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choppy video, high CPU usage, slow computer


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#1
rach012

rach012

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My computer seems to be... well... off... I tried to download Ad-Aware and Spybot, neither of which would run on my computer. Ad-Aware kept asking me for a licence number and Spybot refused to open. I've downloaded Windows Defender and it says everything is hunky-dory on the ol' computer... Here's the catch - it's running REALLY REALLY REALLY badly. If I fully turn it off and then restart it (not just reboot) it runs like magic for about four minutes, then the fans kick in. Opening programs takes twice as long, my CPU usage is never below 20%, mostly up around 90%. I disconnected my computer from the internet, closed all peripheral programs and opened Task Manager - my computer was still running at 48% and nothing was open. I wasn't doing anything. The other thing is, when the CPU usage is low (between 2 and 10%) my computer is still working really hard - it's really noisy. The fans seem to never stop. And if I close everything and just watch the desktop, the arrow turns into the hourglass a lot but never actually does anything.

So there is something running in the background of my computer, I think, and I don't know how to make it stop. What it's doing is preventing me from watching any kind of streaming video (it's choppy and awful) or open more than one webbrowser at a time (doing this makes everything really slow). How do I know if it's a hardware problem or a software problem? Is there anyway to reformat a computer without losing everything? Can I allocate certain files to remain on my system if it comes to a reinstall of XP or do I automatically lose everything? I've trying defragmenting, error-checking, I've downloaded what seems like 100 spyware/malware removal programs, none of which will actually work on my computer. I'm running out of patience and since I don't know that much about computers, if someone could help me in a VERY SPECIFIC and straightforward way, that would be super.
Thanks
Sincerely,
Rachel.
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#2
wannabe1

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Hi rach012...

What you describe can be caused by Malware so let's get that looked at. BUT, very similar symptoms can be caused if your machine is running in PIO (Programmed Input/Output) transfer mode...so let's look into that, too.

First, go HERE and see if you can complete any or all of the steps they recommend...it would be really nice if you can post a HiJackThis log for the experts to analyze. If you are able to post the log, please add a link to that topic here so I can watch what goes on there.

Then, right click on "My Computer" and choose "Properties". Click the "Hardware" tab, then click the "Device Manager" button.

In Device Manager, expand (click +) "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers". Right click on "Primary IDE channel" and choose "Properties"...click on the "Advanced Settings" tab.

In the window that opens you should see a "Device 0" and a "Device 1". List for me what is shown in the "Transfer Mode" and "Current Transfer Mode" fields for each device.

Close that window, right click on "Secondary IDE channel", choose "Properties", select the "Advanced Settings" tab, and list the same information for this channel.

wannabe1
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#3
rach012

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So I've done all the scans imaginable on this machine... Posted my HiJackThis Log... I don't know how to put a link in here.... I had a trojan and some tracking cookies but even since they've been removed my computer is still not working right.
I'll try the other things and let you know.
Thanks
R.


Primary IDE
Device 0:
Transfer Mode: DMA if Possible
Current Transfer Mode: Ultra DMA Mode 5


Device 1:
Same except Current Transfer Mode: Ultra DMA Mode 2

Secondary IDE:
Device 0:
Device Type: Auto-Detection
Transfer Mode: DMA if Possible
Current Transfer Mode: Not Applicable

Same for Device 1.

Edited by rach012, 21 October 2007 - 06:32 PM.

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#4
rach012

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Malware people said my HiJackThis Log was clean.

Here is my uninstall list

AC3Filter (remove only)
Adobe Flash Player ActiveX
Adobe Reader 7.0.9
Adobe Shockwave Player
Adobe® Photoshop® Album Starter Edition 3.0.1
Apple Software Update
Ares Ultra 1.0.1
AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5
AVG Free Edition
Azureus Vuze
BitTorrent 5.0.7
Canon iP1600
Canon Utilities Easy-PhotoPrint
Canon Utilities Easy-PrintToolBox
Corel Photo Album 6
Disc2Phone
DivX Codec
DivX Content Uploader
DivX Converter
DivX Player
DivX Web Player
Easy-WebPrint
Hijackthis 1.99.1
HijackThis 1.99.1
Hotfix for Windows Media Format 11 SDK (KB929399)
Hotfix for Windows Media Player 11 (KB939683)
Hotfix for Windows XP (KB914440)
Hotfix for Windows XP (KB915865)
Hotfix for Windows XP (KB926239)
Java™ SE Runtime Environment 6 Update 1
KPT® Collection
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Hotfix (KB928366)
Microsoft Compression Client Pack 1.0 for Windows XP
Microsoft Internationalized Domain Names Mitigation APIs
Microsoft National Language Support Downlevel APIs
Microsoft Office PowerPoint Viewer 2003
Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003
Microsoft User-Mode Driver Framework Feature Pack 1.0
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable
MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB925672)
MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB927978)
MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB936181)
MSXML 4.0 SP2 Parser and SDK
NVIDIA Windows 2000/XP Display Drivers
OLYMPUS Master 2
Panda ActiveScan
QuickTime
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB928090)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB931768)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB933566)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB937143)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB938127)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB939653)
Security Update for Windows Media Player (KB911564)
Security Update for Windows Media Player 11 (KB936782)
Security Update for Windows Media Player 6.4 (KB925398)
Security Update for Windows Media Player 9 (KB917734)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB890046)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB893756)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB896358)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB896423)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB896424)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB896428)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB899587)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB899591)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB900725)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB901017)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB901214)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB902400)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB904706)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB905414)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB905749)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB908519)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB911562)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB911567)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB911927)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB912919)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB913433)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB913580)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB914388)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB914389)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB917159)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB917344)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB917422)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB917953)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB918118)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB918439)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB918899)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB919007)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB920213)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB920214)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB920670)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB920683)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB920685)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB921398)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB921503)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB921883)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB922616)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB922760)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB922819)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB923191)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB923414)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB923689)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB923694)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB923980)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB924191)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB924270)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB924496)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB924667)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB925454)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB925902)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB926255)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB926436)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB927779)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB927802)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB928255)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB928843)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB929123)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB930178)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB931261)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB931784)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB932168)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB933729)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB935839)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB935840)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB936021)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB938829)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB941202)
Sony Ericsson PC Suite 1.20.224
SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition
The Poppit! Show
Update for Windows XP (KB894391)
Update for Windows XP (KB898461)
Update for Windows XP (KB900485)
Update for Windows XP (KB904942)
Update for Windows XP (KB908531)
Update for Windows XP (KB910437)
Update for Windows XP (KB911280)
Update for Windows XP (KB916595)
Update for Windows XP (KB920872)
Update for Windows XP (KB922582)
Update for Windows XP (KB927891)
Update for Windows XP (KB929338)
Update for Windows XP (KB930916)
Update for Windows XP (KB931836)
Update for Windows XP (KB933360)
Update for Windows XP (KB936357)
Update for Windows XP (KB938828)
Update Manager
Winamp (remove only)
Windows Installer 3.1 (KB893803)
Windows Internet Explorer 7
Windows Live Messenger
Windows Live OneCare safety scanner
Windows Live Sign-in Assistant
Windows Media Format 11 runtime
Windows Media Format 11 runtime
Windows Media Player 11
Windows Media Player 11
Windows XP Hotfix - KB873339
Windows XP Hotfix - KB885835
Windows XP Hotfix - KB885836
Windows XP Hotfix - KB886185
Windows XP Hotfix - KB887472
Windows XP Hotfix - KB888302
Windows XP Hotfix - KB890859
Windows XP Hotfix - KB891781
WordPerfect Office X3 - Home Edition Software Bundle
WordPerfect Office X3 - Home Edition, Task Manager
WordPerfect OfficeReady
WordPerfect® Office X3 - Home Edition

Edited by rach012, 21 October 2007 - 07:32 PM.

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