I cant remove the well-known System Alert Popup malware from the Add or Remove programs list, and I have tried a few things I have read on the internet. However, I just recently realised that all of the instructions I tried were part of exact instructions for one person, so I decided to make my own thread.

I have attatched my HijackThis log file.

Hello and welcome to Techspot.

Go to add remove programmes in your control panel and uninstall anything to do with(if there).

mywebsearch.

Close control panel.

Very Important: Before deciding whether you should clean or reformat your system, go and read this thread HERE and decide what it is you want to do.

If after reading the above, you wish to clean your system, do the following.

Go and read the Viruses/Spyware/Malware, preliminary removal instructions. Follow all the instructions exactly.

Post fresh HJT, AVG Antispyware and Combofix logs as attachments into this thread, only after doing the above.

Also, let me know the results of the AVG Antirootkit scan.

Regards Howard :wave: :wave:

This thread is for the use of Mattrik Trenal only. Please don`t post your own virus/spyware problems in this thread. Instead, open a new thread in our security and the web forum.

For some reason I cant seem to download or go to anything from bleepingcomputer.com, so no combofix, or step 13 (unlucky number )
I also failed to find anything along the lines of mywebsearch in Add or Remove Programs. The main problem (System Alert Popup) still resides. It's taking up a rediculous amount of memory (10 gigs)

However, I would like to give my thanks to you and all people like you who are, for absolutely NO benifit to themselves, helping others to get rid of viruses and the like that normally people would have to go to a computer shop for. Seriously, thank you.


The Anti-Rootkit software turned up no results.

Thank you SO much for your help.

All items in your AVG Antispyware log say "No Action Taken". That`s because you haven`t told AVG Antispyware to quarantine it`s results as per the instructions. See this pictorial guide.

Please download The Avenger by Swandog46 from HERE. Save it to your Desktop and extract it.

2. Download the attached avengerscript.txt and save it to your desktop

Note: the above code was created specifically for this user. If you are not this user, do NOT follow these directions as they could damage the workings of your system.

3. Now, start The Avenger program by double clicking on its icon on your desktop.

Under "Script file to execute" choose "Load script from file".
Now click on the folder icon which will open a new window titled "open Script File"
navigate to the file you have just downloaded, click on it and press open
Now click on the Green Light to begin execution of the script
Answer "Yes" twice when prompted.

4. The Avenger will automatically do the following:

It will Restart your computer. ( In cases where the code to execute contains "Drivers to Unload", The Avenger will actually restart your system twice.)
On reboot, it will briefly open a black command window on your desktop, this is normal.
After the restart, it creates a log file that should open with the results of Avenger’s actions. This log file will be located at C:\avenger.txt
The Avenger will also have backed up all the files, etc., that you asked it to delete, and will have zipped them and moved the zip archives to C:\avenger\backup.zip.

5. Please attach the content of c:\avenger.txt into your reply.

Boot into safe mode, under your normal user name(NOT THE ADMINISTRATOR ACCOUNT). See how HERE.

In Windows Explorer, turn on "Show all files and folders, including hidden and system". See how HERE.

Open your task manager, by holding down the ctrl and alt keys and pressing the delete key.

Click on the processes tab and end process for(if there).

m3SrchMn.exe

Close task manager.

Run HJT with no other programmes open(except notepad). Click the scan button. Have HJT fix the following, by placing a tick in the little box next to(if there).

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [My Web Search Bar Search Scope Monitor] "C:\PROGRA~1\MYWEBS~1\bar\1.bin\m3SrchMn.exe" /m=0

O8 - Extra context menu item: &Search - http://edits.mywebsearch.com/toolbaredits/menusearch.jhtml?p=ZNxpt237YYUS

O16 - DPF: {E1AD733A-8259-49EF-980F-C5AB69F12D06} (RunKuma Control) - http://www.kumagames.com/runkuma.cab

Click on the fix checked button.

Close HJT.

Locate and delete the following bold files and/or directories(if there).

C:\PROGRA~1\MYWEBS~1<Delete the entire folder.

Reboot into normal mode and rehide your protected OS files.

Post a fresh HJT log as well as an AVG Antispyware log and the Avenger.txt. Also, post a Combofix log, if you can.

Regards Howard

This thread is for the use of Mattrik Trenal only. Please don`t post your own virus/spyware problems in this thread. Instead, open a new thread in our security and the web forum.

Hmm, the Avenger failed to work. It could not find the specified file name. I tried it again after I had un-hidden all the folders but it still couldnt find the file. I tried to find the C://Progra~1/MYWEBS~1, but I couldnt find that either. I did fix all the problems in HJT though. However, I forgot to get a log from when I fixed the problems, so I just scanned again and hoped that it would relatively be the same (with all the problems gone).

I have attatched the requested logs and such (still cant get combofix though).

Sorry for the double post but for some reason I forgot to attach the other logs. Here they are.

Hi,

Your logs look clean now.

Delete all files in AVG Antispyware Quarantine folder.

Turn off system restore (XP/ME only). Learn how to do that HERE.
This will remove all the remaining nasties from your old restore points.

After that turn system restore back on.
This would have created a new safe and clean restore point for your system.

Often times, an infection can occur again not due to the incompetence of programs, but because of user habits.
May I recommend you to read this article.
This can help to prevent future infections.

Should you have any further problems, please post in this thread.


Regards,
Your friendly Momok =)

This thread is for the use of Mattrik Trenal only. Please don't post your own virus/spyware problems in this thread. Instead, open a new thread in our security and the web forum.

I would just like to really really really really really thank you. I had taken the computer to a computer shop and it was going to take me a lot of time to reformat the local disk and have to install everything over again (Verizon has fairly slow customer service, in my opinion). However, you guys have stopped a giant problem of mine. Thank you so much. I can't think of any other way to say that. The damn thing just kept growing and growing and growing. It went from 1 gig to 10 gigs in a month, and I really didn't want to see it get any bigger. Thank you so much.

The fact that you guys just do this for everybody with no benifit to you yourselves is amazing. It's a very noble cause you guys have here.

Hi,

Glad to be of help to have saved you that trouble.
Enjoy your clean and healthy system! =)
Don't forget the tips given to prevent future infections.. those will help alot. Feel free to post any questions for help in the future.


Regards,
Your friendly Momok =)

This thread is for the use of Mattrik Trenal only. Please don't post your own virus/spyware problems in this thread. Instead, open a new thread in our security and the web forum.