Solved multiple dllhost.exe COM Surrogate (Simular to others but different)

[James Arthur Jancik]

I pretty much said all I needed above. I just built this computer a few months ago with a fresh bought copy of Win7 Pro and it has all updates. I have 32 gb ram and an i7 4790 and a Gigabite LGA 1150 Z97X-UD3H-BK motherboard and 112GB SSD drive with two WD Black 2 GB drives. Graphics card is NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780. I built it for recording and editing HD video. All software is purchased/registered.

After running the TDSSKILLER, even though it apparently did not initialize- fully anyway, the explorer.exe has not crashed (yet anyway) and the number of dllhost.exe have been reduced to 5 (was 10-15) and the svchost.exe*32 down to 3 (from maybe 10). But the My Computer, etc, still loads slow.

 

[James Arthur Jancik]

Well... I take that back. After posting this my dllhost.exe*32 instances have shot to 16 and counting. Also, they drop down to 2-3 when I unplug from internet.

 

[TwinHeadedEagle]

Hello,



They call me TwinHeadedEagle around here, and I'll be working with you.



Before we start please read and note the following:

• At the top of your post, please click on the "Watch thread" button and make sure to check Watch this thread...and receive email notifications. This will send an email to you as soon as I reply to your topic, allowing me to solve your problem faster.
• Please do not install any new software during the cleaning process other than the tools I provide for you. This can hinder the cleaning process. Please do not perform System Restore or any other restore.
• Instructions I give to you are very simple and made for complete beginner to follow. That's why you need to read through my instructions carefully and completely before executing them.
• Please do not run any tools other than the ones I ask you to, when I ask you to. Some of these tools can be very dangerous if used improperly. Also, if you use a tool that I have not requested you use, it can cause false positives, thereby delaying the complete cleaning of your machine.
  
• All tools we use here are completely clean and do not contain any malware. If your antivirus detects them as malicious, please disable your antivirus and then continue.
• If during the process you run across anything that is not in my instructions, please stop and ask. If any tool is running too much time (few hours), please stop and inform me.
• I visit forum several times at day, making sure to respond to everyone's topic as fast as possible. But bear in mind that I have private life like everyone and I cannot be here 24/7. So please be patient with me. Also, some infections require less, and some more time to be removed completely, so bear this in mind and be patient.
• Please stay with me until the end of all steps and procedures and I declare your system clean. Just because there is a lack of symptoms does not indicate a clean machine. If you solved your problem yourself, set aside two minutes to let me know.
  
• Please attach all report using
  
  button below. Doing this, you make it easier for me to analyze and fix your problem.
  
• Do not ask for help for your business PC. Companies are making revenue via computers, so it is good thing to pay someone to repair it.
• If I don't hear from you within 3 days from this initial or any subsequent post, then this thread will be closed.

Scan with ComboFix

This is a very powerful tool that should be used only if advised by Malware Analyst.
Do not run ComboFix on your own!

Referring to this instruction, please download ComboFix by sUBs and save it to your desktop.
Temporary disable your AntiVirus and AntiSpyware protection - instructions here.

• Right-click on
  
  icon and select
  
  Run as Administrator to start the tool.
• Accept the disclaimer and agree if prompted to install Recovery Console.
• Do not take any actions while ComboFix goes through your System - it may cause it to stall!
• This scan may take some time!
• When finished - it will display a logfile (located also on your main drive, usually C:\ComboFix.txt).

Include that log in your next reply.

If you'll encounter any issues with internet connection after running ComboFix, please visit this link.

If an error about operation on the key marked for deletion will appear after running the tool, please reboot your machine.

 

[James Arthur Jancik]

Greetings THE,

Thanks for your response. I drive over the road and may not be able to implement your instruction until the weekend. Hopefully before. Please keep this thread open till then.

One other thing I noticed after I posted. I have a program from Gigabyte that monitors network connections and allows one to prioritize connections. I ran it and noticed 60+ connections on various ports to IP's all over the world! Ports 80, 53, 443 and 51000+ upward. I wrote a firewall rule to limit the upper ports. They dispersed but then returned via port 80.

Thanks again for your work here.
-James

 

[James Arthur Jancik]

Managed to get home and ran ComboFix. tried to disable Spybot Search and Destroy, but, seems I cannot totally disengage it. See attached log.

I have not rebooted, but noticed when it finished ALL the dllhost.exe COM surrogate were gone! Also running my Gigabyte Connection monitor dropped from 50+to only firefox.exe and adjustservice.exe! Will reboot and let you know.

 

[James Arthur Jancik]

Well reboot was good with two observations.

1)- The welcome screen was rather long. Used to be near instant (with a SSD drive c)
2)- When clicking on My Computer (or any drive shortcut), it takes several secs to load.

Multiple dllhost and svhost instances and their many internet port connections are gone!

Is it safe to download Adobe Flash Player from Adobe, or has that been compromised? It was one of the viruses I had.

I have sworn off Chrome.

 

[TwinHeadedEagle]

There are still some leftovers:

Scan with Farbar Recovery Scan Tool

Please re-run Farbar Recovery Scan Tool to give me a fresh look at your system.

• Right-click on
  
  icon and select
  
  Run as Administrator to start the tool.
  (XP users click run after receipt of Windows Security Warning - Open File).
• Make sure that Addition option is checked.
• Press Scan button and wait.
• The tool will produce two logfiles on your desktop: FRST.txt and Addition.txt.

Please include their content into your next reply.

 

[James Arthur Jancik]

Interestingly, the FRST.exe was missing from the directory it was in. I downloaded another copy (from bleeping website) and ran FRST64.exe. Attached is the files. Also, I notice the addition of a multiple copies of a inbound firewall rule "allow 1080". I delete then each time I boot, but, perhaps I should of run the FRST scan first?

 

[TwinHeadedEagle]

Fix with Farbar Recovery Scan Tool

This fix was created for this user for use on that particular machine.

Running it on another one may cause damage and render the system unstable.

​

Download attached fixlist.txt file and save it to the Desktop:

Both files, FRST and fixlist.txt have to be in the same location or the fix will not work!

• Right-click on
  
  icon and select
  
  Run as Administrator to start the tool.
  (XP users click run after receipt of Windows Security Warning - Open File).
• Press the Fix button just once and wait.
• If for some reason the tool needs a restart, please make sure you let the system restart normally. After that let the tool complete its run.
• When finished FRST will generate a log on the Desktop, called Fixlog.txt.

Please attach it to your reply.

 

[James Arthur Jancik]

OK, ran it and after reboot it finished and here is the LOG file.

 

[TwinHeadedEagle]

Very good. How is your PC now?

 

[James Arthur Jancik]

Very Good! A few final questions.

1)- Since I uninstalled Adobe Flash Player, PDF reader as that section popped up on my virus scanner, is it ok to download fresh copies, or is Adobe itself compromised?

2)- I cannot imagine how I got these problems. Could it have been though Skype Video (interviews) with an infected machine?

3)- Is there help files here to instruct on on hardening their computers? Recommended firewall rules, etc...

4)- Since both my virus and malware programs (ClamWin and Sbybot Search and Distroy) have failed to notice these issues, are there recommended programs to replace them?

I will have a look at my other win7 machine for cross-infection, but, it has shown no signs. Just this one which i only do video editing/recording (from Skype) and surfing for info to add to the video presentations...VERY puzzling.

THANK YOU and this website for there service!

 

[James Arthur Jancik]

Found the section on recommended software/protection. Also ran things on my other win7 machine. they found a few things and cleaned it. Not as bad a this machine. I think we are finished here unless you have anything to add. Thanks again!

 

[TwinHeadedEagle]

1) Yes, it is okay.

2) I doubt, probably by email or through compromised website.

3) I'll give you this within my final message.

4) Forget Spybot and install MalwareBytes, ClamWin is okay.


Glad I could help. We will delete all used tools and I'll give you some tips to harden your security and learn how to protect yourself

Recommended reading:
​

MUST READ - security tips:

• Computer Security - a short guide to staying safer online.
• Simple and easy ways to keep your computer safe and secure on the Internet

MUST READ - general maintenance:

• What to do if your Computer is running slowly?

The Importance of Software Updating:
​

In order to stay protected it is very important that you regularly update all of your software. Cybercriminals depend on the apathy of users around software updates to keep their malicious endeavor running.​

Operating systems, such as Windows, and applications, such as Adobe Reader or JAVA, are used by tens of millions of computers and devices around the world, making them a huge target for cybercriminals. Downloading updates and installing them can sometimes be tedious, but the advantages you get from the updates are certainly worth it.

• How to configure and use Automatic Updates in Windows
• How to update Java
• How to update Adobe Reader

Recommended additional software:
​

TFC - to clean unneeded temporary files.

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware - to scan your system from time to time in search for malware.

Malwarebytes' Anti-Exploit - to prevent plenty of mostly exploited vulnerabilities.

McShield - to prevent infections spread by removable media.

Unchecky - to prevent from installing additional foistware, implemented in legitimate installations.

FiheHippo.com Update Checker - to keep your programs up-to-date.

Adblock - to surf the web without annoying ads!

Post-cleanup procedures:​

Download DelFix by Xplode and save it to your desktop.

• Run the tool by right click on the
  
  icon and Run as administrator option.
• Make sure that these ones are checked:
  • Remove disinfection tools
  • Purge system restore
  • Reset system settings
• Push Run and wait until the tool completes his work.
• All tools we used should be gone. Tool will create an report for you (C:\DelFix.txt)

The tool will also record healthy state of registry and make a backup using ERUNT program in %windir%\ERUNT\DelFix
Tool deletes old system restore points and create a fresh system restore point after cleaning.

My help is free for everybody.
If you're happy with the help provided and/or wish to buy me a beer for the assistance you received, then you can consider a donation:
Thank you!​

Stay safe,
TwinHeadedEagle

 

[Sundee]

I'm having the same problem as described above, with the multiple dllhost.exe files running, tons of them! I have Trend Micro. I have tried Avast, CCleaner, and Malwarebytes. Nothing has detected it. Can you help?

 

[Sundee]

So now I'm really confused. Is the problem malware, or is it IE10?? http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...y/bd7e42bb-802d-4eb9-95b2-2bb6b566996d?page=1

 

[TwinHeadedEagle]

Open your own topic. Thanks!