Need help.. I am not sure who or what is controlling my Laptop..

[andrew129260]

Do you remember what you were doing last on the pc when the issue occurred?

How about we start off with rescuing your data? Do you have anything important stored on them?

Please see this tutorial. Lots of options here:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/287439-emergency-kit-save-your-files-dead-os.html

This way you can retireve your data, and then factory restore your pcs to a factory state to get running again.

I would indeed either buy a new router or reset the old one using the reset button on the back of the router.

I also suggest turning off your modem temporarily until you get the new router or reset the old one.

Do you have any somewhat tech savvy friends? You could also call your isp to help you, but it would not be cheap.

 

[Netlace]

Andrew.... I am not sure if you caught my message a few back, but all of our Laptops went out at the same time. ALL of them show "Boot manager Missing". I have not been able to bring any of them back to life. That was several months ago. I used a tablet for a few months but finally bought a new Dell 15 with W7 home premium. I really need help knowing how to secure this one. I would also like to at least bring my daughters back to life but don't know how and also afraid it may re-infect the whole system again. I have some post in Vista forum too that were part of the original issue. I guess I need to start a new thread for help? As far as the router goes.... we have had 4 in the last year plus. Have tried the reset and all. It is over my head. We have AT&T and they are a JOKE too... I have saved ALL my pictures and things on a 1T external hard drive. Can I ever view that stuff again?

 

[andrew129260]

I advise you to install and use the following security programs so you do not get infected again:

-Panda antivirus -You can only have 1 antivirus installed at a time, I recommend using this one and uninstalling what you are using now.

-Malwarebytes
-Superantispyware
-Should I remove it

Run them around once every 2 weeks.

Should I remove it is not a malware scanner, what it does is it looks at all installed programs on your pc and gives you a % of how many people uninstall the software. If the % is high, I would remove it as it most likely is not a good program.

Those are my recommendations to you, and I Highly suggest you follow them.

You can install them and have them scan all your backups, and once they are clean, copy them back to your pc.

I also suggest using a standard user account in windows, and only using an admin account when you need to install software:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/181024-user-account-create.html

When using a standard account and you make a change or install a program that affects the whole system, UAC will prompt you to continue. Make sure the setting or program you are tying to install is listed, then click yes to continue. If you are just browsing the web and the prompt appears with a program you have not heard of, or do not know what it is, it is much safer to click no then yes. No will block the action, and if you were trying to do something, you can always start it again and choose yes.

UAC makes this easy, see here:

What is user account control (UAC)?

I also suggest choosing always notify for UAC:

What are User Account Control settings?

 

[carwiz]

What was the results from Post #8? Have you tried a Clean Install of Windows on each PC?

If they won't boot, the OP can't install AV software.

 

[Netlace]

RE Post#8, One of the laptops (my daughters near new one) is a mini, no disk drive and no W7 disk. The other 2 were Vista and is not recognizing the cd/dvd drive. Cant get past the message. The odd thing is one of the vistas was in the middle of a re-install. I had just paid a man 50$ to re-install windows V, and my husband went and got it about 6pm one evening after he had finished. He gave me a acronis? disk to use if needed. I didn't even turn on the laptop till the next afternoon, and when I did it was worse than when I gave it to him. I had NO admin priv. at all. Could open NOTHING. I was able to read the event monitor and the minute the Laptop came into this house it had multiple updates and downloads. It also showed his router name still. I then attempted to do a clean install and it would not respond. I then wiped the drives 3x with the disk he gave me. It took hours each time. I turned it off and planned to attempt it the next day. I then went to my daughters laptop, did a restore from the Dell partition and it said it completed successfully. I decided to reboot and it came back with the msg of No Boot Manager. Went to the Vista one I had attempted to re-install the day before, same msg. And another laptop (hubbys) also said the same msg. Something didn't want to be removed!

As far as the new laptop, It has the paid MWB pro and a trial of Mcafee. I have already purchased Norton 360 Premium but I am not sure if I should uninstall the Mcafee before loading it. I will check out some of your links, thank you.

 

[carwiz]

I'm not sure why you would have updates for a Vista machine. It's not supported. Each update would have been listed. What were they? In any case, your router should be turned off while you're trying to fix all the PCs. Did you ever reset the router and implement the security features for it?

You can't restore from an OEM partition. If the systems have been compromised, forget using anything on the drive(s) to restore the system. You need to use a fresh copy of the OS. Either from a CD/DVD or a USB thumb drive. As, I think, has been mentioned several times work on one system at a time and set it aside. Don't connect it to your LAN until all the PCs have been repaired. But you must clean the router first and set up its security features.

 

[Netlace]

I know this sounds crazy but even with the wireless disabled, Bluetooth disabled, router unplugged, These laptops were still getting updates/comunications. I believe they were getting them by the same way FTA and radio travels through the air.
If there was a way to show the crazy things that happened back then I would love to show you. I may have some of it listed in the Vista forum, not sure. Its been some time ago. I do know I knew Vista like the back of my hand and in the services there was 3x the amount that should have been there. At the time I told everyone that it looked the same as my daughters W7. I was not familiar with W7 so I am not sure if my daughters laptop was the real W7, it was identical to the Vista. Hard to explain.

And Andrew, I will look at the links. I didn't notice the responses were two different people.

 

[Netlace]

The Vista thread before this one is called.. Please Help.... Vista is NOT Vista, Please Read... Not that it matters since they are now bricks... Going to check my email and see if any old items I may have saved.
But here and now I must save this NEW one from the same fate...

 

[Netlace]

I think I am already infected.... Cant run Gmer.... It runs for a second and shows hundreds of ZWACCESS then stops.... Please help me..

 

[carwiz]

I have no idea what "Gmer" or "zwaccess" might mean but it sounds like you're on a Public Network and getting network access from someone else's router. Perhaps a neighbor. This means you still have not set up router security and a Home Group. You MUST complete all the steps already given you to receive any further help. Otherwise, I'm done here.

 

[Netlace]

GMER, it is a great look at your PC tool. I am deep in the country. There is no other routers or neighbors any where near. I have a new laptop about to fail. I ran a chkdsk and it is enormous. I have no idea what ZWACCESS is either and I don't believe it came with windows. My Dell backup icon changed and it states something about failure. I have a Blackbox with a A in it that is quickset but I cant open it to inspect it. It was not there yesterday. Should I start a new Thread?

 

[Netlace]

I am on a Ethernet cable, wireless and Bluetooth disabled. Router is new.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Netlace you will need a machine to make the disk but try this
Download Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10

Set the BIOS on one of the machines to the optical or USB whichever you prefer and let it run and see if it makes any difference at all.

If tis does not work then try this
Emsisoft Free Emergency Kit: portable malware scanner | Free removal of Viruses,Bots, Spyware, Keyloggers and Trojans you just need to run the first two scans - Emergency Kit and the Command line.

 

[Netlace]

As soon as I booted this new laptop I made a restore spot. I also made restore spots for any changes I made. This CBS log has 18 hours of changes to my laptop via MS. Adding the very things I tried to avoid. IIS Web servers, print servers, Windows-TFTP-Client, Windows-RDC-Package, RemoteFX-RemoteClient-Setup, WPF-PresentationCFFRasterizerNative, Bridge-Registry, and on and on..... It has ASP>NET and .Net 4.5. From what I read these are not to be on W7 Home. I am calling Dell tomorrow.

 

[Britton30]

What suggestions have you followed and what are the results?

 

[Slartybart]

Britton30 asks a good question. Please recap what recommended activities you have already completed and post any logs from scans.

Do you have a ZyXel router, perhaps?
Home Routers | ZyXEL

I think ZWaccess might be related to the built in firewall, but if you don't have that vendor's router, then it's moot.

Still a good question, though. What make and model is your router?

Here's where I would start.
Post# 15

The key is to work on one machine at a time - all others MUST not connect to your network until they are clean. No Ethernet, no wireless, no Bluetooth - or turn them off and keep them off until you make some headway.

When one machine is clean, turn that one off and work on the next - always isolate the network from infected machines. Failing to isolate the network only allows an infection to spread and round in circles you go.

Follow Andrew's and Jacee's advice to the T and post logs or screenshots as requested. This sounds like a tough nut to crack and it is important not to skip a step. If you're not sure what to do - ask. If you complete a step or suggested action - report it to members on this side of your monitor.

Good luck, you have the best folks helping you, so I'll step out.

 

[gregrocker]

Is the hardware firewall Enabled in your router's settings? Does it have the latest firmware. A router less than a year old has tech support included that can help you flash the latest firmware, determine if you have infection caused via the router.

Have you tried resetting your router, disconnecting all other machines from it except the one you're working on to do Dell Windows 7 PC Restore? This will wipe any infection and set your machine back to factory condition. Then its up to you to use safe browsing habits, the tools and methods which work best, and monitor the PC closely as spelled out in Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7

Back up your files first to quarantine, not to be reimported until they are scanned with Malwarebytes. For example if the files are stored on a flash stick or disk, you can put the stick/disk in a cleaned machine, rightclick it to Scan with Malwarebytes and your AV.

You can get a cleaner install than Factory Recovery using Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7. It may seem daunting since it includes everything one must not forget to backup in preparation, a Special Note for Dell Owners about which partitions to save during reinstall, and the tools and methods going forward that work best to keep a perfect install. But we will help you every step of the way if you'd like.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Don't know why I even bothered to be honest:sarc:

 

[Jacee]

What is ZWACCESS.... Do you connect with Verizon Wireless? What Is Verizon Access Manager? | Science - Opposing Views

 

[Mcgluke]

Seems some basic security 101 is needed here, If indeed op's network was that deeply infected then there may be bigger issues at hand.

To access the 'bricked machines' this can be done for free by booting *nix live to recover data, I say this to save the op money is all.

ICit2lol, My heart goes out to warriors like you

Regards,