PC slowing down to a crawl

[Guest carywinton]

The most simple method for detecting a rogue background program issue is to merely open up Task Manager and look at the "Processes" tab, if there is a process taking a large amount of CPU cycles than there is a possible malware (Spyware and Rootkit Virus) working in the background. Look at the "Performance" tab, there should not be CPU usage above 5-15% with the system not doing anything, if this is high, 75-90% then there is most definitely a problem. For every system that comes in here for service, this is the first thing I look for, when it is high, it is best to start the data backup and migration process, move everything you need or want saved to a flash drive or external drive. Then do a "Factory" restore, not a Windows Restore. One of the first things a Root Kit or Virus does is corrupt the files in the Windows Restore folders and files.

I hope this helps you isolate the problem, let me know if I can help you further.

[RitualClarity]

 

Then do a "Factory" restore

You mean a clean install from backup or windows disk correct. Other words a "bare metal restore"?

[Guest carywinton]

 

 

Then do a "Factory" restore

You mean a clean install from backup or windows disk correct. Other words a "bare metal restore"?

 

 

A Factory restore can be done using the hidden partition usually installed by default with a major manufacturer's like Dell, HP. etc. You can also accomplish a Factory install using a CD/DVD set made from the system if is a major brand made computer. If is a specialty built system then use the regular Windows OS CD/DVD and make sure to pick "Advanced" installation options and delete the partition for the effected hard drive, recreate partition with recommended settings and install. Prior to Windows Vista a "Flat" install could be done which was really fast, by merely copying over the necessary Cab files to the clean hard drive partition and installing from there, never looked up if this is still possible with Vista, 7, or 8.

[RitualClarity]

I prefer to do a low level format for my computer if I really suspect that there is anything on the drive. Sure a format could remove and should remove anything but It takes a few more minutes but I am sure.

 

thanks for the clarification carywinton. There are many terms for the same thing in the tech world.. always good to upgrade the vocab. Oh, never tried the Cab files trick. Always was the regular way ( hard way)

[chevyowner]

If you are truly using a "low level" format depending on the size of the hard drive a low level format can take hours. I tried that with 3TB HDD I gave up after 5 hours of formatting. A true low level format will write 0s to the entire drive.

 

There are many people that agree with this, but Windows Update breaks things. Do I use Windows update? No. Do I update Windows? Yes, I have a Windows Update downloader and merge those updates into my install media. Windows system restore also breaks things.

 

Viruses are not sent to your computer VIA your IP, well unless someone is trying to hack into your PC movie style. Viruses are normally part of an ad, download, or torrent.

[windu190]

Well I have found out one thing. It only happens when using Steam. Sometimes on startup, sometimes when I do several things on steam at once. 

Haven't used steam in a week now and not a single problem, just started steam and within minutes my PC had the same problem. As far as I can remember everytime it happened so far was when I was working with steam. Going to try reinstalling steam. 

[windu190]

Did not seem to fix it. Steam works but as soon as I start downloading a game my PC starts to slow down again. Luckily a bit slower than before so I was able to quickly shut steam down before my PC locked up completely. 

[tasadeus]

Well I have found out one thing. It only happens when using Steam. Sometimes on startup, sometimes when I do several things on steam at once. 

Haven't used steam in a week now and not a single problem, just started steam and within minutes my PC had the same problem. As far as I can remember everytime it happened so far was when I was working with steam. Going to try reinstalling steam. 

 

 

Did not seem to fix it. Steam works but as soon as I start downloading a game my PC starts to slow down again. Luckily a bit slower than before so I was able to quickly shut steam down before my PC locked up completely. 

 

hey windu,

 

Can you post your basic pc specs. I'm not trying to be noisy but if we know the hardware and basic cpu format information that can also help alleviate the problem.

Sorry if I am asking personal specs. Just thinking it might not just be a malware or trojan. But might sound like a overloaded or might be something technical vs the scan.

If you need to message me on forums via post board.

 

Hoping you get the problem fixed soon,

Tasadeus

[Rayblue]

Well I have found out one thing. It only happens when using Steam. Sometimes on startup, sometimes when I do several things on steam at once. 

Haven't used steam in a week now and not a single problem, just started steam and within minutes my PC had the same problem. As far as I can remember everytime it happened so far was when I was working with steam. Going to try reinstalling steam. 

 

Just also noticed that the icon changed color somewhat.

[Minoumimi]

you maybe caught the same virus has me,

doesnt look has bad has what i had but looks very similar

everytime i would plug in my internet cable my pc would load and download so much i couldnt even get microsoft essential to fix it or open a game of chess

I couldn't find any running process's i couldn't do anything

my only option was to reinstall windows without loosing my 800gig of Meshes and textures im not finished with =x

i cant afford a format so i just reinstall windows over it,

if reinstalling steam doesnt work Id suggest a Fresh widows install

Everything you have will end up in a folder called Windows.OLD

Well if u have nothing to loose go ahead and format

 

Try to see if it does this only with the internet plugged in

if it doesnt lag when u start pc without internet plugged in then its the same virus i had and only windows essential can find and remove it

 

if you say its steam then try running steam in offline mode and launch a game

if u get no problem while offline then you have that same internet usage virus where the second you use bandwith it locks your pc 

and your hard drive keeps on loading and loading

 

if not your only option is microsoft essentials

it is apparently the only one able to find and remove this problem 

 

 

[Pixie-K]

Another thing you should immediately do is go to Add/Remove programs, and look in the list for anything you didn't install, taking care to look at date of install for each. If you see anything from CONDUIT especially, kill it with fire and nuclear warfare immediately, as it will constantly let in spy/ad/malware without you knowing.

[windu190]

My specs are:

 

Windows 7 Home Premium 64bits

Intel Core i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz (8 CPUs)

16384MB RAM

DirectX 11

Nvidea GeForce GTX 660

 

All drivers up-to-date as far as I know. Already did a thorough scan for virusses and malware with several programs that were recommended to me earlier in this thread. Also didn't find any software programs I did not install myself. 

 

I will try using steam in offline mode, see if that changes anything. 

[tasadeus]

windu it sounds like it might be a mod conflict or probably a hardware issue. Did any of your other games or programs act like this. Try renaming the mesh and texture folders and seeing if that changes anything and run skyrim on base dlc's and esm files. If steam locks up or the game locks after that its probably a hardware or software issue. If nothing else works you may have to purge the entire game from your hard disk and defrag it. I wish you luck and hope this helps.

[windu190]

windu it sounds like it might be a mod conflict or probably a hardware issue. Did any of your other games or programs act like this. Try renaming the mesh and texture folders and seeing if that changes anything and run skyrim on base dlc's and esm files. If steam locks up or the game locks after that its probably a hardware or software issue. If nothing else works you may have to purge the entire game from your hard disk and defrag it. I wish you luck and hope this helps.

 

It only happens with Steam and only when I'm not running any games. It never happened while running a game before. If I manage to get through the process of starting steam and launch a game I'm in the "safe zone" sort of..

 

I'm running steam in Offline mode now. No problems so far but we will see how it goes. 

[DJFrosted]

first things first..

 

A reformat and clean isntall will eliminate probably like 80% of your problems

 

For that you'll need to also...

 

A.)Do a disc check before you reformat and check for any errored sectors and read / write errors.

 

B.) Make sure your PC isn't a potato.. ( Have more than 2gb of ram lol and a half decent processor / GPU ) 

Also don't lie about hardware as it makes things A LOT harder to fix.. (we've all had bad PC's dont feel bad IF THIS IS THE CASE)

 

after that you should be solid unless you have failing hardware..

 

If you dont wanna format / reinstall windows...

 

1.) Install avast and remove your antivirus after it's installed as it will conflict with your antivirus 

( NEVER run two anti viruses at the same time it creates security holes and false positives. don't let any noobs tell you any different )

 

2.) Run a full scan delete / quarentine anything it finds.

 

3.) Install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware run a threat scan and delete / quarentine anything it finds.

 

4.) Install CCleaner (it will free up space and fix broken links in your regisrty 

(Registry values that are left over from programs you've deleted or uninstalled)

 

5.) Read up on how to use MSCONFIG (read up on it.. it can really mess things up if you have no clue what you're doing)

 

6.) Use MSCONFIG to check what auto start programs and services are starting and minimize the amount of stuff auto starting.

 

7.) USE SFC to check system file integrity

 

A.) Go to all programs -> accessories -> CMD Prompt (RUN AS ADMIN)

 

B.) Type SFC /Scannow 

 

C.) Let it run and if it finds errors it will repair them automatically (a restart is required)

 

8.) Schedule a DSKCheck 

 

A.) Go to "computer" from the start menu

 

B.) Right click your HDD (the one with your OS installed on it..most likely C:) and go to properties

 

C.) Click scan now under "Error Checking"

 

D.) check "Automatically fix file system errors" and check "Scan_ for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" and hit start.

 

E.) It's gunna prompt "Disc in use" just click "Schedule Disk Check" and restart

 

F.) LET IT RUN ( it takes a while based on how bad your drive is currupted and / or how big it is ) It will auto fix any problems.

 

9.) Although it doesn't really matter too much you can run a defrag aswell

 

If these steps arent working.. 

 

1.) Make sure drivers are up to date..

 

2.) Reformat and do a clean install.

 

 

Hope this helps! 

 

Cheers

 

Frost