OverClocked ReMix...

prophetik music · #1 12-05-2006, 01:09 PM

so, i've got this problem with windows. every time i start my computer, windows explorer (the GUI interface, not IE) jumps to 100% CPU usage. my computer isn't thinking or anything, it just doesn't DO anything. it acts like it's running some really huge processes, but the 'thinking' light doesn't even turn on, and the computer just lags really really bad. so i close 'explorer' with the task manager, and it runs fine. i've got more than a gig of ram in this computer, i've got a huge amount of space on my hard drive, i virus-scan my computer every week, and i know there's no spam on it.

i THINK this started after running what turned out to be a bad keygen which tried to install a bunch of viruses on my computer. virus checker caught them before they were installed, and i was fine. this started about 2 weeks after that.

what's causing my CPU problem? it's REALLY annoying not being able to access my icons in the desktop, and all that. does anyone have any idea?

please just don't tell me to buy a mac, or run linux. i want a solution, not a retarded answer.

phill · #2 12-05-2006, 05:37 PM

First, make sure you have your windows disk handy (that or a disk with the I386 folder on it), and go 'Start>>Run' and type in 'sfc /scannow'. This will check your system files and make sure that none of them have been altered, if any have it will ask for your windows disk and it will then replace the system file with a good version.

Update your virus scanner, and malware scanners, boot into safe mode and do a complete scan with the new defs (make sure to disable sys restore)

after that, you can always try a repair install

Smoke · #3 12-05-2006, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Prophet of Mephisto

the 'thinking' light

That's your IDE activity LED. Your computer cannot think, it can only calculate. And your system can be performing massive calculations without the IDE LED even blinking. It just indicates disk activity.

But yeah, full spyware/adware scan with various scanning programs, and try a different virus scanner. Which one are you running at the moment?

Also fun to try: Start > Run > msconfig

Check the Startup tab for anything unusual, if required you can always expand the Command section to see the folder it's loading from. Google is your friend here as well.

prophetik music · #4 12-06-2006, 01:49 AM

i'm running windows xp home edition with service pack 2, and i'm running norton antivirus/internet security. i did a super-scan in safe mode, and it only detected one thing - an adware thing called zangosearch which i've found before. i took it off, and restarted my computer, only to have it jump up to 100% cpu usage with explorer again.

i'm currently locating some discs for the windows file protection utility now.

this is SO annoying. i think it's causing my extreme lag when i play my mmorpg, as well, because i'm having trouble getting anything going lately with that either, and it's roughly mirrored the worsening of my computer's condition.

prophetik music · #5 12-06-2006, 02:28 AM

definitely don't have the discs i need for it. i'm running windows defender and the malicious software tool that windows puts out right now, so we'll see what they say.

prophetik music · #6 12-06-2006, 03:32 AM

apparently, it's caused because of the only virus i can find on my computer...'smitfraud'.

Smoke · #7 12-06-2006, 02:47 PM

Do you happen to have another virusscanner installed along with Norton? Norton tends to not play nice with anything else that's a virusscanner, and it's a known issue. Only way to resolve it is by disabling one of the two(Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services)

avaris · #8 12-06-2006, 05:16 PM

http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx

That's an online virus scanner. Many IT professionals use it when cleaning up computers.

Smoke · #9 12-06-2006, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avaris

http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx

That's an online virus scanner. Many IT professionals use it when cleaning up computers.

I guess that's why the first thing it tells me is that I must run IE4.0 or above on a Windows system.

avaris · #10 12-07-2006, 03:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smoke

Quote:

Originally Posted by avaris

http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx

That's an online virus scanner. Many IT professionals use it when cleaning up computers.

I guess that's why the first thing it tells me is that I must run IE4.0 or above on a Windows system.

Hey it's free ain't it? Besides if you don't have IE4 by now

E-Trust prob came about before firefox and some of the other browsers started to take over, hence it's only compatible with IE.

Another more user friendly solution is Trend PCilin. It's another anti-virus program you can use. It uses up a helluva lot less system resources than norton, and is about like $30. Try to find a demo of it somewhere so you can run a scan.