Printer and firewall problems after a spyware infection (backdoor.ranky.x etc)
I worked on a PC with a lot of nasties (winfixer, newdotnet, backdoor.ranky.x, etc etc).
After removing everything, I install SP2, and all the subsequent patches (via autopatcher), but after all that, the windows firewall refuses to start (Windows cannot display windows firewall settings).
I found a great solution at: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/sharedaccess.htm. I downloaded sharedaccess.reg, put it in the registry, and it worked great.
But I also found that the usb ports were no longer working… Device manager showed a problem, so downloading the latest driver fixed that.
I install all the usual free security software (antivir, win defender, etc), but when I take it back to the customer, she says that the printer stopped working at some point (a HP MFP)… can I fix it?
So I say: sure!
I just need to uninstall the printer software, reboot the PC, then reinstall the software.
The uninstall goes well
The reinstallation gets to 18%, and then stalls…
Since I cannot stay for long, I ask the customer to just let it run… it might “snap out of it” in a few hours.
A few days later, she calls saying the PC is now slower than before I worked on it! And hubby cannot do any business “paperwork”.
I manage to go around very soon, and hey! why is Norton AV running on this system! Now I know why its slow. It turns out the customer had the norton AV setup file on her desktop. She wanted to get rid of it, but must have double-clicked on it instead! Anyway I disable the partially installed NAV (cannot be uninstalled unless I complete the installation!).
Since hubby stopped the printer install soon after I left, I restart the install… but it still freezes at 18%.
I give the customer the following options:
- Backup whole system, reformat, and reinstall windows
- Try another printer. If another printer works, buy a new printer.
- I can try to repair the printer system (probably involves an hour of trawling through the registry, looking for (and removing) HP keys… but I cannot give a fixed quote.
She has a think about it.
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