TOO MUCH CPU! VIRUS??? MALWARE???

[Pikey]

Hi,

I always found good help--and stern advice, so I thought I would bring this
by you guys and see what happens.

Now, I'm trying to figure out what happened exactly--if I installed
something or what, but it seems whenever I play a video file or a music file,
it requires a lot of CPU usuage. It always goes to 100%--and it kind of
stays at 100%. Everytime. So when I'm watching a video, the video kinds of
plays slowly, or it doesn't stream well. Hell, I can't even watch youtube,
but it will load fine enough, but won't play clearly as it always has.

I turned off the computer for a night and when I turned it back on--I ran
AdAware, SpyBlaster and my usual virus protection program. A few things
turned up, but minuscule and the problem remains. I also ran my CCleaner. I
haven't run Spybot yet, but I did a Yahoo Anti-Spy.

It seems to play things fine at first, but then the CPU kicks in.

It seems--according to my Task Manager that, the program that playing the
music or video file starts eating up all the ram and then it shares it with
the System in using all the ram.

Is there anything I can do to fix this problem? Yes, I will run Spybot
Anti-spy software later today, but I'm sure it won't buy me anything.

What happened???


THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP

 

[Kayman]

Hi,

I always found good help--and stern advice, so I thought I would bring this
by you guys and see what happens.

Now, I'm trying to figure out what happened exactly--if I installed
something or what, but it seems whenever I play a video file or a music file,
it requires a lot of CPU usuage. It always goes to 100%--and it kind of
stays at 100%. Everytime. So when I'm watching a video, the video kinds of
plays slowly, or it doesn't stream well. Hell, I can't even watch youtube,
but it will load fine enough, but won't play clearly as it always has.

I turned off the computer for a night and when I turned it back on--I ran
AdAware, SpyBlaster and my usual virus protection program. A few things
turned up, but minuscule and the problem remains. I also ran my CCleaner. I
haven't run Spybot yet, but I did a Yahoo Anti-Spy.

SuperAntispyware-Free is a much better alternative to SpyBlaster and YA-S.
http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html

It seems to play things fine at first, but then the CPU kicks in.
It seems--according to my Task Manager that, the program that playing the
music or video file starts eating up all the ram and then it shares it with
the System in using all the ram.

Process Explorer a more comprensive utilty, check it out...
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

Is there anything I can do to fix this problem? Yes, I will run Spybot
Anti-spy software later today, but I'm sure it won't buy me anything.

You could try to...
Download/execute:
David H. Lipman's MULTI_AV Tool
http://www.pctipp.ch/ds/28400/28470/Multi_AV.exe
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp
English:
http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2008/01/09/scan-your-computer-with-multiple-anti-virus-for-free/
Additional Instructions:
http://pcdid.com/Multi_AV.htm
--and/or--
Kaspersky's AVPTool
http://downloads5.kaspersky-labs.com/devbuilds/AVPTool/
http://ftp.kaspersky.com/devbuilds/AVPTool/
There's no updating involved since the scanning engine is updated
several times a day and you simply download the updated scanner whenever
you want to do a scan.
--and/or--
Dr.Web CureIt!® Utility - FREE
http://www.freedrweb.com/cureit/
--and/or--
Malwarebytes© Corporation - Anti-Malware
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam/program/mbam-setup.exe

Then download and execute HiJack This! (HJT)
http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/tools/security_tools/hijackthis/download
Please, do not post HJT logs to this newsgroup.
Fora where you can get expert advice for HiJack This! (HJT) logs.

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

http://www.theeldergeek.com/forum/index.php?s=2e9ea4e19d3289dd877ab75a8220bff6&showforum=29
http://forums.whatthetech.com/HijackThis_Logs_and_Infections_Removal_f27.html
http://www.5starsupport.com/ipboard/index.php?showforum=18
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/viewforum.php?f=5
http://www.thespykiller.co.uk/index.php?board=3.0
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html

Good luck

 

[Pikey]

So, you think it's a spyware issue?

The only real change is that when I play a video or play a music file, the
CPU usage goes to 100%, and it usually stays there.

 

[Kayman]

So, you think it's a spyware issue?

Not 100% sure. It may, that is why I suggested to try one or all malware
scanners and HJT.

The only real change is that when I play a video or play a music file, the
CPU usage goes to 100%, and it usually stays there.

I also suggested to use Process Explorer as it is more detailed than
TaskManager.

None of the above mentioned applications/tools will do any harm to your OS!

Good luck

 

[Peter Foldes]

How much RAM do you have installed

 

[Teneo]

I was an avid user of spybot, but spoybot reported no infections and I still
had an issue. That dreaded XPsecurity2008_2009 issue.

Googling I found malwarebytes was successful in cleaning it. Also other pcs
that spybot said was clean was not when you run malwarebytes, think spybot
is a bit behind the times...

Try runing malwarebytes..

http://www.malwarebytes.org/




How much RAM do you have installed

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by deceptive software
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827315

Run a /thorough/ check for hijackware, including posting your hijackthis log
to an appropriate forum.

Checking for/Help with Hijackware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878
http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Introduction
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

When all else fails, HijackThis v2.0.2
(http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.exe) is the preferred tool to use (in
conjuction with some other utilities). HijackThis will NOT fix anything on
its own, but it will help you to both identify and remove any
hijackware/spyware with assistance from an expert. **Post your log to
http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30,
http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22,
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html, or other appropriate forums for review
by an expert in such matters, not here.**

If the procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting this
isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and
independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA or Geek Squad) computer repair shop.