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Ctfmon.exe and impending computer meltdown in 5...4...3...

HakkekageHakkekage Space Whore Academysumma cum laudeRegistered User regular
edited July 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
Just to be quick, a couple days ago my virus/spyware scanner Spyhunter 3, which has been generally good so far, marked the ctfmon process as a spyware to be removed. So I removed it via the scanner's removal thing. It's never let me down before, right?

Well now my office tools won't work easily any more! I have XP professional and everytime I try to open say, Word or AIM, I get the window for Widnow's Installer that then asks me to insert the CD ROM. Eventually, after it says "no we can't do this without the CD!" and pressing cancel a bunch of times, the program will finally open, but slowly.

I don't have the XP CD, and all I get online is stuff about removing ctfmon, not getting it back. I have no idea why Spyhunter got rid of it as spyware, and now i'm getting ticked off becuse even maximizing the AIM window from the shortcut bar makes the damn installer thing pop up and slow my computer while it uselessly chugs along.

How can I get my XP to run smoothly again?

3DS: 2165 - 6538 - 3417
NNID: Hakkekage
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Posts

  • augustaugust where you come from is gone Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    august on
  • HakkekageHakkekage Space Whore Academy summa cum laudeRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Fuck, are you kidding? I bought it for $30 fucking dollars to get rid of Vista Antivirus when my computer was in a crisis because all the websites about Vista Antivirus linked to Spyhunter as a way to get rid of it, and it worked. It also cleaned up a lot of other shit on my computer.

    Am I double fucked? :x

    God dammit this is too complicated for me

    Hakkekage on
    3DS: 2165 - 6538 - 3417
    NNID: Hakkekage
  • augustaugust where you come from is gone Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Trustworthy programs:

    Spybot S&D
    AVG Antivirus.

    august on
  • HakkekageHakkekage Space Whore Academy summa cum laudeRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Shit. So do I need to uninstall spyhunter now, and scrub my computer clean of that, and then ALSO get ctfmon back? I'm no computer tech, what the hell do I do?

    Also I have AVG antivirus, but I've never actually seen it do much, and it's never gotten rid of anything, I don't think. And everytime I try to update it says "update unsuccessful."

    Hakkekage on
    3DS: 2165 - 6538 - 3417
    NNID: Hakkekage
  • HakkekageHakkekage Space Whore Academy summa cum laudeRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I think it's pretty clear Spyhunter has fucked up my computer now more than then malware it was supposed to protect.

    I am going to kill something soon. I uninstalled it but I highly doubt just using the add/remove program thing is going to remove it completely. I'm trying to download the Google Pack right now, but because ctfmon is fucking gone the stupid windows installer bullshit won't let it work.

    Fuck it all to fucking hell. I've had so many computer problems lately. Aarrghrgrhgrhgrhrgrhgrhrgrhgrhghrgrhgrh

    Hakkekage on
    3DS: 2165 - 6538 - 3417
    NNID: Hakkekage
  • theSquidtheSquid Sydney, AustraliaRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    august wrote: »
    Trustworthy programs:

    Spybot S&D
    AVG Antivirus.

    These. And Spybot Search and Destroy.

    theSquid on
  • Black IceBlack Ice Charlotte, NCRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Try using a USB drive from another computer with ctfmon, perhaps?
    theSquid wrote: »
    august wrote: »
    Trustworthy programs:

    Spybot S&D
    AVG Antivirus.

    These. And Spybot Search and Destroy.

    You're.. you're kidding, right?

    Black Ice on
  • theSquidtheSquid Sydney, AustraliaRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Black Ice wrote: »
    Try using a USB drive from another computer with ctfmon, perhaps?
    theSquid wrote: »
    august wrote: »
    Trustworthy programs:

    Spybot S&D
    AVG Antivirus.

    These. And Spybot Search and Destroy.

    You're.. you're kidding, right?

    Oh crap. Major brainfuck. Shit.

    I meant Lavasoft Ad-Aware.

    theSquid on
  • Black IceBlack Ice Charlotte, NCRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Ah, I second Ad-Aware. For future reference, try Spybot S&D and Lavasoft's Ad-Aware SE. Both are great programs with a sound reputation. Spybot can catch some things that Ad-Aware doesn't, and vice versa. They work well together.

    Back to the ctfmon problem (Capture the Flag, mon!)..
    Hakkekage wrote: »
    I uninstalled it but I highly doubt just using the add/remove program thing is going to remove it completely. I'm trying to download the Google Pack right now, but because ctfmon is fucking gone the stupid windows installer bullshit won't let it work.

    Are you clicking the "Install" button from the Google website, or are you downloading it to your computer and then trying to install it? If it's not on your HD yet, try what I said before (Sorry I wasn't too specific). Put the file on a USB drive and install it on the bunked up computer.

    Black Ice on
  • HakkekageHakkekage Space Whore Academy summa cum laudeRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    What's wrong with spybot? Because I just got it and it was the only one out of the bunches of scanners I used (AVG Ad-Aware, Spyware Doctor from the google pack, and Norton from the google pack) to pick up on any Spyhunter things. Please don't tell me Spybot is another malware for christ's sake I just allowed it to do a shitload of registry changes (all those SpyBotDeleting##### things). I'm going to get Lava Ad-Aware now too just in case.

    Black: Eventually it worked, because the installer thing will bitch and moan for a about 5-10 minutes and delay the program but eventually let the program go.

    EDIT: So once I finish cleaning up my computer of pests, how do I actually get ctfmon back? Do I need the CD?

    Hakkekage on
    3DS: 2165 - 6538 - 3417
    NNID: Hakkekage
  • theSquidtheSquid Sydney, AustraliaRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    No no, use both Spybot and Ad-Aware. They make an awesome tag team.

    theSquid on
  • WezoinWezoin Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Yeah, SpyHunter is the worst. The trick thing tried its way with one of my computers, and eventually took over the desktop and refused to let me do anything unless I bought the software to fix it. I went on to another computer, looked up the company, and sent them a nasty email threatening to lay charges. They replied to me with a serial number to unlock the program and claimed that they had no knowledge of this advertising method and that "it must have been one of our advertising partners." Two weeks later it hijacked everything completely, and I had to format the hard drive.

    Wezoin on
  • HakkekageHakkekage Space Whore Academy summa cum laudeRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Fuck! I came back to my computer having restarted in my absence (I was running scans) and when I entered my password a whole bunch of black windows popped up with "system32" somewhere in their headers and then vanished.

    I'm running spybot and ad-aware now, and I suspect Spyhunter hasn't been fully removed yet either. AND my OS is still gimped.

    Hakkekage on
    3DS: 2165 - 6538 - 3417
    NNID: Hakkekage
  • HakkekageHakkekage Space Whore Academy summa cum laudeRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Double posting but I just got back from work and I'm definitely noticing my computer's performance dipping sharply. It's lagging a whole lot more for starters, and the stupid windows installer keeps bothering me and delaying my processes.

    Please help :( Everything I can find on the web is about removing ctfmon, not getting it back when some douchefuckingtwatsnaggle malware cons you and gets rid of it.

    Hakkekage on
    3DS: 2165 - 6538 - 3417
    NNID: Hakkekage
  • Tweaked_Bat_Tweaked_Bat_ Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Are you in a position to reformat your drive?

    Seriously, any software program with the words "spy..." you steer clear of, regardless of what they claim to do. They're all mostly rubbish.

    Just use a solid anti-virus program like AVG in the future, it's generally all you need if you are smart/careful.

    Tweaked_Bat_ on
  • HakkekageHakkekage Space Whore Academy summa cum laudeRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I wouldn't know how to reformat it, but If I do need to, I could learn. Is that the only way?

    Hakkekage on
    3DS: 2165 - 6538 - 3417
    NNID: Hakkekage
  • RNEMESiS42RNEMESiS42 Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    ...except for Spybot; it's been keeping my computer clean for years.

    RNEMESiS42 on
    my apartment looks upside down from there
    water spirals the wrong way out the sink
  • theSquidtheSquid Sydney, AustraliaRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Anti-Virus: AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
    Firewall: Sygate Personal Firewall
    Anti-Spyware: Both Lavasoft Ad-Aware Free Edition and Spybot Search and Destroy
    General Maintenance: CCleaner
    Where? Filehippo
    Cost? $0

    theSquid on
  • HakkekageHakkekage Space Whore Academy summa cum laudeRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Check check aaaand check. My computer is now a fortress, albeit with leaking pipes. Now that I've scoured my computer with lye and baby blood, it's back to the original problem of fixing my crippled OS.

    Basically the windows installer thing that pops up won't let me use AIM anymore, and I can't even open up MS Word at all now. :x I might just kill a bitch.

    Hakkekage on
    3DS: 2165 - 6538 - 3417
    NNID: Hakkekage
  • hippofanthippofant ティンク Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    You need to get ctfmon.exe back. I know I have 2 copies of it on my computer - Windows/system32 and Windows/ServicePackFiles/i386. Not sure if you do or if they're swappable, but... yeah.

    hippofant on
  • HakkekageHakkekage Space Whore Academy summa cum laudeRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Bingo! I know I have to get it back. The question is how and from where, and please oh please don't say it means a complete reformat of my HD.

    Also hippo I just checked both folders, and ctfmon isn't there :( I think spyhunter removed both of them.

    Am I just able to download it from somewhere and force it into my WINDOWS folders? A couple weeks ago when another system32 file (hal.dll) went corrupt/missing I ambulanced my HD over to my friend's house and he just copied his file into my prgram files, and my computer worked again. Of course right after I got spyhunter3 because when the computer booted up Antivirus was rampaging and I panicked and just paid for the 'full' version of the deceptive malware.

    The good thing is I have backed up most of my files already as a precaution from this event.

    Hakkekage on
    3DS: 2165 - 6538 - 3417
    NNID: Hakkekage
  • Bliss 101Bliss 101 Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I think your current Windows setup has been screwed up for good and you need to either restore an older configuration or reinstall.

    To restore an older configuration:

    - In the Start menu, go to All Programs / Accessories / System Tools / System Restore.
    - Select "Choose a different restore point".
    - Select a restore point that's old enough to be from before you installed that SpyHunter shit.

    This should revert your windows configuration back to the state where it worked. After you've done this, install AVG and AdAware.

    Bliss 101 on
    MSL59.jpg
  • Bliss 101Bliss 101 Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Wait I just realized you have XP and not Vista. The available options might not be the same, but the application will be found in the same place anyway.

    Bliss 101 on
    MSL59.jpg
  • HakkekageHakkekage Space Whore Academy summa cum laudeRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I tried to system restore to June 4, but when it turned back on it said that no changes had been made.

    I have to reinstall, don't I :(. I don't even have a CD! The hell do I do?

    Hakkekage on
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    NNID: Hakkekage
  • MayGodHaveMercyMayGodHaveMercy Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Hakkekage wrote: »
    Bingo! I know I have to get it back. The question is how and from where, and please oh please don't say it means a complete reformat of my HD.

    As ctfmon.exe is associated with Office, I'd be willing to bet that if you can get Office reinstalled, ctfmon will come with it. But, it sounds like .msi's aren't working for you, so... I don't know how else you'd do it.

    Unfortunately, judging from this, missing that particular program isn't the cause of your OS being fucked, as it's an Office program, and shouldn't affect your OS at all. :|

    MayGodHaveMercy on
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  • augustaugust where you come from is gone Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Hakkekage wrote: »
    I tried to system restore to June 4, but when it turned back on it said that no changes had been made.

    I have to reinstall, don't I :(. I don't even have a CD! The hell do I do?

    Is there some kind of recovery program/partition that came with your machine?

    august on
  • HakkekageHakkekage Space Whore Academy summa cum laudeRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    MayGodHaveMercy: I thought that losing the program wouldn't be a problem either, but all the problems started happening after Spyhunter removed it.

    august: Other than system restore, I don't know what you mean. Chances are no.

    Hakkekage on
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    NNID: Hakkekage
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