Fixed: Problem with skipping computer.

[potsos]

Good afternoon.

First of all, I used the wonderful FAQ listed above to rid my computer of several virii that were giving me a fit. Much appreciated. However, after moving my computer from one location to another, I found that it now "skips" six times roughly 50 seconds apart. It affects every action I take, including the cursor (when it skips, the cursor disappears and reappears a half second later) and any program I have open. It's incredibly annoying. I have tried everything within my limited knowledge to remedy this problem to no avail.

I have run all the spyware programs, disk scan, defrag, diagnostics, system restored to several different dates, removed and replaced every possible component and air blasted every piece inside. Nothing. The skip remains.

My layman's guess is that it has something to do with my hard drive, since the skipping has a definite pattern.

I have an eMachine, running windows XP. 1000 RAM, 3.0 Celeron. Radeon 9200 3D. If anyone has a clue as to what is happening, my thanks in advance.

[potsos]

A) I am using an Athlon, not Celeron.
B) Bump.

[potsos]

Please folks, I am begging for anyone with ANY possible fixes to respond. Pretty please?

[chaslang]

Have you tried shutting down various running applications to see if any of them are responsible? And what do you mean "skip"? Do you mean freezes?
Shut down one at a time, your AV, your spyware block/scanners, etc?

[potsos]

It skips regardless of how many or how few programs are running. It skips in safe mode.

As for the skip ... imagine dragging your cursor slowly across the screen; when the skip occurs, the cursor briefly disappears and reappears roughly half a second later, further across the screen. It does this six times, at patterned intervals, roughly every minute. The cursor skips, any programs open "skip" also. For instance, if a game is open, the entire game will stutter along with the cursor on the same pattern.

Here is a list of things I have done:

Multiple System Restores to different dates.
Windows Defrag
3rd party Defrag
Disk Scan
Run over 20 anti-spyware programs, including the full FAQ from this site.
Opened casing and removed and replaced every removable piece.
Air blasted the entire computer.

There are other things I've done that I can't recall at the moment, but suffice it to say, I have literally given up trying to fix this myself. I took it to a friend of mine who is a computer whiz and he was also unable to fix or even diagnose the problem.

[chaslang]

It does not sound like malware, but let's check a little deeper.

Have you run Ewido Security Suite?

Please follow the below steps exactly.

- Download HijackThis 1.99.1

- Unzip the hijackthis.exe file to a folder you create named C:\Program Files\HJT

- Do NOT run Hijack This from the Desktop, a temp folder, or a sub-folder of C:\Documents and Settings, or choose to run it directly from the downloaded ZIP file.

- Before running HijackThis: You must close each of the following:your web browser, e-mail client, instant messenger, and programs like notepad, wordpad, MS Word etc. And any other unnecessary running programs.

- Run HijackThis and save your log file.

- Post your log as an ATTACHMENT to your next message. (Do NOT copy/paste the log into your post).

[potsos]

I will try this, but since I cannot get online on that computer (unrelated to the problem), it may take me some time.

[chaslang]

You did not mention before that you had problems getting online!

No rush! Just post back when you are able to complete the steps. Perhaps you can write what you need to a CD and get it onto the problem PC that way. Obviously you will not be able to do the update to Ewido if you cannot get on line so just run it as is.

[potsos]

I haven't been able to run Hijack This on my computer, but I do believe I have figured out a valuable clue.

I thought I had fixed the problem yesterday. When I set the computer to safe mode without networking, the skips disappeared. Then, after rebooting in regular mode, it remained gone! I was elated.

Today, I brought the computer to work with me to test it out. I plugged in and turned it on and everything was fine -- until I enabled the wireless connection. As soon as I did, the skips returned and I was unable to connect to the wireless network.

I am sick and tired -- completely fed up with this. I have been trying to remedy it for over a month and I've just had it. I have exhausted my limited knowledge and I'm fairly sure a virus has been ruled out. I give up. If anyone has another idea, I'd love to hear it. Otherwise, thanks for the help. Take care.

[potsos]

Ok, after cooling off and doing so more tests, I have found that the computer ONLY skips when my wireless connection is enabled. As soon as I disable it, the problem disappears. Unfortunately, my thing is internet gaming, and without being able to connect to the internet, I may as well not even be on the thing.

I am guessing that because I was first connecting to a wireless router at my apartment and now I'm trying to connect to a different wireless network at work, my wireless connection has to be reconfigured or maybe the ethernet card is screwed up completely.

[chaslang]

I think you need to discuss this further in the Software Forum or in the Hardware Forum. This is not an issue for the Spyware Forum. But yes, not all wireless networks use the same channels or encryption keys so you may have to reconfigure it.

But I'm curious, is your mouse wireless?

[potsos]

Hello all. I just recently figured out the problem with my "skipping" computer and I'd like to share the information for anyone who might run into this rare but frustrating problem.

With Windows XP, when you enable a LAN or wireless connection but have no way to finish that connection or have a cable unplugged, your computer may "skip" on a set cycle. The skipping affects everything you do on the computer.

This confounded me for weeks until I finally figured it out. Almost no information exists on the web for this problem, so I wanted to post it here, in case anyone else ever experienced something similar.

Thanks to everyone here who offered their help. Take care!

[chaslang]

Thanks for posting the information!