Computer Problem! Help!

[Toad]

There is something wrong with my comp. I don't know if it's a virus or what, but my computer is seriously slow and the hourglass is constantly next to the mouse pointer on every screen. Anyone know what's going on?

 

[Felan]

Ummm, do you anti-virus software? Do you have anti-spam software? What OS? Have you patched your computer?

 

[Artifice Orisit]

Start -> Control Panel -> Performance & Maintenance

Try defragmenting the hard drive, or adjust your visual effect settings.
If all else fails apologize to it

 

[Madoness]

Download trial software such as tuneup and adaware or something like them, scan for ad- and spyware, registry errors, and whatever options are there to perform.
As Gognisant suggested, try defragmenting. Is your harddrive full? If it is, you'd need to make some room or OS would not work well.

Also, scan for viruses, they may work in background using up memory, network speed and so on.

Maybe your hard drive is about to die, try disc check.

 

[ChristopherL]

There is something wrong with my comp. I don't know if it's a virus or what, but my computer is seriously slow and the hourglass is constantly next to the mouse pointer on every screen. Anyone know what's going on?

Virus? Unlikely. Malware? almost certainly.
You may even be part of a cool botnet.

I would suggest calling whoever makes your PC.
And request a restore disk.
Buy a new drive and external drive housing
Remove your old drive and put it in the housing.
Install the new drive, Boot from the restore disk.
Log into your machine as a user with only user rights and copy your data to the new machine.

Anything else is likely just a prelude to doing this eventually.
I would then look into hardening your machine.

 

[Latro]

In XP:
Start
Run
cmd
format C:\

Walk away for about...an hour or so, I think.

Make sure you have a windows CD of some kind before doing this, and make sure to backup anything important first as well.

Check how much drive space you have as well. If less than about 1/3 of your drive is free, you're going to need another drive to get reasonable performance.

Also, specs or model number? That would help.

 

[Toad]

I figured it out. It was this "toseeka" thing. "You have a trojan called DNSHijacker 85.255 which hijacks your DNS server to point you to wherever they want to."

Thanks guys

I still cant seem to get rid of it though...The problem now is when I restart my computer the damn malware configures firefox to go through a proxy. Not a big deal because I can just turn it off in the options. It's just fucking annoying when y9ou know there is something wrong with your comp and you can't fix it.

 

[Juno]

One of the best books that I got was a knoppix book that had a live CD with it. Completly tells you how to get rid of shit like this.

 

[Madoness]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]If you do get hijacked, you can change your settings back by doing the following. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]To fix this issue in Windows XP Click: Start > Control Panel > Click: Network and Internet Connections > Click: Network Connections > Right Click: Local Area Connection > Click: Properties > Click: Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) > Click: Properties and Use the following DNS server addresses will be bulleted using an IP address of 85.255.x.x, change it to Obtain DNS server address automatically. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]To fix this issue in Windows Vista Click: Start > Right Click: Network > Click: Properties > Click: Manage Network Connections > Right Click: Local Area Connection > Click: Properties > Click: Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) > Click: Properties > Use the following DNS server addresses will be bulleted using an IP address of 85.255.x.x, change it to Obtain DNS server address automatically.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Make sure you scan your system and remove the threat...[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]That is all... [/FONT]

Though I'm not willing to infect my computer to test it. I guess, it will not be a complete solution to your problem...
Maybe you should check the programs that will start with a startup, remove everything unfamiliar.

 

[Razare]

"The Screen Savers" taught me how to work computers, too bad that show is no longer around

Used to watch it all the time as a kid.

 

[Red Mage]

"The Screen Savers" taught me how to work computers, too bad that show is no longer around

Used to watch it all the time as a kid.

I was pissed when TechTV merged with G4 and then got rid of all of the old programming.

TechTV = Awesome

G4 = Biggest pile of crap since MTV.

 

[Latro]

I figured it out. It was this "toseeka" thing. "You have a trojan called DNSHijacker 85.255 which hijacks your DNS server to point you to wherever they want to."

Thanks guys

I still cant seem to get rid of it though...The problem now is when I restart my computer the damn malware configures firefox to go through a proxy. Not a big deal because I can just turn it off in the options. It's just fucking annoying when y9ou know there is something wrong with your comp and you can't fix it.

Format. Fixes everything except hardware problems and rootkits.

 

[Felan]

You might try this tool: http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

 

[Kidege]

Indeed it does.

And it's nice to see the community helping itself.

 

[Razare]

I was pissed when TechTV merged with G4 and then got rid of all of the old programming.

TechTV = Awesome

G4 = Biggest pile of crap since MTV.

Yep... only decent thing they kept from TechTV was that game review show. The problem with The Screen Savers was the show sucked without Leo and Patrick heading it up. Those two made the show. I saw a later episode with I think just Patrick, and it just wasn't the same.

 

[ChristopherL]

Don't waste your time with spyware or malware scanners.
They are almost all database driven which means they are reliant on someone identifying, and profiling the malware you have.
This means the chances they have of actually removing what it is thats wrong with your PC is dependant on any number of things, not least of which is how does one define malware?
People often install applications using the legitimate process through trickery. To a malware scanner these apps look exactly like a legitimate app and some are vectored onto your machine through actual legitimate apps.
Heuristic scanners are just as bad since they look for malware-like behaviour they will often flag legitimate apps.

Sophos scanner for example won't stop bleating about the fact that I have the PSTOOLS suite because yes it can be used by a hacker but that doesn't mean it will be.

If you want your PC secure the first step is wiping it clean and then being very careful what you load and never running in the administrator context.

Most infections these days depend on social engineering to get installed. be cognizant of that.

 

[Toad]

FUCK nothing works! Seriously guys, what the fuck kind of loser would make these fucking things? They have to make money off of it, right? I guess if I was in their shoes...I WOULD FUCKING SHOOT MYSELF FOR BEING A DOUCHE.

 

[Madoness]

Don't waste your time with spyware or malware scanners.
They are almost all database driven which means they are reliant on someone identifying, and profiling the malware you have.
This means the chances they have of actually removing what it is thats wrong with your PC is dependant on any number of things, not least of which is how does one define malware?
People often install applications using the legitimate process through trickery. To a malware scanner these apps look exactly like a legitimate app and some are vectored onto your machine through actual legitimate apps.
Heuristic scanners are just as bad since they look for malware-like behaviour they will often flag legitimate apps.

Sophos scanner for example won't stop bleating about the fact that I have the PSTOOLS suite because yes it can be used by a hacker but that doesn't mean it will be.

If you want your PC secure the first step is wiping it clean and then being very careful what you load and never running in the administrator context.

Most infections these days depend on social engineering to get installed. be cognizant of that.

If you're about to do somewhat similar to it... then.... lets take it even a bit further.
Do not ever connect your computer to with internet, and never use it (the computer). It should be safe then.

 

[ChristopherL]

If you're about to do somewhat similar to it... then.... lets take it even a bit further.
Do not ever connect your computer to with internet, and never use it (the computer). It should be safe then.

 

[EloquentBohemian]

Don't waste your time with spyware or malware scanners.
They are almost all database driven which means they are reliant on someone identifying, and profiling the malware you have.
This means the chances they have of actually removing what it is thats wrong with your PC is dependant on any number of things, not least of which is how does one define malware?
People often install applications using the legitimate process through trickery. To a malware scanner these apps look exactly like a legitimate app and some are vectored onto your machine through actual legitimate apps.
Heuristic scanners are just as bad since they look for malware-like behaviour they will often flag legitimate apps.

Sophos scanner for example won't stop bleating about the fact that I have the PSTOOLS suite because yes it can be used by a hacker but that doesn't mean it will be.

If you want your PC secure the first step is wiping it clean and then being very careful what you load and never running in the administrator context.

Most infections these days depend on social engineering to get installed. be cognizant of that.

This is excellent information which I never knew before. Thanks.

 

[Toad]

I'm having another problem now where IEXPLORE.exe will keep loading in the background without any screens popping up. Sometimes 3-4 of them at at time. They use like 50,000kb each too. I turn them off with Task Manager, but they will pop up again if I continue using Firefox. Is this Microsoft's way of punishing me for using Firefox? lol

 

[Latro]

I'm having another problem now where IEXPLORE.exe will keep loading in the background without any screens popping up. Sometimes 3-4 of them at at time. They use like 50,000kb each too. I turn them off with Task Manager, but they will pop up again if I continue using Firefox. Is this Microsoft's way of punishing me for using Firefox? lol

That is another trojan of sorts, albeit a strange one.

Seriously. Format. It will fix all your problems.

 

[Ulysses]

Formatting your entire HDD can be troublesome, so you should save that as a last resort. Google for "avast home edition" and schedule schedule a boot scan when it asks you after the installation. If you've already got an antivirus program, you'll have to remove it before the installation.

It'll take some time depending on how much data you've got, but it does a exceptional job of cleaning up.

After the boot scan is done, defragmenting your entire drive will also help, especially if you haven't done it for a long while. Google for instructions if you don't know how.

 

[ChristopherL]

Formatting your entire HDD can be troublesome, so you should save that as a last resort. Google for "avast home edition" and schedule schedule a boot scan when it asks you after the installation. If you've already got an antivirus program, you'll have to remove it before the installation.

It'll take some time depending on how much data you've got, but it does a exceptional job of cleaning up.

After the boot scan is done, defragmenting your entire drive will also help, especially if you haven't done it for a long while. Google for instructions if you don't know how.

Heres the problem with malware:

You never know if its gone.
In fact the best malware never lets you know its there and if you have one you likelyh have several.
Don't be lazy and stupid.
Format.
Then be careful.

 

[Cybernetist]

Here is a tool that will let you know a bit more about which processes are running and a lot more about what them.
Process explorer:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

Then you can see process trees and other things.

or use Linux.

 

[Ulysses]

Heres the problem with malware:

You never know if its gone.
In fact the best malware never lets you know its there and if you have one you likelyh have several.
Don't be lazy and stupid.
Format.
Then be careful.

No shit, Sherlock.

I'm simply offering him a quick and easy (albeit less secure) alternative to formatting as either a temporary solution or a plan B.

 

[Felan]

It can be a pain to get rid of the malware but far from impossible. There are number of tools and techniques for doing it.

Even the best security can get compromised. The company I work for has tens of thousands of desktops/laptops, thousands of servers, an immensely paranoid Information Security department, and tough computer security requirements we have to meet to do busines with many fortune 500 companies and with all that our company rarely takes such extreme measures as are being suggested by some here.

If you don't mind losing your data and starting from scratch. then such steps are perfectly fine. Otherwise a lot of perserverance and research will pay off.

 

[Madoness]

 

[Madoness]

SlyGuy, your latest problem may be analysed there -> How to solve the « Multiple Iexplore running in Task Manager” problem ?