For the experts: Something slowing computer
 

Gang,

As I have posted for some time in the Technical Issues forum, I apparently caught some type of virus that has slowed my computer substantially; especially when using IE.

I have tried several programs to figure out what is wrong... but nothing is being found.

Does anyone have any recommended programs or suggestions that might ferret out this problem? I really would prefer not having to reset the computer to original factory settings... ugh.

Appreciate any suggestions.

William

Malwarebytes and the free version of AVG anti-virus have not failed me.

Start with Malwarebytes. If it finds malware, run it multiple times until it comes back with a completely clean report.

You may find that malware already infecting your machine will prevent you from going to the website to download it or installing it when you do. Last time I had to download the install files to a USB drive on another computer, then rename the .exe file to a .bat because the infections were blocking all .exe installations.

i have used AVG anti-virus free for about 6 years now never failed. i think it is one of the best out there.

I'd agree that Malwarebytes is excellent. It won't fix everything (I ended up with one machine so badly hosed that it had to be reimaged..... another reason for frequent backups). I don't recall whether Malwarebytes can be launched from a thumb drive or not - if so, that's a possibility. Likewise, you may need to run the machine in "safe mode". Also check for boot sector hijacking.

Most of the big antivirus vendors offer online scanning - I know Symantec, McAfee, ESet, and AVG do. I don't know whether they can disinfect.

There are ways to do a scan using the drive as a "slave" drive, but you have to be very careful not to infect the "clean" machine that you're using. One technique that I've used is to set up a clean machine that only has the anti-malware software installed, slave the suspect drive to it, scan the suspect as a complete scan, then (after removing the slave) completely wipe and reinstall the system on the clean machine. One advantage to slaving is that you can remove & scan all your data files in case you have to reinstall the OS on the infected computer.

Malwarebytes is my go-to utility for this type of stuff. It can detect and remove virtually anything that may be creating problems. If it cannot install or will not start, you need to install or run in safe mode. If, after a scan, it asks you to restart in order to remove some items, it indicates that some malware is either memory resident, or you have a corrupted Windows process. Go ahead & restart, then run it again as soon as it reboots.

If it keeps finding the same processes over and over after reboots, you probably have a rootkit. Kaspersky has a free rootkit remover - download and run it.

After all that, I'd run the online scan from Eset.com. Be sure to set the options (you'll see 'em) to search all files. It will remove anything left over from Malwarebytes (though there's usually not much).

You mentioned that the problems are general slowness, but especially with IE. Check your add-ins on IE - try disabling them temporarily to see if this has any effect. IE runs very slow on my XP machine, but reasonably fast on my Win7, so I mostly use Chrome on my XP.

It might not be a virus.

I'm assuming it's a windows machine.

Do a control alt delete, and fire up the task manager. See what your system usage is. Go into Processes, and click on the CPU column to sort by that. You may need to click it twice to get it to sort from highest usage to lowest.

Let us know what the top few entries are. Ignore the one that says System Idle Processes (but not the one that is just System if it's up there).

Try that with and without IE running to see if it makes a difference.

If you are running antivirus, ad-aware, or something like that, disable it and see if it makes a difference.

Don't use IE. Lots of examples where that slows down machines.

If you go to Firefox, there are "add-on" toolbars that let you select whether to turn on/off stuff like Javascript, Java, Silverlight, etc.

When all else has failed (and I think Malwarebytes is a great product), I use the Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10. It is quite an amazing product, and it's free to download.

You have to burn the ISO to a disc, and then boot from that disk. Run it from the GUI option. And make sure your 'puter is attached to an internet connection for updates that it requires.

It may take a while to run depending on your setup, but I've found it to be OUTSTANDING in finding things that everything else has missed.

Good luck.

http://support.kaspersky.com/faq/?qid=208282173

I'm with Cordelli here. It can be some program/process running amok.

The most usual culprit is Flash and Flash-based sites. I'm not an Apple fanboy, but Steve Jobs was right on Flash being more a scourge than an asset, specially on the hands of lazy programmers.

Try enabling (at least temporarily) IE's Flash-blocking feature. If your slowdown was caused by Flash, you will not experience it anymore, albeit at the cost of a less media-rich experience.

For more complete blocking, you could install .......:
http://simple-........com/

If you still suspect an infection (and before trying something more "radical"), you could try McAfee's Stinger - It's a stand alone program that contains detection for the more usual and current threats only. You would need to download the current version at:

http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=stinger

(I'm an Avast user, not a fan of McAfee main programs, but do like Stinger for its simplicity and approach. Keep in mind that it is not a substitute for a full anti-virus program)

Hate to say it, but everytime I do a full disk format and reinstall of W7, things just work so much more quickly. When all else fails, it's a good option.

CCleaner is another good one to keep in your PC maintenance tool chest...

Could the hard drive be failing? Any strange click-click-click-click-click noises coming from the drive during system startup and under heavy disk usage?

Thanks for this--found two items mucking around on my laptop.

While running various security scans, it could also help to disconnect all network access (even from a home/private connection) - just make sure that the antivirus/security products have the latest definition(s) first, ready to use (and/or run it from a USB device, if the option exists as others said.)

Power down the PC, disconnect the ethernet cable and/or turn-off wireless function, so that the backdoor is shut down - restart & run it. Running the newer Microsoft OS's, it wouldn't "hurt" to d/l the MSE and/or turn/on Windows Defender to do deep scanning of all the drives/partition/folders & files, etc. Re-check the firewall & router security logs afterward & see if there are any unusual activities or ports being accessed ...

It's a PITA to reformat the drives & do a clean install as nobody looked forward to a half day ++ of work sitting & staring the hardware, but sometimes, it's the last resort.

My designated home server dual boot so I have another OS to fall back on, and the running AV software will scan all connected/shared drives across OS/platforms - and, we're been lucky "clean" thus far on our current setup for 5+ years - and, that's with iCloud, Drive, SkyDrive & DropBox features installed (aren't always connected/on - enabled on as needed basis.)

Also be sure you only have one anti-virus program installed.

MSE
 

Have you tried Microsoft Security Essentials? It's free and it's getting some pretty good reviews. I've been using it regularly lately.

It's at http://windows.microsoft.com/mse

Good luck!