I had to look at a laptop last week which was infected with some kind of spyware although someone had already had a go at removing it and partially succeeded to the point that the exact nature of the spyware wasn’t apparent. Websites were being redirected, often to sites that were not even available, possibly due to being already shut down. AVG couldn’t update and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware would not install and run, even by changing the executable names. I couldn’t get any anti-spyware to load even in safe mode.
I was almost at the point where it becomes time and cost effective to simply wipe the machine and re-install, when I came across a simple procedure which got me around the spyware’s defences. If you ever have similar problems, it may work for you too.
1) Click Start –> Run.
2) Type “devmgmt.msc” and press enter.
3) Click View –> Show Hidden Devices.
4) Browse to “Non-Plug and Play Drivers”.
5) Find “TDSSserv.sys” (A known trojan self-defence service).
6) Right-Click and Disable.
7) Reboot
8) Install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and scan.
Malwarebytes found a dozen various instances of trojans and spyware and removed the lot. AVG was then able to update and websites worked correctly. Hopefully that’s the last I’ll see of it.
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