From: charlie@xxx.net   
      
   Hi all, I need some help please..   
   (I do have access to W7, W10 and Linux (mint) on other machines, so no   
   "update your O/S advice" please!   
   I use Win XPpro SP3 (x32) for my daily driver and running all my now old   
   but very reliable peripherals, and up to now without any gotchas.   
   I used to have NOD32 /ESET AV and did a scan with Malwarebytes   
   ocasionally but both now long discontinued for XP.   
   m/b GA-Z77-DS3H : processor iPentium lll Xeon :4GB ram. : 64GB SSD :1TB   
   HDD for data.   
   This system is shut down overnight and then rebooted every morning.   
   I can install from a backup but dont want to do that until I know what   
   has happened and cleaned up the system if possible. This is where I need   
   some help.   
   Symptoms:   
   I suddenly noticed on morning boot a few days ago a couple of extra   
   screen flashes while XP was loading just after boot which made me   
   suspicious.   
   Websites I use all the time suddenly misbehaved - mainly loading   
   incorrectly or hanging. (I use myPal Browser which is the only updated   
   x32 browser I know of for XP nowadays).   
   However, if I use my VPN router which piggybacks on my main router then   
   all the webpages work perfectly if slightly slower than off the main   
   router, this would be an expected slowdown through the VPN connection.   
   I have done a run on Hiram's 15.1 boot DVD with v.3 (I think)of mbam and   
   it found 4 PUM dropper instances on C drive (took hours for the 64 SSD   
   so not done on the 1TB HDD yet) but malwarebytes is very light on   
   information so I did not try cleaning those for the moment. Just   
   continued using the system on the VPN for the present but for nothing   
   sensitive.   
   Does anyone have suggestions of bootable media that might be reliable   
   for checking these days to give me a cleanup pathway, I think I will   
   need to scan all the drives and anything USB I have plugged into this   
   machine recently. My guess is malware rather than virus but I am   
   uninformed and need help for the uninitiated!   
   Thanks C+   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)