Malware problem

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kafka

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This afternoon I started to get warnings from Windows that msa.exe wasn't working and that Windows would look for a solution. I had no knowledge of this program and when I googled "msa.exe" I learned that it was malware. I then downloaded Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and scanned my computer. Malwarebytes advised me that it had found a number of instances of malware, which it then removed. None of the items it found contained any reference to msa.exe and I therefore don't know whether it has been removed.

The symptoms I still have are that Windows Defender won't turn on and that Windows reports problems running Advanced System Care, Glary Utilities and similar programs (i.e. they all close down soon after I open them).

Do I need to re-format my hard drive or is there a less dramatic solution?

I tried to restore my system to an earlier state but after going through the motions (re-booting, etc.) I was informed that the restore had failed. This is not new as I have never been able to successfully restore the system.
 
This is a nasty malware program that I have encountered twice. I did many of the things you have done to no avail. If you have an image backup, restore it. If you don't, you will need to reformat your hdd and reinstall everything.

It should be safe to backup you data files before reformatting hdd.

Good luck!
 
I managed to use Restore by running it in Safe Mode. My problems disappeared once I had restored the system to a previous state. I then ran Spybot Search and Destroy which found a dozen instances of malware, none of which showed any connection to msa.exe.

I'm crossing my fingers that the malware is gone forever (though it apparently got through Windows Security Essentials).
 
Maybe something in the Registry

Did you try running a registry cleaner?Maybe there is something deeper that you can't find?
Try a free search at first and then comtinue
 
Re

You should download Anti-malwarebytes for the protection of your computer. Install it and run a full scan. Hopefully, it will solve your problem.
 
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-ms-antivirus

http://www.xp-vista.com/spyware-removal/msantivirus-ms-antivirus-removal-instructions

The above may give you some help.

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