Member Avatar for OutbreaK

Greetings,

My laptop was infected with the Rogue Malware called Internet Security 2013. I had some success in removing it after using Malwarebytes, but there are corruptions that linger. For instance, my Microsoft Security Essentials was not recognizing the only user as the administrator. I fixed this by entirely removing MSE with Microsoft's fix it program; however, I'm now unable to reinstall MSE--even from a flash drive. It is an installation error (probably due to lingering corruption) and not a download error. Of second order is the problem with Internet Explorer. With the infection of the rogue software, IE9 began to refuse everything I tried to download (firefox[second browser], all antivirus/anti-malware software) as a virus and rejected it. I am able to use firefox (once again, ported from a flash drive) and download anything including software.

I have run several different programs and each has either found something that another did not find or has come up clean.

Malwarebytes
Security Check
AdwCleaner
RogueKiller
Microsoft Fix It
RKill
DDS

Let me know which logs are desired.

Thanks a bunch,

-OB

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A short, practical plan that fits what described and ties into the advice from , , and .

First, isolate and back up. Copy only personal files to an external drive (use Safe Mode or bootable rescue media), then scan that drive on a known-clean machine before restoring anything. Do not rely on a single scan — treat backups as potentially contaminated until they’re verified.

Try repair-first (often faster than a full reinstall). Create and boot from a clean, up‑to‑date offline scanner (so rootkits and persistence mechanisms can be found and removed outside Windows), then repair the Windows image and protected system files. Using the offline scanner first reduces the chance malware interferes with repairs; after that use the image-repair workflow (run the DISM component-store repair, then follow with the Windows system-file check). Example DISM step to run from an elevated prompt on a supported OS:

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

Run SFC after DISM to correct replaced system files. (learn.microsoft.com)

If Microsoft Security Essentials still won’t reinstall, follow Microsoft’s MSE troubleshooting/uninstall guidance to remove leftover service/registry entries and ensure Windows Update/IE settings aren’t blocking installers. Reset or check Internet Explorer/Attachment Manager (zone/“Mark‑of‑the‑Web”) and hosts/proxy entries if downloads are being treated as threats. If system corruption persists after those steps, an in‑place (repair) install can refresh OS files while keeping applications and data; if that also fails, a clean OS reinstall after verified backups is the final option. Test recovered files on a clean system before returning them to daily use. (support.microsoft.com)

Cautions: editing the registry or removing services manually can break Windows — document and back up before changes. If this feels risky or the machine holds irreplaceable data, consider imaging the disk and asking a trusted technician to help.

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Member Avatar for Octet

If a file is corrupt then unfortunately it is corrupt. Simply removing the malware isn't going to magically cause the file to re-assemble themselves and the problem goes away.

What you're going to need to do initially is make sure you have definetly removed all traces of the virus, this is the most important bit. Try running various tools to make sure it has gone for good.

Secondly, check all your backups (assuming you do make them) for any traces of the virus. The last thing you want is for those to have been infected.

If your system files are damaged, then the only thing you can do is a complete reinstall of the OS, if they are fine on the otherhand then locate the software which has corrupted files and then either repair them or uninstall and re-install them completely.

By the sounds of it however, because you can't install things properly then either the system files have been damaged or the virus is still lingering.

Member Avatar for Rik_

The one thing that may help is file cleaner. To run it, type cmd in the search box on your start menu and press enter. In the resulting dos box type sfc /scannow. If it makes no difference then you will need to do what AHarrisGsy suggests.

Member Avatar for Prasad Thale

Take backup of needed data from safe mode to non-OS data HDD partition and then format & install OS. Then scan the data drive with Ms Security essentials. An experienced sys admin will definitely find a workaround for the virus related data corruption; but no guarranty of fully functional OS as before the infection and also it will be time consuming than backup & reinstallation of OS. Also removing virus infection and then taking backup is also many times too time consuming. I have that experience few times.

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