slow and unresponsive system - sudden onset - thoughts?

[RSS]

I am running Windows XP Pro. 1.5GB RAM. Athlon 2700 processor. Have
not had any problems whatsoever with this system for a long time.
Today I now have a problem where the system is very unresponsive.
Typing text, there are long delays before the text appears, and the
mouse clicking is also delayed badly as well.

Looking in task manager, there are no oddities. No processes are
eating up CPU and there is over a GB of free RAM.

The only thing that has happened with this machine is that our
daughter has started "doing the internet" on it this week since her
computer died (a different story, power supply failure). I am
concerned that one of her many websites resulted in some type of virus
or malware that is the culprit. i've done scans with AVG anti-virus
and anti-spyware, and i do not find any problems yet - although i
should also note that the AVG virus scan is moving PAINFULLY slowly -
this is not usually the case. in 30 minutes, it has only scanned
10,000 objects... wondering if there's something messing up the
scan...

can anyone suggest the proper tests to try to narrow down the cause of
this?

in case you're wondering the obvious - rebooting did not solve the
problem

thanks,
RSS

 

[DL]

A Malaware scan using both SpyBot & Adaware at least.
An on line scan at TrendMicro

Malaware/trojans are unlikely to be detected by a virus scan
Also turn off sys restore, only turn back on once sys is clean

Copied from earlier post----------



If you are using any version of Sun Java that is prior to JRE Version 5.0,
then you are strongly urged to remove any/all versions that are prior to
JRE/JSE
Version 5.0. There are vulnerabilities in them and they are actively being
exploited.
It is possible that is how you got infected with malware.

Therefore, it is highly suggested that if there are any prior versions of
Sun Java
to Version 5 on the PC that they be removed and Sun Java JRE/JSE Version 5.0
Update 7
be installed ASAP.

Simple check, look under...
C:\Program Files\Java

The only folder under that folder should be the latest version...

C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_07


http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp



For non-viral malware...

Please download, install and update the following software...

* Ad-aware SE v1.06
http://www.lavasoft.de/
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
http://www.lavasoft.de/ms/index.htm

* SpyBot Search and Destroy v1.4
http://security.kolla.de/
http://www.safer-networking.org/microsoft.en.html

* SuperAntiSpyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html

After the software is updated, I suggest scanning the system in Safe Mode.

I also suggest downloading, installing and updating BHODemon for any Browser
Helper Objects
that may be on the PC.

* BHODemon

http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloadget.php?id=3550&file=11&evp=245a87539eea8ed6904332b4b8b8442d

For viral malware...

* Download MULTI_AV.EXE from the URL --
http://www.ik-cs.com/programs/virtools/Multi_AV.exe

To use this utility, perform the following...
Execute; Multi_AV.exe { Note: You must use the default folder C:\AV-CLS }
Choose; Unzip
Choose; Close

Execute; C:\AV-CLS\StartMenu.BAT
{ or Double-click on 'Start Menu' in C:\AV-CLS }

NOTE: You may have to disable your software FireWall or allow WGET.EXE to go
through your
FireWall to allow it to download the needed AV vendor related files.

C:\AV-CLS\StartMenu.BAT -- { or Double-click on 'Start Menu' in C:\AV-CLS}
This will bring up the initial menu of choices and should be executed in
Normal Mode.
This way all the components can be downloaded from each AV vendor's web
site.
The choices are; Sophos, Trend, McAfee, Kaspersky, Exit this menu and Reboot
the PC.

You can choose to go to each menu item and just download the needed files or
you can
download the files and perform a scan in Normal Mode. Once you have
downloaded the files
needed for each scanner you want to use, you should reboot the PC into Safe
Mode [F8 key
during boot] and re-run the menu again and choose which scanner you want to
run in Safe
Mode. It is suggested to run the scanners in both Safe Mode and Normal
Mode.

When the menu is displayed hitting 'H' or 'h' will bring up a more
comprehensive PDF help
file. http://www.ik-cs.com/multi-av.htm

Additional Instructions:
http://pcdid.com/Multi_AV.htm


* * * Please report back your results * * *

 

[Nobody]

Could be a few different things.

Hard drive failures.
Sometime I noticed this with a failing hard drive.
You may want to run chkdsk just to be on the safe side. Also run defrag on the drive.
If the disk is a couple years old, I would go directly to the hard drive
manufacturers web site and run their diagnostic utility.
Check the hard drive if there are no viruses or malware.

Viruses and Malware.
I have run into malware, but only once in my life ever had a virus and it was only on 3 1/2" disks.

Also,
Windows updates an index for faster scan.
I hate when that thing runs.
Since you didn't see anything taking up too much processor time, I would think a hard drive issue.

HTH,

 

[RSS]

thanks for the suggestions...

i will continue exploring the possible causes... on a whim, i tried
restoring to a restore point of the registry from one day earlier, and
interestingly it looks like it MIGHT have fixed the problem. but i
need to give it a little more time to be sure, and i will run a lot of
the other diagnostics including the hard disk check.