Had some BSODs, performed system restore, removed virus...but still having issues??

[carter2394]

Last week, I had a virus from a downloaded software that was wreaking havoc on my system. It gave me a nasty BSOD loop that I finally broke by restoring the system to before I installed the program. I ran quite a few virus/malware scans after that in Avast (I have since switched to and scanned in Avira because I didn't like the SecureBrowser feature of Avast) and of course Malwarebytes. Got rid of any lingering nasties, everything seemed to be fine...except just twenty minutes ago ZoneAlarm did something just as it had immediately before I started having BSOD loops on restart...it blocked a (typically normal) service from changing my internet adapter settings...this resulted in me going offline (adapter showed limited or no internet connection). I use ethernet, so I know for a fact everything was fine, and I was online on other devices.

Here is a copy of the specific log related to the event:

Spoiler

OSFW,2016/05/24,16:37:38 -4:00 GMT,BLOCKED,Host Process for Windows Services,C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe,REGISTRY,SETKEY,,HKCS\SERVICES\VSDATANT\PARAMETERS\ADAPTERS,http://osalerts.zonealarm.com/osanalyze.jsp?Product=ZoneAlarm&ProductVersion=14.1.11.0&HU100=ZLN127295033409655-1001&CL=en&OEM=1025&SKU=0&Mode=6&QSRC=2&OS=Windows+7+x64-6.1.7601-Service+Pack+1-SMP&LANG=1033&PN=Host+Process+for+Windows+Services&VER=6.1.7600.16385&FN=svchost.exe&Created=3aedacf8&Size=27136&MD5=c78655bc80301d76ed4fef1c1ea40a7d&SKIMP=ba01e64a6e6d9df4c2b457efaf4e76bc&&CT=2003&EV=4&SUB=10&SEV=3&ARG1=HKCS%5CSERVICES%5CVSDATANT%5CPARAMETERS%5CADAPTERS

In order to get back online, I had to run the Windows troubleshooter on my network connection. It came back saying my computer did not have a valid IP configuration, which it automatically fixed. I was back online as easy as that. I'm running my virus scans again, but I run them daily and nothing has been found since that BSOD issue was resolved last week...

I have logs from the Windows troubleshooter, too, but they're very long to post into spoilers so if they would be helpful let me know and I can pastebin them or something.

Am I still having virus issues, or is this something else? Or is it possibly a leftover remnant of the virus' chain of command? My goal is to get the system secure enough to make a system image and upgrade to Windows 10. Thanks

 

[Colif]

one thing i would suggest, fresh install win 10 once you ready to upgrade as you can use your win 7 key. It would avoid bringing any left over nasties along for ride.

system restore can be more trouble than its worth

it sounds like something is still on your system

 

[carter2394]

one thing i would suggest, fresh install win 10 once you ready to upgrade as you can use your win 7 key. It would avoid bringing any left over nasties along for ride.

system restore can be more trouble than its worth

it sounds like something is still on your system

I guess it might be some sort of registry bug but no rootkits are coming up so I'm not sure what it would be...reeeeaaaallly trying to avoid doing a clean install of Windows 10, though.

 

[soundguruman]

You installed several free programs from the internet and created system conflicts.

Use only 1 security program, not the "free" ones. Otherwise you are creating many problems for yourself.

The more "free" programs you load, the more problems you will have.

I see this all the time: people who download junk programs, "free" security have unending difficulties.
Stop doing it.

Delete all free programs
Turn off all security and firewall
Put widows 7 disk in the drive, select "upgrade".
This reloads the OS without erasing your files and legitimate programs.
Restart, turn the firewall back ON.
Then, install a professional all in one security program, update it, scan entire computer.
In the future: don't install any free garbage downloaded from the internet.

 

[LukeFatwalker]

The best way to be sure is to back up any prevalent data and essentially do a clean install of the OS and migrate your data over. To be completely honest, if you were running a disk imager (i.e. Acronis True Image) or a snapshot tool (i.e. Rollback Rx) you would be able to restore the machine to a pre-determined state, but it sounds like this isn't the case, so you'll have to do a clean install. Even bringing over the data is risky. I would recommend running a backup with either tool even before you migrate the data back onto the computer.