Full Scan Doesn't End

[sweetangel]

Hi,

I had been having the same issue (i.e. scan freezes at Zlip.zlob or whatever it was called + unable to access the Settings) for about 2 months. Using Windows 10, free version of Spybot. Clearing the Internet Explorer cache using the instructions in the external link worked perfectly for me. I ran Spybot immediately after and the scan completed successfully and got to the results page.

Just a note that I also don't use IE (I am a Firefox user) but still had it installed on my computer. Regardless of not using it, clearing its cache seemed to work for me. Hope this helps.

[RustyFuture]

Full disclosure: I am, also, working with Bjorn at Team Spybot. I came across his e-mail with this same Link before I seen this post. Here is my response to him:

Bjorn,

Interesting result. I ran it on both machines. Both Scans completed as expected (hoped for). However, when I clicked on the “Fix selected” button, the System Scan window froze (Not Responding). (FWIW, only that window was frozen – I could use all other aspects of the machine… including starting and stopping Spybot Start Center). I waited two hours for one of the machines to “unfreeze” (while the other machine was still scanning) before forcing the window to close. I restarted the System Scan option and was told that “Your computer has been scanned today at 01:27 o’clock.” (I am still waiting for this second scan to complete but thought I should report as a soon as possible.)

I had left checked all of the items found when I clicked on the “Fix selected” button on this machine.

After the other machine completed the Scan (same results as above), I clicked on the “Fix selected” button with the same “frozen” result. On this machine, I had unchecked the following before clicking the “Fix” button:

Unchecked the “Typed URL List”
Unchecked all – Windows Explorer, Cookie, Cache, and History.

I believe we are getting very close to a solution.

Ron

I can also replicate the issues that RonBoyd has described above after also receiving the link to the test dll by Bjorn.

[RustyFuture]

Here's another small tool for testing and clearing the IE cache, not yet the hard way: Trac3918ZlobCodecFreeze.exe. It should print an error code unique to affected systems (similar to the log created by SDSettings, stage 4), and can try to purge the cache.

here are my logs:

[i] IE cache path: C:\Users\huwfr\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\
[i] IE cookies path: C:\Users\huwfr\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCookies\
[i] IE history path: C:\Users\huwfr\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\
[+] IE cache read with handled outer issue:
[i] 0x00000002 ( 2) The system cannot find the file specified
[i] IE cache path: C:\Users\huwfr\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\
[i] IE cookies path: C:\Users\huwfr\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCookies\
[i] IE history path: C:\Users\huwfr\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\
[i] Cache: 920
[i] Cookies: 6
[i] History: 7

[+] IE cache read with handled outer issue:
[i] 0x00000002 ( 2) The system cannot find the file specified
[i] IE cache path: C:\Users\huwfr\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\
[i] IE cookies path: C:\Users\huwfr\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCookies\
[i] IE history path: C:\Users\huwfr\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\
[i] Cache: 920
[i] Cookies: 6
[i] History: 7

[+] IE cache read with handled outer issue:
[i] 0x00000002 ( 2) The system cannot find the file specified
[i] IE cache path: C:\Users\huwfr\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\
[i] IE cookies path: C:\Users\huwfr\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCookies\
[i] IE history path: C:\Users\huwfr\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\
[i] Cache: 920
[i] Cookies: 6
[i] History: 7
[i] After purging...
[i] Cache: 0
[i] Cookies: 6
[i] History: 0

[PepiMK]

A freezing fix attempt would be a logical thing, since the browser handling is also part of SDScan (doing first round of fixes) or SDCleaner (helping with cleaning after reboots etc.).

Now that it seems confirmed the fix works, we will update these as well.

@sweetangel: many thanks for confirming that cleaning the IE cache helped as well, we can use that as a temporary workaround until all affected modules are updated!

@RustyFuture: thanks for another log

[Leon16]

Hello there

I am experiencing the same difficulties as a paid user. I am pleased we are inching towards a conclusion. Will this fix be rolled out to us automatically? Or will we have to undergo the same process you have done here?

[RonBoyd0174]

Hello there

I am experiencing the same difficulties as a paid user. I am pleased we are inching towards a conclusion. Will this fix be rolled out to us automatically? Or will we have to undergo the same process you have done here?

FWIW, I am a paid user.

[PepiMK]

Once finished, the fix will come through the updates with no interaction required (paid users get automated updates, free users would have to initiate the update, which they should do regularly for new signatures anyway)

[idrinkski]

I tested your solution and it worked. Here is what I found.

I am running Windows 10 64 Bit and I had the Zlob issue.

I first cleared all temp information for Microsoft Edge and reran the scan. I still had the issue.

I then went into Microsoft Edge and opened an IE 11 window. I cleared all the temp information. Reran the scan and no longer have the Zlob issue.

I didn't do the Developer stuff mentioned in the article you linked to, since it was required to fix the issue.

I created an account just to give you a heads up. I have been using your products since 2004.

Keep up the good work.

Upfront: while the name "Zlob" still is shown, this problem has nothing to do with Zlob. Zlob simply is the alphabetically last signature, directly after which browsers are scanned...

We've had two rounds of collecting system information to try to find a common ground so far, and tried to copy many configurations, which went without success in reproducing the issue (why not see below).

We then went through three rounds of sending test versions of SDSettings and collecting back test logs. Why SDSettings? Because it shows the same freeze but the user doesn't have to wait as long to experience it. From the logs created by these tests versions, we closed down on the issue, until we found where the freeze occurs in round three last week.

The issue is clearly Internet Explorer related - a corrupt Internet Explorer cache will cause Spybots cache analysis to freeze (cache is accessed in SDSettings as well for its tab showing the list of recognized browsers).

We can fix this inside Spybot, and started working on that, but since a new version needs to be written and tested and this consumes time, an idea for a faster workaround would be to clear the IE cache to remove any corrupt entries.

Could someone affected please go through these steps and report back whether this helps? As a quick fix we're going to write an IE cache wiper, but it would be helpful to see how deep the cache needs to be wiped, and in case forum answers are faster than email tickets...

[Chiefnerdnc]

I tested your solution and it worked. Here is what I found.

I am running Windows 10 64 Bit and I had the Zlob issue.

I first cleared all temp information for Microsoft Edge and reran the scan. I still had the issue.

I then went into Microsoft Edge and opened an IE 11 window. I cleared all the temp information. Reran the scan and no longer have the Zlob issue.

I didn't do the Developer stuff mentioned in the article you linked to, since it was required to fix the issue.

I created an account just to give you a heads up. I have been using your products since 2004.

Keep up the good work.

I was having the same issue with the SB SCAN Not completing, saying it was 100% complete but showing zlob.zipcodec as being scanned. I found a post the forums here that mentioned that SB used IE for scanning and to clear out your Internet CACHE to fix the problem. I cleared my IE11 CACHE and delete my WINDOWS/TEMP folder contents and my SB Scan finished. I'm not saying that's a solution for everyone, but it work for me. Take this info at your own risk.

[PepiMK]

Here is what probably will be the final fix, an update installing involved files in version 2.6 over the current installation. With this fix, fixing results will work as well.