Computer running very slow, Probably Malware?

sb_tornado · ‎06-23-2009

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!

dbrisendine · ‎10-06-2008

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.

yogesh_mohan · ‎07-29-2008

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

sb_tornado · ‎06-23-2009

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

sb_tornado · ‎06-23-2009

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!

yogesh_mohan · ‎07-29-2008

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

delphinium · ‎11-21-2008

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.

Under certain circumstances profanity provides relief denied even to prayer.
Mark Twain