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Author Topic: Help for technical issues on your PC  (Read 114256 times)

Offline Ellirium113

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Re: Help for technical issues on your PC
« Reply #30 on: May 30, 2012, 12:01:03 pm »
You need to be VERY picky about ANY virus scanner that has that "F" word attached to it...there is a reason it is free and it is not usually to work in your favor. Many Free utilities masquerade as something they are not or will seem to be doing what it is supposed to to the untrained eye. Get familiar with your processes and try using MSCONFIG (run from the start menu run box) to help ID what process is linked to what program and you can also switch them on or off in there for diagnostics. I have had a lot of success with this free online scanner:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Quote
Greetings:

The software we sent you should identify and eliminate any virus without an upgrade.

Your computer:

Microsoft Windows XP
Home Edition
Version 2002
Service Pack 3

76477-OEM-0011903-0011

Tosiba Satellite
Intel(R) Pentium(R)M
Processor 1.86 GH
782 MHZ 0.99 GB of RAM

We suspect that your PC is suffering from lack of horsepower, not a virus.

Although, we question the 0.99 GB RAM.

Please provide more info, like a serial number...

We are here to help.

tfw


We suspect that your PC is suffering from lack of horsepower, not a virus.



1GB of RAM is sufficient to RUN windows XP but not efficiently by any means, this computer would be struggling, sluggish and likely be experiencing a very fragmented hard drive due to the fact it would be relying heavily on virtual memory to make up for the lack of RAM. A fragmented drive can cause a tremendous amount of grief and should have been checked prior to going through the pain of virus scans etc. as this would:

a) Add to TSR programs already running in the background adding to your memory usage which = less useable RAM

b) Virus scanner won't find or fix software issues or performance issues.

Offline Amaterasu

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Re: Help for technical issues on your PC
« Reply #31 on: May 30, 2012, 03:40:00 pm »
Greetings:

My bad... we did not 'send' you anything - we gave you the link to PC TOOLS.

Yup.  And I installed it and ran it.  It found some low risk cookie things and a "Flash" thing.  I could get rid of the cookie things but it would not do the Flash thing.  When I clicked to remove, the cookie things would be reported as removed and that was it.  So I ran it again a couple of days later and it showed the cookie things again and the Flash thing again.  I clicked on the flash item and one option was to remove.  I selected remove, and that's when a window popped up asking Me to upgrade.

Quote
Perhaps the AV scanner is indicating the 'weakest link' in your system through which your computer may be attacked, or you may have a compromised computer.

Regardless, the program should not hold you hostage requiring a tribute to eradicate the scum.

Off with their heads!

Can you send me a screen shot of that warning?

I could run it again and go through all that, I suppose...

Quote
Time to fish or cut bait...

If you find anything, please take a screenshot of the problem before you hit ‘FIX,’ please, and post it here.

I will remember that.  Not used to getting help.  [smile]

Quote
Please DOWNLOAD and INSTALL this:

Comodo Cleaning Essentials

Will do.

Quote
and this:

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Free 1.51

Have done so, and when I ran it, it did not find any Flash things, but DID find nearly 1,000 of this kind of things:

Registry Keys Detected: 38
HKCR\CLSID\{B15FD82E-85BC-430d-90CB-65DB1B030510} (Adware.AskSBAR) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.
HKCR\TypeLib\{F0D4B230-DA4B-4daf-81E4-DFEE4931A4AA} (Adware.AskSBAR) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.
HKCR\Interface\{F0D4B23A-DA4B-4DAF-81E4-DFEE4931A4AA} (Adware.AskSBAR) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.
HKCR\AskSBar.ToolbarPlugin.1 (Adware.AskSBAR) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.
HKCR\AskSBar.ToolbarPlugin (Adware.AskSBAR) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AskSBar Uninstall (Adware.AskSBAR) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.
HKCR\CLSID\{F0D4B231-DA4B-4daf-81E4-DFEE4931A4AA} (Adware.AskSBAR) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{F0D4B231-DA4B-4DAF-81E4-DFEE4931A4AA} (Adware.AskSBAR) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\Settings\{F0D4B231-DA4B-4DAF-81E4-DFEE4931A4AA} (Adware.AskSBAR) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\Stats\{F0D4B231-DA4B-4DAF-81E4-DFEE4931A4AA} (Adware.AskSBAR) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.
HKCR\CLSID\{168DC258-1455-4E61-8590-9DAC2F27B675} (Adware.VideoEgg) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.
HKCR\VideoEgg.ActiveXLoader.1 (Adware.VideoEgg) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.
HKCR\CLSID\{1A8642F1-DC80-4EDC-A39D-0FB62A58B455} (Adware.VideoEgg) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.

Removing them did help a bit, but YouTube still hitches and My computer still slows when I have anything Flash on - and thereafter.

Quote
and this:

Norton Power Eraser

and this:

Norman Malware Cleaner 2.1

And finally, this:

AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012

Will do!

Quote
I have the full, paid-for AVG PC version here somewhere - never used - will find it for you.


Peace Love Light
tfw

Thanks!
« Last Edit: May 30, 2012, 03:49:17 pm by Amaterasu »
"If the universe is made of mostly Dark Energy...can We use it to run Our cars?"

"If You want peace, take the profit out of war."

Offline Amaterasu

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Re: Help for technical issues on your PC
« Reply #32 on: May 30, 2012, 03:55:25 pm »
horse Power can be important BUT a browser and flash plugins should NOT be using 100% of your memory  EVER.

You can use task manager and watch the 'processes' tab and it will show you which program is using that memory. If it is Flash related it will be a plugin container function

JAVA also is a problem with the newer versions. KEYLOGGERS hide in your JAVA internet history and JAVA temp files are NOT automatically cleaned by most cleaners.  I cleared mine manually and turned off "Save temp files" in the JAVA consol

Keyloggers will attach themselves to your logins to sites and make you think the site you are visiting is sending you malware, ads or viruses but in reality it is piggybacking on your browser and recording your logins

HiJack This (not to be used by amateurs is one I recommend you ALL download.  Then you run a scan and post the results  DO NOT push any other buttons on it until you know what to do :P

But a HiJack This log will tell you (and any tech... there are several free HiJack This help forums out there) what is running on your computer and what you should turn off

Here is a sample log I just ran on my PC right now

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.4
Scan saved at 11:29:36 AM, on 5/30/2012
Platform: Windows Vista  (WinNT 6.00.1904)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v8.00 (8.00.6001.18904)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\Windows\system32\Dwm.exe
C:\Windows\system32\taskeng.exe
C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe
C:\Program Files\AVG\AVG10\avgtray.exe
C:\Program Files\IObit\Advanced SystemCare 5\ASCTray.exe
C:\Program Files\Skype\Phone\Skype.exe
C:\Windows\system32\wbem\unsecapp.exe
C:\Program Files\AVG\AVG10\Identity Protection\agent\bin\avgidsmonitor.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugin-container.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugin-container.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe
C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HijackThis\HiJackThis.exe

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ZoneAlarm Client] "C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG_TRAY] C:\Program Files\AVG\AVG10\avgtray.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Advanced SystemCare 5] "C:\Program Files\IObit\Advanced SystemCare 5\ASCTray.exe" /AutoStart
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Skype] "C:\Program Files\Skype\Phone\Skype.exe" /minimized /regrun
O18 - Protocol: linkscanner - {F274614C-63F8-47D5-A4D1-FBDDE494F8D1} - C:\Program Files\AVG\AVG10\avgpp.dll
O18 - Protocol: skype4com - {FFC8B962-9B40-4DFF-9458-1830C7DD7F5D} - C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\Skype\Skype4COM.dll
O23 - Service: Advanced SystemCare Service 5 (AdvancedSystemCareService5) - IObit - C:\Program Files\IObit\Advanced SystemCare 5\ASCService.exe
O23 - Service: AVGIDSAgent - AVG Technologies CZ, s.r.o. - C:\Program Files\AVG\AVG10\Identity Protection\Agent\Bin\AVGIDSAgent.exe
O23 - Service: AVG WatchDog (avgwd) - AVG Technologies CZ, s.r.o. - C:\Program Files\AVG\AVG10\avgwdsvc.exe
O23 - Service: IMF Service (IMFservice) - IObit - C:\Program Files\IObit\IObit Malware Fighter\IMFsrv.exe
O23 - Service: lxcz_device -   - C:\Windows\system32\lxczcoms.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (nvsvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\Windows\system32\nvvsvc.exe
O23 - Service: Skype Updater (SkypeUpdate) - Skype Technologies - C:\Program Files\Skype\Updater\Updater.exe
O23 - Service: TrueVector Internet Monitor (vsmon) - Check Point Software Technologies LTD - C:\WINDOWS\System32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe
O23 - Service: XAudioService - Conexant Systems, Inc. - C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\xaudio.exe

--
End of file - 2494 bytes



If you notice  the04 group  those are the only programs running in my tray  All of them are for protection save skype which runs in background

018 group active link scanning by AVG and Skype waiting for calls

023 are services running in background  Again just protection ones and needed drivers though I did see the last Skype updates added an auto update I will have to turn off :P

O23 - Service: Skype Updater (SkypeUpdate) - Skype Technologies - C:\Program Files\Skype\Updater\Updater.exe

That is all  That is a clean machine report

Under Processes running... 

Running processes:
C:\Windows\system32\Dwm.exe
C:\Windows\system32\taskeng.exe
C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe
C:\Program Files\AVG\AVG10\avgtray.exe
C:\Program Files\IObit\Advanced SystemCare 5\ASCTray.exe
C:\Program Files\Skype\Phone\Skype.exe
C:\Windows\system32\wbem\unsecapp.exe
C:\Program Files\AVG\AVG10\Identity Protection\agent\bin\avgidsmonitor.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugin-container.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugin-container.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe
C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HijackThis\HiJackThis.exe

you will see that any REAL program will identify itself ie. Zone Alarm, AVG, IOBIT etc so you can see at a glance it should be there

Windows processes like taskeng and explorer are obvious but what if you don't recognize one like C:\Windows\system32\wbem\unsecapp.exe

So  take the file name...

unsecapp.exe

and past into google search...  you will find many listings for any file by computer geeks :D

The first one that pops up...

What is unsecapp.exe doing on my computer?
http://www.processlibrary.com/directory/files/unsecapp/25780/

So there you go  DON'T TOUCH IT :P

Sometimes viruses use same name as a legit process. In that case the geeks will tell you that the phoney one will be in a different location, not the legit location

I will have to add these posts to my Computer Health Thread that you all have read by now :P

My friend has a copy of EMSIsoft w/HiJack Free...  That is what He used - updating it first.

I will try the other stuff Thor suggested.  And, yes.  My CPU is OFTEN running at 100% or no less than 90% - but only after I access anything Flash.
"If the universe is made of mostly Dark Energy...can We use it to run Our cars?"

"If You want peace, take the profit out of war."

Offline Amaterasu

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Re: Help for technical issues on your PC
« Reply #33 on: May 30, 2012, 03:58:34 pm »
You need to be VERY picky about ANY virus scanner that has that "F" word attached to it...there is a reason it is free and it is not usually to work in your favor. Many Free utilities masquerade as something they are not or will seem to be doing what it is supposed to to the untrained eye. Get familiar with your processes and try using MSCONFIG (run from the start menu run box) to help ID what process is linked to what program and you can also switch them on or off in there for diagnostics. I have had a lot of success with this free online scanner:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

We suspect that your PC is suffering from lack of horsepower, not a virus.



1GB of RAM is sufficient to RUN windows XP but not efficiently by any means, this computer would be struggling, sluggish and likely be experiencing a very fragmented hard drive due to the fact it would be relying heavily on virtual memory to make up for the lack of RAM. A fragmented drive can cause a tremendous amount of grief and should have been checked prior to going through the pain of virus scans etc. as this would:

a) Add to TSR programs already running in the background adding to your memory usage which = less useable RAM

b) Virus scanner won't find or fix software issues or performance issues.

We have optimized/defragged the HD, as one step in trying to fix the problems.
"If the universe is made of mostly Dark Energy...can We use it to run Our cars?"

"If You want peace, take the profit out of war."

Offline Amaterasu

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Re: Help for technical issues on your PC
« Reply #34 on: May 30, 2012, 04:04:23 pm »
Oh, another weird behavior on My machine...  Other open windows pop up in front of My browser randomly, but only briefly, leaving a "ghost" - the screen has the outline and scroll bar left, which goes away if I scroll it off screen and then back.  Very annoying.
"If the universe is made of mostly Dark Energy...can We use it to run Our cars?"

"If You want peace, take the profit out of war."

Offline burntheships

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Re: Help for technical issues on your PC
« Reply #35 on: May 30, 2012, 05:06:18 pm »
Am,

Thats not a good sign. You need to clean your machine.
Most likely you have a trojan at work, maybe complete
with keylogger and rootkits.

Try the Norton Power Eraser, it worked for me.
Its great.

Previously...I tried a handful of other things,
none of them worked.
« Last Edit: May 30, 2012, 05:08:31 pm by burntheships »
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Offline Amaterasu

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Re: Help for technical issues on your PC
« Reply #36 on: May 30, 2012, 09:34:01 pm »
Getting though all this stuff.  That is next on the list.  Thanks!
"If the universe is made of mostly Dark Energy...can We use it to run Our cars?"

"If You want peace, take the profit out of war."

Offline burntheships

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Re: Help for technical issues on your PC
« Reply #37 on: May 30, 2012, 09:41:32 pm »
If you need any help, just yoo whoo, happy to help if I
maybe of any assistance. I was about ready to throw my
laptop into the woodstove.  ;D
"This is the Documentary Channel"
- Zorgon

Offline undo11

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Re: Help for technical issues on your PC
« Reply #38 on: May 30, 2012, 10:35:13 pm »
 you should probably get rid of zone alarm.  xp already comes with a firewall. you probably have firewall wars going on, on top of everything else. oh wait, that's not on your comp is it ama?
« Last Edit: May 30, 2012, 10:37:41 pm by undo11 »
JOIN THE GAME!
Are you a programmer or 3d modeler?  We need you here: http://www.thelivingmoon.com/forum1/index.php?topic=530.0

Offline Amaterasu

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Re: Help for technical issues on your PC
« Reply #39 on: May 30, 2012, 11:25:29 pm »
Thank You, BTS.  I will ask for help if I need it.

Nope, undo, not Me.  Had ZA on My old desktop but never installed it on this one.
"If the universe is made of mostly Dark Energy...can We use it to run Our cars?"

"If You want peace, take the profit out of war."

Offline undo11

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Re: Help for technical issues on your PC
« Reply #40 on: May 30, 2012, 11:30:22 pm »
Thank You, BTS.  I will ask for help if I need it.

Nope, undo, not Me.  Had ZA on My old desktop but never installed it on this one.

one of things that works sometimes is to disinfect and disinfect again, to be sure the first thing wasn't providing cover for another thing.
JOIN THE GAME!
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Offline zorgon

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Re: Help for technical issues on your PC
« Reply #41 on: May 31, 2012, 12:48:41 am »
  And, yes.  My CPU is OFTEN running at 100% or no less than 90% - but only after I access anything Flash.

Plugin issues then  hogging the CPU

Offline Amaterasu

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Re: Help for technical issues on your PC
« Reply #42 on: May 31, 2012, 07:36:03 am »
Plugin issues then  hogging the CPU

Hmmmm.  I haven't put any plugins on the system Myself in a very long while - at least none I know of.  I ran Comodo and it wanted to get rid of two files:  Photoshop.exe and a minor one that was recently installed from My friend's disk and is trusted - it is one He has had for nearly a decade.  It was added AFTER I started having the issues, so...  [shrug]  Haven't even put plugins into Photoshop for a couple of years, and the issues I am having started long after those added filter plugins were put in place.  Weird.

Since I need Photoshop, I did not remove it and since I trust the other program, and since I trust the other I did not remove it either.

I have heard that there was/(still is?) an issue with virii being attached to Flash elements.  That is what I suspect I got.  PC Tools found exactly what I suspected before I ran it, but will not remove it without money...  So...  So far the only program that finds a Flash issue won't get rid of it for Me.
"If the universe is made of mostly Dark Energy...can We use it to run Our cars?"

"If You want peace, take the profit out of war."

shawnsdada

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Re: Help for technical issues on your PC
« Reply #43 on: June 05, 2012, 10:40:02 pm »
The best way to get vids off YouTube, if you have Flash issues, is to use a browser plugin that adds a "Download Video" button directly under the video player and disbale Flash. That's what I do in Firefox when I want to download for later viewing I just don't disable Flash because I have zero issues with it.

Some things I think need mentioning though:

Someone said 1 gig of ram isn't enough for XP? It's more than enough. Vista or Windows 7, they require 1 gig minimum. Now if you do a lot of photo/video editing, I'm talking pics that can be hundreds of megs in size or even a gig. Then yeah, 1 gig of ram with XP is too low. For video watching and any other basic usage, perfectly fine.

Don't waste money buying any ram for a system that's running XP. You could go buy Windows 7 or even a small netbook for just a little bit more. Hell or give one of the many distros of Linux a try.

2.) The only thing getting rid of that Flash connected virus or whatever it is would be a complete system restore. Not the built in Windows restore stuff. The full blown system format. Usually there's a restore disc or hard drive partition included on the PC to do it. No anti-virus out there is perfect.

That's my 2 cents worth

Offline Amaterasu

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Re: Help for technical issues on your PC
« Reply #44 on: June 06, 2012, 01:07:03 am »
Thanks for that.  [smile]  I can't reformat because I would lose all My software and I am jobless, homeless and penniless and can't replace it.  A good deal was given to Me when somebody bought new stuff, and when I went homeless, I lost the disks.

Not sure if that's what You're talking about...  At this point, I have done a few things that seem to have fixed most of My issues.  Still having some vid issues, but they have lessened.
"If the universe is made of mostly Dark Energy...can We use it to run Our cars?"

"If You want peace, take the profit out of war."

 


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