XP Lockup..CPU?

[J]

My brother's computer (xp sp2; 2GB RAM, Dual Intel processors) started
to lock up on him.
I booted to safe mode and cleaned off about 70 malwares using
Malwarebytes.
Booted into regular mode and it still locks. Funny thing, I can run
task manager in regular mode
and go to processes, and nothing is using the processor (I checked
show processes from all users), not even System Idle Process. 0's
down the whole column. After a few minutes, it will lock up.
When in Safe Mode, I do show the processor being used and it doesn't
lock up. Unfortunately, I disabled System Restore to wipe out the
viruses that were identifed in that area, so System Restore is not an
option.
I have run a RAM tester in Safe Mgroups.google.comknow I should boot
up to a CD and run it, but doing it remotely at this point.
I'm am open to any troubleshooting ideas someone would try next.
TIA

 

[Twayne]

In

My brother's computer (xp sp2; 2GB RAM, Dual Intel processors) started
to lock up on him.
I booted to safe mode and cleaned off about 70 malwares using
Malwarebytes.
Booted into regular mode and it still locks. Funny thing, I can run
task manager in regular mode
and go to processes, and nothing is using the processor (I checked
show processes from all users), not even System Idle Process. 0's
down the whole column. After a few minutes, it will lock up.
When in Safe Mode, I do show the processor being used and it doesn't
lock up. Unfortunately, I disabled System Restore to wipe out the
viruses that were identifed in that area, so System Restore is not an
option.
I have run a RAM tester in Safe Mgroups.google.comknow I should boot
up to a CD and run it, but doing it remotely at this point.
I'm am open to any troubleshooting ideas someone would try next.
TIA

Time to reimage the drive from your backups.

 

[Paul]

My brother's computer (xp sp2; 2GB RAM, Dual Intel processors) started
to lock up on him.
I booted to safe mode and cleaned off about 70 malwares using
Malwarebytes.
Booted into regular mode and it still locks. Funny thing, I can run
task manager in regular mode
and go to processes, and nothing is using the processor (I checked
show processes from all users), not even System Idle Process. 0's
down the whole column. After a few minutes, it will lock up.
When in Safe Mode, I do show the processor being used and it doesn't
lock up. Unfortunately, I disabled System Restore to wipe out the
viruses that were identifed in that area, so System Restore is not an
option.
I have run a RAM tester in Safe Mgroups.google.comknow I should boot
up to a CD and run it, but doing it remotely at this point.
I'm am open to any troubleshooting ideas someone would try next.
TIA

I understand Malwarebytes works best, if run in normal mode. Running
it is Safe Mode, isn't quite as good. But maybe that is all that is
available to you.

Task Manager has the File:New Task option, but if malware is in
control, it may not let programs with certain names to run. Based on
your description of the Task Manager display, it could even be that
the malware is not visible in the Processes display.

There are rescue CDs you can use, to scan Windows while Windows is
shut down. This one connects to the network, to get virus updates,
so you need a working network solution that the program can access.
My ADSL modem and router, support DHCP over Ethernet, so the
CD can successfully connect and get virus updates from Kaspersky.

http://devbuilds.kaspersky-labs.com/devbuilds/RescueDisk/

There are other rescue CDs offered by other companies, in addition
to that one. There is another product, where you use your own
Linux CD, then download the scanner from the AV company and run it
from Linux on the affected hard drive. I never managed to find
anything with that tool.

I haven't really had to work on any malware problems like that, and
I've only been learning of the options available.

There are web sites dedicated to stamping out malware, and posting
your details there may be another option.

"Twayne" suggests throwing in the towel, and in many cases that
is the most time efficient solution. At the very least, make
sure you have a backup of the files on the disk, so that you can
keep the user data before doing something more drastic.

Connecting the hard drive, as a slave in another computer, would
allow you to use Windows on that machine, and run Windows based
scanners against the infected drive. So that is another option
if you have a second clean computer to work with.

Paul