[Jerry67]

Ok I have gone back and now everything is set to automatically select DNS automatically and everything previously had been blank. Now they are blank again.

Edited by Jerry67, 11 October 2011 - 08:46 PM.

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Wel it appears then that after you left the Malware forum, what had definitely been set for the DNS to the Google address etc had been corrected.


Is it the browser page itself that is slow to load.
If so is IE and Firefox slow

Would you please send me the URL from the details below
Please Run the PCPitstop.com OverDrive Full Tests

Here's how:

You must use your Internet Explorer for this procedure. (doesn't work so well in Firefox or others).

Go to: http://www.pcpitstop.com
Click on "Free Computer Check-up" listed below PC Pitstop OverDrive
In the User Login - Click on "Sign up FREE!" OR YOU CAN RUN THE TEST ANON. without signing up. - you will see that at the end of that screen. The results will still be saved long enough for me to look at them.
You'll need to submit a valid email address and create your own password, then click - Create Account(button)

Now enter your email address and password to Log in, Select - Scan this system Now!(button)
You will then be asked to download an ActiveX component and allow it to install.
It is safe and does not compromise your privacy.
Follow the on-screen prompts to install the ActiveX and to allow the Full Tests to be run on your machine.

The Full Tests take about 2 1/2 - 3 minutes on most machines.
When complete, a Results - Summary - Recommended Fixes will be displayed.

Please post the URL internet address, from your Results, back here into this Topic Thread so that we can review the configuration.

Note: During the graphics 2D and graphics 3D testing, your screen will display some rapidly moving objects.
If you are sensitive to visual flashing, it may cause dizziness. Therefore, look away from the screen during that portion of the testing.


While PCPitstop does offer a variety of Paid Products, the PCPitstop OverDrive testing is FREE. Please ignore the references to Paid Products. We prefer to provide manual solution instructions that you can apply directly to your machine.

[Macboatmaster]

Wel it appears then that after you left the Malware forum, what had definitely been set for the DNS to the Google address etc had been corrected.


Is it the browser page itself that is slow to load.
If so is IE and Firefox slow

Would you please send me the URL from the details below
Please Run the PCPitstop.com OverDrive Full Tests

Here's how:

You must use your Internet Explorer for this procedure. (doesn't work so well in Firefox or others).

Go to: http://www.pcpitstop.com
Click on "Free Computer Check-up" listed below PC Pitstop OverDrive
In the User Login - Click on "Sign up FREE!" OR YOU CAN RUN THE TEST ANON. without signing up. - you will see that at the end of that screen. The results will still be saved long enough for me to look at them.
You'll need to submit a valid email address and create your own password, then click - Create Account(button)

Now enter your email address and password to Log in, Select - Scan this system Now!(button)
You will then be asked to download an ActiveX component and allow it to install.
It is safe and does not compromise your privacy.
Follow the on-screen prompts to install the ActiveX and to allow the Full Tests to be run on your machine.

The Full Tests take about 2 1/2 - 3 minutes on most machines.
When complete, a Results - Summary - Recommended Fixes will be displayed.

Please post the URL internet address, from your Results, back here into this Topic Thread so that we can review the configuration.

Note: During the graphics 2D and graphics 3D testing, your screen will display some rapidly moving objects.
If you are sensitive to visual flashing, it may cause dizziness. Therefore, look away from the screen during that portion of the testing.


While PCPitstop does offer a variety of Paid Products, the PCPitstop OverDrive testing is FREE. Please ignore the references to Paid Products. We prefer to provide manual solution instructions that you can apply directly to your machine.

[Jerry67]

I have run the tests you requested and here is the link. http://pcpitstop.com...?conid=24597578

[Macboatmaster]

Jerry67

I was reasonably convinced when I started that the problem was DNS related.
I gleaned the information as I mentioned from your logs in the Malware thread.
It does appear that even if this was NOT the cause of the error, when you posted on this forum, there has at sometime been Domain Name servers set for Google Public DNS, MediaCom and OpenDNS

Now that you confirm that IPv4 and IPv6 are both set obtain automatically and I know that the DNS cache was flushed on a number of occasions, although you say there is a slight improvement

This morning when I logged onto the internet, it still was slow to connect but I did not have to reload the page repeatedly.

and this was the same the following day. I have to admit that I am somewhat at a loss to offer further help with the degree of expertise on these matters that you deserve.

There are some points from your Pitstop log I consider worthy of mention.
1. You have this installed
Polipo 1.0.4.1

Polipo — a caching web proxy
Polipo is a small and fast caching web proxy (a web cache an HTTP proxy, a proxy server). While Polipo was designed to be used by one person or a small group of people, there is nothing that prevents it from being used by a larger group.

This is the website

http://www.pps.jussi...oftware/polipo/

I do NOT know the program, but I would not let it anywhere near my computer. PLEASE NOTE - that is only my personal opinion

This is the webpage of their other offerings

http://www.pps.jussi.../~jch/software/

2.You also have this

CCleaner
(3.11) Piriform

Good program. GeekstoGo previously recommended it, but we do not now do so, due to the registry cleaning apect. If you are using it. Our advice is not to use the registry cleaner.

3. You also have this

CleanUP


CleanUp operates best when set for daily cleaning. It removes junk files quickly, and it can be easily set to operate silently. The program empties the Recycle Bin, deletes newsgroup subscriptions and cache, eats cookies, forgets favorite places, and will even reset some game scores. With one click it will wipe, rather than simply delete, files. Customizing cleaning of select folders and Registry entries is also a quick and painless process

I am not sure if this is the one you have from Steven Gould. If it is and you are doing a daily clean, then web pages will be slower to load, as you have no cache and no cookies to enable faster loading.

4. You also have this
Free Internet Window Washer.
http://www.eusing.co...ndow_Washer.htm
If it is the one from the link, I would urge caution.


5, You also have this
Sophos Anti-Rootkit 1.5.20
(1.5.20)
http://www.sophos.co...ti-rootkit.aspx
IMPORTANT NOTE
I will check with the Malware expert - Render, but to the best of my knowledge, they do not use this.
If you are using it, I would be extremely CAREFUL
I can say no more than that, as the dicussion of anything Malware related is NOT allowed on this forum

I HAVE NOW CHECKED WITH Render and he did not use this.
All I can say is to repeat - either uninstall it OR be EXTREMELY CAREFUL.
I think, and not intending any criticism of the product, that any program of this nature, could be very dangerous to the health of your system, unless you know exactly what it is that is being changed by the program.
My advice if you suspect a rootkit infection is to DO NOTHING - except to go to our Malware forum.
NB See you have now uninstalled it.

6. You also have Mozilla Firefox 3.6
Firefox 3.6.x will be maintained with security and stability updates for a short amount of time. All users are strongly encouraged to upgrade to the latest version of Firefox.
YOU NEED TO UPDATE IT.

7. You also have this
Tor 0.2.1.30
Your traffic is safer when you use Tor, because communications are bounced around a distributed network of servers
Your version is out of date
New version Tor 0.2.2.33-2
http://www.softpedia...lated/Tor.shtml

The only comment I have, not knowing the program is that unless you have due reason to use it, I am sure it would slow connections down.

PLEASE NOTE AT THIS STAGE that I do not know which of these programs/utilities you are using or which are running in real time.

8. You also have this
Dropbox
(1.1.45)
Manually set bandwidth limits -- Dropbox won't hog your connection. - from their website.
If it is running in real time, I would disable it and see if that improves speed.
http://www.dropbox.com/features

Edited by Macboatmaster, 13 October 2011 - 06:04 PM.

[Jerry67]

Ok I uninstalled polipo

[Jerry67]

I have uninstalled the programs you had concerns about and I have updated firefox and tor but cannot get tor to work right now, it might be because I use chrome most of the time and I did not configure it to run with a proxy and tor needs to have chrome configured properly. I did not try it with firefox. I am not sure the new tor installed properly so I would appreciate it if you give me a different link to try to get the newest version installed. I got rid of sophos and polipo and I will not use Cclean except for cleanup and will not use it for registry cleaning. If you have a good registry cleaning program you would recommend I would appreciate having it. I also uninstalled the free window washer program.

[Macboatmaster]

If you have a good registry cleaning program you would recommend I would appreciate having it.

I CAN - NONE

On no account install or even think of installing a registry cleaner, booster program, make it go faster program etc.
I can assure you that NO ONE has yet managed to write such a program that is 100% reliable on 100% of computers. I also think I can assure you that no one ever will, there are far too many variables for it ever to be possible.

What I can say with 100% certainty is that they are unnecessary, frequently more or less useless and sometimes dangerous to the health of the computer. Indeed it has been known that after running one, the computer would not load Windows and the only option was a clean install.

What is also known beyond doubt is that you can run one on a brand new computer and it will find what it considers errors. THIS is the important point, they are NOT errors, they are only flagged as errors because the registry cleaning program cannot recognise them, or if it can recognise them, it still cannot find a reason for a particular value in part of the key etc. It is NOT the registry that has the error, it is the registry cleaning program that is in error - BECAUSE - back to my opening paragraph -

there are far too many variables for it ever to be possible.

Here is more detail - posted with acknowledgement to Sari
The views of some of our experts at GeekstoGo who advise against registry cleaning. I'll give you some of their links to read.

http://miekiemoes.bl...weaking_13.html
was written by Miekiemoes, who is an expert here and at many other sites.

Registry Cleaning won't really improve system speed anyway. Even though there are a lot of orphaned keys/values present, you won't notice a difference in system speed. The only difference you'll notice is when you actually search in your registry - but how many people do this?

Here is a very relevant post out of an excellent thread on this subject. It's quoting Mark Russinovich, who was the co-founder of Winternals and Sysinternals. Those were bought by Microsoft, and he then became a senior Microsoft employee.

Last, I'm going to quote Bobbi_Flekman, who is another expert here and elsewhere. He's a programmer by trade, understands the registry thoroughly, and taught registry exercises here in GeekU for quite some time:

There are a few misunderstandings about the Registry. People seem to think that cleaning the Registry will make the Registry smaller and easier managable. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. What you are doing is create miniature gaps in the Registry's on-disc file. These gaps will be reused by new data to be inserted in the Registry. End result of this action is that the Registry becomes fragmented. Searching data in a fragmented file (be it a database on a network server or a user's Registry) is way slower than an optimized file. In short the only way to speed up handling of the Registry (and even that is marginal) is by completely rewriting the file(s).

Edited by Macboatmaster, 13 October 2011 - 12:30 PM.

[Macboatmaster]

TOR
http://www.torprojec...g/index.html.en

Above link direct to TOR site


However

I am not sure the new tor installed properly so I would appreciate it if you give me a different link to try to get the newest version installed.

I still opine - do you NEED it.

The only comment I have, not knowing the program is that unless you have due reason to use it, I am sure it would slow connections down.

If I had your problem, I would disable or uninstall, all programs that had any control over settings on my internet connection prootcols , to ensure they were eliminated from the possible causes.
I certainly would start with TOR, I place it in the same category as that Easy-Hide that you have already uninstalled, when it was mentioned weeks ago by Render, before I became involved and then by me.

I am not suggesting that I know these are what is causing the problem, but seeing as they are all freeware, even if it transpires it is not one of these programs, the reinstalltion will present no problems.


That all said it is your computer and there is only you that should make that decision. We can only make recommendations.

Edited by Macboatmaster, 13 October 2011 - 07:06 AM.

[Jerry67]

I came to your website for help and you and Render have been very helpful and courteous and I am appreciative of your time and your expertise. I have been and am following all suggestions that you have been making. I did everything Render asked and I am doing everything that you have advised and plan to continue to do so. I am not a computer expert and I trust what you have been doing to help me and I am following your lead. Tell me what I need to do or what you would do if it were your computer and I will be happy to learn from you and ask for suggestions.

[Macboatmaster]

You are great to work with, but it is always a delicate matter when you feel you have to tell someone that they have unsuitable programs and utilities on their computer.
That is why I ended by saying that the decision must be yours.

I posted you FULL details regarding registry cleaners, so you can appreciate the dangers of them.
You may use one, any number of times, although I doubt you would ever see any increase in performance that some of them claim.
However, whether it be the fourth time or the fourteenth time sooner or later it is going to ruin your system.

I am busy with family matters tonight, but will continue tomorrow.

Am I now able to presume that when you now open a browser and any website, you do not receive errors. It is simply slow.
Or am I being presumptious.
Would you please post the answer to that and of course any other detail you wish and I see you tomorrow, online about 1800 UK time.

Edited by Macboatmaster, 13 October 2011 - 12:18 PM.

[happyrock]

might not hurt to run sfc /scannow just to be certain all the necessary files are there and intact
do this AFTER you have uninstalled the programs MAC advised you to get rid of...
for the future...if you start having issues of any kind and you recently installed a program...uninstall it...that will fix a bunch of problems and is quick to do

[Jerry67]

happyrock, I am running the scan as I am typing this to you and thank you for your interest in my situation. Macboatmaster,never apologize for offering help to me and I thank you for the compliment about working with me. I am just very pleased that you offer your time and expertise to me and I would be foolish not to accept what you have to offer especially since I came to you for help. I have uninstalled all of the programs you asked me to and I have updated Firefox, I reinstalled Tor but have not used it yet and now I have the most recent version. I do know basically how Tor works and I expect that I will have a slower connection when I use it and I also will not install nor use polipo. I am anxious to see your next post.

[Macboatmaster]

Am I now able to presume that when you now open a browser and any website, you do not receive errors. It is simply slow.
Or am I being presumptious.

Would you please examine your hosts file
1) Browse to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories
2) Right click "Notepad" and select "Run as administrator"
3) Click "Continue" on the UAC prompt
4) Click File -> Open
5) Browse to "C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc"
6) Change the file filter drop down box from "Text Documents (*.txt)" to "All Files (*.*)"
7) Select "hosts" and click "Open"

Then when you have it open on Notepad, you may copy and paste to reply.

A default host file would look like this

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/972034

Yours may well have other entries, but if it is now onsiderably more than the above, this maybe the problem.

Edited by Macboatmaster, 14 October 2011 - 05:42 AM.

[Jerry67]

There was not much in that folder but this is what I found in that hosts file. 127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost

[Macboatmaster]

There was not much in that folder

I am only interested in the hosts file, not the folder.

Does it look more or less like the example of the default hosts file on the link I sent. There are three on that link you want the Windows 7 of course.

The purpose of the exercise is that if the hosts file has been added to, this can make browsing slow.
Would you please compare with the default OR copy and paste from notepad.

127.0.0.1 THAT is correct it is the standard IP address for loopback network connection.