Threat Blocked: http://wpad.browsersecurity.info/wpad.dat

[REDACTED]

Darn! I spoke too soon....came home from work and it's popping up again....any other tricks? I attached a screen shot of the pop up.....and if you're wondering it rebooted, I'm pretty confident I followed all steps exactly.

[dbrisendine]

We'll run this in Safe Mode, so download it first to your desktop and then reboot your system into Safe Mode (tapping F8 when you first power on the system until the Advanced Boot Options menu appears - see here for information if you have any questions)

AdwCleaner by Xplode

Download AdwCleaner from here or from here. Save the file to the desktop.


NOTE: If you are using IE 8 or above you may get a warning that stops the program from downloading. Just click on the warning and allow the download to complete.

Close all open windows and browsers.    Reboot your system into Safe Mode (see above).   

• Vista/7/8 users: Right click the AdwCleaner icon on the desktop, click Run as administrator and accept the UAC prompt to run AdwCleaner.
  You will see the following console:
  
  
• Click the Scan button and wait for the scan to finish.
• After the Scan has finished the window may or may not show what it found and above, in the progress bar, you will see: Waiting for action. Please uncheck elements you don't want to remove.
• Click the Clean button.
• Everything checked will be deleted.
• When the program has finished cleaning a report appears.
• Once done it may ask to reboot, allow this

• On reboot a log will be produced; please attach that in your next reply. This report is also saved to C:\AdwCleaner\AdwCleaner[C#].txt
  
  Optional:
  
  NOTE: If you see AVG Secure Search being targeted for deletion, Here's Why and Here. You can always Reinstall it.

[REDACTED]

Here you are sir:

[dbrisendine]

I believe I was too restrictive on our first search.

Run a search with FRST.

• Right click on FRST.exe on your desktop and select "Run as Administrator..." When the tool opens click Yes to disclaimer.
• Type browsersecurity into the Search Box.
• Press the Search Registry button.
• It will produce a log called search.txt in the same directory the tool is run from.
• Please copy and paste log back here.

Please attach the log search.txt in your reply.  Thanks.

[REDACTED]

I have faith!! :-)

[dbrisendine]

I think we will have to take care of some of the remaining issues a slightly different way now. The following steps will guide you through backing up your registry, assembling the file that will correct the issues and running that fix. IF AT ANY TIME YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR CONCERN ON ANY OF THESE STEPS, STOP AND ASK UNTIL YOU ARE CLEAR AND COMFORTABLE ON THEM.

Step 1

• Please download Registry Backup from here.
• Double click to run the installer; even though there is no 'foistware' installed with this program, as good practice, you should read all the instructions on every screen of the install.
• If you let it, the install put a shortcut to the program on your desktop; either click on this or goto START > All Programs > Tweaking.com > Registry Backup > Tweaking.com - Registry Backup to start the program. Click Yes in reply to the User Account Control if it askes.
• Please leave the backup storage setting at the default (if anything happens, I can tell you how to get there and restore the registry as this location is the same on every system).
• Click on Backup Now to start the backup process; a progress window will open and show you the status of the backup. When complete, the program will state Successful and you can close the program.

Step 2

• Please open Notepad.exe by going to START > Run
• Type notepad.exe into the Run box
• Then press ENTER.
• Once Notepad is running, please copy the following text inside the Code box below (do not copy the Code in the title bar) by highlighting all the text inside the box (or clicking on Select next to Code), right clicking and selecting Copy.

Code: [Select]

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\services\Tcpip\Parameters]
"SearchList"=-

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\services\Tcpip\Parameters]
"SearchList"=-

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Tcpip\Parameters]
"SearchList"=-

[-HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-3366825360-3575984030-1300529762-1000\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Wpad]

[HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-3366825360-3575984030-1300529762-1000\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Wpad]


• Once you have done that, return to Notepad and click on Edit on the menu bar and select Paste in the drop down menu. Notepad will paste a copy of the text you selected from the Quote box.
• Next, click on File on the menu bar and select Save As.
• Navigate to your desktop in the left hand tree view window.
• Type Regfix.reg in the file name edit bar.
• Click on the Save as type: bar and select All Files (*.*) from the drop down list.
• Now click on SAVE. This should have saved a file named Regfix.reg on your desktop. You can close Notepad.exe now.

Step 3

• Close your browsers (Internet Explorer and FireFox) if you have them open.
• Double click on the Regfix.reg file you just saved on the desktop.
• If a User Account Control window opens, select Yes to continue.
• When the Registry Editor warning window opens, select Yes to allow the file to correct the errors in your registry.
• When the file has been merged into your registry, a window will inform you that the operation was successful.
• Please restart your system for the repair to take affect. (Note: After the restart, your ESET may start giving you popups about found malware.  This is normal now and you should do a full scan of your system.)

Next Reply Post from You - Things to Include Please

• Any questions about this fix.
• Any problems you encountered performing this routine.
• How is your system running now?

[REDACTED]

Hi, I am at a sticking point. I receive this error when I run the program, screenshot attached:

[dbrisendine]

If you go to Settings > Advanced Settings (in Registry Backup), is the "Always use Fallback Method Method Instead of Volume Shadow Copy" checked?  If it is, please uncheck that and run the program again.

[REDACTED]

When I click on the Regfix.reg file I get this error message. (attached screen shot)

[dbrisendine]

Delete the file and try this one instead.  Download the attached file and rename it to Regfix.reg (it will be attached as Regfix.txt).

[REDACTED]

dbrisendine, Thank you for all your help, we have not seen this in the last couple days so whatever you told me to do WORKED!!! Thanks again and may good Karma come your way!

Delete the file and try this one instead.  Download the attached file and rename it to Regfix.reg (it will be attached as Regfix.txt).

[dbrisendine]

That is cool!  That is sssooooo cool!!  Thank you for letting me know (made my day!).


If everything else if fine for you (Avast is running / scanning with no warnings, etc.) then I will remove our tools and get you on your way ...


Clean up of Malware Removal Tools
Now that we are through using these tools, let's clean them off your system so that should you ever need to have malware removed again (we hope not) fresh, updated copies will be downloaded.

• Download Delfix from here to your desktop and double click it to start the program
  
• Ensure Remove disinfection tools is ticked
  Also tick:
  
• Activate UAC
• Create registry backup
• Purge system restore
• Reset system settings

• Click Run
  
• The program will run for a few moments and then notepad will open with a log. Note: Please save this log first before rebooting your system (if asked to); DelFix does not save the log as it is trying to remove all traces of our work on your system.  Please attach the log in your next reply.
  

You can delete any log files left on your desktop as these are no longer needed.

==Some Tools to consider to help keep your system safe ==

Consider a program that will check for out-of-date programs on your system
Some programs don't have update checks built in or make you run the application to start the check for updates process. An easier way to stay on top of the current versions of your installed programs is to use a version checking program like Heimdal Free from Heimdal Security (you can get the software from here and read more about it on the same page).

Unchecky is a small service that runs in the background to help keep those "extra toolbars" and tag along search engines from automatically installing.  By automatically directing you to a custom install with all the options unchecked, only what you manually choose and confirm gets installed.

CryptoPrevent is a free program that prevents CryptoLocker / ransomware from infecting your PC by locking down the OS so the malware can not get a grip on your system.  You can read the details about this program here.

Also, consider keeping MalwareBytes Antimalware in your arsenal of safe keeping programs. Use the free version (not the paid or trial version) and you won't have a problem with your antivirus scanner program. Keep it updated and run a scan with it once a week.

Lastly, if you use Firefox as your main web browser, consider adding the NoScript and AdBlockPlus add-ons to the browser to block scripting hijacks and remove unwanted ads from the pages you view.

You may also find some information and tips at this thread:
 How did I get infected in the first place?
and
COMPUTER SECURITY - a short quide to staying safer online

I'll leave this topic open for a few days so that if you have any questions you can come back here. Surf safe, my friend!!