SppExtComObj.Exe

stevenson53 said:

OK it worked like a dream and no more blocking at the beginning!
THANKYOU so much for your help, it has been great.
Just a last couple of questions.:
- I'm going to do an image of the OS drive just in case before I do anything else.
- Do I keep Defender or ditch it.
- What's with this Cortina thing, I got rid of it last time.
- Backup up strategy is now OK but what do you recommend re continues virus scans etc.
Cheers
Paul

Well I haven't installed anything and the blocked website came up again on MBAM! Devistated! I think the best route now is to do a clean install 😞😞😞

Oh my goodness! It worked, and the blocking issue is still there....so, yes clean install it is.

One question: When you started the clean install, did you do a "custom" install, and delete all partitions and install to a completely unallocated drive? Because of the infection issue, that would be highly recommended.

Yes, it's a good idea to image the clean install as soon as it's completed. Then, after you've got your programs loaded, image again. Keep those two images safe someplace offline for future need. Then, setup Macrium to image on a schedule.

Backup best practises are 3-2-1: Three rotating backups, two on-site, one off-site. One set offline at all times.

Just a last couple of questions.:
- I'm going to do an image of the OS drive just in case before I do anything else.
- Do I keep Defender or ditch it.
- What's with this Cortina thing, I got rid of it last time.
- Backup up strategy is now OK but what do you recommend re continues virus scans etc.
Cheers
Paul

I'll make some personal recommendations here - others may have different ideas, and you need to do what's best for you:

Active AV: ESET NOD (paid) or Avast! Free (custom install, only the 3 shields and software updater, nothing else)
MBAM (Paid, especially since they will be rolling in their anti-ransomware module when it's out of BETA)
Malwarebytes AntiExploit (free)
CryptoPrevent (free - update yourself)
SuperAntiSpyware (free - run yourself)
Ccleaner (Free - run yourself)
Macrium Reflect (free - for your images)

Since you can "Mount" a Macrium image, and pull any files out of it, in their natural state, you can use this exclusively for your OS + data backups. Be sure to include "verification" in your instruction set. Macrium Images will be compressed, and will take up less space than just copying your data.
Defender will be disabled when you install your 3rd-party AV.
Please don't do anything to Cortana - she is becoming more and more entrenched in the OS, and messing with her can eventually bork your system.

p.s. Please don't forget to create your rescue media in Macrium, and be sure your system will boot from it.

simrick said:

p.s. Please don't forget to create your rescue media in Macrium, and be sure your system will boot from it.

Ok got all of that although I didn't do the bit about the partitions. I have 3 on the OS drive, system reserve(none) 100mb/46.2mb, system 232.35mb/32.02 and None 450mb//319.4mb. I have an old copy of partition magic if that helps?

stevenson53 said:

Ok got all of that although I didn't do the bit about the partitions. I have 3 on the OS drive, system reserve(none) 100mb/46.2mb, system 232.35mb/32.02 and None 450mb//319.4mb.

With the clean install and MBAM installed, if you get that blocking again, stop and redo the clean install, deleting all partitions and installing to an unallocated drive. There are some infections which can survive a reinstall, because they create their own hidden partition on the disk. Not saying you had that; just to be aware. :)

stevenson53 said:

Ok all is going well. Slowly restoring my programs one by one. No response from MBAM or ESET yet so hopefully the partitions were not infected. Do you think its worth doing something about the partitions? My old partition magic doesn't work anymore but then again iots 12 years old LOL.

Yeah, when I did the initial install on my main machine, I installed the programs only as I needed them...ended up leaving some old, unused stuff off completely, and all the better for it too.

Please be sure to turn Fast Startup OFF, and turn System Restore ON (and set a restore point or three).

What exactly do you want to do with your partitions? MiniTool Partition Wizard is free and quite good.
Give us a screenshot of Macrium showing your partition structure, and it will be easy to describe what you want to do.