sluggish computer and hanging up.

[Apan]

I am running XP Professional.
About a month ago, I noticed all my softwares are hanging up and that
includes IE. So after some search in the internet - I installed REGCURE. Ran
scan after scan and nothing happened. System is getting worse and worse.
Regcure has not responding to me when I enquired about it.

Now my sound is getting choppy. The machine is running very sluggish. I have
defrag the mavhine without luck. I even can not work with a word document. I
am manually saving every two minutes to avoid loss of the work.

Following is my hard ware information.

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name USER-BFE6ISWWJC
System Manufacturer MICRO-STAR INC.
System Model MS-6788
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 7 GenuineIntel ~2533 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. V6.2 on 07.00T, 2/8/2006
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)"
User Name USER-BFE6ISWWJC\Apan
Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 1,024.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 469.40 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 2.41 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

I have all XP service packs and recent securuity upgrade.

Can anybody help me on this. What are my options and what I can do to get
my system working properly? An early response will be highly appreciated.

 

[Leonard Grey]

Make sure that your anti-malware software is running, then download the
latest signatures and run a full scan.

If you don't have comprehensive anti-malware software, that's like
driving a car without seats belts or air bags. Either way, you're
eventually going to get hammered. Install comprehensive anti-malware
software and learn how to use its features. A 'comprehensive' solution
scans for all types of malicious software in the background, on demand
and on schedule.

For now try scanning your system with /several/ of the better online
scanners, such as:
Kaspersky Antivirus (http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner)
Panda ActiveScan (http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan)

Download HijackThis from www.trendsecure.com. Run it, save a log, and
post the log at one of the many sites that support HJT, such as
spywarewarrior.com, bleepingcomputer.com, and temerc.com -- but not
here. Within a day, sometimes within an hour, you'll have one-on-one
step-by-step advice from a security expert on cleaning up any
infestations—or you'll have a clean bill of health from the volunteer
expert.

Even the best detection and removal software can't fix every malware
infection. If none of the above remove the infection, you may want to
show the computer to a professional.

 

[Apan]

Thank you. Let me try your fixes and then I will let you know.
Thanks again

 

[Kayman]

I am running XP Professional.
About a month ago, I noticed all my softwares are hanging up and that
includes IE. So after some search in the internet - I installed REGCURE.

Bad idea!
Why I donÿt use registry cleaners!
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000643.html
Good/safe alternative:
CCleaner - Free
Cleans temporary internet files, cookies, history, recent urls, application
MRUs, etc. ... (Tune out the registry scanning/fixing option!)
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/
(The toolbar offered prior installing is not required)
If Windows Defender is utilized go to Applications, under Utilities
uncheck "Windows Defender" (so it won't delete the history of WD);
Followed by:
NTREGOPT
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/

Ran scan after scan and nothing happened. System is getting worse and worse.
Regcure has not responding to me when I enquired about it.

No surprises here.

Now my sound is getting choppy. The machine is running very sluggish. I have
defrag the mavhine without luck. I even can not work with a word document. I
am manually saving every two minutes to avoid loss of the work.

<snip for brevity>

1.Clear the (IE) temporary Internet files and the history cache.
Click Start==>Run... then type (or copy/paste) "inetcpl.cpl" (w/out
quotation marks) into the box, then click the 'OK' button.
In Internet Properties panel 'General' tab, under 'Browsing history', click
'Delete...'button, in 'Delete Browsing History' panel, click the 'Delete
all...'button then place a checkmark into the box beside 'Also delete files
and settings stored by add-ons', Click 'Yes' and exit the Internet
Properties panel by clicking the 'OK' button.

2.Clean HDD
Click Start==>Run... then type (or copy/paste) "cleanmgr" (w/out quotation
marks into the box, then click the 'OK' button. Select your drive
(presumably WinXP (C and click OK.

There aren't any 'good' on-line scanners out there! On-line scanners are
the most unsafe and next to useless. Because by the time you've started
your infected Windows and connected to the
Internet via this infected code base, and start to look for scanning sites
through infected DNS, you are almost certain to have the malware
perfectly positioned to overrule your attempts to clean it.
What happens if active malware is found? Don't expect that the on-line
scanner will do anything about it. Most of them are just just marketing
tools for selling you their products. Quite often, malware removal on the
NT based OS (Win 2K and XP) is far from easy. Sometimes a (good) resident
AV can deal with it in Safe Mode.

Other reasons to stay away from on-line scanners are:
1. You have to use IE on very low security setting - ActiveX is required.
2. Many users will lower security in the Internet Zone to use the service
and then forget to set the Internet Zone back to highest possible security
- which is the only way that IE should be set.
3.Scanning should be performed while off-line.

Download/execute:
Malwarebytes© Corporation - Anti-Malware
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam/program/mbam-setup.exe
--and--
Kaspersky® AVPTool
http://avptool.virusinfo.info/en/
Direct:
http://downloads5.kaspersky-labs.com/devbuilds/AVPTool/
--and--
Dr.Web CureIt!® Utility - FREE
http://www.freedrweb.com/cureit/
--and--
SuperAntispyware - Free
http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html

NOTE:
Kaspersky® Virus Removal Tool, Dr.Web CureIt!® and the free version of
Malwarebytes© and SuperAntispyware are not capable for real-time protection
of your computer.
Kaspersky® AVPTool, Dr.Web CureIt!® have no update feature (so they don't
turn into full blown scanners). As soon as your computer is cleaned you are
supposed to remove these tools from your operating system.
Re: K/AVPTool; To uninstall/move this program 'enable self-defense' must be
unchecked!

The free version of Malwarebytes© and SuperAntispyware have an update
feature, keep them installed in addtion to your resident AV/A-S
applications and scan frequently.

After the software is updated, it is suggested scanning the system in Safe
Mode.
How do you boot to Safe Mode?
By pressing/tabbing F8 (or F5 on some keyboards) during re-boot.
A description of the Safe Mode Boot options in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=315222
Start your computer in safe mode (Vista)
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-us/help/323ef48f-7b93-4079-a48a-5c58eec904a11033.mspx
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial61.html

Alternatively:
Click Start==>Run... then type (or copy/paste) "msconfig" (without
quotation marks), click OK. Then click onto BOOT.INI tab and 'check'
/SAFEBOOT then OK and click Restart. To go back to Normal Mode, you must
access the System Configuration utility again and click the General tab
then click/check the radio button 'Normal Startup'- load all device drivers
and services'.

4.Download and execute HiJack This! (HJT)
http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/tools/security_tools/hijackthis

Please, do not post HJT logs to this newsgroup.
Fora where you can get expert advice for HiJack This! (HJT) logs.

http://www.thespykiller.co.uk/index.php?board=3.0
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/viewforum.php?f=5
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/index.php?showforum=27
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html
http://www.malwarebytes.org/forums/index.php?showforum=7
http://www.5starsupport.com/ipboard/index.php?showforum=18
http://www.theeldergeek.com/forum/index.php?s=2e9ea4e19d3289dd877ab75a8220bff6&showforum=29

NOTE:
Registration is required in any of the above mentioned fora before posting
a HJT log and read the 'stickies' (instructions/guidelines) for the
respective HJT forum.

Review your browsing habits
Routinely practice Safe-Hex.
http://www.claymania.com/safe-hex.html

Good luck

 

[db.·.. >]

if you have 1 gig
of ram/memory then
your vm should be
no more than 1500 (max)
and no less than 2 (min).

also, you failed to
mention your antivirals
as they can burden your
system and software.

in regards to registry
cleaning, they are helpful
but it sounds like the issue
is your file system and not
the registry.

you should run a chkdsk
and defrag and uninstall
your antivirals for testing
and benchmarking your
system both in normal
mode and in safemode.

--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces