Computer invaded with letter xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Quirk]

I am posting from another computer since the one affected is very difficult to operate on.

First the system etc: VISTA 64-bit, ASUS board, Firefox, AVAST antivirus, all update programs on and up to date.

Everything was working fine before I left for a few hours, except that an error message came on about aaCenter no longer working. I didn't know what that was but it wasn't too alarming. The computer is always connected to the internet. Firewall always on, AVAST always on and updated, Windows Update always used and up to date.

When i come back online I notice that the QuickFind box is red and the letter X is stringing out in it. Then I see that every dialog box is invaded like that by the letter X. They replicate in long strings, invading any available dialog box, then it stops temporarily (maybe up to half a minute), then it starts again for what seems like forever even though it probably is only a matter of minutes.

First I thought maybe it was just Firefox so I closed that down. Nope. The start menu box was also afflicted, as is every dialog box in the system. So is Windows mail. I can't even write an e-mail because every attempt to put in an address is shot through with X's.

Never encountered anything like this before in over ten years.

Thought it was maybe connected to that warning about aaCenter so I searched online for something having to do with that. Found that I could disable aaCenter and ASLoader in Task Scheduler so I did that (not easy when fending off a tsunami of X's at every turn). When I did get into task scheduler there was an error message saying: "The Task Image is corrupt or has been tampered with.mcupdate" Not sure what that is but as I say, was able to disable both ACPI and ASloader. Did not solve the problem though :-(

Downloaded and ran the Windows Security msert scan/fix program. Short Scan showed nothing. Long scan said one item was detected and zapped. Hoped that did it but no, problem still there. AVAST (free one) long scan showed nothing.

Tried surfing for latest malware news. Nothing in the news relating to a problem like the one I've encountered.

So I'm stumped. Would really love to know what this issue is all about. Any ideas? Thanks, I won't be able to check replies until tomorrow.

p.s. I tried System Restore too but that didn't work either. Also swapped out the keyboard i was using for another in case the "X" on it was going haywire somehow. Nope. Nothing else on the computer seems to be affected, just the invasion of X's in every box where it is possible to type something.

 

[Quirk]

If no one here has encountered this before, any suggestions for a forum which is more specifically oriented to security issues? Then again, this might not be a security issue.... Just can't figure this one out. Very frustrating.

 

[pylonman]

I have a few questions but there's not a whole lot of help I can offer at the moment, aside from getting this moved to the computer help section. What was the item that MSE found? Have you tried booting a linux live OS to see if this issue persists? What about safe mode? Those could help point you in a software or hardware related direction.

 

[Harvey]

This site has some info that may be useful. This info is from the makers of a registry cleaner, RegGenie. I can't speak for their recommended product because I don't know it. If you decide you want one, I can recommend Registry Mechanic (not free) and CCleaner (free), both of which are good.

What is Aacenter.exe?

Aacenter.exe is an Asus program that manages power related activities in your system and is known to cause an increase in CPU usage and slow your computer.

How to Stop Aacenter.exe in Windows Vista

Aacenter.exe is a service that comes with the Asus motherboard and runs the Asus ACPI Center. For background information, ACPI is the acronym for Advanced Configuration and Power Interface. This service was co-developed by three major companies; Intel, Microsoft and Toshiba. What the Asus ACPI Center does is basically manages how the operating system handles power related activities. Only devices that need power are supplied with power. Essentially, what the ACPI Center does is controls the flow of communication regarding power between your computer’s hardware (hard drives, optical drives, etc) and software (operating system, applications, etc).

File Information

Some users have expressed concerns that the aacenter.exe file is a virus, but the explanation above should settle these fears. However, if you find a suspicious file that is labeled as aacenter.exe that is not located in the correct place, then you should be cautious. By default, aacenter.exe is located in a subfolder within C:\Program Files. You must also check the file size. The most common size of the file on Windows XP is 603,648 bytes. You may also find it in 597,504, 582,144, 591,872, 591,360, 593,920, 614,912, 598,016, 613,376, 615,424, 604,672, 609,280, 610,304, 581,632, and 610,816 bytes sizes. The program also adds the HKey_Current_User\Software\ASUS\AASP entry in the registry. If the file is located elsewhere or it has a different file size, it may very well be malware posing as this executable. An example of where this malicious file could be hiding is C:\windows or in the C:\windows\system32 folder. If this is the case, you must immediately scan your PC with the help of efficient and updated antivirus and antispyware tools to detect and remove the malware.

Aacenter.exe Problems

A common problem reported by several users is that their computer stops working properly or slows down considerably when this process is running. Some are of the opinion that the file consumes a large chunk of RAM. Some also claim that the Asus processes, aacenter.exe and asloader.exe cause a hard crash; however, there has been no other information to support this claim.

The primary complaint against aacenter.exe is that the process eats up a lot of CPU power. Some have even put the number at 50%. No wonder then that users are scrambling around trying to find a way to fix this issue.

Aacenter.exe isn’t really an error at all so there is no repair method, but the file is proving to be a nuisance to quite a lot of computer users so a solution is needed.

Fortunately, several solutions exist. Choose the one that works best for you.

Solution 1: Disable Aacenter.exe from Loading at Startup

This seems to be the most popular solution. Aacenter.exe is configured as a task. Therefore, to remove the program from Startup, you have to disable it as a task.

Here are the steps:

1. Open Start menu and point to All Programs.
2. Now, go to Accessories and then move to System Tools.
3. Select Task Scheduler.
4. In the Task Scheduler window, open the Asus folder To view Asus related tasks.
5. Here, right-click on ASUS ACPI Service Provider and ASUS RegRun Loader one-by-one and then select Disable.

Solution 2: Rename the Aacenter.exe File

To rename the file, navigate to the C:\program files\ASUS\AASP\1.00.32 folder and rename the file from aacenter.exe to aacenter.xxx to render the file invalid and stop it from running. By renaming, you ensure that the program stops working but remains on your system ready to be called into action when needed.

Solution 3: Load the Aacenter.exe and Asloader.exe Under SYSTEM Account

Another solution that has been proposed to remove aacenter.exe from startup is to load aacenter.exe as well as asloader.exe drivers under SYSTEM account. The downside of doing this is that when you make this change, individual user settings are no longer possible.

Solution 4: Remove the File from Your Computer

This is the most drastic solution of all. You should remember that the ACPI Center manages power flow and removal may cause harm to your computer. This is the reason why, you must avoid opting for this solution.

Many exe and other program files may generate errors if the Windows registry is damaged or corrupt. This is the reason why, it is recommended that you use a good registry tool, such as RegGenie, to perform a thorough registry scan and repair any detected errors.

 

[Quirk]

Thanks pylonman. I had the same question about what MSE found and deleted. The screen simply said that one item was found and deleted. I did not see any tabs I could click on or any other way to see what the item was. However, it was almost 3am so it's quite possible that I just overlooked how to view the deleted item.

I have some Linux I could run but I'm real rusty when it comes to Linux. I'll try safe mode first; good suggestion. Honestly, I was quite surprised that system restore didn't take out the problem. It was obviously a recent development and I took back the system 4 days just to be sure. But it didn't work

I have a few questions but there's not a whole lot of help I can offer at the moment, aside from getting this moved to the computer help section. What was the item that MSE found? Have you tried booting a linux live OS to see if this issue persists? What about safe mode? Those could help point you in a software or hardware related direction.

 

[Quirk]

Thanks Harvey. I tried CCleaner. It cleaned out a lot of old file extensions from deleted programs and such, but identified nothing malicious. More importantly, the problem remained after running all the cleaner utilities. I was optimistic that this would be the ticket, but alas... Good suggestion though, thanks.

I did previously already go into task scheduler and disable both aaCenter and asLoader. No doubt that they are both out of action, but the Pac Man like run of xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx's, continues to run rampant without them, so that is pretty clearly not the problem. I say "Pac Man" like, but they string out about 10 times as fast as Pac Man ever did. They invade wherever there's a place to type something and are as relentless as Pac Man. My keyboard still inputs inbetween the X's but it makes operation very difficult to say the least. Now using another computer as I first mentioned.

I'm thinking I'll go ahead and post in the public forum connected to the MS security utility that I downloaded and see if anyone has seen something like this there.

Thanks for the replies and once I -- "if" i find out what the problem is then I'll follow-up here and post what it was.

This site has some info that may be useful. This info is from the makers of a registry cleaner, RegGenie. I can't speak for their recommended because I don't know it. If you decide you want one, I can recommend Registry Mechanic (not free) and CCleaner (free), both of which are good.

 

[bononos]

Have you tried pluggin in another keyboard to see if its just a keyboard problem?

 

[Quirk]

Have you tried pluggin in another keyboard to see if its just a keyboard problem?

Interesting that you mention that. Early on I did think that maybe it was my keyboard that had gone haywire, so yes I went and got another and it didn't fix the problem. Exact same problem remained.

However, I was just at my other (problem) computer to read any incoming e-mails. Once the xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx's start then I can't even access Windows Mail, but before they start in I can, like after a restart. So the interesting thing I found tonight is that the attack of x's do not start until I use the keyboard to type something. So just now at the problem computer I was able to surf away, read the latest news, browse to my heart's content, simply because I did not type anything. Once I type a single character then all hell breaks loose.

The other keyboard I used was also a microsoft keyboard. Same issue. All I have are MS keyboards but I do have a USB plug-in version instead of the wireless variety which I've used so far in trying to solve this. If that doesn't help then I do have a Logitech mouse and receiver I can try, even though the mouse is apparently not a problem. Process of elimination. Wish I had a Logitech or some other keyboard so I could rule in or out a MS keyboard issue.

So maybe it is a hardware issue, not malware/virus/worm etc.
I'll report back what I find. Thanks.

 

[Quirk]

Problem identified! It was the damn MS USB wireless receiver.

First I typed one letter to launch the xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx's. Then I just unplugged the USB receiver and the x's stopped instantly.

Plugged my MS USB corded keyboard into the same USB slot on the computer and voila! Normal typing without invasion of X's.

Can't believe I wasted all that time and energy chasing down the rabbit hole of virus/trojan/worm/malware/whatever, when it was just the damn wireless receiver gone bad! The bad keyboard possibility was one of the first issues I tested for, so it wasn't total stupidity. If only I had considered a bad receiver too! But the wireless mouse worked fine (with the same bad receiver) through it all. I was close, but close wasn't good enough. Arrrgghhh.

Oh well, at least there's not a whole lot that I have to repair after all the efforts I put into other methods of identifying the problem. I can leave the aaCenter and asLoaders disabled. Should even improve performance seeing as I don't do any overclocking.

Thanks again for the input and suggestions. I really appreciate it!
It is satisfying to at least finally solve the mystery even if it did take a couple of weeks off of my life span....

 

[bononos]

It sounded like a bad keyboard since an out of control x's virus seems too old school and your AV should have picked up them. So you have a quirky usb receiver - case closed.