Computer slows down due to simple tasks

Discussion in 'Malware Help - MG (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by smithers, Mar 1, 2011.

  1. smithers

    smithers Private E-2

    This problem began about a year ago. My laptop began to slow to an unusable crawl after doing simple things such as viewing a video or playing music on iTunes for more than a few minutes. When this happened, the CPU usage shot up to 100% and the computer slowed way down - videos and keyboard/mouse actions became very laggy and I really couldn't use the computer for anything. Waiting for a while fixed the issue and allowed me to use the computer for very simple tasks such as word processing and web browsing. My best guesses for possible causes are: 1) I lent the computer to someone for a few hours right before it happened and don't know everything they did with it, and 2) the computer may have been used to download movies from torrents around this time.

    I let it go for a while, then six months ago I ran some unsuccessful scans and, being fed up, reinstalled the operating system. This made things noticeably better and allowed me to view videos on youtube or vlc player, but running iTunes for more than 30 minutes or so still caused the same problem. About 3 months ago, I went through many of the steps mentioned on this site but didn't finish the process. I believe this caused another slight improvement, but if so it was very minor, and the problem persists. Taxing the computer too much (even something as simple as an online game can do it) causes the computer to slow to a crawl, while the CPU usage goes to 100% (the memory usage remains at 1.6 GB out of 4GB).

    I've now gone completely through the "READ & RUN ME FIRST" process again so everything should be up to date, and I've attached the recent logs. I believe that the only log I still have from when I originally ran the scans three months ago is the malwarebytes log; hopefully I didn't lose any valuable information from the others.

    My computer is:
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
    Intel Core 2 Duo 2.20GHz
    4GB Ram

    I'd appreciate any ideas on how to proceed, as I am at a loss. Thanks for your time.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Kestrel13!

    Kestrel13! Super Malware Fighter - Major Dilemma Staff Member

    I am not seeing any malware. I see a remaining service from symantec which needs stopping and a couple dead BHO's we can be rid of however apart from that there is nothing more I can do, so you will have to post in the software section regarding your problems.

    Now we need to use ComboFix
    • Make sure that combofix.exe that you downloaded while doing the READ & RUN ME is on your Desktop but Do not run it!
      • If it is not on your Desktop, the below will not work.
    • Also make sure you have shut down all protection software (antivirus, antispyware...etc) or they may get in the way of allowing ComboFix to run properly.
    • If ComboFix tells you it needs to update to a new version, make sure you allow it to update.
    • Open Notepad and copy/paste the text in the below quote box. Ensure you scroll down to select ALL the lines:
    Code:
    KILLALL::
    
    Driver::
    Norton Internet Security
    Registry::
    [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{F866DC5B-A053-40B9-BCDE-375ED3441201}]
    [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{F866DC5B-A053-40B9-BCDE-375ED3441201}]
    Folder::
    c:\program files (x86)\Norton Internet Security
    
    • Save the above as CFscript.txt and make sure you save it to the same location (should be on your Desktop) as ComboFix.exe
    • At this point, you MUST EXIT ALL BROWSERS NOW before continuing!
    • You should have both the ComboFix.exe and CFScript.txt icons on your Desktop.
    • Now use your mouse to drag CFscript.txt on top of ComboFix.exe

      [​IMG]

    • Follow the prompts.
    • When it finishes, a log will be produced named c:\combofix.txt

    Note:

    Do not mouseclick combofix's window while it is running. That may cause it to stall.

    If after running Combofix you discover none of your programs will open up, and you recieve the following error: "Illegal operation attempted on a registry key that has been marked for deletion". Then the answer is to REBOOT the machine, and all will be corrected.

    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 protection. They do not use any significant amount of resources ( except a little disk space ) until you run a scan.
    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:
     
  3. smithers

    smithers Private E-2

    Ok, thanks for taking a look. I'm not sure what "dead BHO's" means. Was that taken care of in the ComboFix run with the .txt file or do I need to do something else to take care of that and the symantec service?

    Also, it seems to me that this is more likely a hardware problems than a software problem because it occurs across a variety of programs, so I should probably start in the hardware forum. Am I off base in thinking that? Is there something I'm missing that indicates that it could be a software problem?
     
  4. Kestrel13!

    Kestrel13! Super Malware Fighter - Major Dilemma Staff Member

    Broken browser helper object(s).
    Yes that would have been taken care of with the last fix.
    If you wish to post in hardware then do so, if you wish to post in software...same. :)
     

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