www.opera.com/download/
  

[bigthx]

All done!

Apparently Windows auto updates were turned off -- received and installed 40+ updates, although this does not appear to have updated to Vista SP1 or 2.  I need to look into that further.  My friend also recommended Firefox, so will try changing over to that browser.

Have also installed SpywareBlaster and Spybot.

Am going to try running some of these tools on another PC in my household -- just in case.

DM Jay, thank you again for all your help!  hope never to have to ask for assistance with this sort of a clean up again   

[Dr Jay]

You're welcome!