Multiple cmd.exe's running - any idea whats causing this?

[Dave Jennings]

Hi everyone,

My PC ( PIII 866, 512mb RAM, XP Pro with all updates ) has suddenly
become rather unstable, after I've installed the latest SP1A patch from
MS ( direct from the MS download site, not one of these spurious e-mail
patches that are still doing the rounds ! )

Whether this is relevant or not, I'm unsure, but it was stable before
the patch.

It's now running very slowly, and is prone to locking up, forcing me to
reboot as even CTRL+ALT+DEL fails to call up Task Manager to kill
whatevers running.

When it does fire up, I see in TM at least 30 instances of CMD.EXE
running - has anyone any idea what this is, if this might be causing
the machine to get glitchy, and how I address this problem?

I also run NAV 2004 pro which is updated daily, so my immediate feeling
is that it isn't a virus, although of course I stand to be corrected.

Any help or suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance, and regards from Scotland,

Dave.

 

[Completely Lost]

With that many cmd.exe running I just HAVE to believe that
you have a virus OR spyware of some sort.

However, it sounds as if there are some things you need to
do to your system for things of which you are unaware.

http://www.lavasoft.de to download and install the
freeware version of adaware to remove sypware that already
resides on your system.

Do a google search for Spyware Blaster which is freeware
that prevents a lot of spyware from infecting your
computer before the fact.

http://www.panicware.com for the freeware version of pop
up stopper.

You may want to consider disabling Windows Messenger which
is not to be confused with MSN Messenger. Do a google
search for Disable Messenger.

You may want to download and install the freeware anti-
virus software at http://www.grisoft.com just as a backup
to nav2004 just to assure yourself that you do not have a
virus.

However, I still think it is a virus that has yet to be
detected OR spyware.

 

[Dave Jennings]

With that many cmd.exe running I just HAVE to believe that
you have a virus OR spyware of some sort.

However, it sounds as if there are some things you need to
do to your system for things of which you are unaware.

http://www.lavasoft.de to download and install the
freeware version of adaware to remove sypware that already
resides on your system.

Do a google search for Spyware Blaster which is freeware
that prevents a lot of spyware from infecting your
computer before the fact.

http://www.panicware.com for the freeware version of pop
up stopper.

You may want to consider disabling Windows Messenger which
is not to be confused with MSN Messenger. Do a google
search for Disable Messenger.

You may want to download and install the freeware anti-
virus software at http://www.grisoft.com just as a backup
to nav2004 just to assure yourself that you do not have a
virus.

However, I still think it is a virus that has yet to be
detected OR spyware.

Hi,

Thanks for that - I'll get the appropriate other bits of software and
run these right away.

I'll post back with how I get on.

I had disabled Windows Messenger ( all those appalling pop ups ! ) but
I'll do everything else.

Thanks again.

Regards,

Dave.

 

[Completely Lost]

I forgot to mention that you should probably also get a software firewall.

http://www.zonelabs.com and be sure you get the freeware version of
ZoneAlarm. They try to
hide the link to the freeware version so that you'll buy the pro version.

 

[Dave Jennings]

With that many cmd.exe running I just HAVE to believe that
you have a virus OR spyware of some sort.

However, it sounds as if there are some things you need to
do to your system for things of which you are unaware.

http://www.lavasoft.de to download and install the
freeware version of adaware to remove sypware that already
resides on your system.

Hi again,

Just thought I'd post bbck to the group:

Yup, you were spot on. A mix of spyware and, according to NAV 2004,
some virii - although NAV runs constantly here, and is updated daily.

Many thanks for your help - several hours and disk scans later, my
system is perfect (!) again.

Regards,

Dave.