EDIT: Thanks for the comprehensive post,
nommy the first!
You're welcome
Thanks for filling in your system specs, this makes the troubleshooting process a whole lot easier for us.
Don't forget to run Memtest though.
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So, to shoot the obvious ones down first; did you recently install any new hardware?
And, have you updated any drivers recently?
No and no.
Although AFTER the BSOD I looked at the hidden drivers and there was one that couldn't be found so I deleted it.
I also recently changed (enlarged) the Pagefile size.
Enlarging the pagefile size shouldn't be a problem to my knowledge, but removing a hidden driver might be. Do you have any more info for us?
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You said that MBAM, MSE, ESET and SUPERAnti Spyware have found threads, have you succesfully quarantined and deleted the threads?
Yes.
Hmm, then we should be good on that part. To be 100% sure you could always create a thread in our
system security subforum, our resident Malware Exterminators know exactly how to keep unwanted people out of your machine
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This software (especially the registry cleaners!) is known to cause many a BSoD and it is highly recommended to remove it.
Got rid of the registry and driver cleaners, but not uTorrent and DAEMON Tools since I have a need for their respective features. Perhaps there is a more stable (with respect to BSODs) alternative?
The main problem with Daemon Tools is that it uses SPTD.sys, which is the SCSI host. This is known to cause blue screens of death. I don't use any virtual drive software for myself, so I don't know of any SPTD-free alternative, but I am sure that someone else here will know
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The problem with UTorrent, and really any torrent P2P file sharing client, is that you don't know who sends you the data. P2P file sharing is the number 3 cause of malware infestations. Here is the canned I use for this scenario, I suggest reading it carefully;
:warn:
P2P Warning! :warn:
:info:
Important: I notice that there are one or more
P2P (Person to person)
file sharing programs on your computer;
1. UTorrent
:note: Please note that using any form of
peer to peer networking is highly dangerous, as there is no way to identify the source of the files you download, and you can expect an infestation of malware to occur.
Years ago P2P file sharing was safe and easy to do. And while the latter may still be so today, it is most certainly not safe anymore. A peer to peer program is a direct conduit into your computer. Most of these programs lack proper security measures and malware writers can easily breach them, and they continue to exploit the users of these programs to spread their malware.
As addition to that; while using a P2P program, your computer may be sharing way more than you want it to. There have been reports of people's passwords, personal, private and financial data being exposed via P2P networks, only because they had a peer to peer program installed, and lacked the skills to configure it properly.
Please read the following reports on the dangers of using peer to peer programs and file sharing.
Risks of P2P systems.
File sharing infects 500.000 computers.
File sharing dangers involve more than legal troubles.
Seattle man arrested for P2P identity theft.
I highly recommend that you uninstall the above mentioned P2P programs, as I
can not guarantee your safety from malware if you leave them installed and the likelihood of reinfection is very high to certain.
You can uninstall them by doing the following steps;
- Click on the
rb:.
- Click on Control Panel and under Programs click on Uninstall a program.
- Wait for the list to update, and when done, please right-click on the icon of the program(s) mentioned above and select Uninstall.
- Follow the on screen instructions, and when prompted, please restart your computer.
:info: When you have multiple P2P programs installed Click No - I will manually restart later when prompted to restart, and repeat steps three and four until all programs are uninstalled, and click Yes - Restart now when you have finished uninstalling the last P2P program.
:ar:If you choose not to uninstall them, please refrain from using any P2P program during this fix! Using them may interfere with any measures we may take.
Good luck and keep us posted,
Nommy
- so back up data to external media first!!
