Window XP Update, Search and Media Player don't work

[imported_tomcat1]

I've got a virus or something and need some help. I'm running Windows XP with SP2 installed. The Search feature on the Start Menu only brings up a blank screen. Windows update opens up IE to a blank screen. I even try to manually type the windows update address in IE or link to it and still get a blank screen. My windows media player won't open either.

One other thing is when I put in my Windows XP CD the computer won't access it. It just spins and the hard drive is active for a few mintues before it just stops.

A while back I noticed the windows clock was losing time and when I opened the clock was hanging an extra second every five seconds or so. Then I started getting a message each time I started the computer with a Micosoft message telling me I don't have a valid copy of windows. I few days later I reset the clock to the correct time again and I stopped getting the windows message and the clock started keeping time. I'm not sure if that's related or not to my current problem but it was interesting.

Also it may have started when I downloaded IE7 and later had to remove it because of some problems.

My McAfee anti-virus hasn't found anything. Neither has Windows defender.

Any help out there?

 

[mechBgon]

Try these online virus scanners, for a second & third opinion:

F-Secure
TrendMicro

At the end of the F-Secure one, watch for a REPORT button, get the report, and paste the contents into the thread with what it found.

By the way, is there anything you suspect might've done this? Like, a new website you visited, or a new download you ran? If you have suspicions, name them, because that may help find out what happen and how to fix it.

 

[imported_tomcat1]

F-Secure wouldn't run. I recently downloaded IE7 again and when I clicked on the button to run the scan it just jumped me to the top of the website. I enabled all the Active X controls I could find with now luck. Even reboooted and tried. It wouldn't work in Firefox.

TrendMicro worked but only found a few things and removed them but no luck there either even after it ran twice and a reboot of the computer.

I can't recall a specific website I visited before the problem occured.

 

[mechBgon]

What things did TrendMicro find, exactly?

Also, could you download HijackThis, extract the files to a folder on your desktop, rename the hijackthis.exe file to something else, run it, and post the logfile here.

 

[imported_tomcat1]

Damn you're fast!

TROJ_GENERIC

TSPY_PUPER

The first was malware and was deleted. I forget the second.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: tomcat1
Damn you're fast!

<-- but of course

TROJ_GENERIC

TSPY_PUPER

The first was malware and was deleted. I forget the second.

Ok, uninstall McAfee, reboot, and then install a 30-day trial of Kaspersky Antivirus Personal 6 from here.

After installing it, make sure it updates, then reboot if it says to. After that, boot up in Safe Mode, start up Kaspersky Antivirus from Start > All Programs > Kaspersky, and have it do a Scan My Computer in Safe Mode.

Any questions, just holler I'm suggesting this because of the PUPER detection, PUPER is something McAfee is bad at detecting.

 

[imported_tomcat1]

You're a genuis! Thank you.

After I removed McAfee and installed that other program I rebooted and I'm back in business and that was before I scanned for viruses.

It detetected a few Win32.Obuscated.n trojans and a couple Win32. Busky.gen and a Zlob.zk.

Thanks for the help!

 

[mechBgon]

Sweet Zlob = Puper, and was probably the root of the problem. Once the 30-day Kaspersky trial runs out, you can switch to the free "lite" version of Kaspersky for home use. John has info in this thread. Schedule a full scan to run at, like, 3AM, and then leave your computer on overnight every few days so it can scan for any viruses that it didn't recognize sooner. where to set the daily scan

Here's the most common way Zlob comes at you, for future reference: pics & info on what to watch for. The bad guys also are doing a similar approach with still images, like this screenshot shows.

I also saw a tactic where they show thumbnail-sized pics, but when the victim tries to get the full-sized ones, it claims they need to download an Image ActiveX Object to see it. And of course it's a Trojan Horse program like the others. The sneaky thing is, it DOES let them see the pics, so they might think it was legit.