Computer running slow.. Malware to blame?

Discussion in 'Malware Help - MG (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by dbaggers, Aug 25, 2010.

  1. dbaggers

    dbaggers Private E-2

    Hello all at Major Geeks,
    I've used computers for ages, but I'm a complete newbie at forums & chatrooms so please be gentle with me!

    My computer is a 4yr old sony vaio & it has been great, but recently it has been getting slower & slower. It takes a long time to boot up & it seems to go through periods of intense hard drive activity when I'm not really doing much.

    This periodic HDD activity still occurs even if I'm not running outlook, & even if I disconnect from the internet, & when it happens it slows the computer down to almost a standstill.

    (Its reminiscent of the olden days when RAM was in short supply & the HDD was used up in swapping files around etc...)

    I ran the 6 steps before I ran the XP cleaning procedure & I've attached my log files below. (another post will follow to complete the attachments)

    I couldn't see anything flagged in the log files - but then again I don't really know what I'm looking for.

    Could you take a peek at them & let me know if you think its malware or possibly hardware related?

    Many thanks in advance...
    Dbaggers
     

    Attached Files:

  2. dbaggers

    dbaggers Private E-2

    Hi folks,
    err... now I'm feeling a little foolish... I was plannign to attach the file, but I can't find the log file from my superantispyware scan.
    I ran the scan using the options suggested ( Unchecked & checked the boxes mentioned etc) & ran the complete scan.
    I recall that it told me that no threats were found, but I thought it still saved the log automatically in its directory & now I can't find the SASlog.txt file....
     
  3. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    One of your probems is you are trying to run Norton with only this much RAM:
    Code:
    Total Physical Memory    512.00 MB    
    Available Physical Memory    57.74 MB
    Do you know what these are ( they were all installed on the 24th):
    C:\WINDOWS\drvr166
    C:\WINDOWS\kds32
    C:\WINDOWS\stmp622
    C:\WINDOWS\sys2214

    If not, then delete them.

    Tell me what issue you are now having.

    I also would suggest that you use a start up manager:
    Startup_CPL
     
  4. dbaggers

    dbaggers Private E-2

    Hi Guys, apologies for the dead air - I upgraded my RAM and deleted the files you listed.Things have certainly improved, but fundamentally I'm still limited by the hardware & the demands made of it by Norton etc...
    Thanks again !
     
  5. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    I would recommend removing Norton and going with either Avast, Microsoft Security Essentials or Avira.
    They are less resource hungry.

    And you are welcome. If you are not having any other malware problems, it is time to do our final steps:

    1. We recommend you keep SUPERAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for scanning/removal of malware. Unless you purchase them, they provide no real time protection. They do not use any significant amount of resources ( except a little disk space ) until you run a scan.We recommend them for doing backup scans when you suspect a malware infection.
    2. If we had you use ComboFix, uninstall ComboFix (This uninstall will only work as written if you installed ComboFix on your Desktop like we requested.)
      • Click START then RUN and enter the below into the run box and then click OK. Note the quotes are required
      • "%userprofile%\Desktop\combofix" /uninstall
        • Notes: The space between the combofix" and the /uninstall, it must be there.
        • This will uninstall ComboFix and also reset hidden files and folders settings back to Windows defaults.


    3. Go back to step 6 of the READ ME and renable your Disk Emulation software with Defogger if you had disabled it.
    4. Any other miscellaneous tools we may have had you install or download can be uninstalled and deleted.
    5. If we had you download any registry patches like fixme.reg or fixWLK.reg (or any others), you can delete these files now.
    6. If running Vista, it is time to make sure you have reenabled UAC by double clicking on the C:\MGtools\enableUAC.reg file and allowing it to be added to the registry.
    7. Go to add/remove programs and uninstall HijackThis.
    8. Goto the C:\MGtools folder and find the MGclean.bat file. Double click on this file to run this cleanup program that will remove files and folders related to MGtools and some other items from our cleaning procedures.
    9. If you are running Win 7, Vista, Windows XP or Windows ME, do the below:
      • Refer to the cleaning procedures pointed to by step 7 of the READ ME
        for your Window version and see the instructions to Disable System Restore which will flush your Restore Points.
      • Then reboot and Enable System Restore to create a new clean Restore Point.

    10. After doing the above, you should work thru the below link:




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