No malware laptiop freezes and hans in niormal mode but is okay in safe mode

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mike0921

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I own an HP G-62-347 Notebook, Windows 7 64 bit, Microsoft Security Essentials, Windows Firewall, no other real time AV, no other Firewalls, Windows Defender disabled as Microsoft instrucs for MSE, 3 GB Raam, 313 GB HDD, AMD Dual Core P-380 processor.


My Laptop began freezing 8-10 minutes after bootup logon. No matter what I was doing, Media, Excell, Word, it would freeze up and hang. Sometimes CTL_ALT_DLT would unfreeze it, even before the task manager appeared, but it will take 3-4 minutes with an o[ague screen and the progress "circle" moving then unfreeze, sork 1-2 minutes, freeze, etc. Then all clicks on something to activate would result in loooong (long) delays, 15 to 45 seconds, then the new screen or window or peogram would open, sometimes frozen up... This did not happen in safe mode.

I have (on suggestions) removed all things from my start up or programs that other's have suggested, Google Update files, and three or four others that others had issues with that I found on the net. I have also removed programs that I had installed around then.

I have also run, in Safe Mode, MSE, MS Safety Scanner, MS malicious file remover, ESET online Scanner, my laptop is clean.

I have used mscong to disable all non-microsoft items to see if that helped. It did not. Same issues.

I have used startup repair, and after scanning received a message that there was a problem, but that it could not fix it, did I want to send a report to Microsoft, I checked yes...

and it sent me to System Restore, ran it for about a week ago which was when I had downloaded some software, and the problem still existed, which sent me back to System Repair, ran it, same error message, reported again.

I used a Repair Disk to get back on the laptop a coulple of times when needed, but ultimately, the problem surfaced still.

Eventually, startup repair gave me this info:

ProblemEventName: Startup Repair Offline
Problem Signitures 01 6.1.7600.6385
" " 02 6.1.7600.6385
" " 03 unknown
" " 04 21200012
" " 05 Auto Fail Over
" " 06 2
" " 07 No Root Cause

OS Version 6.7.7600.2.0.0.2561
Local ID 1033

I have used ReImage Plus to rebuild all my defective Windows Files and a lot of my 3rd party defective files. And, I also did a Win 7 repair install.

I am pretty convinced something is being loaded somewhere, but can't find where or who or what.

Am I on the right track? Have I missed something? Am I wrong? I do not really want to do a clean re-install of Windows 7, for if I do I am reformatting everything to clean any and everything.... sort of NUKE it... but would rather find the culprit (for education purposes). And, I dislike installing and updating and setting up everything again more than I hate "boiled okra!" :D

Anyone and Everyone that has had to do with this or similar sounding issue, please reply. I have two weeks invested, and would like to "graduate" resolving this and getting the learning experience of WHY?

Thank you, thank you,

MIke



 
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dingo07

dingo07

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IMO you wasted 2 weeks of your time on this - cut your losses and just save your data (if there is any) and resinstall after deleting the partition the OS is on

sometimes it's not worth figuring out what caused the error - unless you are going to apply the result to Microsofts' database of errors resolved
 
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mike0921

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Dingo,

Thanks. I moght have done exactly that shortly after I started... and I may well yet!

But, about 20 years ago I got a degree in CIM, which I used to supplement my skill set in business/real estate, then I got into building and setting up, debugging and fixing PC's for myself, family and friends in the early 90's.

A few years later, I had to give all up due to health, and am just now getting back into inventorying my hobbies to develop one of them into a part time income and PC's are my favorite hobby and one I would most enjoy "job-wise."

I am enrolling in a Malware Removal class and this kind of foul up on my laptop is really useful in bringing back much of what I have forgotton in terms of how these little buggers and their OS's work, as well as much about programmig.

I explain all that so you won't think the idiot thing about why I am getting into tis little problem so deep. I want to be able to identify the program that did it, where it corrupted things, the sequence, when, etc..

I do thank you for the comment about Microsoft's database resolved site. I hadn't thought of that and if I get to an answer to this, I should definately throw that at them. And anywhere else that I and others think about as well.

If, in your spare time, you would mull this over, and if anything comes to mind give me a shout back here, I would really appreciate it! (Although, from your reply, it doesn't look like that might be your cup of tea!!! :na:

But, an attitude that would assume something about someone like I just wrote would probably indicate some level of prejudice, or profiling, or at the least stereotyping, and that is definately not me.... so, if you have hints or ideas, thoughts or suggestions... heck, even encouraement if I am still doing this in two more weeks(!) it might keep me off that bridge across the park over the Tygart River. :bounce:

Thanks, I do appreciate your comment, your attention to my little problem!

Mike
 
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mike0921

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Hey, thanks for the tip. I did do that, but when I unzipped and ran set-up, there were drivers missing - they diddn't get downloaded or they didn't get installed, or I am still having to run in safe mode and something is conflicting.

I have run the memory tests and the short and long HDD test from BIOS and passed all of that. I have Speccy installed on my desktop, and from their I can see that it is not indicating anything that might be an issue. Speccy is a similar program from what I read about Hmonitor.

If I get back into normal mode, I'll run it again, if for no other reason to see if it's better than Speccy.


Thanks for taking the time to think about it and reply.

Mike
 
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mike0921

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I hadn't even thought of that! Locked in tunnel vision I guess... Will log out of safe mode now, and see what that produces.

Thanks,

Mike
 
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dingo07

dingo07

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-check Event Viewer if you can, and see what errors are in there to give you a hint of the cause

-what you describe sounds like a communication (I/O) error reading to/writing from the hard drive

have you run a boot time chkdsk on the drive?
 
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mike0921

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I ran a Memory Test and a Short and Long HDD Test(s) from BIOS in the Diagnostic Tab. Is that the same as a boot time chkdsk?

What you say sounds reaonable about a communication (I/O) error. Tomorrow I will begin looking at the Event Viewer... have done that before and it requires much diligence and perserverence!!! lol Probably why I haven't gone there yet! What I have been thinking is that during start up/boot there is a bogus entry causing a loop... or a registry entry or two is also involved. It hangs more than freezes, and in frustration I have clicked several ( a bunch...) times on X's to close windows, -'s to minimize, alt-ctrl-del, an icon in the tray or two... and the screen stays frozen, then often times the screen turns white, progress circles "circling" stop or start circling, and I'll just just stared meanly at it. And 15-20 seconds later, all of the clicks start their actions in sequence and a 10 second resolution to it all occurs... then we repeat the whole thing again!

When I have manged to have the Task Manager open, I watch the percentage use of the CPU bounce around "erratically" on its way down to 0 while at the same time the percentage use of the physical memory bounces around from 0 to the teens and shooting up to 98 and 99 percent. The O CPU and the 99 physical memory bouncing corrospond to the action or lack of action on the screen during its freeze, hang, white out, etc...

In my research I found folks with similar issues and it was (most often) Google's "googleupdate.exe" stuck in the registry and left behind in the AppData>Local location. I removed that one, all google items, and a couple more that had been left with Revo Pro or Manually from the Registry. This had no impact on the Laptop's performance at all.

As a few weeks ago I impulsively (thoughtlessly) downloaded and installed about a half a dozen programs trying them out this seems likely... :-(. I have uninstalled all of those with Revo Pro, but haven't checked to see if there are any orphaned files left behind. I also did just run a system restore the day before I downloaded those programs but haven't checked for orphan files yet.

Anyway, hope this wasn't too long or rambling. Tomorow, I have 2 items on my check list to finish today's efforts, and I will then begin going through the Event Viewer.

I will probably turn on the Windows Logging and Reporting functions I just read about at support.microsoft.com.... and do the actions they ask for to see if I can see anything or to post for them (if it is free there...)

Thanks alot, I wil gladly listen to all thoughts you have!

Mike
 
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mike0921

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Dingo07

Yeah, I do believe your right... thanks for the link :ange:

But, I might have explained it wrong, the windows popping up and clicking and their response etc., is not random. Everything that occurs is occurring sequentially. It's just that that are long delays, short hang-ups and white screens, progress circle stopping and then being active again... but it is all from my clicking on a window or an "ok" button, or an icon initiating a request for something that normally might take a microsecond, second or two.... but now takes 15-20 seconds to complete. (In the case of multiple requests (clicking)) It comes to mind that a traffic jam is occurring in the memory and the CPU and all is writing things down in a list and processing each item as the jam clears... ?

I'm hoping this is not a hardware issue and is a software issue. I have run memory and HDD tests from BIOS, at boot and from my desktop and each has passed each time.

I am with you as far as a malware issue at this point, at least almost. I have a habit of reviewing software I come across. Downloading, installing using and keeping or discarding. So, I am as convinced that even after uninstalling everything I did that with in the last month, that one of those left registry or startup items that I just haven't found yet as I am that it is a malware issue.

I guess it doesn't matter, at this point, I seem to now be approaching it as if it was a malware issue in terms of troubleshooting and locating it...

I am confused as to why when I did a repair Install of Windows 7, that didn't clear up the issue??? Any thoughts there? What is the difference between that and reinstalling Windows? Unless you reformat and wipe the disk clean I mean.

thanks for hanging in there with me,

Mike
 
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dingo07

dingo07

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a repair only looks at/for key files to be out of place or corrupt, for the OS to run, it doesn't remove or delete items that shouldn't be there - like stuff malware injects

that's why it's imperative to wipe the drive and reinstall to be 100% clean
 
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mike0921

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Dingo,
Well I finally found the problem... and learned a bit more as well :)

I downloaded a couple of tools: AutoRun a part of SysInternals from Microsoft which they say is a better tool than msconfig.exe to use and then SystemExplorer a free tool from here: http://systemexplorer.net/download.php

SystemExplorer allows you (among other things... it is a great tool) to view graphically what is going on with your system in real time. I discovered a file: wmpnetwork.exe that was hogging my resources. It's a part of Windows Media Player. It was stuck in a loop as a result of a corrupt .avi file that I had downloaded. So I disabled that exe file and System Cured! I still have to find/delete that .avi file manually, or just delete all that I have downloaded since the problem began.... and then I can enable the Media Player .exe file again.

Sounds simple to reread this... it doesn't account for the 3 weeks of troubleshooting, researching, etc., that I spent to find the issue. But, I do know more now than I did, both about system processing and malware identification....

BTW, SystemExplorer.net is a great site that provides free tools and a database of something like 25,000 files that you can check with to identify any particular file running on your system as safe or not, as well as explain and define a file. If your not familiar with it, check it out...

Thanks for your help and encouragement! I appreciate it,

Mike :hello:
 
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mike0921

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Thanks for the tip about the repair/clean installs...

Mike
 
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