Can't install any software on laptop, as all tab buttons come up blank

[mi2itsdl]

Strange one here. My son's laptop has suddenly developed a problem where any thing he try's to install loads up as a blank screen and the TAB buttons are also blank. Even Windows task manager has no information in it and no tab buttons.
Tried running Malewarebytes, but that gets displayed in a blank window half the size of the screen, with just an X in the corner.

His AVAST is showing no problems.

Any other security software I try to load just gets displayed in a blank screen.

I am trying to install stuff onto a flashdrive, via my PC, and run in on his laptop, to see if this works.

Registry Mechanic, works, and showed loads of problems, but still the screen was blank, so we just hit the TAB button that we new was repair.

Still can't get malewarebytes to run - this gets a runtime error (0)

Any ideas what could be causing this.

Please note, my son did have his youtube account hacked, and SKYPE stopped working as well.

 

[Anthony]

Try scanning in safe mode.

 

[mi2itsdl]

Makes no difference. All we have to scan with at the moment is AVAST, and that comes tell me there are no issues.

Can't install any other software, as install screens are all blank.

 

[Golden]

Hi and Welcome to SevenForums,

There are a few things I think we could try, but lets start with this:

In Safe Mode, do the following:

1. Click Start rb:
2. In the search box, type cmd
3. Right-click on cmd.exe, and choose the 'Run as Administrator' option
4. In the cmd window that opens, type sfc /scannow and hit enter.

Wait for it to complete, and then post the results back here in your next reply.

Regards,
Golden

 

[mi2itsdl]

Cheers for the reply.

sfc /scannow displayed the following

verification 100% complete

Windows resource protection did not find any integrity violations

 

[Golden]

OK. So its a not a corrupt Windows 7 installation then.

The best bet is to tackle any potential malware/virus infection from outside the Windows environment. Do this by burning this Microsoft scanner to a blank DVD disc, or USB drive, and then booting from it. It will scan the entire machine, and could take several hours to complete. Make a note of any malware it finds - the type it finds will determine how we proceed from here. Make sure the ethernet cable is plugged into the computer when you run this, so it can update its definitions.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/166445-windows-defender-offline.html

If you have trouble getting it to run, post back here, and I'll recommend an alternative.

Regards,
Golden

 

[mi2itsdl]

Golden,

Just running a spybot scan from my flashdrive, then off out for a bit, but will do this later on and post back. Cheers for the help.

Simon

 

[Golden]

No worries - at this point avoid running anything from within Windows on this machine, until we know what going on.

Make sure your son has changed all his other account passwords on a known clean computer, on account of the hacked YouTube account.

If he was networked to other computers (e.g. yours) it wouldn't hurt to scan those computers too, using the same offline approach.

This is a good alternative to Defender Offline if you have trouble running it:

1. Download YUMI and save it to your desktop:
YUMI - Multiboot USB Creator (Windows) | USB Pen Drive Linux

2. Download the BitDefender Rescue CD from here, (and shown below):
Index of /rescue_cd


2. Run YUMI (its a single exe) and scroll to the very bottom and select Try an unlisted ISO and browse to the BitDefender ISO you downloaded in step 2, as shown here:


Click Create. YUMI will install the ISO to the USB drive, and make it bootable.

Boot from it - then select the Directly Bootable ISO menu option, and then the BitDefender menu option. Once BitDefender starts, the splash screen will stay on the screen for a few minutes and appear to be not responding, be patient - after a few minutes it will start updating, and then start scanning.

Regards,
Golden

 

[mi2itsdl]

Just got round to creating a boot disk. Been a bit busy. Booted from CD, as is it did not like my flash drive, even though I formatted it. It went straight into a quick scan, no options offered. Is that ok, or does it have to be a full scan?

quick scan finished and there were further options for 'full scan'

doing this now

 

[Golden]

Thats fine - let it finish scanning, the post back what it finds.

 

[mi2itsdl]

4 Potential threats found.

BrowserModifier:Win32/Zwangi Alert Level - Medium Status - Active

HackTool:Win32/Keygen Alert Level - Medium Status - Active

Adware:Win32/Adkubru Alert Level - Medium Status - Active

VirTool:MSIL/Injectot.AC Alert Level - Severe Status - Active


Shall I just remove or Quarantine these items and then reboot his laptop


Will be off to bed shortly, as it is now 01:31

 

[Golden]

Hi,

Try and remove them, then reboot and scan again.

Have a chat to him to about downloading hacked software (the Win32/Keygen malware) - hacked software very often contains malware.

Post the results of the second scan.

Regards,
Golden

 

[mi2itsdl]

I will remove them, and probably reboot/scan in the morning, as I am all scanned out for one night.

Cheers for your help

 

[Golden]

No worries - let us know how you get on.

Night,
Golden

 

[shawn77]

Same thing ?

Options missing from Windows GUI

 

[mi2itsdl]

Golden,

Scanned again and all clear. So that is good news, that he is now virus/maleware free.

Still have same issues with blank GUi's. Taskmanager, install screens etc.


Shawn,

Your link sorted it out, so thank you as well.

C:\windows\system32 file called FNTCACHE.DAT

This was created last month. No idea by whom or what.

Deleted it, and all GUI's work as they should.

BIG thanks to the pair of you.