Very Slow PC

[Searcher7]

I have a Dell XPS-Z 866Mhz Pentium 3, with 384mb and a 20Gig hard
drive that I use for the web, and I've been having speed issues with
my system that are worse than usual.

Everything which includes loading pages from the internet, closing
windows(if they close at all), switching between tabs, starting up
apps, closing apps, etc. has become really sluggish.

My DSL is slow to begin with and is not even as fast as dial-up was
when I was using it over a decade ago.(But that is obviously a Verizon
issue).

I try to stay away from anti-virus apps and the like because they have
traditionally made my system worse than it was before their
installation and use.

But this time I took a chance and installed AVG, and even
SUPERAntiSpyware.

They didn't seem to do much, but that AVG "Resident Shield alert"
window pops up constantly. (Usually when I attempt to open a file).

Many of which I can no longer open or they open with difficulty. For
instance when I attempt to open mspaint I get a pop-up box that says
Missing Shortcut". All this while the AVG "Resident Shield
alert"(Multiple threat detection) windows list a variety of files that
are supposed to be infected.(Usually by something called "Win32/
Virut)." It seems like all of the files I have are infected. I can't
open the calculator or the calender because they can't be found.

I also can no longer open a text file from my desktop without the
"Open with" box popping up.

(Last month I had to do a reinstall after installing Avast because it
made my system useless).

It looks as though I'll have to reinstall XP again, but thought I'd
ask for any ideas on how to keep these problems from occurring all
over again.

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

 

[Paul]

I have a Dell XPS-Z 866Mhz Pentium 3, with 384mb and a 20Gig hard
drive that I use for the web, and I've been having speed issues with
my system that are worse than usual.

Everything which includes loading pages from the internet, closing
windows(if they close at all), switching between tabs, starting up
apps, closing apps, etc. has become really sluggish.

My DSL is slow to begin with and is not even as fast as dial-up was
when I was using it over a decade ago.(But that is obviously a Verizon
issue).

I try to stay away from anti-virus apps and the like because they have
traditionally made my system worse than it was before their
installation and use.

But this time I took a chance and installed AVG, and even
SUPERAntiSpyware.

They didn't seem to do much, but that AVG "Resident Shield alert"
window pops up constantly. (Usually when I attempt to open a file).

Many of which I can no longer open or they open with difficulty. For
instance when I attempt to open mspaint I get a pop-up box that says
Missing Shortcut". All this while the AVG "Resident Shield
alert"(Multiple threat detection) windows list a variety of files that
are supposed to be infected.(Usually by something called "Win32/
Virut)." It seems like all of the files I have are infected. I can't
open the calculator or the calender because they can't be found.

I also can no longer open a text file from my desktop without the
"Open with" box popping up.

(Last month I had to do a reinstall after installing Avast because it
made my system useless).

It looks as though I'll have to reinstall XP again, but thought I'd
ask for any ideas on how to keep these problems from occurring all
over again.

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

It says here, Virut attacks .exe files, so I guess it makes sense you'd
be getting a lot of warnings.

http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/Threat/Encyclopedia/Entry.aspx?Name=Win32/Virut

I'd probably start, by considering whether you have any "vectors" within reach
of the computer. Years ago, I had to break the fingers of a fellow employee, when
after disinfecting all the computers in my department, this individual drags an
infected floppy diskette out of his desk drawer (after being asked whether he had
any floppies like that), and proceeds to reinfect our office computers. So think
about any USB flash drives you might have lying around. It could be, that before
you got your protection in place, you used something like that and reinfected the
system.

There are two possibilities. Either the tools you're using aren't good enough
to stop Virut. Or the reinstallation technique you're using, is missing the
cleanup of something, and you're getting reinfected again. Since that article
above says Virut attacks .exe files, it might be attacking .exe files on
your second hard drive. And even if you reinstall WinXP on C:, perhaps you
clicked on something on the other drive, before you were protected again.

You might benefit from scanning all the media connected to the computer.
Maybe if you clean up all the other partitions, then reinstall C:, you'll be
in better shape. There are probably a number of ways to do that, and these
are just some that I've tried - someone else may have their own favorites.

*******

You could try something like this. It scans for Windows malware from a Linux
LiveCD. You burn a CD using the downloadable ISO9660 file. (A tool like Nero,
converts the ISO9660 file, into a bootable CD. Or, you could always give a
free burner program like Imgburn a try, and see if it can do the same thing.
There should be something you can get for free, that can burn a bootable CD.
In any case, you don't just "copy" the file to a blank CD, and you need a
burner program to do the conversion.)

http://devbuilds.kaspersky-labs.com/devbuilds/RescueDisk/

kav_rescue_2008.iso 119,701,504 bytes

When you boot that CD, it will take 5-10 minutes while it downloads 27MB
of fresh virus definitions. It then lists all your partitions, but when it
comes to partition drive letters, it just makes up letters, C:, D:, E:,
for all partitions it can see. For example, my C: drive is actually D:.
If you can't figure out which partition is which, tick all of them and
scan the whole works. Perhaps that way, any .exe files on the other
partitions, will be quarantined.

The program can be slow at times, and if you exit the scanner and start
it again, it will go a bit faster. That is a trick I use to speed up the
scanning rate. The environment has a "Terminal" window in the menu, you
open a terminal and give the command to start the tool again. When you
attempt to scan with it a second time, it will ask whether it should
"resume" from where it left off, and you can say "yes" to that. The
command to start the tool, after you've exited it, is this.

/usr/bin/kav.exe &

So if it seems to be running slow, don't reboot the computer, just stop
the scanning program, and then start it again from a terminal window.

In any case, be methodical in your approach to reinstalling, to make sure
the problem isn't the same one that happened to you the first time. No
matter what tools you chose to use.

An alternative to that, is to experiment with the Kaspersky "30 day trial".
I used that several years ago, to put a stop to an active infection. And
later purchased a one year subscription. When it came time to renew at
the end of one year, I gave up on it, because the program was just too
"chatty" for words. I tried their tech support, and they didn't think
it was unreasonable for their program to be constantly interrupting
me for nothing. But if you want a free "morning after pill", that is
another alternative. I like their free CD a bit better, because
it doesn't hang around later (even if it isn't giving continuous
protection, and just does scans when I need them).

When I used my "30 day trial" version, it took multiple reboots, until
the infection was removed. The process is not quick or quiet, but it
did seem to be thorough. Like any AV, Kav is intrusive, and does
suck up CPU cycles, but that is the nature of active AV protection.
You might use it to clean up all the partitions on your computer,
and then reinstall C: and wipe out Kav.

Paul

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

I try to stay away from anti-virus apps and the like because they have

traditionally made my system worse than it was before their
installation and use.

That's prolly because your computer was already infected (like it is now)
when you installed the AV app!

 

[20100216]

Ignore everything you have read on this topic so far because there is no
simple solution to slow systems over time. This happens if you are using
Microsoft Operating system and don't maintain your system regularly. Taking
any advise from Pig-Bear is like asking McDonalds how to look after your
herd of cattle!!

All you have to do now is to reset your system to factory level and start
everything again. With DELL systems this is very easy to do. Defrag and
cleaning of tmp files and even using anti-virus software of all types -
NOTHING WORKS! Don't waste your time on any of that nonsense.

hth

 

[Shenan Stanley]

<snipped>

20100216 wrote:

is like asking McDonalds how to look after your herd of cattle!!

<snip>

From what I hear - that would be a fairly safe thing to do. ;-)

 

[20100216]

From what I hear - that would be a fairly safe thing to do. ;-)

That's a subjective opinion. Have you come across a turkey that had a
fantastic Christmas?

 

[Tom Willett]

:
: :
: > From what I hear - that would be a fairly safe thing to do. ;-)
: >
:
: That's a subjective opinion. Have you come across a turkey that had a
: fantastic Christmas?
:
Sure..in a household that serves just ham.
:

 

[HeyBub]

Ignore everything you have read on this topic so far because there is
no simple solution to slow systems over time.

There certainly is.

This happens if you
are using Microsoft Operating system and don't maintain your system
regularly.

Balderdash. It's not the lack of maintenance that's the culprit, maintenance
is designed to get fix the problems.

Taking any advise from Pig-Bear is like asking McDonalds
how to look after your herd of cattle!!

How is TAKING advice equivalent to ASKING for advice? I think you are
terribly confused.

All you have to do now is to reset your system to factory level and
start everything again. With DELL systems this is very easy to do. Defrag
and cleaning of tmp files and even using anti-virus software
of all types - NOTHING WORKS! Don't waste your time on any of that
nonsense.

Yep. Confused.

 

[20100216]

There certainly is.

Produce one if you know that works.

Balderdash. It's not the lack of maintenance that's the culprit, maintenance
is designed to get fix the problems.

what problems do you fix with maintenance? Is Slow machines considered
to be a problem?

How is TAKING advice equivalent to ASKING for advice? I think you are
terribly confused.

Piggy does offer "a sort of" advice here.

Yep. Confused.

It is you who is confused. Get your boobs enlarged boy!.

 

[Searcher7]

It says here, Virut attacks .exe files, so I guess it makes sense you'd
be getting a lot of warnings.

http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/Threat/Encyclopedia/Entry.as...

I'd probably start, by considering whether you have any "vectors" within reach
of the computer. Years ago, I had to break the fingers of a fellow employee, when
after disinfecting all the computers in my department, this individual drags an
infected floppy diskette out of his desk drawer (after being asked whether he had
any floppies like that), and proceeds to reinfect our office computers. So think
about any USB flash drives you might have lying around. It could be, thatbefore
you got your protection in place, you used something like that and reinfected the
system.

There are two possibilities. Either the tools you're using aren't good enough
to stop Virut. Or the reinstallation technique you're using, is missing the
cleanup of something, and you're getting reinfected again. Since that article
above says Virut attacks .exe files, it might be attacking .exe files on
your second hard drive. And even if you reinstall WinXP on C:, perhaps you
clicked on something on the other drive, before you were protected again.

You might benefit from scanning all the media connected to the computer.
Maybe if you clean up all the other partitions, then reinstall C:, you'llbe
in better shape. There are probably a number of ways to do that, and these
are just some that I've tried - someone else may have their own favorites..

*******

You could try something like this. It scans for Windows malware from a Linux
LiveCD. You burn a CD using the downloadable ISO9660 file. (A tool like Nero,
converts the ISO9660 file, into a bootable CD. Or, you could always give a
free burner program like Imgburn a try, and see if it can do the same thing.
There should be something you can get for free, that can burn a bootable CD.
In any case, you don't just "copy" the file to a blank CD, and you need a
burner program to do the conversion.)

http://devbuilds.kaspersky-labs.com/devbuilds/RescueDisk/

    kav_rescue_2008.iso    119,701,504 bytes

When you boot that CD, it will take 5-10 minutes while it downloads 27MB
of fresh virus definitions. It then lists all your partitions, but when it
comes to partition drive letters, it just makes up letters, C:, D:, E:,
for all partitions it can see. For example, my C: drive is actually D:.
If you can't figure out which partition is which, tick all of them and
scan the whole works. Perhaps that way, any .exe files on the other
partitions, will be quarantined.

The program can be slow at times, and if you exit the scanner and start
it again, it will go a bit faster. That is a trick I use to speed up the
scanning rate. The environment has a "Terminal" window in the menu, you
open a terminal and give the command to start the tool again. When you
attempt to scan with it a second time, it will ask whether it should
"resume" from where it left off, and you can say "yes" to that. The
command to start the tool, after you've exited it, is this.

       /usr/bin/kav.exe &

So if it seems to be running slow, don't reboot the computer, just stop
the scanning program, and then start it again from a terminal window.

In any case, be methodical in your approach to reinstalling, to make sure
the problem isn't the same one that happened to you the first time. No
matter what tools you chose to use.

An alternative to that, is to experiment with the Kaspersky "30 day trial".
I used that several years ago, to put a stop to an active infection. And
later purchased a one year subscription. When it came time to renew at
the end of one year, I gave up on it, because the program was just too
"chatty" for words. I tried their tech support, and they didn't think
it was unreasonable for their program to be constantly interrupting
me for nothing. But if you want a free "morning after pill", that is
another alternative. I like their free CD a bit better, because
it doesn't hang around later (even if it isn't giving continuous
protection, and just does scans when I need them).

When I used my "30 day trial" version, it took multiple reboots, until
the infection was removed. The process is not quick or quiet, but it
did seem to be thorough. Like any AV, Kav is intrusive, and does
suck up CPU cycles, but that is the nature of active AV protection.
You might use it to clean up all the partitions on your computer,
and then reinstall C: and wipe out Kav.

    Paul

Thanks.

When things get too complicated reinstalling Windows becomes the best
option.

I had to install twice in one day last month because after the first
installation I downloaded Avast. No other drives were connected to my
pc. My pc kept freezing at the desktop after the Avast install.
(Perhaps it was a bad install?).

What do you think of downloading Anti-Virus and anti-Malware apps to a
USB micro drive, and then after installing Windows again, transferring
the apps from the USB drives to the "C" drive, and then installing
them before I connect to the internet?

Is this even possible?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

 

[Paul]

Thanks.

When things get too complicated reinstalling Windows becomes the best
option.

I had to install twice in one day last month because after the first
installation I downloaded Avast. No other drives were connected to my
pc. My pc kept freezing at the desktop after the Avast install.
(Perhaps it was a bad install?).

What do you think of downloading Anti-Virus and anti-Malware apps to a
USB micro drive, and then after installing Windows again, transferring
the apps from the USB drives to the "C" drive, and then installing
them before I connect to the internet?

Is this even possible?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

I would press and hold down the shift key, when plugging in the USB drive.
That is to prevent any autorun from happening. That is the only precaution I
can think of. (I'm worried about any malware, that could use Autorun as
a way to be awakened.) Note the warning here, that you would need to press
the shift key, until the thing is mounted and recognized. I should probably
have my system set up to have Autorun turned off entirely, because I have
no use for it. If some piece of software needs to be run on my computer,
I'm the one who executes it. I hate "automated surprises".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autorun#Pressing_the_Shift_key

In terms of your hard drive, it is also possible to put multiple
partitions on the drive, and have one of the partitions hold your AV installers.
The exact method you use to do that, will depend on what tools you have at
hand. Your idea, of using the USB, is probably easier to do.

The tricky part of your plan, is knowing whether the files on the USB drive
are clean or not, before you use them (after all, you had "Virut" and it
is supposed to attack *all* the exe files). If a file is small enough, you can
upload it to virustotal.com . Otherwise, you might still benefit from
some other scanning mechanism at your disposal. For me, if I wanted to
do a reinstall, it means I might be using the services of some other
boot environment, as part of preparing for the reinstallation. (The
theory being, that the other boot environment is not infected, so that
a scan could be carried out, files uploaded to virustotal, partitions
prepared and so on.) I have a stack of CDs here, 5 inches high, which
I use for that purpose (many different Linux distros, standalone AV
scanners and so on). I can prepare fresh FAT32 or NTFS partitions,
format them, all from Linux. And download a clean tool using a web
browser etc.

If the AV tool you're using is good enough, it might be sufficient to just
get it to execute, and it could take care of any of the weaker pests. When
I downloaded the trial version of Kaspersky, it managed to do that, but it
took a lot of reboots before things settled down. It must have taken about
three hours, before the whole episode was over. Not all pests are that
easy to shake.

Paul

 

[HeyBub]

Produce one if you know that works.

I don't know of one, but that doesn't mean one doesn't exist! As Ronald
Reagan said: "Those who think there are not simple solutions to complex
problems just haven't tried hard enough."

what problems do you fix with maintenance? Is Slow machines
considered to be a problem?

Rust. Slicing bologna. Gingivitis.

It is you who is confused. Get your boobs enlarged boy!.

I thought about it. If I did, however, I'd stay home all day and play with
them, getting nothing done at all.

 

[Searcher7]

I would press and hold down the shift key, when plugging in the USB drive..
That is to prevent any autorun from happening. That is the only precaution I
can think of. (I'm worried about any malware, that could use Autorun as
a way to be awakened.) Note the warning here, that you would need to press
the shift key, until the thing is mounted and recognized. I should probably
have my system set up to have Autorun turned off entirely, because I have
no use for it. If some piece of software needs to be run on my computer,
I'm the one who executes it. I hate "automated surprises".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autorun#Pressing_the_Shift_key

In terms of your hard drive, it is also possible to put multiple
partitions on the drive, and have one of the partitions hold your AV installers.
The exact method you use to do that, will depend on what tools you have at
hand. Your idea, of using the USB, is probably easier to do.

The tricky part of your plan, is knowing whether the files on the USB drive
are clean or not, before you use them (after all, you had "Virut" and it
is supposed to attack *all* the exe files). If a file is small enough, you can
upload it to virustotal.com . Otherwise, you might still benefit from
some other scanning mechanism at your disposal. For me, if I wanted to
do a reinstall, it means I might be using the services of some other
boot environment, as part of preparing for the reinstallation. (The
theory being, that the other boot environment is not infected, so that
a scan could be carried out, files uploaded to virustotal, partitions
prepared and so on.) I have a stack of CDs here, 5 inches high, which
I use for that purpose (many different Linux distros, standalone AV
scanners and so on). I can prepare fresh FAT32 or NTFS partitions,
format them, all from Linux. And download a clean tool using a web
browser etc.

If the AV tool you're using is good enough, it might be sufficient to just
get it to execute, and it could take care of any of the weaker pests. When
I downloaded the trial version of Kaspersky, it managed to do that, but it
took a lot of reboots before things settled down. It must have taken about
three hours, before the whole episode was over. Not all pests are that
easy to shake.

    Paul

OK. I've re-installed Windows XP. Now I have to figure out how to get
the files back from the unplugged "D" drive and also the three USB
flash drives I have.

Of ocurse I'd have to assume they are infected, but is there an easy
way to transfer my needed files back to "C" without the virus also?

(After re-installation of Windows XP I installed Avast! and Zone
Alarm).

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

 

[20100218]

OK. I've re-installed Windows XP.

Very good. You have at last decided not to follow Pig-Bear with his
non-working, non-tested solutions. He is a Scum-Sucking Pig as far as
users of this NG are concerned.

Of ocurse I'd have to assume they are infected, but is there an easy
way to transfer my needed files back to "C" without the virus also?

They may not be infected but it is always a good idea to be careful I
suggest scan the files with Avast you have recently installed (assuming
it is fully updated) and when you get all clear, you can copy the files
back on to your hard disk.

(After re-installation of Windows XP I installed Avast! and Zone
Alarm).

I am not fond of Zone Alarm because that software may be the culprit to
corrupt windows installation. They are giving away a free software for
something you don't know about. They are not as big as M$ to work for
nothing! Avast is a good Anti-Virus software but you should also
install Microsoft's MSE as a fail-back solution.

hth

 

[Searcher7]

Very good.  You have at last decided not to follow Pig-Bear with his
non-working, non-tested solutions.  He is a Scum-Sucking Pig as far as
users of this NG are concerned.


They may not be infected but it is always a good idea to be careful  I
suggest scan the files with Avast you have recently installed (assuming
it is fully updated) and when you get all clear, you can copy the files
back on to your hard disk.




I am not fond of Zone Alarm because that software may be the culprit to
corrupt windows installation.  They are giving away a free software for
something you don't know about.  They are not as big as M$ to work for
nothing!  Avast is a good Anti-Virus software but you should also
install Microsoft's MSE as a fail-back solution.

hth

Weird. Zone Alarm is the one system maintenance app that I've never
had problems with.

The new installation is all clean after running Avast!

But I'm sure the file on the other drives are not virus free because
those are the drives I had to back up to.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

 

[Robert Macy]

OK. I've re-installed Windows XP. Now I have to figure out how to get
the files back from the unplugged "D" drive and also the three USB
flash drives I have.

Of ocurse I'd have to assume they are infected, but is there an easy
way to transfer my needed files back to "C" without the virus also?

(After re-installation of Windows XP I installed Avast! and Zone
Alarm).

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Apologies for the jump in, but how can a *.txt, or a *.bmp or a *.doc
or a *.xls etc be infected? I thought they were just data files and
as long as the doc and xls don't have macros there can't be any
potential for a virus. Have these files always had the potential to
carry malwares and virii?

Isn't it still possible to ctrl-alt-del and look at what is running
and 'see' if something took over?

Or, do the new forms 'say' they're legitmate applications when they're
not?

 

[Jose]

Weird. Zone Alarm is the one system maintenance app that I've never
had problems with.

The new installation is all clean after running Avast!

But I'm sure the file on the other drives are not virus free because
those are the drives I had to back up to.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

I would run MBAM and SAS as well.

No single application knows about everything and those are my
favorites this week.

 

[Jose]

I would run MBAM and SAS as well.

No single application knows about everything and those are my
favorites this week.

Forgot the links:

Download, install, update and do a full scan with these free malware
detection programs:

Malwarebytes (MBAM): http://malwarebytes.org/
SUPERAntiSpyware: (SAS): http://www.superantispyware.com/

They can be uninstalled later if desired.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Apologies for the jump in, but how can a *.txt, or a *.bmp or a
*.doc or a *.xls etc be infected? I thought they were just data
files and as long as the doc and xls don't have macros there can't
be any potential for a virus. Have these files always had the
potential to carry malwares and virii?

Isn't it still possible to ctrl-alt-del and look at what is running
and 'see' if something took over?

Or, do the new forms 'say' they're legitmate applications when
they're not?

You said it...

"I thought they were just data files..."

All files are just data files. How they are presented to you is determined
by what you view them with.

They can contain a lot of things you probably never see. Some files contain
metadata (use google.) Considering how you can compress files - do you know
how large a file *should* be even? What if I replaced your normal
executable for opening Microsoft Word with one I created that was larger -
but still seemingly acted the same - would you know the difference?

Open an executable file with notepad (pick a smaller one.) Know all that
was there?

You are speaking of "Task Manager" I assume (CTRL+SHIFT+ESC)? There are a
lot of applications that show you running processes - but do you even know
what all *should* be running?

I can write you (handwritten) a letter that says one thing to you - but to
someone else - something entirely different.

What if the application you are using to open things has a known security
flaw that can be taken advantage of? Automatically run something that can
be used to start something else that tagged along and so on?

 

[Rick Merrill]

Forgot the links:

Download, install, update and do a full scan with these free malware
detection programs:

Malwarebytes (MBAM): http://malwarebytes.org/
SUPERAntiSpyware: (SAS): http://www.superantispyware.com/

Agree! These are both great (and free, if you're careful).