stuck in a reboot loop

chipp

something called "live security platinum" invaded my desktop computer today and disabled Microsoft Security Essentials so I've followed the instructions in post 2 of the malware/spyware guide and it seemed to sort it out, but left MSE disabled. I switched off ad-aware (I presume having two AV programs running is a BAD THING) but still couldn't re-enable MSE, ended up uninstalling then reinstalling it, since which time the computer has gone into a reboot loop because it's found some sort of trojan problem (as well as an info msg about some .dll missing). Sorry I can't be more specific, getting tired, I'll note the trojan name and the dll and post here tomorrow if anyone's interested. I've given up for the evening now but my plan of attack for tomorrow is to start it in safe mode (I'm assuming I'll be able to) and ditch MSE in favour of some other AV, then work through the 4 steps in post 2. I presume that AdAware was Browntoa's AV of choice in 2006 but it doesn't get a mention on Martin's free AV page, would I do better with Avast, Avira or AVG (as MSE seems to have failed me).

Does that sound a reasonable approach? If not, what?

And a completely unrelated question - desktop shows these forum posts in chronological order and netbook in reverse chron order. I can't see any column headings to click (the way I'm used to changing sort order), am I going blind? There must be a way of changing the sort order, can someone spell it out for me please

TakeThis

Removal Instructions for Live Security Platinum

Figment

chipp wrote: »

And a completely unrelated question - desktop shows these forum posts in chronological order and netbook in reverse chron order. I can't see any column headings to click (the way I'm used to changing sort order), am I going blind? There must be a way of changing the sort order, can someone spell it out for me please

You can change the sort order in your User Control Panel, but this is a per-account setting (not per computer), unless you are only logged in on one of the machines?

LINK

chipp

Thanks Takethis for the instructions. The original malware no longer shows, it seems what I have now is the sirefef trojan, which MSE (or perhaps another program masquerading as MSE) finds and send me into a never-ending reboot loop, even in safe mode with networking as suggested by the bleepingcomputer instructions. The supposedly missing dll is nmdmi.dll, which I've just googled without a lot of success - I suspect it's a fake error message generated by the tojan.

I shall now search this forum for instructions on how to get rid of my trojan - lots of google hits but I haven't clicked any of them - don't want to screw up this computer too - and if I can't find any I'll make a new post.

chipp

Update....
The most recent reference to sirefef suggests a way forward but my problem is that the computer won't stay on long enough to run any of the security tools I downloaded yesterday or download anything new (I see now that "life security platinum" was the least of my problems).

I need to get past the endless reboot loop in order to deal with the problem. I presume this will involve using this (hopefully clean) computer to download something onto a memory stick and change the boot order on the infected PC so it executes the software on the memory stick before trying to start windows.

If there are step by step instructions already on this forum can someone point me to them please (I've looked but can't find anything), alternatively is someone able to provide me with instructions?

Many thanks and I shall keep smiling

TakeThis

Make and full model number of the offending machine, together with the OS installed?

If ACER....

Step 1: Back up your data before proceeding. (You can do this with Ubuntu on a USB drive.)
Step 2: Reboot the system and press ALT-F10 during the POST to start Acer eRecovery Management and reinstall the operating system.
Step 3: Select Restore system to factory default.
Step 4: The wizard will lead you through formatting the designated drive and installing the operating system from the computer hard drive to the designated drive.

chipp

Thanks Takethis, I see you've been reading my other thread (or you're telepathic because it IS an acer) and I'm a reluctant slave to Microsoft.

I'm hoping it won't come to this, but I have written your step 2 instructions on the envelope of my recovery disks as that seems a sensible place to keep such info (and by next week/month/year I won't be able to find this post for reference)!

I think this thread can be considered closed now, in favour of my other one about the offending trojan. Please keep monitoring that one as there's still a way to go.

The_pc_tech

Hi

Just in case anyone does find themselves in a reboot loop keep tapping the F8 key after your system bleeps to indicate its completed POST then select disable automatic restart on system failure from the advanced startup menu.

closed

how far does the bootup get? Safe mode?

make and model of machine?

Operating system?

Do you have windows discs, or does it have a factory restore partition?

Do you need to rescue any data?

Got any blank cd's or dvd's or external hard drive?

Download this iso file

http://support.kaspersky.com/viruses/rescuedisk

use this to burn to cd/dvd using the write image file to disc option

http://www.filehippo.com/download_imgburn/

Connect the machine to a router using an ethernet cable, so it can update

boot from cd/dvd, update and scan

if you don't have a blank cd/dvd, you can write the files to a usb stick by using the kasperky tool (if you laptop supports usb booting), but move any data off the stick to another machine first.

If all else fails, rescue your data using this, then factory restore it or reinstall windows from disc.

http://www.paragon-software.com/home/rk-express/download_old.html

Now I see you've got 2 threads running, so that was a waste of time!

backup data, then factory restore using acer erecovery, 30 minutes work, done. install avast free and malwarebytes