topic Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware? in Norton 360

Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

sb_tornado — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:11:44 GMT

Hey there everyone, I've been having a big problem with my new laptop that I bought a few months ago. For the first few weeks I had it it ran no problem. Then it started running brutally slow. To the point I couldn't do something as simple as check email without it taking all day. Anyways, long story short, no hardware faults were found by either the retailer or manufacturer. Virus scans turned up nothing. A system reformat also failed to help. Lately it's been better but still almost unusable because of the slow performance.

Anyways, I've been led to believe that it's some sort of malious virus that an ordinary scan wouldn't pick up, and would even linger after a reformat. I'm not sure, I'm not too knowledgable in such things.

Any help as to how to fix this would be greatly appreiciated. Thanks!

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

dbrisendine — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:50:37 GMT

Please download and run both RootRepeal and GMER as per the instructions below. We are only looking for the log files right now so do not do anything else in GMER.

1. Download to your Desktop "RootRepeal.exe" from http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~crutches/RootRepel

Start it, Click on the "Report" Tab

Select (tick) in the box that appears "Drivers", "Stealth Objects" and "Hidden Services" and click OK

After it scans click "Save Report" and save the txt file; use notepad to copy the info if needed.

2. Download GMER from http://www.gmer.net and then run the program, click "Scan" and then "Save" the log.

Post the logs on the Norton User Forum here in multiple posts. Someone will be back to you after reviewing the logs. Thank you.

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

yogesh_mohan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:56:47 GMT

Can you check whether any particular process or file is using more CPU or Memory Usage in the Task Manager?

Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to start Windows Task Manager. On the Processes tab, click CPU and you can scroll down to find which process is utilizing the CPU. On the same Processes tab, click Mem Usage and scroll down to find which process is utilizing more memory. Let us know the results.

Message Edited by yogesh_mohan on 06-24-2009 08:26 PM

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

sb_tornado — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:34:59 GMT

dbrisendine,

Hello there,

Well, I tried what you suggested but when I try to run the RootRepeal from the desktop I get an error message like this one.

Then the same thing happens whether or not I press Yes or No, I get this message.

Then of course nothing loads up and the program doesn't work. Any suggestions?

<<Edit: Images resized for better viewing>>

Message Edited by TomV on 06-28-2009 05:34 AM

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

sb_tornado — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:45:34 GMT

yogesh_mohan

Hey there,

I looked into the Task Manager and found tha Firefox was said to be using between 18 and 50 of the CPU only when 2 browser windows were active. One being this page, the other being a simple low res YouTube video. When I looked into the Performance Tab I saw that the CPU useage would flucuate up and down quite rapidly between 50% and 97%. Again, only the previously mentioned browser windows were active along with the Task Manager. Nothing taxing on the task bar either.

Going back to what you asked about the Processes Tab, it's Firefox again with explorer.exe behind it using about 5. The memory indicates the same kind of useage.

Not sure if these stats are normal but I know that if I try to load up Facebook or someother program the CPU peaks out to 99% if not 100% and everything slows to a craw and causes video and music to become all staggered and jumpy. Extremely annoying.

Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks!

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

yogesh_mohan — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:43:38 GMT

Try running ChkDisk to see if there is any harddrive problem and then do a disk defragmentation on your computer. Here are the links to Microsoft Articles with detailed instructions. (Both links are for Windows XP, I think it is similar in Windows Vista also).

How to run ChkDisk?

How to Defragment?

If possible, try to remove the windows temporary files before you run the chkdisk scan:

1. Click the Start button and then click All Programs > Accessories > Run.

2. Type %temp% and click OK.

3. In the windows temporary folder, select all files/folders and press Delete.

4. Click Yes to confirm.

After that, check whether the problem(computer slow) still persists.

[Came to know that OS is Vista from the screenshots and so updated with Vista information]

Message Edited by yogesh_mohan on 06-28-2009 06:13 PM

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

delphinium — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:38:08 GMT

sb_tornado:

If necessary, go into safe mode in order to provide the Rootrepeal and GMER logs. Some rootkits are able to survive reformatting, depending on the procedure used. The links are in Dbrisendine's post. Please post the logs using the attachment link below the post button.

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

sb_tornado — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:18:19 GMT

yogesh_mohan,

I tried doing what you suggested and no luck. It's still lagging significantly. Thanks though. And yah the OS is Vista, 64-bit I believe.

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

sb_tornado — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:24:54 GMT

delphinium,

I tried to run the Rootrepeal in Safe Mode but I got the same error message as before.

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

dbrisendine — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:19:19 GMT

Did you try to scan with GMER?

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

sb_tornado — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:43:24 GMT

Hmmm, yeah I tried the GMER as well, but it came up with nothing. Still lagging pretty bad though...

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

dbrisendine — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:56:33 GMT

Please post the GMER log.

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

sb_tornado — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:01:04 GMT

GMER came up with nothing. However, it will only allow me to scan Services, Registry and Files, nothing near the top of the list like Systems or Devices. Not sure if that's normal or what though.

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

delphinium — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:55:05 GMT

sb_tornado:

It is better than what we have right now. If we can't see it, we can't move on to something else. It's your call. Certain things we need to see in order to be of assistance. Usually the top part of GMER runs and not the bottom. Quite unusual.

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

sb_tornado — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:08:40 GMT

Well, I'm not sure what's going on, maybe it has something to do with GMER only being able to scan those bottom three criteria but there's no log that appears at the end of the scan. I would gladly post it, because I've seen examples of the logs that are created at the end of the scan but I don't have a thing. Ideas?

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

dbrisendine — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:10:57 GMT

Can you boot into Safe Mode and run GMER?

Boot into Safe Mode:
Start your system and tap the F8 key until the Advanced Options Menu appears. Using the arrow keys, select Safe Mode (no networking or command prompt) and press ENTER.

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

sb_tornado — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:39:36 GMT

Alright I tried that and the scan does pretty much the same thing. It also says it didn't find any problems.

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

delphinium — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 05:05:07 GMT

sb_tornado

Could you try to download Malwarebytes. When the download package comes up, save it as tornado. Once it is installed, go into the program and change the .exe file to the same name. See if you can get that to run.

http://www.malwarebytes.org

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

delphinium — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:29:42 GMT

Also sb_tornado, try to run this newer version of Rootrepeal to see if we can get more info.

http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~crutches/RootRepel/

The instructions:

Click on "Report"

Select all the boxes

Then your HD.

Then click scan

Attach the log using the attachment log you will find below the post button.

Re: Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

kanthony92 — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:18:41 GMT

try running malwarebytes anti malware from this link http://www.malwarebytes.org don't forget to post the log