Is there a virus/? that causes autorun of programs?

[Jan Il]

Hi all - WinME

I have been experiencing odd behavior with my Defrag program. It seems that
something is triggering it to start running all of a sudden. I have no
scheduled time set for this program to run, and it does not do this at a
regular time, or particular day. However, when it happens, it normally
starts after the machine has been sitting idle for a half-hour or so. I have
gone into another room for a while, and when I return to the computer, the
defrag is running, and I have no idea how it was started, or by what.

I have updated and run the following, and all have turned out clean. I also
have Zone Alarm installed and enabled.
SpyBot
Adaware
F-Prot
AVG
SpywareBlaster
HouseCall
Stinger
HijackThis

I'm sorry if this seems a wasteful question, but, I have been
troubleshooting this problem for several days, and ask only to cover all
bases, and in the hopes that perhaps someone here may have had a similar
experience, or knows of something that might create this kind of behavior.
Any suggestions or input would truly be appreciated.

Best regards,
Jan

 

[taff]

Hi all - WinME

I have been experiencing odd behavior with my Defrag program. It seems that
something is triggering it to start running all of a sudden. I have no
scheduled time set for this program to run, and it does not do this at a
regular time, or particular day. However, when it happens, it normally
starts after the machine has been sitting idle for a half-hour or so. I have
gone into another room for a while, and when I return to the computer, the
defrag is running, and I have no idea how it was started, or by what.

I have updated and run the following, and all have turned out clean. I also
have Zone Alarm installed and enabled.
SpyBot
Adaware
F-Prot
AVG
SpywareBlaster
HouseCall
Stinger
HijackThis

I'm sorry if this seems a wasteful question, but, I have been
troubleshooting this problem for several days, and ask only to cover all
bases, and in the hopes that perhaps someone here may have had a similar
experience, or knows of something that might create this kind of behavior.
Any suggestions or input would truly be appreciated.

Best regards,
Jan

This is not something that I have seen before, but you may have a hard
drive fault that is being detected and scandisk may be trying to
automatically fix this.
As far as I know this is not a normal part of any windows operating
system though.
When it does this, do you stop it from running or have you let it
finish ??

Taff.............



www.sounds-pa.com | www.thecomputerworkshop.com

 

[David W. Hodgins]

I have been experiencing odd behavior with my Defrag program. It seems that

Defrag??????

I have never heard of anything, other then intentional scheduling, that would
auto execute defrag.

I'd be looking for remote access accounts, or tools. Does WIN ME have guest
accounts?

Regards, Dave Hodgins

 

[Jan Il]

Hi David!

that

Defrag??????

Yes...Defrag.. I know...it does seem strange...but, that is why I asked this
question.<bg>
My thought in posting the question here is that since many, if not most, of
you here have probably experienced many odd events and situations with
viruses and such, perhaps it might be something that someone might relate to
something of that nature. I merely thought if I could discount a virus or
other such possible contributor, then it will at least help narrow down the

I have never heard of anything, other then intentional scheduling, that would
auto execute defrag.

I'd be looking for remote access accounts, or tools. Does WIN ME have guest
accounts?

According to what I have found in my research thus far, it is, as you say,
very unusual that the Defrag starts automatically, or, so it would seem.
But, it does. However, now that you have mentioned Tools, what kind of
Tools? I ask because there is a MS TuneUp Wizard that is supposed to run
the Defragmenter, Scan Disk and Disk Cleanup. It is set to run the
Walign.exe (Winalign tool file) daily at 9:00a. Although, the Defragmenter
and other programs have been scheduled to run on 3/29/04. Is it possible
that the Tuneup Application Start.job scheduling might over ride the
schedule settings of the programs themselves? I know it may sound off the
wall, but, might it be possible? The Scan Disk and Disk Cleanup do not start
up by themselves, just the Defragmenter. And, it does not run at a regular
interval.

As for the guest accounts, I don't know. This is something that I have never
delved into before as I've never had a need. I have no idea how it works.
However, I will check it out.

Thank you very much for your time and assistance. You have given me some
very good food for thought. I really appreciate it.

Jan

 

[Jan Il]

Hi Taff,

This is not something that I have seen before, but you may have a hard
drive fault that is being detected and scandisk may be trying to
automatically fix this.
As far as I know this is not a normal part of any windows operating
system though.
When it does this, do you stop it from running or have you let it
finish ??

The Scan Disk does not run, only the Defrag. I have not let it finish, as
when it starts up out of the blue, it is often when there are programs open,
although minimized. I have had problems with the defrag running in normal
mode, and I was afraid that it would really cause problems with my system if
it continued in that manner. I use the ScanDefrag program from the
ScanDefrag Team, and I run it manually under certain conditions that are
best for my system. That is why I always run it manually, and not by a
scheduled setting.

I run the Scan Disk at least twice a week, and more often if I am
installing/uninstalling programs or devices, and it has not given any notice
of any problems with the hard drive. I usually run the Defrag once a month.

Thank you for your time and help, I appreciate it very much.

Jan

 

[David W. Hodgins]

Yes...Defrag.. I know...it does seem strange...but, that is why I asked this
question.<bg>

I've never even seen anyone auto schedule defrag. Normally, when you
do run it, you want to shutdown everything but explorer.

According to what I have found in my research thus far, it is, as you say,
very unusual that the Defrag starts automatically, or, so it would seem.
But, it does. However, now that you have mentioned Tools, what kind of
Tools? I ask because there is a MS TuneUp Wizard that is supposed to run

I was thinking along the lines of a Remote Access Tool, aka a Rat, or backdoor
trojan, with someone starting the defrag, just as a joke.

the Defragmenter, Scan Disk and Disk Cleanup. It is set to run the
Walign.exe (Winalign tool file) daily at 9:00a. Although, the Defragmenter

I renamed Walign.exe, back when I was using netscape, as it corrupted the
executable.

and other programs have been scheduled to run on 3/29/04. Is it possible
that the Tuneup Application Start.job scheduling might over ride the
schedule settings of the programs themselves? I know it may sound off the
wall, but, might it be possible? The Scan Disk and Disk Cleanup do not start
up by themselves, just the Defragmenter. And, it does not run at a regular
interval.

Have you tried disabling the task scheduler?

As for the guest accounts, I don't know. This is something that I have never
delved into before as I've never had a need. I have no idea how it works.
However, I will check it out.

I'm still using windows 98, so I can't help with how to check what accounts
you have set up.

Thank you very much for your time and assistance. You have given me some
very good food for thought. I really appreciate it.

Happy to provide what little help I can.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

 

[Jan Il]

Hi David,

I've never even seen anyone auto schedule defrag. Normally, when you
do run it, you want to shutdown everything but explorer.

I have never set anything to run at any specific time or date, as I prefer
to run the programs manually, when I want to run them. Normally, when I run
the defrag I shut down everything. Another thing..all 3 programs, Defrag,
Scan Disk and Disk Cleanup, were all set to run at the same time on the same
date. I may be a bit light on gray-matter between the ears, but, even I know
not to set all three to start running at the same time.

run

I was thinking along the lines of a Remote Access Tool, aka a Rat, or backdoor
trojan, with someone starting the defrag, just as a joke.

I have run every thing I have, even some from the net, and everything comes
up clean. While somethings may be possible, I don't really think 'someone'
is starting defrag.

Defragmenter

I renamed Walign.exe, back when I was using netscape, as it corrupted the
executable.

I just discovered this, and been researching it. From what I have read on
some of the forums about this, it does seems like most folks don't want to
have anything to do with it for a variety of reasons, and none of them
sounded good.

Have you tried disabling the task scheduler?

No, not the scheduler, but, all the programs in it. I have uninstalled the
ScanDefrag program for now, and disabled the Tuneup Application Start.job in
the Scheduler. I am trying to take things one step at a time and evaluate
each step. It would not make much sense to blindly cure it without knowing
what it is, or which remedy worked.

I'm still using windows 98, so I can't help with how to check what accounts
you have set up.

I have checked the Help files, and I can't find any reference to guest
accounts. I will have to dig a bit deeper I guess. Haven't had a chance yet

Happy to provide what little help I can.

Thank you again for your time and input. It's very much appreciated.

Jan