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A very strange problem - S-L-L-L-O-O-O-W computer

AnitaPeterson

AnitaPeterson

Diamond Member
Hi there,

I need expert input on a problem that's been driving me crazy all day long.

I have two computers. One of them is the main machine for various tasks... the other one is the "download horse". Mind you, I'm an educated user, I don't vist porn sites, I use Mozilla as default browser, and the downloads have been exclusively BitTorrent: music and videos, no applications.

Well, this morning I restarted the machine, because I installed CloneDVD, and it required a reboot.

And then, the computer became a bucket of molasses. It took 30 minutes to complete the boot-up into Windows (W2k, SP4), and then nothing worked. I clicked on "My Computer", andthe command took 5 minutes until it opened the window. The internet cannot be accessed anymore.

I tried to install a new antivirus program (McAfee), and I kept getting error messages: "Insufficient system resources", or even "this is not a valid Windows application"... I couldn't even get Spybot S&D or Ad-aware to work.

A quick Ctrl-Alt-Del showed the CPU utilisation is constantly 100% for "system"

In desperation, I took the HD out, and I've now attached it to the working machine, in a USB2 enclosure.

I ran Ad-aware on it. Then I ran Norton Antivirus (with the latest updates). And ...

NOTHING!

No virus! No trojan! No spyware! Nothing!

I'm going to scan the HD now with McAfee (also up to date). I'm thinking I can also defragment the HD...

But what do I do if there's no virus? And if the defragmentation wouldn't help

What else can be the cause of this extreme slowdown?
 
i think u need that hd running as the booting os in order for adaware to catch anything in the local registry. try putting it back and booting into safe mode and run those scans
 
get jvpowertools16 and check your reigstry, it might need pruning. Went through a similar thing recently only didn't fix it before I got corruption and then it was a reformat. Your registry could be corrupt or too big, needs pruning.
 
> A quick Ctrl-Alt-Del showed the CPU utilisation is constantly 100% for "system"

That's the user, did you write down the first column (the program) ?

Also, Ad-Aware won't find all spyware /adware, there is a thread at the top of the Software forum listing other programs. bontu might be right about needing to boot with the actual OS for the detection/cleaning tools to work.
 
Try looking for the process that is at 100%, if it is a system process, it might be trying to finish its task. ie. One of my processes wouldn't stop eating up CPU cycles until my router came back online and finally gave the computer its IP address. If it's a regular program, try ending the process, or deleteing the file in DOS mode before Windows loads. Just some suggestions.
 
DAMN it!

I GOT it!

after some google search, I found this:

http://www.tek-tips.com/gviewthread.cfm/pid/616/qid/821514

Quote:

"After downloading and applying the updates that microsoft put out today, by system CPU is 100% in task manager. The system cpu usage is at 100% even when booting into safemode.
The system is dog slow now, I can't even get into the control panel to uninstall the security updates. Please Help."

...

"Use Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, and remove KB35732

There have been credible reports of this particular Hotfix causing the symptoms you describe on some Win2k installations.

Note: This is best done in Safe Mode."

....

"After installing Security fix KB835732, the SYSTEM.exe
procress uses up 99% of CPU time, and make the system non-
responsive.

To unistall it, I did the following
(1) Boot into Safe mode.
(2) Run TaskManager - and noticed that the SYSTEM process
was using 99% of the CPU time.
(3) From TaskManager set the Priority of the EXPLORER
process to REALTIME, so that I can get to the control
panel.
(4) Run ADD/REMOVE PROGRAM from control panel.
(5) Go back to TaskManager and set the Priority of
MSHTA.exe to REALTIME, so that the ADD/REMOVE PROGRAM can
get some CPU time.
(6) Select and Remove "Windows 2000 Hotfix - KB835732".
(7) Go back to TaskManager and set the Priority
of "SPUNIST.exe" to REALTIME, for the uninstall program to
run.
(8) Wait a few minutes, and the uninstall program will
eventually ask you to click FINISH to reboot the machine.
It took a long time for the system to shutdown and I just
unplugged the power.
(9) The machine should become normal after reboot."



So I followed the instrudtions, and verything is now normal.

I even know where the damn thing came from... About a week ago, Media Player upgraded itself when I was trying to view a video file (from ATOT, no less!) ... and i did not restart the computer since... that is, until this morning.

I did a little search on the net and found this about Windows 2000 Hotfix - KB835732, on the Microsoft site:

http://origin2.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0692c27e-f63a-414c-b3eb-d2342fbb6c00&displaylang=en

"Multiple security issues have been identified that could allow an attacker to compromise a computer running Windows and gain complete control over it. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer. "

Yeah! Hurrah for Microsoft! They took care so well to protect my computer from an attacker's "complete control", that in the end I couldn't control it myself! ...bunch of retards...
 
This may be a really stupid question (not my first), Anita, but since you've removed the Hotfix 835732, aren't you now vulnerable to the security issue it was designed to protect you against?

I read this thread with interest because I, too, have been experiencing similar problems for awhile now (though not as severe as what you describe). I also have that Hotfix installed on my system. I'd like to remove it, but am concerned about opening myself up to the vulnerability it's supposedly protecting me against.

Anyone have any further thoughts or suggestions on this? (I'm running Windows 2K Pro, SP4.)
 
You know, what would you rather have: a working machine (with the remote possibility that someone would penetrate your hardware firewall somehow, at some point, for some obscure reasons), or a dead brick, where it takes about one hour from the moment you turn it on, until you see the first icons on the screen (not that it matters... you can't do anything with it, anyway). Yeah, tough choice, hmm?

Besides which, please note Microsoft gives no specific description of how you can ACTUALLY be attacked if you don't have the hotfix, or what are those "dangerous vulnerabilities"...
 
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