[bobwski]

Here's my system info:
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name BOB
System Manufacturer Dell Computer Corporation
System Model Dimension 8300
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 3 Stepping 3 GenuineIntel ~2992 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Dell Computer Corporation A05, 2/23/2004
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)"
User Name BOB\Home
Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Total Physical Memory 1,536.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 703.07 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 2.85 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

I tried the first 4 steps from the "Removal help for virus, malware....." and it did find one problem and removed it.

Don't want to load you down with a bunch of info you don't want, so just let me know what you want me to show you.

BTW, I did the malware removal procedures because Facebook was running slow, and that seems better. But 9 minutes to start up is really annoying. Desktop pops up in about 1-1/2 minutes but then when Charter Security suite starts, that's when everything stops for the next 5 or 6 minutes. Had Norton Security previously. I think I removed all of it before I installed the Charter Suite. That was two years ago and the problem seems to be getting worse.

Thanks in advance for anything you can suggest.

[Advertisements]

This may be a active infection but lets see what we can find from the technical side.
Download Autoruns from the link in my signature below:
1: Extract the Autoruns Zip file contents to a folder.
2: Double-click the "Autoruns.exe".
3: Click on the "Everything" tab
4: Remove any entries that mention "File Not Found" by right-clicking the entry and select Delete.
5: Go to File then to Export As or Save in some versions.
6: Save AutoRuns.txt file to known location like your Desktop.
7: Attach to your next reply.

Download and install Free Everest Home Edition
Open it.
1: In left pane expand Computer folder.
2: Click once on Summary
3: In upper menu, go Report
4: And then to Quick Report-Summary
5: Save it in text file, and paste it in your next post.
Click the + by computer, click on Sensor. Get a screenshot and post it so I can check your temps and voltages...

DO NOT INCLUDE ANYTHING UNDER THE LINE THAT SAYS "DEBUG- PCI"





Go to Start then to Run
Type in compmgmt.msc and click Enter
On left side click on Disk Management
On right side you will see you hard drive.
Now I need you to take a screenshot and attach it to your next reply. Do the following to take a screenshot while the above is open and showing on your desktop.

To do a screenshot please have click on your Print Screen on your keyboard. It is normally the key above your number pad between the F12 key and the Scroll Lock key
Now go to Start and then to All Programs
Scroll to Accessories and then click on Paint
In the Empty White Area click and hold the CTRL key and then click the V
Go to the File option at the top and click on Save as
Save as file type JPEG and save it to your Desktop


Attach it to your next reply

[rshaffer61]

This may be a active infection but lets see what we can find from the technical side.
Download Autoruns from the link in my signature below:
1: Extract the Autoruns Zip file contents to a folder.
2: Double-click the "Autoruns.exe".
3: Click on the "Everything" tab
4: Remove any entries that mention "File Not Found" by right-clicking the entry and select Delete.
5: Go to File then to Export As or Save in some versions.
6: Save AutoRuns.txt file to known location like your Desktop.
7: Attach to your next reply.

Download and install Free Everest Home Edition
Open it.
1: In left pane expand Computer folder.
2: Click once on Summary
3: In upper menu, go Report
4: And then to Quick Report-Summary
5: Save it in text file, and paste it in your next post.
Click the + by computer, click on Sensor. Get a screenshot and post it so I can check your temps and voltages...

DO NOT INCLUDE ANYTHING UNDER THE LINE THAT SAYS "DEBUG- PCI"





Go to Start then to Run
Type in compmgmt.msc and click Enter
On left side click on Disk Management
On right side you will see you hard drive.
Now I need you to take a screenshot and attach it to your next reply. Do the following to take a screenshot while the above is open and showing on your desktop.

To do a screenshot please have click on your Print Screen on your keyboard. It is normally the key above your number pad between the F12 key and the Scroll Lock key
Now go to Start and then to All Programs
Scroll to Accessories and then click on Paint
In the Empty White Area click and hold the CTRL key and then click the V
Go to the File option at the top and click on Save as
Save as file type JPEG and save it to your Desktop


Attach it to your next reply

[bobwski]

--------[ EVEREST Home Edition © 2003-2005 Lavalys, Inc. ]------------------------------------------------------------

Version EVEREST v2.20.405
Homepage http://www.lavalys.com/
Report Type Quick Report
Computer BOB (Desktop)
Generator Home
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition 5.1.2600 (WinXP Retail)
Date 2010-06-16
Time 21:42


--------[ Summary ]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
OS Service Pack Service Pack 3
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name BOB (Desktop)
User Name Home

Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4, 3000 MHz (15 x 200)
Motherboard Name Dell Dimension 8300
Motherboard Chipset Intel Canterwood i875P/E7210
System Memory 1536 MB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Phoenix (02/23/04)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 (128 MB)
3D Accelerator nVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Monitor Dell P1110 [21" CRT] (9171R0C17XCT)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter Creative SB Live! Series Audio Processor
Audio Adapter Intel 82801EB ICH5 - AC'97 Audio Controller [A-2/A-3]

Storage:
IDE Controller Intel® 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers
IDE Controller Intel® 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive Maxtor 6Y120M0 (120 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA)
Optical Drive HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8162B (16x/48x DVD-ROM)
Optical Drive SONY DVD RW DRU-800A (DVD+R9:4x, DVD-R9:4x, DVD+RW:16x/8x, DVD-RW:16x/6x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:48x/24x/48x DVD+RW/DVD-RW)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 114400 MB (63850 MB free)

Input:
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse PS/2 Compatible Mouse

Network:
Network Adapter Intel® PRO/100 VE Network Connection (192.168.1.100)
Modem Conexant D850 56K V.9x DFVc Modem

Peripherals:
Printer Canon iP4300
Printer Microsoft Office Document Image Writer
Printer Microsoft XPS Document Writer
Printer OKIPAGE 4w
Printer PDF995
USB1 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - USB Controller [A-2/A-3]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - USB Controller [A-2/A-3]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - USB Controller [A-2/A-3]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - USB Controller [A-2/A-3]
USB2 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - Enhanced USB2 Controller [A-2/A-3]
USB Device EPSON Perfection 3490/3590
USB Device USB Printing Support

I'm sorry but I can't get the screenshot to work (Alt>PrtScreen, right? - But when I come to this page it won't let me paste it). It's short, it reads:
Sensor properties
Sensor type HDD

Temperatures
Maxtor 6Y120M0 48 deg C (122 deg F)

Oops, just read the rest of your reply on how to post a screen shot, so I also attached the sensor.jpg.

Hope this is right.

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

Attached Files

•  AutoRuns.txt   26.03KB   149 downloads

[rshaffer61]

Autoruns look good so I'm going to go on to the next steps.


Download TFC by OldTimer to your desktop

• Please double-click TFC.exe to run it. (Note: If you are running on Vista, right-click on the file and choose Run As Administrator).
• It will close all programs when run, so make sure you have saved all your work before you begin.
• Click the Start button to begin the process. Depending on how often you clean temp files, execution time should be anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or two. Let it run uninterrupted to completion.
• Once it's finished it should reboot your machine. If it does not, please manually reboot the machine yourself to ensure a complete clean.

Download Auslogics Defrag from the link in my signature below. Auslogics Defrag in my opinion is better because:
It does a more comprehensive job at Defragging
It will actually show you what it is doing
At the end of working it will show you how much speed you picked up
You can view a online log of the files that Auslogics defragged

[bobwski]

I ran TFC and it did the same as when I tried it on Tuesday -- It ran fine, but at the end when I hit the OK to reboot, it got as far as "Windows is shutting down" and hung. I held the main power button and it did shut off. Restarting it worked OK.

I ran the Auslogics Defrag (the straight Defrag, NOT the Defrag and Optimize). It took only 15 min. Said the disk was 9.31% fragmented before and 0.0% after. I did not see where it showed how much speed was picked up.

Two other things I've noticed. I have the 'Speed Up my PC' taskbar indicator running, and there are times the CPU usage goes to 100% and stays there for a minute or two while the computer seems to hang. I don't recall it doing this previously.

Second, if I run Task Manager, under Processes, I see two listings of iexplore.exe. FSSM32.exe is very large (80,324K), and there are 8 svchost.exe running (4 listed as SYSTEM, 2 as NETWORK SERVICE and 2 as LOCAL SERVICE).

I don't know if either of these are important, but I mention them in case.....

What's next?

[rshaffer61]

OK next lets look at your startups.
Lets see what you have in your startup

Please click on
Start and then to Run
Type in msconfig and press Enter
Now click on Startups
Then uncheck everything and restart.
IMPORTANT! In case of laptop, make sure, you do NOT disable any keyboard, or touchpad entries.
If system boots correctly and is running smoothly and faster then we have a startup problem
Try going back into msconfig and check one item and reboot
Keep doing that till you have found the problem or all are finally checked.
Post back with the results

[bobwski]

Looks like my last post didn't take.
Tan TFC - It ran OK, but after clicking on OK to reboot it, the computer hung at "Windows is shutting down". Got out of that using the power switch on the computer.
Restarted and everything came up OK

Ran Auslogics on the basic defrag. It said I was 9.31% defragged before and 0% after. Took about 15 minutes

don't know if this helps, but on Task manager, under processes, there are two versions of iexplore.exe listed, one at 62M, one at 20M. Also FSSM32.exe is pretty large - 56M.

Tried some reboots, and timed them - speed is better; don't know if this puter can do any better than this. Here's what I logged:

Try 1 Try 2 What

:15 :15 Black screen with "Windows XP" came up
:45 :50 'Welcome'
:60 :60 Full desktop
1:05 1:05 Icon showing 'F-Secure' first popped up
3:05 1:20 Mini taskbar display for 'Speedup My PC' popped up
3:05 2:00 Weatherbug taskbar icon filled in the temperature

3:15 2:10 Clicked on IE taskbar icon
4:00 4:05 IE screen appeared, but was not completely filled in
4:10 4:10 IE screen fully loaded

4:15 4:30 Clicked on Facebook (in my favorites list)
4:50 4:55 Facebook log in screen appeared

5:15 5:20 Facebook log in screen filled out and entered
5:45 6:00 Facebook main screen fully loaded

Don't know if this helps or not, or if this is as good as I can expect.

What's next?

[rshaffer61]

Did you do the msconfig startup steps yet?

[bobwski]

I tried once and it didn't seem to make much difference. I have to go thru it again.

Can I set this forum as a favorite with the case # in it? I did that, but it seems to only give me 4 posts. That's why I re-entered that post 5 (as post 7). So I'm fighting the easiest way to get back here. (Bear with me please, I'm 64 and I think the technology is passing me by faster than I thought it was.

I'm going to try the msconfig again. The one time I did it I still had several 1-2 minute 'hangs'. Appears to be more random than before.

[rshaffer61]

No problem and once you uncheck everything did the system run better or the same?
Did you then click one thing back on and reboot and see if it worked?
If so repeat till you find the one entry causing the problem. If nothing changes then we can move on to the next step which would be a SFC check.

[bobwski]

Just tried it. After the desktop came up, I clicked on the Explorer icon in the taskbar. It took 1:30 before part of the windows explorer page came up - just the outlines and one set of toolbar icons. Took till 2:15 for the entire home page to appear.

Tried it again with everything enabled and the basic framework of the windows explorer page came up in 1:05, but it took till 3:00 for the entire page to load. That doesn't seem like the problem.

Again, when I click on something (for example to go to this website) the CPU usage in the SpeedUp My PC taskbar icon goes to 100% and stays there for a half minute or so during which time nothing else seems to occur. This is a new situation that I didn't have 2-3 weeks ago. Puter's been slowing up for a few years. Went from 500K memory to 1500K memory a few months ago and that seemed to help.

Last week Friday or Saturday, there was a Windows 16 part update. I think it started getting bad after that. (I'm sorry, but I'm not good at remembering time frames).

[rshaffer61]

OK no problem. Recheck everything and we can move on to the next step.

Go Start and then to Run ("Start Search" in Vista),
Type in: sfc /scannow
Click OK (Enter in Vista).
Have Windows CD/DVD handy.
If System File Checker (sfc) finds any errors, it may ask you for the CD/DVD.
If sfc does not find any errors in Windows XP, it will simply quit, without any message.
In Vista you will receive the following message: "Windows resource protection did not find any integrity violations".

For Vista users ONLY: Navigate to C:\Windows\Logs\CBS folder. You'll see CBS.log file.
Usually, it's pretty big file, so upload it to Flyupload, and post download link.


If you don't have Windows CD....
This applies mostly to Windows XP, since Vista rarely requires use of its DVD while running "sfc"
Note This method will not necessarily work as well, as when using Windows CD, because not always ALL system files are backed up on your hard drive. Also, backed up files may be corrupted as well.

Go Start and then Run
type in regedit and click OK


Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

You will see various entries Values on the right hand side.

The one we want is called: SourcePath

It probably has an entry pointing to your CD-ROM drive, usually D and that is why it is asking for the XP CD.
All we need to do is change it to: C:
Now, double click the SourcePatch setting and a new box will pop up.
Change the drive letter from your CD drive to your root drive, usually C:
Close Registry Editor.

Now restart your computer and try sfc /scannow again!


Thanks to Broni for the instructions

[bobwski]

Done
SFC did ask for the Windows XP CD, but it went thru the whole program and I received NO messages.

[rshaffer61]

How is system running now on startup?

[bobwski]

It's hard for me to say what's good or bad. Can you tell me what I should be able to expect with my system??
I get the desktop up in about 60 seconds, but Weatherbug takes another minute or two to show the temperature and the SpeedUp My PC mini display also takes a minute or two.

When these have loaded, it runs really well, so if it stays that way, I'm happy.

Thanks for your help.

Would love to pick your brain for a few more answers, if I could.

1. Why are there (2) iexplore.exe showing in Windows Task Manager?
2. do you have any guesses as to what that 1-2 minute delay is after the desktop appears? What is loading/computing here?
3. Any recommendations for speeding things up even more? Do you have a 'tweak' program you recommend?
4. In the downloads list for Charter Security (F-Secure), "F-Secure Content Classification Engine shows "will try again". All of the other items in that list show "installed". Is that something you can answer, or should I direct the question to Charter?

After trying several programs and websites while I was composing this, I now feel that the computer's performance is MUCH improved.

Thanks for all your help.