Internet Security 2010 full removal

[smoked15]

Hi all,

I have had nothing but problems with the removal of this virus. I think this has been by far the worst virus I've had to deal with.
The first thing it started doing was blocking certain apps such as CMD, System Restore and others. It also blocked the computer from going online by showing "Page not found" or whatever it says. I performed a full scan of Malwarebytes on safe mode which allegedly cleaned over 100 infections. I then scheduled a boot time scan with Avast and it allegedly cleaned the computer as well. When I turned it back on the virus was apparently gone, but when I tried to launch IE8, it immediatly crashed. I tried opening Firefox and crashed too. I uninstalled and installed the latest version of Firefox to no avail. I then thought of using a browser LimeWire comes with, and as soon as I tried to surf the net, Limewire crashed. Basically any program that would try to access the net would crash.
I ran malwarebytes again which found more viruses, and when it tried to clean them it crashed.
I googled some more and found SmitfraudFix which I ran and cleaned the computer with, but the browsers keep crashing.
Something to note is that when I disconnect the computer from the wireless network, all the browsers open (and stay open) with no problem. If I connect the PC to the network, the browsers stay open, but as soon as I try to surf the net, they crash.

After dealing with this issue for 2 days, I gave up and decided to set the PC back to factory settings because the PC has a D (RECOVERY) drive. To my big surprise, that drive is "missing files" and it's now asking for a restore cd I do not have (the pc is a Gateway, so as with most OEM OSs, you don't get any disks). So anyway, that option is out the window.

My next guess was that maybe the virus corrupted important dlls related to browsing the web, so I tried to repair the PC using sfc /scannow, but it also asked me for some Windows discs I do not have. I found several posts about problems with sfc regarding service packs, as well as problems between XP Pro, XP MCE and XP Home (e.g. It asks for a Windows XP Pro disc when the OS is MCE or Home). So sfc is also out the window.

So I'm back to trying to find and clean the virus, but I have ran out of ideas.
Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[exterran]

Tried the SFC /scannow on a client's PC. No luck there, TCP/IP was damaged and SFC did seem to fix that.

One symptom I have noticed is that the dotnet (.NET) framework no longer behaves and that applications which rely upon it do not run. Subsequent reinstall attempts on .NET have not worked either.

As far as the browser issues go, I am next going to attempt reinstalling Flash and Java as I suspect pages which utilize those may be causing the browser crashes.

If you have a PC which has a sticker with your Windows license key on it stuck somewhere, you might be able to get by asking the local PC shop for a backup OS disc. (just make sure you ask for the same version and SP level so that the key *should* work). Some PC shops will sell you a disc without the key as a backup disc.

You will likely have to obtain all the drivers for your computer's specific hardware from the manufacturer's web site, so I do recommend doing that before you blitz the old OS and install the new. That way you can get your network connection back up and running.

Best of luck with things, that Antivirus 2008-2010 and Internet Security 2010 is an uber nasty critter that really buggles up Windows good. So far, I almost have this Windows install back to normal with the exception of the .Net and browser stuff, but I expect I will solve those problems soon as well.

(I've always enjoyed a good challenge)
-Dave