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MBAM won't open after Malware infection


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I believe my PC has been infected with malware, however, I am unable to verify this as I am unable to open MBAM 4. I have run various other anti-virus programmes, (e.g. KVRT, TDSSKiller, EmsisoftEmergencyKit) which have all shown no infected items. However, I am completely unable to run MBAM, which makes me believe there is still malware on my PC.

I have used MBST to completely uninstall MBAM, and re-installed using the offline installer. However, I am still given the same result, an error message displays the text : "Windows cannot access the specified device or path or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item".

Any solution would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

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  • Root Admin

Hello @aidy2000 and :welcome:

 

 

Please do the following so that we can get started and see what's going on.


The Farbar Recovery Scan Tool is a free Windows utility designed to create troubleshooting logs for your computer. These logs help our Support team to identify and resolve issues with your computer.

There are two versions of the Farbar Recovery Scan Tool available for download: 32-bit and 64-bit.
To find which operating system is installed on your computer, refer to Microsoft's article: 32-bit and 64-bit Windows: Frequently asked questions

Download and launch Farbar Recovery Scan Tool

  1. Download the Farbar Recovery Scan Tool
    Do not click on any Ads.
     
  2. Locate the file you downloaded on your computer.
    Downloaded files are often saved to the Downloads folder.
     
  3. Double-click the downloaded file to run the Farbar Recovery Scan Tool.

    DOC-1318-1.png
     
  4. Windows protected your PC notification may appear. This notification is from the Windows Defender SmartScreen Filter which prevents unfamiliar apps from running on your PC.
    Disable smart screen ONLY if it interferes with software we may have to use:  What is SmartScreen and how can it help protect me?

         a.  Click More info.

    https://support.malwarebytes.com/hc/article_attachments/360051190254/DOC-1318-2.png
         b.  Click Run anyway.

    https://support.malwarebytes.com/hc/article_attachments/360051190294/DOC-1318-3.png
  5. When the User Account Control window appears, click Yes.

    image.png

     
  6. To accept the Disclaimer of warranty, click Yes.

    image.png

     
  7. Ensure only the boxes listed below are checked

    image.png

    Registry  Services  Drivers
    Processes  Internet  One month
    Addition.txt

    image.png

     

  8. Disable any Antivirus software you have installed ONLY if it stops software we may use from working.
    Please remember to re-enable any Antivirus software when we are finished running scans

    Click Scan. The scan may take a few minutes to complete.

    image.png
     

  9. When the scan completes, Farbar Recovery Scan Tool shows two messages:

  • Scan completed. FRST.txt is saved in the same directory FRST is located.

    image.png

  • Addition.txt is saved in the same directory FRST is located.

    image.png
     

  • Click OK to close each message window

 

Please attach both of those logs on your next reply, DO NOT copy/paste the contents of the logs directly

https://content.invisioncic.com/Mmalware/monthly_2018_10/_mb_attach.jpg.dbd89b8e360d3763b3bbe33ce83d680d.jpg

 

 

Thanks

 

 

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  • Root Admin

Hello @aidy2000

Please uninstall the following programs from Control Panel

  • Bitdefender Agent
  • Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition
  • Bonjour
  • FileASSASSIN
  • Java 8 Update 66
  • WinRAR 5.30 beta 1 (64-bit)

After you have uninstalled all of the above, please make sure to restart the computer one more time and then run the following fix.

When the fix has been completed, please attach back the FIXLOG.txt file on your next reply.

 

Please download the attached fixlist.txt file and save it to the Desktop or location where you ran FRST from.
NOTE. It's important that both files, FRST or FRST64, and fixlist.txt are in the same location or the fix will not work.

Please make sure you disable any real-time antivirus or security software before running this script. Once completed, make sure you re-enable it.

NOTICE: This script was written specifically for this user, for use on this particular machine. Running this on another machine may cause damage to your operating system that cannot be undone.

Run FRST or FRST64 and press the Fix button just once and wait.
If the tool needs a restart please make sure you let the system restart normally and let the tool complete its run after restart.
The tool will make a log on the Desktop (Fixlog.txt) or wherever you ran FRST from. Please attach or post it to your next reply.

Note: If the tool warned you about an outdated version please download and run the updated version.

NOTE-1:  This fix will run a scan to check that all Microsoft operating system files are valid and not corrupt and attempt to correct any invalid files. It will also run a disk check on the restart to ensure disk integrity. Depending on the speed of your computer this fix may take 30 minutes or more.

NOTE-2: As part of this fix all temporary files will be removed. If you have any open web pages that have not been bookmarked please make sure you bookmark them now as all open applications will be automatically closed. Also, make sure you know the passwords for all websites as cookies will also be removed. The use of an external password manager is highly recommended instead of using your browser to store passwords.

NOTE-3: As part of this fix it will also reset the network to default settings including the firewall. If you have custom firewall rules you need to save please export or save them first before running this fix.

The following directories are emptied:

  • Windows Temp
  • Users Temp folders
  • Edge, IE, FF, Chrome, and Opera caches, HTML5 storages, Cookies and History
  • Recently opened files cache
  • Discord cache
  • Java cache
  • Steam HTML cache
  • Explorer thumbnail and icon cache
  • BITS transfer queue (qmgr*.dat files)
  • Recycle Bin

Important: items are permanently deleted. They are not moved to quarantine. If you have any questions or concerns please ask before running this fix.

The system will be rebooted after the fix has run.

fixlist.txt

Thanks

 

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  • Root Admin

Great, that log looks good. It cleared and fixed many items.

Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.

 

Please run the Farbar program again and click on the SCAN button and post back both new logs as an attachment.

 

  • FRST.TXT
  • ADDITION.TXT

 

Thanks @aidy2000

 

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  • Root Admin

Thank you, just a couple more items.

 

Your DNS Servers: 194.168.4.100 - 194.168.8.100

Please consider changing your default DNS Server settings. Please choose one provider only

DNS is what lets users connect to websites using domain names instead of IP addresses

  • Google Public DNS: IPv4   8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4   IPv6   2001:4860:4860::8888 and 2001:4860:4860::8844
  • Cloudflare: IPv4   1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1   IPv6   2606:4700:4700::1111 and 2606:4700:4700::1001
  • OpenDNS: IPv4   208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220  IPv6  2620:119:35::35 and 2620:119:53::53
  • DNSWATCH: IPv4   84.200.69.80 and 84.200.70.40   IPv6  2001:1608:10:25::1c04:b12f and 2001:1608:10:25::9249:d69b

The Ultimate Guide to Changing Your DNS Server
https://www.howtogeek.com/167533/the-ultimate-guide-to-changing-your-dns-server/

Here is a YouTube video on Changing DNS settings if needed

 

 

Then, please save the attached FIXLIST.txt file as before to the same folder as the Farbar program. Then run the Farbar program and click on the FIX button.

fixlist.txt

Then after the computer restarts, download and reinstall Malwarebytes using this installer.

MB4 Offline Installer
https://downloads.malwarebytes.com/file/mb4_offline

 

Then let me know how things are going and if there are still any other issues

Thank you @aidy2000

 

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If I double-click the application, nothing happens. However, if I right-click and run as administrator, the error message in the first screenshot shows. Additionally, if I look in processes in Task manager, I can see that Malwarebytes is supposedly running.

Capture.JPG

Capture2.JPG

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  • Root Admin

Okay, please run the following CLEAN removal, but DO NOT allow the program to try and reinstall. Decline the installer request

 

 

Can you please do the following?

  • Download the Malwarebytes Support Tool
  • In your Downloads folder, open the mb-support-x.x.x.xxx.exe file
  • In the User Account Control pop-up window, click Yes to continue the installation
  • Run the MBST Support Tool
  • In the left navigation pane of the Malwarebytes Support Tool, click Advanced
  • In the Advanced Options, click the CLEAN button and follow the onscreen instructions but DO NOT reinstall.
  • NOTE: Please have patience as it can take a while to remove and restart to complete

After the restart please do the following

  • Run the MBST Support Tool
  • In the left navigation pane of the Malwarebytes Support Tool, click Advanced
  • In the Advanced Options, click Gather Logs. A status diagram displays the tool is Getting logs from your machine
  • A zip file named mbst-grab-results.zip will be saved to your desktop, please upload that file on your next reply

Thank you

 

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  • Root Admin

Okay, @aidy2000

Please save the attached FIXLIST.TXT as before to the same location as the Farbar program.

Then run the Farbar program and click the FIX button.

Wait for it to finish and restart the computer.

Then post back the new FIXLOG.TXT file.

fixlist.txt

Thank you

 

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  • Root Admin

Thank you for the log. Let me have you run the following

 

Microsoft Safety Scanner

Please make sure you Exit out of any other program you might have open so that the sole task is to run the following scan.   
That goes especially for web browsers, make sure all are fully exited out of and messenger programs are exited and closed as well
 

STEP 1

Please set File Explorer to SHOW ALL folders, all files, including hidden ones.  Use OPTION ONE or TWO of this article

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/7078-turn-off-show-all-folders-windows-10-navigation-pane.html

STEP 2

I suggest a new scan for viruses & other malware. This may take several hours, depending on the number of files on the system and the speed of the computer.

The Microsoft Safety Scanner is a free Microsoft stand-alone virus scanner that can be used to scan for & remove malware or potentially unwanted software from a system. 

The download links & the how-to-run-the tool are at this link at Microsoft 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/intelligence/safety-scanner-download

 

Look on the Scan Options & select the FULL scan.

Then start the scan. Have lots of patience. It may take several hours.

  • Once you see it has started, take a long long break;  walk away.  Do not pay credence if you see some intermediate early flash messages on the screen display.  The only things that count are the End result at the end of the run.
  • The scan will take several hours.  Leave it alone. It will remove any other remaining threats as it goes along.  Take a very long break, do your normal personal errands .....just do not use the computer during this scan.

This is likely to run for many hours as previously mentioned  ( depending on the number of files on your machine & the speed of the hardware.)

The log is named MSERT.log  and the log will be at C:\Windows\debug\msert.log

Please attach that log with your next reply.

 

 

It is normal for the Microsoft Safety Scanner to show detections during the scan process. It is scanning for basically all bread crumbs or traces of files and registry entries that "might" be or have been part of some infection or previous infection.

That DOES NOT mean the computer is infected. Once the scan has been completed it uploads the log to their Cloud service which then uses Artificial Intelligence to determine if in fact any of the traces are an infection or not.

Then it writes into the log on your computer what it found.

 

 

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