Freezing whee doing any malware scans

debodun · Aug 28, 2011

Everything was fine until about a week ago. Now whenever I try to do a quick scan with either MalwareBytes or Microsoft Security Essentials, the HD light comes on steadily and my system totally freezes. I can't stop it, even by pressing the power button - I have to manually unplug the power cord. I have downloaded nothing except Microsoft updates. What could be the problem and is there an easy fix (assume I'm not very computer savvy).

augiedoggie · Aug 28, 2011

debodun said: ↑

Everything was fine until about a week ago. Now whenever I try to do a quick scan with either MalwareBytes or Microsoft Security Essentials, the HD light comes on steadily and my system totally freezes. I can't stop it, even by pressing the power button - I have to manually unplug the power cord. I have downloaded nothing except Microsoft updates. What could be the problem and is there an easy fix (assume I'm not very computer savvy).
Click to expand...

Do the 'read and run' dance man here. This often fixes things but I doubt that's your case. Seek the malware fighters assistance first.

thisisu · Aug 28, 2011

Now whenever I try to do a quick scan with either MalwareBytes or Microsoft Security Essentials, the HD light comes on steadily and my system totally freezes. I can't stop it, even by pressing the power button
Click to expand...

Does it only freeze when you attempt these scans?

Does it freeze when you are just trying to being "idle"?

Just trying to distinguish if this is a hardware or software problem.

TimW · Aug 28, 2011

Does it "freeze" in safe mode?

debodun · Aug 29, 2011

It only freezes when trying to scan with MalwareBytes and MSE. Also, when first booting up, the MSE icon in the Taskbar Systray appears red with a white X in it and later changes to the normal green icon. Before, it would just appear as the normal green icon. As for Safe Mode, I can't get my system to run in this mode.

Kestrel13! · Aug 29, 2011

So look at the link Augie gave in post # 2. Perhaps you should run through our malware removal procedures, run what you can, skip what you canot, and attach logs in a NEW thread in Malware Removal, not here in software. That way we can take a better look at what is going on. If we are seeing no malware then you can return here again to further discuss other causes.

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Freezing whee doing any malware scans

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thisisu Malware Consultant

TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

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Kestrel13! Super Malware Fighter - Major Dilemma Staff Member