Windows 7: How do I unblock Windows Update after malware damage?

After becoming unable to download identified updates in Windows Update, and also being unable to search for new updates, I did a detailed scan with Microsoft Security Essentials which identified and removed some malware (Exploit:Java/CVE-2010-0840.IZ).

Since Windows Update still wouldn't work I restored my settings from last Friday with no improvement. Using Fix problems with Windows Update gets stuck on Fixing problem.

I then tried to do a reinstall as an update, but the installer was unable to find any updates (or rather it was forever* trying to locate any).

On a tip from a friend I looked in the hosts file but it was unaltered.

Does anyone have any ideas short of doing a fresh install?


*Forever is a relative term but in this case it's 90+ minutes.

I suspect all the malware hasn't been removed. Download and run the free malwarebytes antimalware, run a full scan.

Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware goes non responsive whenever it tries to do a detailed scan of c:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download. I've tried five times with a reboot between each (the only way to terminate the hang). There's no real clue in the log - it just stops working with Windows.

I can do detailed scans of my other drives and quick scans of c:. Neither Microsoft Security Essentials nor F-Secure finds anything suspicious in that folder.

So am I up against some very clever malware targeting it's potential adversaries or a system that's taken such a beating that it's just not very stable any more?

I think I've narrowed the cause of the hang down to one downloaded folder - or maybe that should read "downloaded."

There are two folders for the KB2570947 update. One of them is created today at about the same time i booted the last time. It contains 61 files and unlike the other files and folders in Download it cannot be copied without windows explorer going into a hang.

Since I still can't run Windows Update it's origins are suspicious to say the least.

But just as I can't copy it I can't delete it either. How do I kill it?

OK, it can be deleted if it's the first thing you do after a restart. But it's recreated whenever you start Anti-Malware and then it can't be deleted (the popup opens and then hangs until reboot).

There's a ton of worrying stuff in the log: Microsoft Security Client OOBE being ended by error 0xC000000D and warnings about unauthorized use of my user profile.

Maybe it's time to cut my losses, format and do a clean reinstall?

Here is another choice.
https://connect.microsoft.com/systemsweeper