Win8.1: NortonAV and Windows Firewall won't turn on and stay on (Samsung 780Z laptop)

T

Tex Arcana

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May 21, 2014
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Norton AV and Windows Firewall won't turn on and stay on
Win8.1 new upgrade, Samsung 780Z laptop (fairly new--Win8 originally). It's my granddaughter's, she uses it for Photoshop and photographic work. It had stopped connecting to the internet, which is why she asked me to look at it. I cleaned out a bunch of junk via Ccleaner, Spybot:S&D, and NortonAV, but there is something left that's preventing Windows Firewall and Norton from starting; and I cannot get them to start manually.

I'm not real familiar with Win8.x (I'm on the bottom of the learning curve), the last time I had a similar issue was with XP, and I've never had the issue with 7. I remember something about a removal tool, but that's it.

As of today, the laptop has been very sluggish and unresponsive, at first neither DDS nor SecurityCheck would run, DDS would come back with a "cannot run in compatibility mode" message, and SecurityCheck just hung up, couldn't even terminate it in TaskManager. Finally, a bunch of dialog boxes for both popped up, which I killed. I then killed everything except this browser before running them, and they seemed to run fine.

Any help will be most appreciated. TIA.



SecurityCheck:
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DDS outputs:

dds.txt:
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attach.txt:

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​
 
Hi, Tex Arcana.

Hmm, both Security Check and DDS show that Windows Firewall is enabled and Norton is running and updated.

1. Please download Farbar Service Scanner and run it on your granddaughter's computer.
  • Make sure the following options are checked:
    • Internet Services
    • Windows Firewall
    • System Restore
    • Security Center/Action Center
    • Windows Update
    • Windows Defender
    • Other Services
  • Press "Scan".
  • It will create a log (FSS.txt) in the same directory the tool is run.
  • Please copy and paste the log to your reply.

2. Your granddaughter has an outdated, vulnerable version of Adobe Reader. The most recent version (Adobe Reader XI, 11.0.06) for Windows is available here: Adobe - Adobe Reader : For Windows.

3. Since I'm seeing what looks like a bit of adware leftovers, let's double-check. Please download AdwCleaner by Xplode and save to your Desktop.
  • Double-click AdwCleaner.exe to run the tool.
    Note: Windows Vista, Windows 7/8 users right-click and select Run As Administrator.
  • Click the Scan button.
  • AdwCleaner will begin. Be patient as the scan may take some time to complete.
  • After the scan has finished, click the Report button. A logfile (AdwCleaner[R0].txt) will open in Notepad for review.
  • Copy and paste the contents of that logfile in your next reply.
  • A copy of all logfiles are saved in the C:\AdwCleaner folder which was created when running the tool.
 
Hi Corrine, I'm not surprised, it wasn't running when I first posted asking for help, but I had shut down the laptop since then.


Here ya go:


Farbar Service Scanner logfile:

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AdwCleaner logfile:

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Hi, Tex Arcana.

Let's clean up the adware and see how the computer is running then.

1. Double-click AdwCleaner.exe to run the tool again.
  • Click the Scan button.
  • AdwCleaner will begin to scan your computer like it did before.
    Note: Windows Vista, Windows 7/8 users right-click and select Run As Administrator.
  • After the scan has finished,
  • This time click on the Clean button.
  • Press OK when asked to close all programs and follow the onscreen prompts.
  • Press OK again to allow AdwCleaner to restart the computer and complete the removal process.
  • After rebooting, a logfile report (AdwCleaner[S0].txt) will open automatically.
  • Copy and paste the contents of that logfile in your next reply.
  • A copy of that logfile will also be saved in the C:\AdwCleaner folder.

2. Please download Junkware Removal Tool to your desktop.
  • Disable your protection software now to avoid potential conflicts.
  • Run the tool by double-clicking it. If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7/8, right-mouse click it and select "Run as Administrator".
  • The tool will open and start scanning your system.
  • Please be patient as this can take a while to complete depending on your system's specifications.
  • On completion, a log (JRT.txt) is saved to your desktop and will automatically open.
  • Post the contents of JRT.txt into your next message.

Does the computer seem to be operating correctly now?
 
AdwCleaner logfile:

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JRT logfile:

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At the moment is seems okay--as okay Win8.1 seems to run, it's still got sluggishness issues (as compared to Win7), but it seems okay so far. I'll hammer on it bit and see what shakes loose.
 
Well, at the moment, Windows Explorer doesn't seem to want to start, clicking the taskbar icon does nothing, and launching from the Start menu search bar pops a blank Explorer window that just sits there doing nothing.

EDIT: it finally came up, but it's VERY slow to respond. I just clicked on Desktop from This PC, and it doesn't even register my click. It's occupying 0% CPU and 6.8MB of memory. CPU is barely active, disk utilization pegged at 100% briefly.
 
Looking at the Event Log, there are a couple things you/your granddaughter may want to consider.

1) Oasis2Service: Aside from the fact that the service failed to start/timed out when trying to connect to the internet, read over the description and consider if your granddaughter really needs it. Oasis2Service by DDNi

2) There were a couple of indications of problems with Shadow Backup, in particular, "The shadow copies of volume C: were aborted because the shadow copy storage could not grow due to a user imposed limit." Since there appears to be ample space available (C: is FIXED (NTFS) - 909 GiB total, 579.426 GiB free), you may wish to increase the user imposed limit, particularly if your granddaughter tends to install/test different programs.

To check how much space is allocated:
  1. Go to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\System.
  2. Select the System Protection link
  3. With C: highlighted, click on the Configure button.
  4. Look at the "Max Usage slider" to how much disk space is allocated to System Protection to use for restore points. If it is at 10% or less, you may want to increase it slightly to 15%.
  5. Click OK to save any changes or cancel if you decide to leave it alone.
 
I can tell you without a doubt that she doesn't need the Oasis2Service, it's gone.

I have also already increased the slider to 10%, after running those last items you recommended. I'll kick it to 15%, as well.


Is there anything else?
 
Hi, Tex Arcana.

Let's take care of removing the tools used:

Please download Delfix from here.

Ensure the following boxes are checked:
  • Remove disinfection tools
  • Create registry backup
  • Purge system restore
    delfix.jpg
  • Click Run
The program will run for a few moments and then notepad will open with a log. Please paste the log in your next reply and let me know if you have any questions.
 
She retrieved the laptop last night, so I won't be able to do that last step. I did remove the tools I could, however.

So far, it seems to be working well. Thank you so much for all your help!!
 
You are very welcome, Tex Arcana. It take teamwork. I'm glad that between the two of us, we were able to help your granddaughter with her computer. If you can point her to the instructions to run Delfix, it will merely clean up any remaining tools as well as creating a new system restore point and registry backup.

You may also want to refer her to the Safe Computing Practices and other recommendations in this updated copy of "So how did I get infected in the first place?".
 
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