Prefetch .exe process consuming 100% CPU

[Susan]

Trying to troubleshoot my father's HP pavillion XP. Symptoms: slow boot,
slow repsonse time, etc.

Task manager show following file consuming ~ 95% CPU resources:
5JAX0FW2VS.exe. File is located in Prefetch folder.

Full Norton antivirus scan revealed no problems. After review forum, had
father delete entire contents of Prefetch folder and reboot. Same .exe file
reappeared and took over the CPU.

Need suggestions for next steps.

Thanks.

 

[CS]

Trying to troubleshoot my father's HP pavillion XP. Symptoms: slow boot,
slow repsonse time, etc.

Task manager show following file consuming ~ 95% CPU resources:
5JAX0FW2VS.exe. File is located in Prefetch folder.

Full Norton antivirus scan revealed no problems. After review forum, had
father delete entire contents of Prefetch folder and reboot. Same .exe file
reappeared and took over the CPU.

Need suggestions for next steps.

Thanks.

Use the configuration editor to turn off unnecessary startup programs
and see if that helps:

Start -> Run -> "msconfig.exe" (without the quotes). When the editor
opens, click on the Startup tab. Go through all the startup items and
remove the checkmark from all except those that are needed. For
example, leave your AV program alone, or anything else that's
necessary. Reboot and see if that helps.

Download and use software to detect and remove spyware that may be
running. A good one to use is "Spybot"

http://www.safer-networking.org/

Good luck.

 

[Susan]

Checked using MSCONFIG and was extremely surprised by the results. The
"offending" file was there along with approximately 25 other startup files.
Many of them seemed to have HP in their name.

We disabled the specific prefetch file named above and rebooted. The
computer stopped hanging, but certain functions did not work -- in
particular, the ability to connect to DSL.

I'm very confused at this point. Is my father's computer totally fouled
up -- or is it in relatively normal state for an HP.

I welcome any advice.

Thanks.

 

[Frank]

Checked using MSCONFIG and was extremely surprised by the results. The
"offending" file was there along with approximately 25 other startup files.
Many of them seemed to have HP in their name.

We disabled the specific prefetch file named above and rebooted. The
computer stopped hanging, but certain functions did not work -- in
particular, the ability to connect to DSL.

I'm very confused at this point. Is my father's computer totally fouled
up -- or is it in relatively normal state for an HP.

I welcome any advice.

Thanks.

I only have 3 items in my MSCONFIG // STARTUP.....
I believe that you have an HP proprietary problem.
The XP OEM on a lot of these machines is not the
same as a full version., therefore not supported by
Microsoft.

 

[Alex Nichol]

Trying to troubleshoot my father's HP pavillion XP. Symptoms: slow boot,
slow repsonse time, etc.

Task manager show following file consuming ~ 95% CPU resources:
5JAX0FW2VS.exe. File is located in Prefetch folder.

Files in Prefetch should not be .exe but have names like
program.exe-12345.pf - they are records of the pattern of files used in
loading the program. So this does not belong and is most probably some
nasty parasite that is not picked up as a virus by Norton. See
www.aumha.org/secure.htm for discussion and clean-up tools

 

[Susan]

Thanks to all for your responses.

Given that my father is a 1000 miles away, am I better off just having him
reinstall the OS rather than trying to troubleshoot this problem? He has a
limited number of personal files and programs on his computer.

Thanks.

 

[R. McCarty]

If he uses broadband, or you can stand the speed of a dial-up,
why not try "Remote Assistance". ?

Thanks to all for your responses.

Given that my father is a 1000 miles away, am I better off just having him
reinstall the OS rather than trying to troubleshoot this problem? He has a
limited number of personal files and programs on his computer.

Thanks.