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November 12th, 2003 06:00
Does this sound like a virus?
Ok, i have never seen anything this weird. I will turn on the computer, it will run fine for about 3-4 minutes, then bam! The thing just comes to a screeching halt, performance is gone. It just goes insanely slow, hangs up, and doesnt respond for minutes. If i take a look at task managers performance screen, the CPU usage is somewhat erratic, regardless of what programs i am running. The big one is the memory usage. It will be at a normal level, about 130 mb, then it will jump up to 680-700 mb, stay there for about a minute, then it drops back to normal for about 4 seconds, then back up to 700. It does this continuously for quite a while. Then, after this while, everything seems to be ok. Memory and CPU usage are normal, computer runs fine. But if i do a restart, everything happens again. I have had a few instances where my spybot would hang when i tried to update, but i have since been able to update it. Norton is also updated, at least it says it is, and has come clean on all the scans. I originally ran mcafee, that didnt find anything either.I have run Spybot, ad-aware, and advanced system optimizer to try and clean this problem up. I have done defrags, system restore, and deleted many downloaded files. I have run MSconfig and changed the programs that run on startup. I dont have kazaa or any P2P programs. I have called dell tech support 5 times, even spoke with tier 2 techs. No help. My patience with this problem (erupted october 11th, i think) is really wearing thin. I want to avoid a hard drive format.
My system specs are : Dimension 4600 p4 2.6 HT 512 mb RAM, 120 GIG HD. 64MB NVIDIA MX 440.
Any help will be greatly appreciated!
ChrisRLG
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3.9K Posts
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November 12th, 2003 06:00
It does sound like a possible Malware problem, but have you ruled out the indexing system if on winXP, do a search of this forum (Advanced search over on the left) for indexing, some have reported better systems when that is turned off. If you still think it is malware of one kind or another I would suggest the following:-
Use these to remove Malware (Spyware and Adware).
Spybot S&D
Ad-Aware
Cwshredder
With all of these download them, install (after unzip if required), download the latest signature file, run, delete all that they find.
Failing those solving your problems a post of a hijackthis log for the experts to advise.
HijackThis From Here
Download, run, scan, save log, then in notepad copy the FULL log by copy and paste to a post in one of these specialist spyware removal forums:-
http://tomcoyote.org/forums/index.php
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php
http://www.net-integration.net/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi
http://boards.cexx.org/index.php
DO NOT FIX ANYTHING WITH HIJACKTHIS WITHOUT EXPERT ADVICE, most of what it finds you need for normal MS Windows tasks.
Do read the sites FAQ before posting, and advise your problem and what steps you have already done to try to cure your problem.
I am in all those sites as ChrisRLG. You might get me, but any of the more problematic ones are handled by the experts. If you get a 'advanced member' like me, we have other ways of asking for advice from the experts, to pass on to you.
You could post your log here in this thread (if in the Virus Information and Removal Board - if not post in that board not in this thread), and I will have a go at giving advice, but if you go to one of the more specalist forums more experts will be able to help.
ChrisRLG
2 Intern
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3.9K Posts
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November 12th, 2003 07:00
charlietoolbrow
6 Posts
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November 12th, 2003 07:00
well like i said, i have run severl anti spyware programs, i dont even remember them all. I have heard that windows xp update Q811493 can slow a system down. does that sound like a possible culprit?
I will look into this hijack dealy, and may get back to you.
thanks especially for quick reply and your help in this situation. I feel like such a newbie in this situation, i know a bit about computers, but this thing has me stumped.