Inactive Iexplore.exe two times in taskmsgr

[MATvm]

Hi guys,

I noticed many people have the same problem as I do. In taskmessenger I got 2 iexplore.exe running and can't get rid of them (I don't even use IE). I can stop the process, but it just pops up again. I noticed this by playing a game and getting CTD's. I also rarely get a popup in internet explorer (once every couple of hours) and with that I can hear the clicking sound like when clicking a hyperlink on the net or refreshing a site. So I spent my whole day trying to google and scanning with alot of 'so-called' adaware cleaners etc, but offcourse noone of these works effectively. Here on the forum I noticed many people with same problem and most important, with solutions!

Anyway, I tried to follow all your steps required, only the DDs thingie doesn't really work for me. It just opens a txt file with strange characters, so no scan performed by that tool.

Hopefully you can find out what's causing all this.

Thanks in advance.

Regards

 

[Broni]

Download MBRCheck to your desktop

Double click MBRCheck.exe to run (Vista and Windows 7 users, right click and select Run as Administrator).
It will show a black screen with some data on it.
A report called MBRcheckxxxx.txt will be on your desktop
Open this report and post its content in your next reply.

 

[MATvm]

See attach

C Drive is XP installed
D drive is nothing special, just folders, installed games,... etc

 

[Broni]

Rerun MBRCheck.
Enter 'Y' and hit ENTER for more options and select option "2".
When asked for physical disk number, enter 0 (zero).
Next, enter 1 (Windows XP) for MBR code.
Post resulting log.

 

[MATvm]

Nice, no more iexplore.exe thingies visible, gonna check if I still have CTD's. I'll keep you informed.

Thanks very much already!
Another thing, just curious what that MBR program does?

see log below
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MBRCheck, version 1.1.1

(c) 2010, AD



\\.\C: --> \\.\PhysicalDrive0

\\.\D: --> \\.\PhysicalDrive1

\\.\J: --> \\.\PhysicalDrive7



Size Device Name MBR Status

--------------------------------------------

149 GB \\.\PhysicalDrive0 Unknown MBR code

149 GB \\.\PhysicalDrive1 Unknown MBR code

931 GB \\.\PhysicalDrive7 MBR Code Faked!





Found non-standard or infected MBR.

Enter 'Y' and hit ENTER for more options, or 'N' to exit:

Options:

[1] Dump the MBR of a physical disk to file.

[2] Restore the MBR of a physical disk with a standard boot code.

[3] Exit.



Enter your choice: Enter the physical disk number to fix (0-99, -1 to cancel): Available MBR codes:

[ 0] Default (Windows XP)

[ 1] Windows XP

[ 2] Windows Server 2003

[ 3] Windows Vista

[ 4] Windows 2008

[ 5] Windows 7

[-1] Cancel



Please select the MBR code to write to this drive:

Do you want to fix the MBR code? Type 'YES' and hit ENTER to continue: Successfully wrote new MBR code!

Please reboot your computer to complete the fix.





Done! Press ENTER to exit...

 

[Broni]

I'm glad, iexplore.exe is gone, but we're not done yet
We have to make sure, your computer is 100% clean.

What is drive J?
Don't bring any extra drives into the picture right now.

Please, re-run MBRCheck and post new log.

 

[MATvm]

Aha, you really do notice everything :d, just a little test if you'd see. Just kidding. No Drive J:/ is external hard drive, was connected at that time. contains music and photos,... Did a scan on that, came clean out.

Meanwhile it seems I don't have anymore problems, check below if anything else is needed to check and muchos gracias. Cheers

Here's the new MBR log:


--------------------------------------------

MBRCheck, version 1.1.1

(c) 2010, AD



\\.\C: --> \\.\PhysicalDrive0

\\.\D: --> \\.\PhysicalDrive1



Size Device Name MBR Status

--------------------------------------------

149 GB \\.\PhysicalDrive0 Windows XP MBR code detected

149 GB \\.\PhysicalDrive1 Unknown MBR code





Found non-standard or infected MBR.

Enter 'Y' and hit ENTER for more options, or 'N' to exit:

 

[Broni]

Rerun MBRCheck.
Enter 'Y' and hit ENTER for more options and select option "2".
When asked for physical disk number, enter 1.
Next, enter 1 (Windows XP) for MBR code.
Post resulting log.

 

[MATvm]

MBRCheck, version 1.1.1

(c) 2010, AD



\\.\C: --> \\.\PhysicalDrive0

\\.\D: --> \\.\PhysicalDrive1



Size Device Name MBR Status

--------------------------------------------

149 GB \\.\PhysicalDrive0 Windows XP MBR code detected

149 GB \\.\PhysicalDrive1 Windows XP MBR code detected





Done! Press ENTER to exit...

 

[Broni]

Good

Please download ComboFix from Here or Here to your Desktop.

**Note: In the event you already have Combofix, this is a new version that I need you to download. It is important that it is saved directly to your desktop**

1. Please, never rename Combofix unless instructed.
2. Close any open browsers.
3. Close/disable all anti virus and anti malware programs so they do not interfere with the running of ComboFix.
   • Very Important! Temporarily disable your anti-virus, script blocking and any anti-malware real-time protection before performing a scan. They can interfere with ComboFix or remove some of its embedded files which may cause "unpredictable results".
   • Click on this link to see a list of programs that should be disabled. The list is not all inclusive. If yours is not listed and you don't know how to disable it, please ask.
   NOTE1. If Combofix asks you to install Recovery Console, please allow it.
   NOTE 2. If Combofix asks you to update the program, always do so.
   • Close any open browsers.
   • WARNING: Combofix will disconnect your machine from the Internet as soon as it starts
   • Please do not attempt to re-connect your machine back to the Internet until Combofix has completely finished.
   • If there is no internet connection after running Combofix, then restart your computer to restore back your connection.
4. Double click on combofix.exe & follow the prompts.
5. When finished, it will produce a report for you.
6. Please post the "C:\ComboFix.txt"

**Note: Do not mouseclick combofix's window while it's running. That may cause it to stall**

Make sure, you re-enable your security programs, when you're done with Combofix.

DO NOT make any other changes to your computer (like installing programs, using other cleaning tools, etc.), until it's officially declared clean!!!

 

[MATvm]

this program is stalled with me. I let it do the update, disconnected from internet and nothing happened in the meanwhile. Just freezed at so called scanning (already 40 minutes)....

 

[Broni]

Delete Combofix file, download fresh one, but rename combofix.exe to broni.exe BEFORE saving it to your desktop.
Do NOT run it yet.

Please download and run the below tool named Rkill (courtesy of BleepingComputer.com) which may help allow other programs to run.

There are 4 different versions. If one of them won't run then download and try to run the other one.

Vista and Win7 users need to right click Rkill and choose Run as Administrator

You only need to get one of these to run, not all of them. You may get warnings from your antivirus about this tool, ignore them or shutdown your antivirus.

* Rkill.com
* Rkill.scr
* Rkill.pif
* Rkill.exe

• 
  * Double-click on the Rkill desktop icon to run the tool.
  * If using Vista or Windows 7 right-click on it and choose Run As Administrator.
  * A black DOS box will briefly flash and then disappear. This is normal and indicates the tool ran successfully.
  * If not, delete the file, then download and use the one provided in Link 2.
  * If it does not work, repeat the process and attempt to use one of the remaining links until the tool runs.
  * Do not reboot until instructed.
  * If the tool does not run from any of the links provided, please let me know.

Once you've gotten one of them to run then try to immediately run the following.

Now download and run exeHelper.

• 
  * Please download exeHelper from Raktor to your desktop.
  * Double-click on exeHelper.com to run the fix.
  * A black window should pop up, press any key to close once the fix is completed.
  * A log file named log.txt will be created in the directory where you ran exeHelper.com
  * Attach the log.txt file to your next message.

Note: If the window shows a message that says "Error deleting file", please re-run the program before posting a log - and post the two logs together (they will both be in the one file).

Now, run broni.exe

 

[MATvm]

Still not working combofix...

don't know if it's still worth the effort. Don't have any weird things anymore, I know it's not a guarantee, but satisfies me already

Thx for all the help, appreciate it

 

[Broni]

Cleaning process has to be finished, once started.
I'll surely let you know, when your computer is clean.

I need a log from broni.exe

 

[MATvm]

I tried again, 1.5hours let combofix run and it just remains at the so-called searching for malicious/infected files...

Nothing happens!

Meanwhile side effect or I don't know what's caused the following: I have some special keys at keyboard (play next/previous song, play/pause, mute,... above the F1 to F12 keys) who don't function any more. Is this caused by any of those programs i ran? (MBR, Rkill....)

 

[Broni]

Is this caused by any of those programs i ran? (MBR, Rkill....)

I'm not sure. Restarting computer may fix it.

Now, restart in safe mode and try all 3 tools again.