Browsers freezing up causing crash

Hey, well over the past few days I've been trying to resolve this problem – I've discovered it isn't malware related (http://forums.whatthetech.com/Computer_freezing_up_t105443.html&st=15) The symptons are as follows; there are no error messages. Whatever program I'm on, it will freeze up and the buttons in the top right corner will usually dissapear. Sometimes I will not be able to move at all and my cursor will freeze up (rarely), and most of the time I can navigate from that specific browser but within about 20 seconds everything will freeze up. Before, when I originally posted, anything would prompt the crash usually– a right click, using capslock (a CAPSLOCK sign appears which would freeze up), and other visual related aspects. Now, well, only in the past day or so, it's just occured when playing a game on the BYOND engine. I've been able to freely move my cursor each time, but the top-right hand options dissapear and it isn't long before my entire system crashes. I can watch videos, listen to music, browse the internet now, everything seems fine except that. My computer is also a bit laggy now though. If anyone could be kind enough to help me resolve this problem, I would be more than greatful. edit: well lately the crashes have been occuring on every browser, and not just the BYOND game engine. But if I play a game on BYOND, it will undoubtly crash within ten or so minutes. Another sympton is that the explorer.exe process increases when the CPU usage is at a decent amount (5-20), it can reach 150k quite quickly, and does not decrease.

Hi, sorry to hear that you are still having problems with your machine. I took a quick glance at your logs over in malware removal. just a few questions before we start please: 1 Have you or anyone used Limewire or any Peer to Peer file sharing application on this machine? ( there is ref to Limewire in your logs) 2 How much hard drive space is free on your drive? ( if its only around 644MB then its too little) 3 When you ran ComboFix, Catbyte asked you to disable your anti virus application before running the scan and subsequently before executing the script……, on both occasions it appears from your logs that AVG was running……Did you therefore actually disable AVG before running the scans? 4 This machine appears to be a Netbook…right? and your hard drive appears to be 4GB capacity (according to your DDS log…….is that correct? 5 Did Windows XP come preinstalled or was it originally equipped with Linux? Regards paws

Hi, sorry to hear that you are still having problems with your machine.
I took a quick glance at your logs over in malware removal.
just a few questions before we start please:

1 Have you or anyone used Limewire or any Peer to Peer file sharing application on this machine? ( there is ref to Limewire in your logs)
2 How much hard drive space is free on your drive? ( if its only around 644MB then its too little)
3 When you ran ComboFix, Catbyte asked you to disable your anti virus application before running the scan and subsequently before executing the script……, on both occasions it appears from your logs that AVG was running……Did you therefore actually disable AVG before running the scans?
4 This machine appears to be a Netbook…right? and your hard drive appears to be 4GB capacity (according to your DDS log…….is that correct?
5 Did Windows XP come preinstalled or was it originally equipped with Linux?

Regards
paws

Thank you for your concern and taking the time to help me,


1.) Yes, I've used Limewire frequently in the past but in the last few months I've only used it to play the songs I've downloaded.
2.) 644MB, it's an EEE PC and has very little disk space to start with. I've encountered no problems in the past though, running from 200-1000MB.
3.) Yeah, for some reason AVG wasn't showing in the tray, but I can uninstall it and redo the scans if you think that'll help.
4.) Yes.
5.) I had to install it upon arrival.

Ugh this is becoming really annoying, I'm considering purchasing a new laptop… but I hate to lose too a virus. lol Er, other symptons… earlier today I was in a game, expecting a crash, but instead of crashing completely I could read what others were saying but couldn't actually do anything myself. This has happened a few times now, and I rememeber not so long ago, a few months or so, this happened frequently except it wouldn't crash my computer– I could just restart the game and everything would be fine. Most likely related somehow. And my paypal is now being redirected to an obvious fraud site that asks for details, but for some reason it's just this account, on the Guest account it's fine. Crashes still occur though. edit: another sympton is that explorer.exe is randomly crashing, it resets the process and the windows bar at the bottom dissapears for a few seconds then reloads. I actually don't mind this because it resets the usually huge explorer.exe process to like 14k. Anyone have any ideas what I should do? I can't find anything on the internet…

Hi

And my paypal is now being redirected to an obvious fraud site that asks for details

That doesn't look good……
I will consult with CatByte, who will be able to advise.
However in the meantime:

1 Use of P2P file sharing is a major vector for the distribution of malicious code and I strongly recommend that you uninstall all such file sharing applications
2 I appreciate that you have a netbook with a small (4GB) cap drive however 644MB free space is not enough ……. Windows XP needs some "elbow room" and space to store temp files,etc so I recommend you start to do a bit of pruning!
3 You say that you had to install Win XP…..was that because no operating system was installed when you got the machine…… or did it come with a Linux distro?
Regards
paws

Hi

And my paypal is now being redirected to an obvious fraud site that asks for details

That doesn't look good……
I will consult with CatByte, who will be able to advise.
However in the meantime:

1 Use of P2P file sharing is a major vector for the distribution of malicious code and I strongly recommend that you uninstall all such file sharing applications
2 I appreciate that you have a netbook with a small (4GB) cap drive however 644MB free space is not enough ……. Windows XP needs some "elbow room" and space to store temp files,etc so I recommend you start to do a bit of pruning!
3 You say that you had to install Win XP…..was that because no operating system was installed when you got the machine…… or did it come with a Linux distro?
Regards
paws

Alright, I'll try and free up as much space as possible and uninstall P2P file sharing programs. About the OS, I'm not very computer savvy but when the laptop arrived I had to install Windows XP with the disk.

edit: I've discovered another sympton– whenever my laptop is on standby, I cannot boot it back up. It stays in "sleep" mode, and if I want to turn it on, I have to turn it off by the button and reboot. Also, sometimes when it crashes, certain websites lose my log-in details (such as saved password) and some don't. It's very strange.

Hi,
I have discussed with CatByte who is happy to take another look at your topic in malware removal to see if there is any reinfections that might account for the PayPal redirect and other problems :
http://forums.whatthetech.com/Computer_fre….html&st=30
Please revisit the above link (I have opened the topic so you will be able to post to it.)
Please see post 2 in that link and follow CatByte's original instructions. (Please post your response in the above linked topic) Not here please.
When CatByte gives you the all clear please post back here in this topic if you are still having issues with your machine and we will do our best to help
Regards
paws

Hey, CatByte said I'm clean of malware but the symptons remain the same. Suggestions? edit: more symptons include small pauses when something visually loads, and when I switch browsers sometimes a large portion of the browser before switching will appear in the new one and takes a good 5-10 seconds to dissapear. Also, the internet will sometimes crash when I try to go onto another site or click a link, the usual error message will appear and it'll close.

Hi, Ok 2 observations 1 You still have references to Limewire in your logs…..did you uninstall it? and any other P2 P file sharing applications? 2 Despite trying to free up some space on your machine you seem to have even less free space now than previously ……… With such a small drive capacity I think you should be quite focused and uninstall any thing you don't need and ensure that all junk files are deleted 3 Unless you can get to a situation of having 1GB of free space I think the outcome is bleak without a format and reinstall. 4 If you have not run sfc recently then this is recommended as it will check all Windows protected system files are present and in their correct locations and undamaged. Here's how. 5 Start>RUN type in the white box sfc /scannow press the Enter key NOTE the space between the c and the / is necessary. The scan will take a half hour or so to run and will produce no log file…however if damaged files are found these will need to be copied to the dll cache…….sfc will do this for you but will need you to insert your Windows XP installation disc so the undamaged files can be copied across (it must be the correct Windows XP installation disc for your machine) for the purposes of running sfc its OK to borrow the correct disc if you are unable to locate yours. Good luck Regards paws

Hey, for some reason Limewire will not appear in add and remove programs- any idea why? And I'm finding it really hard to free up space, I've uninstalled everything I don't need, and I clear temp internet files reguarly but it keeps dissapearing.

I suspect that files you have downloaded in the past via P2P carried malicious code that has affected your machine……….althought your computer has been declared clear of malware the effects continue. If the SFC has not proved to be beneficial then may be its time to consider formatting and reinstalling……… Don't forget to back up anything that is important to you on the machine…..and make a note of all user names, passwords, licence keys, serial numbers etc. Check all your back up files to make sure all is correct, accurate, reproducible and kept safe on removable media.( don't forget any drivers that are needed for your machine) Regards paws