Browser barely working, takes forever to load a web page

[Larry]

PA Bear,

Sorry I blew my top, you've always been a great guy and very helpful, but
all the things being added on together here was just too much. I don't
think anything has to be _that_ complicated.

Larry

 

[PA Bear]

When it comes to hijackware, it is, unfortunately.

By gentlemen's agreement, we don't handle HijackThis logs in the public
newsgroups due to a variety of issues (including the log displaying personal
information).

 

[Guest]

Have you tried the IE repair tool? Start/Run/ type msconfig , click "OK"
click "tools" tab select "Repair Internet Explorer" Tick "Repair IE" You
should get a window asking to repair IE. Best to do this with AV program off.
I have had in the past...that IE would be slow when it came close to a
repurchase due date on some program perscription. Just a thought.

 

[Daave]

Daave,

I'd love to cut out qtask, it's always in my close program dialog and
I have no idea how to get rid of it. Also Atitask.

You really need to visit that Answers That Work Web site I mentioned
earlier. Quick links:

http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist_q.htm

Scroll down to Qttask. Removal instructions can be found in the right
column. It depends on what version of QuickTime you have. No need to use
this Web site's Ultimate Troubleshooter; basically you need to access
the Quick Time settings and disable the QuickTime System Tray icon
there.

and http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist_a.htm

Scroll down to ATICWD32.EXE and ATITASK.EXE. Rather than use Ultimate
Troubleshooter, try disabling in msconfig (Start>Run>msconfig>OK).
Actually, I prefer using Startup Control Panel:

http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml

I also have something called Bridge that keeps popping up, and also
something called Undertone that keeps popping up.

Pop-unders?

Undertone (Zedo) is easily blocked with either a Hosts file or
SpywareBlaster:

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

"Bridge" is rather vague. Do you maybe mean winfavorites.bridge? If so,
see:

http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2004-012016-2102-99&tabid=3

I do not have a lot of stuff running on my computer. Just the basics
plus Zone Alarm etc. I do not have Virus ware running all the time.

I saw your log; you *are* running lots of stuff! And Zone Alarm uses
lots or resources. You might want to use Outpost instead:

http://www.bluechillies.com/list.html?k=personal+firewall

Scroll to the *older* (free) 1.0.1511 version.

Regarding other processes, do you really always need to run:

Robotype
both Winkey *and* Hotkeyz (the letter "z" always troubles me!)
Adshield (there are far less intrusive ways to block ads)
Texturizer?

As for removing My Web Search, it is not in Add/Remove Program, but
there was a My Web Search folder in Program Files, so I deleted that.

Directions to remove My Web Search had already been posted:

http://www.pchell.com/support/mywebsearch.shtml

Sorry, Larry, there's no quick fix for your problems! Either take all
the steps to carefully research and solve your problems (many volunteers
are guiding you, as you know) or pay someone to do it professionally.

I've uninstalled the Google tool bar and deleted the Google folder
from Program files. Will install the more current Google toolbar
later, when and If I get IE working again.

Remember that going without this particular add-on is always an option
(if it improves your performance).

I have a 6 GB hard drive, with just under 1 GB free. I know that's
not much.

DING, DING, DING!!!

We have a winner!

You have less than 17% free space. Pretty soon, Windows will be giving
you warning messages. Archive data you seldom use to some other media
(CDR or external hard drive). Uninstall programs you don't use. Shoot
for 3 GB of free space. Seriously.

Also, I recommend Ccleaner:

http://www.ccleaner.com

Memory 288 MB

Not bad for Windows 98.

Computer speed 333 MH.

Pretty slow! You can live with it, but then you'll need to be *very*
judicious with your maintenance. Here's a good resource:

http://www.geocities.com/sheppola/checklist.doc

Also see:

http://www.geocities.com/sheppola/house.html

http://www.geocities.com/sheppola/trouble.html

Good luck, Larry. If it's too overwhelming, seriously pay a tech to fix
it. But personally, I believe your money might be better spent on
backing up your data and purchasing a new(er) system.

 

[Daave]

An addition to my previous post, Larry:

You need to run an up-to-date anti-virus program!

If you're sticking with AVG, upgrade to Version 7.5:

http://free.grisoft.com/softw/70free/setup/avg75free_446a965.exe

 

[PA Bear]

Hijackware infects the OS, not the brower. Windows is what's "broken", not
IE, so repairing IE wouldn't help in this instance.

Related: Overinstalling IE6 does a much better job at fixing IE (and OE)
issues than an "IE Repair" IMHO.

 

[Larry]

The other day I upgraded to AVG 7.5.

 

[Jon Kennedy]

Sorry to jump in here, but not knowing what utility you are using to empty
your TIF, you can use Win98 itself to make sure you're getting everything -

Boot to DOS (Start...Shutdown...Restart in MS-DOS mode)
Go to C:\Windows
type -- smartdrv -- <enter> - gets rid of all that disk thrashing & speeds
things up greatly
type -- deltree history -- <enter and y to verify> - to clear History
type -- deltree tempor~1 -- <enter and y to verify> - to clear TIF
type -- deltree cookies -- <enter and y to verify> - to clear all your
cookies**
Reboot

Do that if cleaning up the already identified malware doesn't do the trick
for you.
**don't do this if you have cookies set for custom web page layouts, etc.
that you want to keep.

 

[Hugh Candlin]

Sorry to jump in here, but not knowing what utility you are using to empty
your TIF, you can use Win98 itself to make sure you're getting everything -

Boot to DOS (Start...Shutdown...Restart in MS-DOS mode)
Go to C:\Windows
type -- smartdrv -- <enter> - gets rid of all that disk thrashing & speeds
things up greatly
type -- deltree history -- <enter and y to verify> - to clear History
type -- deltree tempor~1 -- <enter and y to verify> - to clear TIF

That may not work.

For example, the temporary files may be in
the C:\Windows\Local Settings folder.

 

[PCR]

PA Bear wrote:
| Personally, I'd put Avira AntiVir ahead of Avast when it comes to
| free AV apps.

Avast! definitely continues to support Win98, & likely soon I will
switch to it. However, JUST like McAfee (but one still can get McAfee
def updates manually at least, though possibly illegally)-- Avira soon
will abandon us lowly Win98 folk...!...

http://www.free-av.com/
.......Quote..........
Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic (download from Avira)
....snip...
Windows 98/Me (It is only supported until 30.06.2007)
Date: 12-12-2006 - Version: 7.00.03.02
.......EOQ............

Lipman I believe confirmed that in a communication with them in an
earlier thread.

| --
| ~PA Bear
|
| Gary S. Terhune wrote:
|> If you're concerned about having the best possible free AV, may I
|> suggest Avast! instead of AVG. Better scores all 'round.

--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
Should things get worse after this,
PCR
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Daave]

The other day I upgraded to AVG 7.5.

That's good.

How's everything else coming along? Have you been able to make headway?

 

[Larry]

I was away from this for a few days. I had other computer issues to deal
with and then took a break over the weekend.

I did get a reply at Castle Cops last week which I've just read now which
advised me to install and run Superanti-spyware and CCLEANER, then send back
the results to the forum along with another HijackThis scan.

I had thought that the HijackThis log would be enough to tell me what to do.
So now I will try these two further anti-spy programs.

Larry

 

[Larry]

I have a very neat Cleanup Temp Files utility I got a few months ago that in
a few seconds completely cleans out the Temporary Internet Files folder and
related folders. I just click on the icon and it's done. So that sounds
like what you're talking about, without having to open the Dos prompt and
type all those instructions.

It is amazing to me that the Windows Disk Cleanup utility takes forever to
work and does not even completely clean out the TIF folder, while this free
utility does the job in a a few seconds.

Larry

 

[Larry]

I've now installed and run the CCleaner and Superantispyware and sent
Superantispyware log and a new HijackThis log to the CastleCops forum.
We'll see what happens next.

Larry

 

[Larry]

I forgot to mention that I tested IE again and it's still the same: it takes
between one minute and ten minutes to load a webpage.

 

[Daave]

I forgot to mention that I tested IE again and it's still the same:
it takes between one minute and ten minutes to load a webpage.

The good news is it looks like you knocked out Avenue Media's Internet
Optimizer and FunWeb's MyWebSearch (although I noticed your last
HijackThis log still contains the ActiveX .cab file for
MyWebSearch--with guidance, I'm sure you can delete that as well as the
Viewpoint entry).

It's likely that AdShield is what is slowing you down. See:

http://shurl.org/iHmBc

Try uninstalling it. You can either reinstall down the road to see if
your problem is gone completely or use an alternative method to block
ads (a Hosts file, WebWasher, Proxomitron, etc.)

Good luck!

 

[Larry]

I don't understand. AdShield is one of the programs designed to prevent ads
and other invaders getting into the system that slow the system down, not
one of the invaders itself.

AdShield enables me to block the display of any graphic or photo that I
don't like in IE. For example, websites I visit frequently that have
annoying or offensive ads or graphics, I would add them to the block list.
It's always worked well and never caused any problems I was aware of. I
really like it, though I haven't used it much lately.

Also, what makes you say that AdShield is the problem, since the
overwhelming number of AdShield users do not have this problem apparently?

However, I can always reinstall a new version of it or some program like it,
so, on the chance it's the cause of the problem, I'll uninstall it now.

 

[Daave]

I don't understand. AdShield is one of the programs designed to
prevent ads and other invaders getting into the system that slow the
system down, not one of the invaders itself.

AdShield enables me to block the display of any graphic or photo that
I don't like in IE. For example, websites I visit frequently that
have annoying or offensive ads or graphics, I would add them to the
block list. It's always worked well and never caused any problems I
was aware of. I really like it, though I haven't used it much lately.

Also, what makes you say that AdShield is the problem, since the
overwhelming number of AdShield users do not have this problem
apparently?

However, I can always reinstall a new version of it or some program
like it, so, on the chance it's the cause of the problem, I'll
uninstall it now.

I offered that as a possibility because of the thread I had mentioned:

http://shurl.org/iHmBc

Although most people haven't had any problems with AdShield, there have
been a few documented issues relating to dllhost.exe. Although
dllhost.exe is a Windows file, it is also used by AdShield from Version
1.2 onward. In the thread I referenced, you will note that Shane had
issues very similar to yours (presumably with dllhost.exe hogging
resources and Zone Alarm may have even been involved!), which resolved
once he uninstalled 1.2 and reverted to 1.1. Ipipes also had a similar
situation. His problem resolved once he uninstalled 1.2, did some
routine maintenance, and reinstalled 1.2. Then again his issue may have
been due to a corrupt TIF.

Out of curiosity, is your version of AdShield 1.2 *beta*?

 

[Larry]

It's too late to determine the version number since I've uninstalled it.
Also, AddShield was unusual in that it didn't have its own "program" or
window. It was integrated into IE. So I don't know how I would have
determined the version number. But I got it at least four years ago.

In any case, since I uninstalled AdShield, and restarted the computer, the
problem is still there. IE still takes between one minute and forever to
load a page.

 

[Daave]

It's too late to determine the version number since I've uninstalled
it. Also, AddShield was unusual in that it didn't have its own
"program" or window. It was integrated into IE. So I don't know how
I would have determined the version number. But I got it at least
four years ago.

In any case, since I uninstalled AdShield, and restarted the
computer, the problem is still there. IE still takes between one
minute and forever to load a page.

Hmmm...

The usual suspects of what you are experiencing are:

Too many temporary Internet files
Viruses, spyware, etc.
Too many processes running

I believe you covered all these bases. Assuming this is the case and
assuming that other browsers don't exhibit this problem leads me to
think that you may need to repair IE or perhaps roll back to an earlier
version, then reinstalling it. Also, you still have lots of stuff
running you don't need that may be contributing to your problem:

REALSCHED.EXE
ATICWD32.EXE
ROBOTYPE.EXE
WINKEY.EXE
TEXTURIZER.EXE
HOTKEYZ.EXE

Since you have uninstalled AdShield, make sure that DLLHOST.EXE is no
longer running. If it is, that may be your problem.

Also, Adobe Acrobat can cause problems; I noticed you have a Browser
Helper Object:

O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} -
C:\PROGRAM FILES\ADOBE\ACROBAT 5.0\READER\ACTIVEX\ACROIEHELPER.OCX

I'd uninstall Acrobat and try Foxit Reader instead.

Zone Alarm *may* be slowing things down. I doubt it would be that
significant, but you never know.

There's always a clean boot (using msconfig):

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/192926

Is your hard drive still 85% (or so) filled up? That can contribute to
problems, too.

If still no joy after trying all the above, I'm afraid I'm out of ideas.
Maybe the fellow posting at CastleCops will have something constructive
to add. There are other forums, too, you can try.

Like I said earlier, unless you're looking for a time-consuming
challenge, you might be better off getting a newer PC! Or just live with
it and use Opera. Personally, I like K-Meleon as an alternative browser:

http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/

Good luck either way.