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Removing Crapware makes computer super slow?!

Berryracer

Platinum Member
I was asked at work to see this issue with McAfee popping up on each restart saying the license expired, so I uninstalled it via the McAfee Uninstall tool then noticed Symantec Business Edition was installed at the same time as McAfee so I uninstalled that too and then me thinking I am smart, I started uninstalling Crapware like the Cyberlink DVD Studio and UCAM and lots of other crapware...

I then installed Bitdefender AV (licensed copy) and the computer became as slow as a turtle!

My manager came in this morning and complained to me that his computer is super slow I told him that it had many viruses and I cleaned them up but he says his PC wasn't this slow when the viruses were there?

There is something abnormal about its slowness now.

He is using Vista SP1 so I installed SP2 for him Bitdefender wouldn't install if he didn't have SP2. His computer was never updated before and was superfast and now it's crippled.

After installing Bitdefender Antivirus I ran Paragon Alignment Tool and noticed that his C: and D: partitions were not aligned but even if I align them I don't think that's the main issue

any suggestions would be highly appreciated
 
reinstall windows from fresh. An infected system can't be trusted anyway including all the files...if no back ups are available, too bad...
 
reinstall windows from fresh. An infected system can't be trusted anyway including all the files...if no back ups are available, too bad...

Pretty much this, minus the "too bad" part since you cant just nuke business data all willy-nilly. All this time and he didnt have any updates applied, even SP2? Those infections were most likely taking advantage of any number of unpatched vulnerabilities on the system. Removing pieces of them and applying the patches doesn't just make the malware benign and everything right as rain, who knows what parts of the OS are damaged or corrupted but not enough to show visible symptoms outside of slowness? A malware script could easily be *constantly* attempting, failing, and retrying in the background devouring your resources.

Pull the drive, back up the data to a secure system thats *not* on the network (so you can virus/malware scan the crap out of it), format and do a clean install. Once you're 110% sure any critical data from the old system is virus free, move it over to the clean system.
 
crap, I wished there was an easier solution, this is the first time I clean up a system and end up crippling it rather than making it perform better.

The only headache I hate dealing with is restoring his outlook which is setup as a POP3 account 🙁

I am thinking maybe just use system restore to go back to the point before installing SP2 and Bitdefender AV and leave it at that 🙁
 
You did mention you installed Bitdefender and it slowed things down. Try uninstalling it and see what happens.
 
You did mention you installed Bitdefender and it slowed things down. Try uninstalling it and see what happens.


roger that, I will do that first thing in the morning and see how it goes, i mind end up putting Panda Cloud for him if it was Bitdefender as the culprit although it runs super light on my and other systems i've tried, much lighter than Kaspersky but it comes with its quirks so you may be spot on bro
 
I do run into systems here and there that certain AV programs just do not like. Rather than spend hours figuring out what the incompatibility is I just go to another program and move on.
 
I'm going to list my usual troubleshooting steps when the culprit seems to be a virus or other malware. Some of these you may have already done.

1) Find and install an anti-virus program and make sure it is up to date. Malwarebytes AND SuperAntiSpyware. I'd install both.

2) Scan computer for malware.

3) Download TDSS Killer which is a nice utility for finding rootkits.

4) Download Hijackthis to find out what's being started on your computer automatically. Be careful, this lists safe and unsafe objects. Do not remove anything unless you know what it is. Do a Google search first.

5) Check your Windows Host file to make sure it is clean.

6) Download all Windows security updates. Especially the latest browser supported by your OS.

7) After you do the Windows Update, run the various anti-malware apps again.

8) If computer is still slow. Back up all of the files, make sure to scan for malware on the backed up files. Rebuild the damn thing.

9) If computer is still slow. Throw it out of the window. Buy new computer.
 
I'm going to list my usual troubleshooting steps when the culprit seems to be a virus or other malware. Some of these you may have already done.

1) Find and install an anti-virus program and make sure it is up to date. Malwarebytes AND SuperAntiSpyware. I'd install both.

2) Scan computer for malware.

3) Download TDSS Killer which is a nice utility for finding rootkits.

4) Download Hijackthis to find out what's being started on your computer automatically. Be careful, this lists safe and unsafe objects. Do not remove anything unless you know what it is. Do a Google search first.

5) Check your Windows Host file to make sure it is clean.

6) Download all Windows security updates. Especially the latest browser supported by your OS.

7) After you do the Windows Update, run the various anti-malware apps again.

8) If computer is still slow. Back up all of the files, make sure to scan for malware on the backed up files. Rebuild the damn thing.

9) If computer is still slow. Throw it out of the window. Buy new computer.

My first step is to boot the computer into 'Safe Mode with Networking' by hitting F8 before the Windows splash screen. Then proceed to installing Malwarebytes.
 
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