Have I got infected?

[Rodney78]

Hello,  my laptop seems to have slowed down considerably in terms of browser speed and typing latency.  I have done numerous Avast and SAS scans, nothing is found by Avast and SAS just finds cookies which I delete.

I'm really concerned that I have an infection which is maybe deep routed which have not got the experience to find.

Help!!

[Omid Farhang]

Please attach a HijackThis log in your next reply so I will know a few more about your computer and running process.

http://www.omidfarhang.com/computer/how-to/hijackthis

To attach a log: Additonal Options, Attach-> Browse for log

[Asyn]

1. If you are on a 32bit system, run a boot time scan with avast.
2. Run a scan with free Mbam. http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

[SafeSurf]

Hello Rodney78 and welcome to the forum. 

Have you cleaned your machine recently with something like CCleaner, a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool.  There is a Slim version available as well at http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/builds - 4th option down.  It removes unused files (cache, temporary Internet files, etc.) from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space.  It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history.  Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. 

1.   What is your OS, 32 or 64-bit?
2.   What version of Avast did you install?  5.0.677 is the latest version.
3.   What product of Avast did you install?  Free, Pro, AIS?

[DigiDis]

I would do a careful check with Malwarebytes and Hitman Pro. You can also download the Kapsersky rescue CD and run that, just make sure to update it before you do the scan. If clean run CCleaner and do a defrag of your harddrive if it is more than 15% defragmented.

Last point is to get your computer back to its perfect running state and then do a full system image with something like Macrium or Paragon's imaging software. Then do a backup every two or so weeks and before changing anything related to the OS or security software. It's much easier to fall back a couple of days or a week with a disk image than to have to reinstall the OS and all software. Just remember to do frequent back ups of your documents and email data to somewhere else so that you can keep those current. Microsoft's SyncToy is good for that.

[SafeSurf]

This OP is getting too many suggestions yet we have no information about his system until he/she responds.  You may be confused with all the posts.

Jumping into running full diagnostic scans is not necessary until we have more information from the OP at this point, then usually a simple MBAM scan is required if we think it may be malware related.

@ Rodney78, do you have any questions?

[Rodney78]

Wow, thanks for the really quick and detailed replies!!!

I have installed the latest version of free Avast.  I have defragged the HD and used XP disk cleaning utility.  I'm using 32 bitXp.

I'll try the cc cleaner 1st but ideally I don't want to be fiddling with the registry if I can help it as I don't think I'm competent enough!

[SafeSurf]

You will find that CCleaner will work better than the XP disk cleaning tool; many of us use it here regularly.  If you are not comfortable with the Registry cleaner portion, that is fine.  What I recommend if you do want to use it and it asks you to "fix" something is to make a back up in My Documents and keep it for a few weeks as a "just in case."

Did you reboot after doing all of this?  Is your system running better/fixed?

[SafeSurf]

If after robooting your machine is not fixed, please do the following:

1. Check your computer for malware with Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware (MBAM).
·   Download free http://www.malwarebytes.org/ (the blue button) for an on-demand scanner.
·   Double Click mbam-setup.exe to install the application.
·   After install, click update so you have latest database before scanning.
·   Under Settings:
o   General: Automatically Save File After Scan Completes is checked off
o   Scanner Settings:  Check all boxes
o   Updater: Download and install update if available is checked off
·   Once the program has loaded, select "Perform FULL Scan", then click Scan.
·   The scan may take some time to finish, so please be patient.
·   When the disinfection scan is complete, a log will appear in Notepad and you may be prompted to Restart. (See Extra Note).
·   Click the “remove selected” button to quarantine anything found.  You will find the infection details under the Quarantine tab.
·   The log is automatically saved by MBAM and can be viewed by clicking the Logs tab in MBAM.
·   Copy & Paste the entire report in your next reply.

2. Then make sure your Avast definitions are up to date and run a Boot-time scan.  Post back if Avast finds anything.

Please let me know if you have any questions.  Thank you.

[Omid Farhang]

Rodney78, I'm still awaiting

Please attach a HijackThis log in your next reply so I will know a few more about your computer and running process.

http://www.omidfarhang.com/computer/how-to/hijackthis

To attach a log: Additonal Options, Attach-> Browse for log

[Rodney78]

Ok, I've just run CC cleaner and although it seemed to have removed a lot of files, hasn't made a difference to my original problem.  I'm in the process of running a MB scan, so will post results when completed.

Omid, once I've done this I'll see if I can post a HT log.

[Rodney78]

Ok MB scan completed and nothing found

I'm now going to run a Avast boot time scan.

[Omid Farhang]

Ok MB scan completed and nothing found

I'm now going to run a Avast boot time scan.

Rondy, HijackThis log will take only less than a minutes, maybe your computer is clean and only something is conflicting or running on background which can be solved quickly.

[Rodney78]

Ok, so result of boot time scan is I'm infected in C:/windows/installer with win32:adware-gen.  I was going to move move it to the chest but am unsure as it's inthe windows folder.  What should I do?

[DigiDis]

Quarantine it and reboot. If it reboots fine then you're OK. If it doesn't reboot then try to boot into Safe Mode and restore it from quarantine. Most likely putting it in quarantine will do nothing to your system, and Avast isn't that bad at all with false positives.