Strange problem with Windows Explorer (XP SP2)

[darzilot]

Hello there. I'm new here so please forgive me if this has been discussed
before recently.

While I am connected to the internet with my 56K modem, when I double-click
on any file under Windows Explorer, there is an annoying delay of two or
three seconds during which data is exchanged on the modem. I know this
because the modem icon in the icon tray of my desktop lights up to indicate
some kind of data exchange. This happens every single time I doube-click on
a file, but this only occurs when I am connected to the internet; when I am
offline, Windows Explorer runs normally.

This problem also occurs when I right-click on any file (the delay occurs
BEFORE the contextual menu appears), and it also happens when I click on any
e-mail file attachment under Eudora.

I installed Microsoft AntiSpyware, Spybot Search-and-Destroy and Lavasoft
Ad-Aware SE, but none of these programs have been able to locate the cause
of the delay problem explained above. I also installed and ran the latest
version of Norton AntiVirus 2005 with no success, and I even tried
defragmenting my drives, again with no improvement.

Someone suggested that I run the "MSCONFIG" program and uncheck some of the
items in the list under the "startup" tab, in an effort to find the culprit.
I unchecked EVERYTHING, rebooted, and the delay problem is still there.

This looks like a spyware problem to me, but I can't be sure. To me, it
seems evident that my modem shouldn't be involved when I'm simply
double-clicking or right-clicking on a filename!

I'm beginning to wonder if re-installing Windows XP from scratch on my PC
will eliminate the problem. Of course, I would prefer to avoid this, if at
all possible. I'm hoping that someone on this newsgroup will be able to help
me out.

I am using XP Home Edition (with SP2 and all the latest system updates
installed) If you need more details about my PC setup, just ask. Thanks.

 

[PhilGreg]

Hello there. I'm new here so please forgive me if this has been discussed
before recently.

While I am connected to the internet with my 56K modem, when I
double-click on any file under Windows Explorer, there is an annoying
delay of two or three seconds during which data is exchanged on the
modem. I know this because the modem icon in the icon tray of my desktop
lights up to indicate some kind of data exchange. This happens every
single time I doube-click on a file, but this only occurs when I am
connected to the internet; when I am offline, Windows Explorer runs
normally.

This problem also occurs when I right-click on any file (the delay occurs
BEFORE the contextual menu appears), and it also happens when I click on
any e-mail file attachment under Eudora.

I installed Microsoft AntiSpyware, Spybot Search-and-Destroy and Lavasoft
Ad-Aware SE, but none of these programs have been able to locate the
cause of the delay problem explained above. I also installed and ran the
latest version of Norton AntiVirus 2005 with no success, and I even tried
defragmenting my drives, again with no improvement.

Someone suggested that I run the "MSCONFIG" program and uncheck some of
the items in the list under the "startup" tab, in an effort to find the
culprit. I unchecked EVERYTHING, rebooted, and the delay problem is still
there.

This looks like a spyware problem to me, but I can't be sure. To me, it
seems evident that my modem shouldn't be involved when I'm simply
double-clicking or right-clicking on a filename!

I'm beginning to wonder if re-installing Windows XP from scratch on my PC
will eliminate the problem. Of course, I would prefer to avoid this, if
at all possible. I'm hoping that someone on this newsgroup will be able
to help me out.

I am using XP Home Edition (with SP2 and all the latest system updates
installed) If you need more details about my PC setup, just ask. Thanks.

==>End your internet connection and shut down all programs you may have
running including the security applications.

Then, go to Start/Run/ and type in 'sfc /scannow' without the quote
marks. Then press <Enter> That will check for bad files in your DllCache.
Next go to My Computer and right click 'Local Disk', select
Properties/Tools tab/select 'Error Checking'. Reboot to allow it to run.
After reboot repeat My Computer steps but this time select
'Defragmentation'

HTH

 

[darzilot]

==>End your internet connection and shut down all programs you may have
running including the security applications.

Then, go to Start/Run/ and type in 'sfc /scannow' without the quote
marks. Then press <Enter> That will check for bad
files in your DllCache. Next go to My Computer and right click 'Local
Disk', select Properties/Tools tab/select 'Error
Checking'. Reboot to allow it to run.. After reboot repeat My Computer
steps but this time select 'Defragmentation'

First of all, thanks for replying, it's very much appreciated.

I followed the steps described above, and no error messages of any kind
popped up. And the delay problem still persists.

Any other ideas or suggestions?

Thanks again.

 

[PhilGreg]

First of all, thanks for replying, it's very much appreciated.

I followed the steps described above, and no error messages of any kind
popped up. And the delay problem still persists.

Any other ideas or suggestions?

Thanks again.

==> YW. Your problem is not necessarily malware related. It could be in the
system itself.

Some basics, have you checked your machine for dust? Dust can cause a heat
build up which in turn can cause the problems you're having.

Personally I don't find MSConfig to be useful enough for anything beyond
the basics.
I've seen your problem before on my systems and I used a registry cleaner
to fix it. However, I'm reluctant to recommend that because I don't know
your level of expertise.
There is a maintenance app called CCleaner;
<http://www.ccleaner.com/ccdownload.asp>
that's pretty good. It will delete temp and log files and has a reg
cleaning function that I will recommend because the registry cleaner has a
backup/undo function so if something gets screwed up you can boot into safe
mode and do an undo. Warning don't use this or any other reg cleaner w/out
a backup/undo function and make sure you know how to Undo before you start.

If that sounds too hairy for you then you could;

==>Do a System Restore back to before the problem started. <==

Another option would be to take a good look at which processes are running
(C-Alt-Del)
from Windows Task Manager/Processes tab. But that won't help if you don't
know which processes are running.

Also take a look in here;
http://www.sysinternals.com/ProcessesAndThreadsUtilities.html
This site has some excellent and free tools that might help. With them you
can get a more detailed view of what's running.

www.mlin.net has two excellent and free tools that will allow you to
control which proggies start at boot and also allow you to monitor for
attempted registry changes.
StartUp Monitor and StarUp Control Panel.

Finally, there's EWIDO <http://www.ewido.net/en/> a very good malware
scanner that has a 14 day fully functional trial. Update it and run it from
Safe Mode.

Get back when you're done and let us know how it went

 

[darzilot]

==> YW. Your problem is not necessarily malware related. It could be in
the system itself.

Yeah, I'm seriously beginning to suspect a registry problem myself...

Some basics, have you checked your machine for dust? Dust can cause a heat
build up which in turn can cause
the problems you're having.

I have my PC cleaned and vaccuumed at the repair shop every 6-7 months or
so, so I don't think that's the problem.

I've seen your problem before on my systems and I used a registry cleaner
to fix it. However, I'm reluctant to recommend
that because I don't know your level of expertise.

I have to admit that my expertise in this kind of repair and maintenance is
rather low.

There is a maintenance app called CCleaner;
<http://www.ccleaner.com/ccdownload.asp> that's pretty good. It will
delete
temp and log files and has a reg cleaning function that I will recommend
because the registry cleaner has a backup/undo > function so if something
gets screwed up you can boot into safe mode and do an undo. Warning don't
use this or any other
reg cleaner w/out a backup/undo function and make sure you know how to
Undo before you start.

If that sounds too hairy for you then you could;

==>Do a System Restore back to before the problem started. <==

Interesting... So a system backup will also save the registery? I need to
read up on this system backup/restore stuff before I get into it...

Another option would be to take a good look at which processes are running
(C-Alt-Del) from Windows Task
Manager/Processes tab. But that won't help if you don't know which
processes are running.

Yeah, the process name doesn't tell a whole lot.

Also take a look in here;
http://www.sysinternals.com/ProcessesAndThreadsUtilities.html
This site has some excellent and free tools that might help. With them you
can get a more detailed view of what's running.

www.mlin.net has two excellent and free tools that will allow you to
control which proggies start at boot and also allow
you to monitor for attempted registry changes.StartUp Monitor and StarUp
Control Panel.

Finally, there's EWIDO <http://www.ewido.net/en/> a very good malware
scanner that has a 14 day fully functional trial
Update it and run it from Safe Mode.

Get back when you're done and let us know how it went

There's lots of great advice here, so thanks again. Unfortunately, we're
having very hot and humid weather right now, and I'd rather not use my PC
for very long (it gets hot rather fast under these conditions, and I don't
want to take unecessary chances). But this weather can't last forever, so
I'll get back to this problem once Mother Nature's fever has gone down.
Chances are I'll contact you directly using your personal e-mail address
once I have some results to show, and we'll continue this investigation from
there.


Bye for now!

 

[PhilGreg]

[snip]

Interesting... So a system backup will also save the registery? I need to
read up on this system backup/restore stuff before I get into it...

==> NO! See below;

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/sr/sr/monitored_file_extensions.asp

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/sr/sr/monitored_file_extensions.asp

[snip]

I just remembered this; Autoruns free from;
http://www.sysinternals.com/utilities/autoruns.html
C&P
Introduction

This utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting
locations of any startup monitor (A starting list of auto-run locations was
obtained from David Solomon's "Windows Internals" seminar), shows you what
programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and shows you
the entries in the order Windows processes them. These programs include
ones in your startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys. You can
configure Autoruns to show other locations, including Explorer shell
extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications,
auto-start services, and much more. Autoruns goes way beyond the MSConfig
utility bundled with Windows Me and XP.
[...]
/C&P

There's lots of great advice here, so thanks again. Unfortunately, we're
having very hot and humid weather right now, and I'd rather not use my PC
for very long (it gets hot rather fast under these conditions, and I
don't want to take unecessary chances). But this weather can't last
forever, so I'll get back to this problem once Mother Nature's fever has
gone down.
Chances are I'll contact you directly using your personal e-mail address
once I have some results to show, and we'll continue this investigation
from there.

==> Same here, humidity has been near 100% for the past few days but I run
my systems anyway. Have extra fans in them

Drop the first 2 dots in my addy

PhilGreg
(e-mail address removed)