Cannot Ping myself - TDSS the culprit ?

[GrahamW2]

I recently had the "GoGoogle" redirection Trojan which I cleared with MalWareBytes AntiMalware program. I also ran a full Norton 360 anti virus scan ... which claimed to do quite a lot (including references to the tdss trojan).

Perhaps that is unrelated, but ...

I have just became aware that other PCs on my LAN can no longer see my machine. I was unaware of this because I can still see the other PCs ... and my internet access (through a common DSL modem/router) has been unnaffected.

I ran the Windows XP "Help & Support" and found a "scan" which checks for networking problems and it found a failure in that it failed a ping test.

From the command line, ipconfig tells me the IP address of my PC. When I ping "myself" there is a time out failure. If I disable my Norton Firewall then this ping works. However, the other PCs on the LAN still cannot see my PC.

I have heard that the re-direction trojan messes about with IPs and DNSs (although this is all a bit vague to me). Is there some way to re-assert my IP/DNS settings ?

Regards

Graham

[jholland1964]

Try resetting your router.

[GrahamW2]

Thanks for the reply jh.

My router is powered off at the mains several times a day. As part of my green credentials I try to turn the power off all my kit when not in use.

Nevertheless, I also hit the hardware reset button (to factory default settings) ... no change. I have also tried my PC on one of the other connections (just in case it is a hardware prob with one of them) ... no change.

I can't help thinking that it is a "simple" thing to an expert ... and it is my fervent hope that someone can just say "Oh, you just need to change the such and such setting to ..."

Here's hoping.

Regards

Graham

[GrahamW2]

Sorry to reply to myself (it's probably rude ... or at least bad etiquette) but I have noticed something else.

I cannot run "computer mangement" from the Admin Tools in Control Panel. In fact I can't run most of the admin tools ... despite being the only user and having administrator privileges.

Regards

Graham

[jholland1964]

Think it is time we see some logs.
Update MBA-M and run another scan with it. Be sure to have it fix what it finds.
Also do this:
Download SDFix here are two other links in case: HERE or HERE
Save it to the Desktop. Close all unnecessary programs. Now, double-click on the SDFix icon that should now be residing on your desktop. If a Open File - Security Warning box opens, click on the Run button.
A window will now open showing SDFix being extracted into the C:\SDFix folder. Once the installation program has finished extracting SDFix, it will open a Notepad with further instructions.
This program must be run in SAFE MODE so you will have to reboot the computer in Safe Mode and run the program. Just follow the prompts. When all is complete it will produce a log for you.
Save that log for posting here.
After running both of those programs then download HiJackThis version 2.0.2 and save it in it's own folder titled HiJackThis.
Run a full system scan with it and save the log.
Post back here with all three logs.
Judy

[jbennet]

nah firewalls block pings when they are set to high security

thats because you can in theory bring down a server by pinging it repeatedly - a dDoS attack

[GrahamW2]

Thanks Judy,

I *might* do what you said (although it sounds rather onerous) however ...

As jb pointed out, Firewalls look like a culprit.

When my N360 Firewall was temporarily disabled I could ping, but not get full two-way access with other PCs on the network.

I *completely* de-installed Norton/Symantec (and I mean thouroughly got rid of each Norton/Symantec folder, service, registry entry ... following an "expert" guide") and ...

I could ping myself (unsurprisingly) but still other PCs couldn't see mine.

Then I installed the Free version of Zone Alarm, set up the IP addresses of other PCs on my network as being in the "Trusted Zone" and Hey Presto ! ... other PCs can now see mine.

I confess that I don't understand why the problem persisted when I had no Firewall whatsoever ... so I looked in Control Panel and found that the Windows Firewall, while ostensibly "off" had an advanced tab with a reference to LAN2 which seems to be enabled. Should I uncheck this now ? Or is that giving me some extra protection (without causing problems).

To any concerned reader - I have also installed Avast for anti-virus protection.

Thanks to you both

Graham

P.S. I am continuing with my "Admin Tools" issue in the Win XP forum.