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#46
louuu

louuu

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hi ron.

1. i ran the data lifeguard diagnostic extended test.  it took 7 hours and 10 minutes and when it finished and i hit view results it simply said it passed.  there was no other info available.  ive attached a screen shot of it below.

2. i went ahead and updated my norton internet security to the latest current version.  maybe this will help too as possibly my older outdated version from a few years ago might of been causing some problems?

thank you.

Attached Thumbnails

  • extended test.JPG

Edited by louuu, 20 November 2018 - 04:57 PM.

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#47
RKinner

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If they say it passed then the drive is definitely good.  The drop at the beginning of HD Tune must have some other cause.  I wonder if HD Tune would work in Safe Mode?

 

Reboot and when you see the maker's logo, hear a beep or it talks about F8, start tapping the F8 key slowly.  Keep tapping until the Safe Mode Menu appears and choose Safe Mode.  Login with your usual login.

 


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#48
louuu

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do you want me to attempt to run hd tune by itself in safe mode or do i still have to use the latency program first before using hd tune?


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#49
RKinner

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Alone


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#50
louuu

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so i ran hd tune in safe mode and the first time i didnt realize malwarebytes was attempting to connect and i dont know if that made a difference so i ran it a 2nd time in safe mode and the 2nd time there was no drop in the beginning although there was a drop at the end.  i dont know if the malwarebytes had anything to do with it or if it was just a coincidence.  i then booted up normally and ran hd tune again making sure all antivirus was off and there was a big dip again in the beginning as well as 2 big dips at the end.  ive attached all 3 hd tune pics and labeled them accordingly so you know which was which.  i believe you said these dips may have meant a possible bad drive?  but if the extended program i ran passed and you said the drive is most likely good this is confusing to me.  also as i mentioned this morning, on the bright side i havent had any bsod screens or freezing up in the last 2 days. thanks.  

Attached Thumbnails

  • hd tune 6.JPG
  • hd tune 7.JPG
  • hd tune 8.JPG

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#51
RKinner

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OK.  Appears MBAM is the culprit.  Run # 2 is decent tho the hard drive is not particularly fast.  Would  have expected better performance from a WD Black.  This is my WD Blue 1TB

 

hdtune.JPG

 

Guess we can stop picking on the hard drive but search for

 

device manager

 

hit Enter

Click on the arrow in front of Disk Drives

Right click on wd4004fzwx and select Properties then click on Policies tab.

 

Make sure Enable Disk Caching... is checked.


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#52
louuu

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yes, disk caching is already checked.  by the way, if you think mbam is the culprit how come when i run hd tune in normal  mode with mbam off it still has that drop or drops?  anyway, if you feel im ok regarding the hard drive thats good enough for me.  or would you recommend i get a brand new 4tb wd black hard drive w/256mb cache if you think that might help if its a physical issue when you say my hard drives performance is slower than expected with a wd black drive?  if you suggest i get a new wd black drive i can simply use my marcrium software to make an exact copy of my current drive to the new one so i dont have to reinstall anything unless you feel its not a physical issue with my current drive and its a software issue that may be causing this and making a copy of my existing drive will only "copy" the problem to the new drive?  im willing to do whatever you think is best but of course if buying a new drive isnt necessary in your opinion then im ok with that too.


Edited by louuu, 21 November 2018 - 12:51 AM.

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#53
RKinner

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Expect that MBAM wasn't completely off in regular mode.  Probably not necessary to replace the drive tho I always keep a cloned system drive around just in case something bad happens. 

 

Have you had any more freezes?


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#54
louuu

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1. yes, i use macrium software that makes a backup copy of my drive 2x a day on my 2nd hd that is used strictly for backups so i always have a cloned copy in case of hd failure.

2. as far as my system running ive had no bsod or freeze ups for 3 days now and thats the first time ive gone 3 days without an issue since you began helping me.  it appears whatever youve done has helped because my system seems faster, including bootup time and shutdown time.  maybe i just needed a "system tune up" since the last time i really professionally cleaned up my system was with you about 1.5 years ago.

3. is it ok if i uncheck "delayed launcher - intel rapid storage technology" from msconfig / startup?  im not talking about that same entry for services, im talking about that entry strictly in msconfig / startup as ive never had it checked in msconfig / startup before.  the only 3 things ive always had checked in msconfig / startup are  macrium, choicemail and clear history (see pic).  thank you.

Attached Thumbnails

  • Capture.JPG

Edited by louuu, 21 November 2018 - 06:31 AM.

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#55
RKinner

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Since we are done you are free to uncheck anything you want.  Normally I would check everything, reboot then uninstall the stuff I don't want rather than uncheck it.  This applies to your other stuff.  As I have no intel systems I can't tell you what the effect of unchecking the iastor stuff would be.

 

Time to clean up:
If we used FRST to clean your PC:

right click on FRST.exe or FRST64.exe (whichever you used) and rename it to uninstall.exe.  Then right click on uninstall.exe and Run as Admin.

 
If we installed Speccy it needs to be uninstalled.  Process Explorer, VEW, AdwCleaner, JRT  and their logs and Speccy's log can just be deleted.

Also make sure you have the latest versions of any adobe.com products you use like Shockwave, Flash or Acrobat.  Flash is now the most malware targeted program so it must be kept up to date.  Be careful with Adobe.  They are fond of offering optional downloads like yahoo or Ask toolbars or that worthless McAfee Security Scan.  Go slow and uncheck the optional stuff.

Whether you use adobe reader, acrobat or fox-it to read pdf files you need to disable Javascript in the program.  There is an exploit out there now that can use it to get on your PC.  For Adobe Reader:  Start, All Programs, Adobe Reader, Edit, Preferences, Click on Javascript in the left column and uncheck Enable Acrobat Javascript.  OK Close program.  It's the same for Foxit reader except you uncheck Enable Javascript Actions.


If you use Chrome/Firefox/Edge then get the Ublock Origin extension.  For IE go to adblockplus.org  and get the program.
If Chrome/Firefox is slow loading make sure it only has the current Java add-on.  Then download and run Speedy Fox.
http://www.crystalidea.com/speedyfox. Close Chrome/Firefox/Skpe. Hit Optimize.   You can run it any time that Chrome/Firefox seems slow starting..
(If it complains about Chrome still running you can stop it with Task Manager or go into Chrome then go to:

chrome://settings/

Hit Advanced at the bottom of the page then scroll down to near the bottom where it says System.

Change
Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed
to Off (slide the blue thing to the left and it turns brown)
Close Chrome.

You can run it any time that Chrome/Firefox seems slow starting.

If the browser is still slow then go in and disable all of your extensions, close the browser and Optimize with SpeedyFox then restart the browser.  If that helps then one or more of your extensions is at fault.  Go back in and turn them on one at a time and see if you can figure out which ones slow things down the most.


If you use Facebook you need FB Purity: http://www.fbpurity.com/

To prevent a relatively new phishing attack:  In Firefox, type:

https://www.xn--80ak6aa92e.com/

If the URL changes to https://www.apple.cominstead of the correct value
type:
about:config

in the URL box and hit Enter.  You should get a new page of options (if you get a notice about voiding the warranty just cancel the warning).  In the Search box put in

puny

You should only get 2 options:
"network.IDN_show_punycode"
We want it to say True but by default it is False so double click on it to toggle from False to True.


 "network.standard-url.punycode-host" Leave this one at default of False.
Close and restart firefox.

If you are a Facebook user get the FB Purity extension for your browser:
http://www.fbpurity.com/
This will stop all of the suggested pages and ads so that Facebook loads much quicker.


Be warned:  If you use Limewire, utorrent or any of the other P2P programs you will probably be coming back to the Malware Removal forum.  If you must use P2P then submit any files you get to http://virustotal.combeforeyou open them.

Due to a recent rise in the number of Crytolocker infections I am now recommending you install:

https://www.bleeping...somware/dl/306/
It's currently a free version.

If you have a router, log on to it today and change the default password!  If using a Wireless router you really should be using encryption on the link.  Use the strongest (newest) encryption method that your router and PC wireless adapter support especially if you own a business.  See http://www.king5.com...0637284.htmlandhttp://www.seattlepi...ted-1344185.php for why encryption is important.  If you don't know how, visit the router maker's website.  They all have detailed step by step instructions or a wizard you can download.

Special note on Java.  Old Java versions should be removed after first clearing the Java Cache by following the instructions in:
http://www.java.com/...lugin_cache.xml
Then remove the old versions by going to Control Panel, Programs and Features and Uninstall all Java programs which are not the latest.  If in doubt uninstall all.  These may call themselves: Java Runtime, Runtime Environment, Runtime, JRE, Java Virtual Machine, Virtual Machine, Java VM, JVM, VM, J2RE, J2SE.  Get the latest version from Java.com.  They will usually attempt to foist some garbage like the Ask toolbar, Yahoo toolbar or McAfee Security Scan on you as part of the download.  Just uncheck the garbage before the download (or install) starts.  If you use a 64-bit browser and want the 64-bit version of Java you need to use it to visit java.com.
Due to multiple security problems with Java we are now recommending that it not be installed unless you absolutely know you need it.  IF that is the case then go to Control Panel, Java, Security and slide it up to the highest level.  OK.


Recommended software: (I'm not saying you should download these just that if you have a need for a new program these are safe and work)  
Compression:  7-zip.  Avoid WinRar and WinZip as the free versions have adware.
Video Player:  VLC  Unlike Windows Medi Player it never seems to need extra files to work.
Photo organizer and editor:  Google's Picasa.  While it has been discontinued by Google you can still get it at:
http://techfilehippo...-free-download/
Office like free program:  Open Office: https://www.openoffice.org/download/
or
LibreOffice: https://www.libreoffice.org/
Free Anti-Virus:  Avast
Free Malware prevention:  MBAM: Free version at https://www.malwareb...m/mwb-download/
Can run with your anti-virus.
Paid Anti-Virus:  Kaspersky or BitDefender
Utilities:
Root Kit Detector:  MBAR: https://www.malwareb...om/antirootkit/
Process Explorer:  Show you what is running on the PC.  Like Task manager but better:  http://live.sysinter...com/procexp.exe
WhoCrashed: Why did your system crash?
http://www.resplendence.com/downloads
Then click on Download free home edition
where it says:
WhoCrashed 5.51
Comprehensible crash dump analysis tool
for Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP/2012/2008/2003 (x86 and x64)
System Health:
Speccy:  
http://www.filehippo.com/download_speccy (Look in the upper right for the Download
Latest Version button  - Do NOT press the large Start Download button on the upper left!)  Decline CCleaner if offered.  Pay attention to SMART info on your hard drives and to temps.  If in doubt about temps try:
SpeedFan:  Try speedfan
http://www.filehippo...nload_speedfan/
Download, save and Install it (Win 7 or Vista right click and Run As Admin.) then run it.
Download Flash and Video.  To save flash video.  Works with Firefox.  https://addons.mozil...lash-and-video/This allows you to start a recording and then switch to a different window and record another video.

With Win 10 only there is a new Game recorder program.  It's supposed to only work for games but it works nicely to record any video you watch.  Hit the Win key + Alt + r to start the recorder.  The first time it asks you if it is looking at a game.  Just tell it yes.  After that it starts recording whenever you bring it up.  Videos are saved to the Captures folder under Videos.  You can only record what you watch so limited to only one video at a time.  Best to go to full screen before starting the recorder.

Avoid:  
Advanced System Care
SuperAntiSpyware
HitmanPro
Spybot S&D
Any P2P software especially if it comes from Conduit.
Registry Cleaners
Driver updating software.
PC fixing or Speed up software.
Running more than one anti-virus.
Seagate hard drives.  If you have one it's going to fail on you so backup your data now!

My help is free but if you wish to show your appreciation, please donate to Kwiaht instead of me. It's an Orcas Island environmental organization that I volunteered with: http://www.kwiaht.org/donate.htm
(The name means something like "clean place" in one of the local native-American dialects)

Ron


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#56
louuu

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ron, thank you again so very much for all your good help.  i have followed all the steps in your last message to clean up my pc.  i have also just made a $25 donation (see pic) to your charity and in the notes of that donation i wrote "in honor of ron from geeks to go".  again i sincerely appreciate all youve done and continue to do to help everyone and im confident now based on how my computer has been running the last few days that i will no longer have any more bsod or freezing issues.  youre the best ron, have a great day!

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  • Capture.JPG

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#57
RKinner

RKinner

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Thank you for the donation!


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#58
louuu

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hi ron.  so my computer has been on all day since this morning and out of the blue i just now got a bsod.  ive attached a pic of it here.  this is the first time ive had any issue with my pc in 3.5 - 4 days.  so i held the power button down to shut the system off.  when i turned the power button on again instead of turning white and powering up my system it again did the same thing that happened before when i had issues and it turned an amber color and kept beeping 4x with my system not going on.  so then i turned it off again and the next time i tried turning it on everything powered up normally.  not sure what happened but was hoping you might have an idea?  thanks.

Attached Thumbnails

  • 11-21-18.jpg

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#59
RKinner

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4 beeps on a Dell is usually a RAM problem.  You might pull your RAM, clean the contacts with alcohol and reseat.

 

tunnel.sys might be part of IPv6.  You can try turning off IPv6: https://tweaks.com/w...y-disable-ipv6/


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#60
louuu

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i went ahead and did the steps to turn of IPv6.  since today is thanksgiving ill clean the ram contacts tomorrow.  if anything else happens between now and tomorrow ill update you.  thanks again and happy thanksgiving.


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