today all of a sudden my computer froze when i went to a website. i thought no big deal and tried to end the firefox browser program, but that didn't work, so i restarted.

once restarted, it was running really slow. the mouse moved, i could open the start menu, but no programs started.

i tried restoring, and it seemd to go through the process, but once restarted it was just back to being normal and slow, it didn't say the usual "windows has restored your computer...". my antivirus program won't run. i booted windows in safe mode (which i'm in now, that's the only way i can get programs to open), and ran a virus check through the trend micro site, and they said there's no viruses.

i ran scan disk, but it's still not working right. any ideas?

 

sounds liek you got a virus... time for a wipe of the HD im afraid....

 

http://www.totaldisarray.com/vids/callonme.wmv

 

spyware, spyware, spyware...

check out the pc tips, follow the stuff in there, should get you cleaned up... formatting is a bit drastic.. and it takes a good chunk of your day to do.


*edit* the movie not working for me?
*edit2* lol, guess i need to read more often (thought it was just microsoft)

 

Ummm... there are a number of things to look at before you wipe the drive.


Things are "fine" speed wise in safe mode, right? If so, then you know that you have a reasonably clean baseline machine, and one or more "something's" are loading in normal mode that is dragging the machine down.

It's a matter of identifying what's getting loaded and then stopping it from happening.


Outside of virus stuff, have you run AdAware, or any of the spyware catchers? That should be your next step.

Run them from safemode, if they find stuff (and I'd bet they will) take the requisite action to delete EVERYTHING they find. Reboot to normal mode and check the progress. if the symptoms are still there, go back to safemode and run them again. If they find the same things the 2nd time in safemode, then they're replicating themselves and you may have to wander a bit from safemode to get rid of the replicator.

Also, the next time that you're in normal mode, then hit Start Button | Run | MSCONFIG. From MSCONFIG, click on the STARTUP tab, and note all the things that have checkmarks in the box on the left. See if any of those don't make sense to you. If NONE of them do, then please take screen shots and post them back into the thread; I'll help you work through them.


You'll need to have some paitence though. I'm out for most of the day tomorrow (Saturday) and probably won't be back online until at least 8pm pacific.


Hang in there... don't wipe the drive just yet!

 

better get a new computer just kidding do what midiwall sugested and you should be good also run a virus scan just to be safe try panda . just so you know how to get into safe mode hit f8 when windows is starting up

good luck

 

click my link again, and read what the page says....

 

ROFL. btw cute baby

 

thanks... yeah she is cute..... i htink i will keep her

 

lol, shows how often i read the details when it appears to be a microsoft error message.

 

I'd TRY to run everything in safe mode, virus scan, spyware scan....even though 70% of spyware doesnt load in safemode anyway..I seriously doubt you'll easily find the problem in safemode though since your computer is running fine in safemode its not loading the problem....But its worth a shot.....

You can also download a program called Security Task Manager...It will show you what processes are running like the regular task manager. Except this will tell you exactly what the process is, how dangerous it is, and what its doing.....Only problem is you'll probably need to run it out of safe mode and if your computer is that slow it might be impossible....

I'd also think about reformating, some people here say thats a big deal and I guess it kinda is. But I can reformat and install just about everything back onto a system in an hour or so. That also gives me the perfect opertunity to download all the latest drivers and everything....

 

A good spyware (detector) app will walk through the registry and all of the drive looking for signatures. The spyware doesn't have to be loaded and running for it to be found.


Ummm, if someone is only running one drive in a system, and have 100gig of stuff on it, (OS, apps, data) then it's gonna take a lot longer than an hour to deal with getting it back together.


It can be a HUGE deal for some people.

 

i hate computers.

tried the adaware program, it removed some things. tried panda, it gave me a clean bill of computer health. downloaded the security task manager, nothing seems problematic there.

when i last tried to run this pc in normal mode, i couldn't even open the start menu.

looks like i might have to format this ish, i just hate the time consuming process of reinstalling all my software.

 

Check the PC Tips section and make sure you do everything listed there concerning viruses, spyware, and security.

If you do decide to reformat, after you've reformatted make sure you take all precautions BEFORE connecting to the internet.

 

I've noticed that downloading the latest Critical Windows Updates usually improves performance. Also, the spyware detectors like Ad-Aware and Spybot can take a few days to update their database to find the latest scumware. Keep checking them for updates and try scanning again.

How many here think re-formatting should be done periodically, besides Corey? My XP Pro SP2 box has been great for about 18 months now (knocking on wood) and I'm reluctant to go through the drill if it ain't broke.

 

Depends on how much of a PITA it would be for you to do so. What I've found to be the best way to reformat is to make sure you back up all your important files, as well as your email inbox and contact list and your bookmarks. Then it wouldn't be a bad idea to download all your drivers before the format and burn them onto a CD, so you'll have them ready to go. Also make sure you can re-install any programs you decide you want to keep. Go through them one by one and make a list of those you want and make sure you will be able to re-install.

No matter how many times you do it, you'll always forget something... so just be prepared and plan as much as possible. I also found it helpful to write down a list of steps that I wanted to accomplish in the process. If you've formatted before, this is extremely helpful. If you haven't, it's going to be a learning process, and your number one priority is to make sure all of YOUR work is preserved.

 

Thanks Chris. The one time I did it on my last computer a checklist really helped. That's a good idea about d/l the latest drivers and burn to CD.

So, how do you determine when to re-format? When I run a system check on PC Pitstop the box always checks out in the top tier for it's type.

 

hmmm does he have 100 gig worth of stuff or was that a WAG? If he does which is better spending 5 hours and not being able to fix the problem or spending 5 hours backing up youre stuff and fixing the problem?

I used to run Spyboy in safemode then I found out it would detect about 7 or 8 things not in safe mode. I went to there website and it says for best detection dont run in safe mode. I wasnt making anything up just stating the facts. Of course I dont know how well spybot s&d rates on the scale of anti-spyware detection programs so maybe there is something better.

 

spybot is one of the best, has immunization features to prevent the crap from even getting on the system... if it works fine in safemode, its easily repairable, go through the pc tips (like i mentioned earlier) and follow the steps to clean out the registry and startup (msconfig), and the 'add/remove programs'. then run the spyware app... even if you don't get it ALL, you'll get majority of it, and your system should boot just fine. then when in normal use 'security task manager' (easier then doing it with just task manager) and hunt down all suspicious applications, deleting the .exe's at the source, and in the prefetch fould be... 'filename.exe.pf', (this is the script that activates the executable. here is a link to my post in pc tips, which gives much more detailed instructions.
i used to be a believer of formatting, but when you have 50 programs its a pain, i mean.. i simplified the process down to about 10 min (ghost image) and i have a server i can back all the stuff up to in case my burner isnt working. and even with that ability, i'd rather just clean it up. up to you how you proceed.

as for the windows updates, they have found that sp2 runs the system slightly faster... even though it doesn't support everything (some hardware, some software).

technically, you should never have to, but malicious and hapless people wrote the programs and the os.. so, i'd say annually (usually after that much time, the registry is cluttered with dead links, although.. there are programs that will clean that for you too).. if you want your system to run in tip top shape, or if you get a virus thats un-repairable.(99% are)

 

I personally reformat when I start having problems. I'm good with computers but by no means a programer or anything. Although I can fix most problems when I start having a problem related to viruses or spyware which has only happened once I'll reformat. I pay bills online and buy tons of things online so I dont want to risk having identity theft or something. For me, having 2 computers and 1 with 2 hard drives it makes reformating relatively easy since the extra hard drive contains my downloaded files I dont have hard copies of. I'd suggest looking into another hard drive also so in case you have problems re-formating isnt a big deal.