Avast.setup makes my computer crawl!!!

[english teacher]

Hi,
I'm writing this on another computer. My desktop has gone funny. I started running OTS without touching it. I went off for a cup of tea!! After some time I heard the computer beeping. There were several windows opened which said that a file "UNKNOWN" as it had no name for the title of these windows, was "Not a valid Win32 application"
After a while the computer crashed and after rebooting several AVAST shields were deactivated. Being very suspicious of this I re-booted again but once again these shields were still deactivated. It seems OTS woke something up!!  :'( I updated AVAST and ran a quick scan and saw the results nothing (no log saved). The scan was too quick, 20 minutes. I checked the settings and exclusions. There should have been nothing but there was C:\Windows\System32
I tried to run Superantispyware it gave the "Not a valid Win32 application", so I decided to rename it which worked for me!! It found 16 infections of Bagle in different flavours (not the one I like though!!) in the system 32 file and also 2 Trojans along with a rootkit...There is no log file which is strange or not so strange from reports I've seen in doing research about this kind of infection.

My wife said that her brother-in-law came the other day with a pen drive to print a few photos!! Now alarm bells are ringing!!!!! I've just called him to ask him to scan his computer. He called back a few minutes ago saying he can't start up his AV!!
Before I continue does anybody think I can trust my computer 100% anymore?
Luckily, I don't keep passwords on the computer.
Yes, programmi is OK. The OS is an Italian version. These tools were suggested in Bleepingcomputer website.

[essexboy]

Could you do the following please and if you can get an OTS log that would be extremely helpful

Download aswMBR.exe ( 511KB ) to your desktop.
 
Double click the aswMBR.exe to run it
 
Click the "Scan" button to start scan

 
On completion of the scan click save log, save it to your desktop and post in your next reply

 

[SafeSurf]

Before I continue does anybody think I can trust my computer 100% anymore?

I suspected you may have malware on your machine when I asked you to do an OTS log in an earlier post, and this would allow us to see if you still had malware-removal tools still left on your machine.  Because your machine was acting very slowly, we have to look at the big picture, and sometimes we have to consider malware as the problem.  Since I looked at other issues, this was my next step.  It appears that we stumbled upon the problem.

If you follow Essexboy's instructions, we can very likely fix your machine.  So please run the OTS log so we can see what is going on in your machine and begin removing the malware.  If you cannot download the OTS, at least follow his instructions and download the aswMBR.exe and follow those instructions.

It is normal to feel overwhelmed when you get malware on your machine, but please try to work with us and we will help you fix the problem.    Feel free at any time to ask questions.

[english teacher]

Hi,
The situation is bad. Whatever my "brother-in-law", not for the lack of a word, put onto my desktop computer has completely crashed the system and the computer will not boot at all now. The last error message seen was just as the desktop appeared. A little window seemed to open and close for a split second (strange never seen before) and then svchost.exe is not a valid Win32 application. The computer froze at that point. After rebooting it never starts. I have tried rebooting in safe mode, a rescue disk. I have also tried to get into the bios to change the booting configuration but nothing!!
My friend, who works for a computer company near here, is helping me. He is going to put the hard drive on to one of his test computers at work as a slave drive (is that correct) to see if that will at least get it started. I'll let you know how it goes.
Thanks anyway for those who tried to help. From what I understand now, it seems that my brother-in-law clicked an allow box to one of the security programs on my computer. One of them blocked this thing. I'm going to put a password onto my computer from now on!!!

[SafeSurf]

I'm going to put a password onto my computer from now on!!!

Sounds like a good idea.  Keep us posted as to what happens with your friend's help on your machine.  We are still here 24/7 if you need our assistance. 

[english teacher]

Thanks SafeSurf. Who could have thought that just by clicking an ALLOW box so much damage could be done. I don't know which security program it was that he clicked that blessed allow button. It just seems so stupid....I'm very careful which sites I visit, what and from where I download, I scan every attachment in emails from friends (at virustotal.com), I update each security program as soon as I connect to the internet for the first time that day. For what just to have somebody (censored words) my computer. I have a funny feeling I will have to reformat. The only good news is that at least I backed everything up!!!
 
Would the damage have been less if I had made a guest account which is limited? The Desktop is Windows XP Pro with SP3.

[SafeSurf]

Would the damage have been less if I had made a guest account which is limited? The Desktop is Windows XP Pro with SP3.

I know with higher OS versions, using an Administrator account the damage is higher, but I'm not sure with XP.  I do think that adding a password to your machine is an excellent idea...not that this helps you now.  :'(  I am very sorry to hear of your troubles as it sounds like you have been proactive in trying to keep a clean machine and being safe.  Please let us know if there is anything more we can do to help you.

[english teacher]

Hi,

Well my friend has contacted me. He said that he had spent several hours yesterday looking at it (on his own) and nearly all of this morning (with one or two other colleagues). He managed to get it started again by putting the Hard drive into another desktop and using my one as a slave. It was impossible to boot as an OS drive. There were (he didn't name them all) over 3000 infected files with around 150 different Trojans and viruses. This is what he told me: "Around 30% of the system files have been deleted. Approx 20% of those which remained had been altered and another 5% had had their extensions changed."
One thing he did say was that he hadn't seen such an infected and damaged computer like this for several years. He was very surprised at the damage saying that probably as soon as the infection entered, it added itself to the exclusions list of some or all the security programs on the computer. At that point I told him I found AVAST with several shields deactivated.
I asked about the avast.setup making the computer go very slowly. He replied that it was probably due to several factors: 1. that the computer is old, about 6 or 7. 2. The RAM is only 512MB and 3. many programs today require higher specs than my computers.
I compared it to putting the engine of a small car into a truck (if you're American) or lorry (if you're English). He said "In a nutshell, yeah, exactly!!"
Anyway, it looks like I have a long job of re-installing everything again when he brings it back!! Security programs first then the other one and a password of my computer.
Anyway thanks for all the help and suggestions.

[SafeSurf]

You're welcome.  Good luck to you putting your machine together.  You have your work cut out for you.  :'(

Feel free to come back any time you need help, to learn something new, or just to ask questions.  We are here 24/7 for your convenience.  Thank you for allowing us to assist you.