Myriad PC issues - Avast! not working

[Billy Bullshot]

I've been having some software-related issues with my Dell Inspiron 1300 laptop in recent weeks. The first time I noticed these was when a barred red circle appeared over the Avast! Icon running in the system tray. I tried the “Uninstall, boot, reinstall, boot” method described by a previous poster, but that didn’t work so I ended up following the on-screen help which consisted of effecting a Repair from Control Panel => Add/Remove Programs => Avast! Antivirus. After rebooting again, the “red sign” did appear briefly but disappeared shortly after bootup. After booting today, the same thing happened, with the red sign appearing initially only to disappear a short while after (Edit: read on though). However, there are a few other issues that have been bugging me:

1) Whenever I click on the first/second/third (actually this happens with almost every Google result I come up with) link from a Google search, I am redirected to btcar.com, Skooble, info.com, or some other “search engine” when I should be getting linked so stuff relevant to what I am searching for.

2)Firefox and IE (tried IE after Firefox started annoying me) crash randomly after clicking on various site links with no explanations whatsoever.

3) Avast! Will not run at all. When I double-click on the desktop icon, I get a message headed “C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashAvast.exe” followed with “Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access them.”

Seeing that neither the desktop not the Start button shortcuts worked I decided to run Avast from the .exe files contained in the Avast folder. Initially this seemed to work, and the program started correctly. Soon after starting a virus scan from Windows however the program closed for no apparent reason.

It’s not just Avast that is having this problem: Every anti-malware program I have downloaded in order to try and resolve the problem has either given this same message upon startup or just not done anything at all. I downloaded Ad Aware (allegedly some 50MB in size) but the download “finished” at around the 15MB mark and the program won’t run, claiming to be “corrupted”.

4) Sometimes I just can’t get online. The connection manager claims another program might be enabled in order to manage my connections, but the only one I use is O2 which I always quit (because I am using the connection at my brother’s house), so I know it isn’t that. Rebooting usually solves that issue, however.

I think these problems started when I was connecting to an unprotected hotspot outside the residency I was living in. Probably the guy whose connection I was hotwiring didn’t like it and decided to “repay” me in some way. Of course, knowing about the dangers of leaving your connection unsecure, I should have made the observation that doing it the other way around could have similar potentially disastrous results.

I have also noticed that the “red sign” has reappeared on the Avast system tray icon while I was typing this document, seemingly without having required any action from me whatsoever (and Start on-access protection won’t make it go away).

[YoKenny]

Welcome Billy

Sounds like your system is really infected.

What operating system and Service Pack are you using?

[Billy Bullshot]

Microsoft Windows XP, Home Edition, Version 2002, Service Pack 3.

Oh yeah, the last few times I've shut down my PC it has returned another message with the filename "bcmwltry" (can't remember the file extension) with the text "failed to initialise". I don't know if this will help solve the problem or not, or whether "bcmwltry.XXX" is a virus or a Windows program.

[YoKenny]

Looks like  "bcmwltry" has something to do with wireless connections and I found this with Google:
http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/process/bcmwltry.exe.html

One of the super experts will be along shortly to provide help but in the meantime you could try downloading HijackThis then install it then post a log here:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download5554.html

[Billy Bullshot]

I downloaded and ran HijackThis, but that seemed to go the same way as every other antivirus program (bar SUPERAntiSpyware) that I’ve tried and shut down while performing its duty, and when I attempt to run it from the Start menu I get the same “Windows cannot access the specified device, path or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item.” message I’ve been getting with Avast, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, DriverScanner and every anti-malware program I’ve used to try and solve the problem bar SUPERAntiSpyware. So either the program has made a log and I just don't know where it is, or it hasn't made one at all.

Regarding that message, I get it in Safe Mode as well as Normal Mode (the only part of SUPERAntiSpyware that still works is the Safe Boot option), and I also get the Google redirections I mentioned in my first message (Skooble, info.com, btcar.com etc).

I see what the “bcmwltry” file is now - one of the drivers I had to download after my Windows reinstallation a couple of months ago. Thanks for the link.

[Pondus]

here are some more suggestions

Norman Malware Cleaner  http://www.norman.com/support/support_tools/58732/en

Dr.WebCureit                 http://www.freedrweb.com/

[clntsnow35]

I've been having some software-related issues with my Dell Inspiron 1300 laptop in recent weeks. The first time I noticed these was when a barred red circle appeared over the Avast! Icon running in the system tray. I tried the “Uninstall, boot, reinstall, boot” method described by a previous poster, but that didn’t work so I ended up following the on-screen help which consisted of effecting a Repair from Control Panel => Add/Remove Programs => Avast! Antivirus. After rebooting again, the “red sign” did appear briefly but disappeared shortly after bootup. After booting today, the same thing happened, with the red sign appearing initially only to disappear a short while after (Edit: read on though). However, there are a few other issues that have been bugging me:

1) Whenever I click on the first/second/third (actually this happens with almost every Google result I come up with) link from a Google search, I am redirected to btcar.com, Skooble, info.com, or some other “search engine” when I should be getting linked so stuff relevant to what I am searching for.

2)Firefox and IE (tried IE after Firefox started annoying me) crash randomly after clicking on various site links with no explanations whatsoever.

3) Avast! Will not run at all. When I double-click on the desktop icon, I get a message headed “C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashAvast.exe” followed with “Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access them.”

Seeing that neither the desktop not the Start button shortcuts worked I decided to run Avast from the .exe files contained in the Avast folder. Initially this seemed to work, and the program started correctly. Soon after starting a virus scan from Windows however the program closed for no apparent reason.

It’s not just Avast that is having this problem: Every anti-malware program I have downloaded in order to try and resolve the problem has either given this same message upon startup or just not done anything at all. I downloaded Ad Aware (allegedly some 50MB in size) but the download “finished” at around the 15MB mark and the program won’t run, claiming to be “corrupted”.

4) Sometimes I just can’t get online. The connection manager claims another program might be enabled in order to manage my connections, but the only one I use is O2 which I always quit (because I am using the connection at my brother’s house), so I know it isn’t that. Rebooting usually solves that issue, however.

I think these problems started when I was connecting to an unprotected hotspot outside the residency I was living in. Probably the guy whose connection I was hotwiring didn’t like it and decided to “repay” me in some way. Of course, knowing about the dangers of leaving your connection unsecure, I should have made the observation that doing it the other way around could have similar potentially disastrous results.

I have also noticed that the “red sign” has reappeared on the Avast system tray icon while I was typing this document, seemingly without having required any action from me whatsoever (and Start on-access protection won’t make it go away).

[Billy Bullshot]

I watched the Norman program scan files endlessly without finding any errors, then the line of text signifying the file being scanned went red, saying that it was infected with something - the only word I could make out was “fake” before the program/virus closed it(self).

Ran Dr. Web Antivirus (Express Scan), and no infected files were found.
Ran Dr. Web Antivirus (Complete Scan), and… the program closed itself after about 15 minutes.

I downloaded the drweb-500-win.exe file (linked to from that program) and got the registration key downloaded to my computer, then ran the Dr. Web Updater For Windows and while attempting to download the “drw50012.txt” file, the Transfer Rate dropped to 0kbps and stayed there. I went and made some toast and when I came back the downloading had finished and it had started an express scan again.

I’m currently running another complete scan in an attempt to try and see what file is causing this, and every other program that I’ve used unsuccessfully to try and restore my PC to a more reasonable state of operation, to crash. Although if I’m honest the file names flash past so quickly, the only way I’m going to be able to do this will be with some program that logs the virus scan.

With the above in mind, I don’t think either of these two programs have really helped at all, having appeared to have just fallen down at exactly the same point as everything else I’ve tried.

[Pondus]

Maybe someone else has a better idea, but what about a rescue CD?

http://www.askvg.com/download-free-bootable-rescue-cds-from-kaspersky-bitdefender-avira-f-secure-and-others/

[Billy Bullshot]

I tried downloading Kapersky and burned it to a CD/RW, but I can't get it to run. I can open the Help file but nowhere does it say what OS it is designed for. Although one of the files on the disc does have "Linux" in the title. So anyway, which of the rescue CDs you linked to will work on my computer?

And...

I've been having some software-related issues with my Dell Inspiron 1300 laptop in recent weeks. The first time I noticed these was when a barred red circle appeared over the Avast! Icon running in the system tray. I tried the “Uninstall, boot, reinstall, boot” method described by a previous poster, but that didn’t work so I ended up following the on-screen help which consisted of effecting a Repair from Control Panel => Add/Remove Programs => Avast! Antivirus. After rebooting again, the “red sign” did appear briefly but disappeared shortly after bootup. After booting today, the same thing happened, with the red sign appearing initially only to disappear a short while after (Edit: read on though). However, there are a few other issues that have been bugging me:

1) Whenever I click on the first/second/third (actually this happens with almost every Google result I come up with) link from a Google search, I am redirected to btcar.com, Skooble, info.com, or some other “search engine” when I should be getting linked so stuff relevant to what I am searching for.

2)Firefox and IE (tried IE after Firefox started annoying me) crash randomly after clicking on various site links with no explanations whatsoever.

3) Avast! Will not run at all. When I double-click on the desktop icon, I get a message headed “C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashAvast.exe” followed with “Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access them.”

Seeing that neither the desktop not the Start button shortcuts worked I decided to run Avast from the .exe files contained in the Avast folder. Initially this seemed to work, and the program started correctly. Soon after starting a virus scan from Windows however the program closed for no apparent reason.

It’s not just Avast that is having this problem: Every anti-malware program I have downloaded in order to try and resolve the problem has either given this same message upon startup or just not done anything at all. I downloaded Ad Aware (allegedly some 50MB in size) but the download “finished” at around the 15MB mark and the program won’t run, claiming to be “corrupted”.

4) Sometimes I just can’t get online. The connection manager claims another program might be enabled in order to manage my connections, but the only one I use is O2 which I always quit (because I am using the connection at my brother’s house), so I know it isn’t that. Rebooting usually solves that issue, however.

I think these problems started when I was connecting to an unprotected hotspot outside the residency I was living in. Probably the guy whose connection I was hotwiring didn’t like it and decided to “repay” me in some way. Of course, knowing about the dangers of leaving your connection unsecure, I should have made the observation that doing it the other way around could have similar potentially disastrous results.

I have also noticed that the “red sign” has reappeared on the Avast system tray icon while I was typing this document, seemingly without having required any action from me whatsoever (and Start on-access protection won’t make it go away).

Clntsnow35, why are you quoting me with nothing but an angry face added? Did I upset you or something?

[Pondus]

I tried downloading Kapersky and burned it to a CD/RW, but I can't get it to run. I can open the Help file but nowhere does it say what OS it is designed for. Although one of the files on the disc does have "Linux" in the title. So anyway, which of the rescue CDs you linked to will work on my computer?

sorry, i have never used the rescue cd myself, maybe somone else can help you with that

Clntsnow35, why are you quoting me with nothing but an angry face added? Did I upset you or something?

His first post, maybe something went wrong?

[Brandon72196]

I tried downloading Kapersky and burned it to a CD/RW, but I can't get it to run. I can open the Help file but nowhere does it say what OS it is designed for. Although one of the files on the disc does have "Linux" in the title. So anyway, which of the rescue CDs you linked to will work on my computer?

You have to go into your BIOS settings and make it so that it boots from CD BEFORE harddrive. Im not sure what button to press at startup but its generally Escape.