Slow scan with newest update

[petek471]

petek
in addition to the add-remove programs uninstall did you run the norton uninstaller?

Yes wyrm, I did a Windows uninstall. It seemed to work well, with no apparent need to use PCHell. DO you think its will become necessary? Do you believe Norton is not really uninstalled?
I do not know if this is relevant, but the Norton AV was an HP preloaded trial subscription.

[DavidR]

Norton is notoriously hard to get rid of and although uninstalled there are frequently remnants left behind as many posts in this forum attest to.

It is certainly worth checking out the link and running/actioning any suggestions.

[petek471]

Yes, I could read the sense of urgency in wyrm's writing. I should mention that last night my wife restarted her computer and in the HP/Vista intro screens, a Norton Internet progam popped up asking for attention. So I removed that Norton code using Windows add/remove function. I think I'm rid of the Norton "Spyware" which is nothing more than an advertising agent Symantec paid HP to preload on my hardware.
But I will investigate mr. wyrm's advice as soon as my wife lets me near her PC. You know how we get into these PC's and spend endless hours, inhibiting our wives' ability to shop on the web...

[egr]

i am not really too technical so i hope you understand my problems if i explain it as well as i can...

i have a windows sp2 on a 512 mb ram 1.8 gHz AMD sempron processor computer, with about 80% of the hard used. (it's a small 80 gb hard and yes i know i could do way better, i just haven't and can't afford any upgrades soon).
the AV is the avast home edition 4.8 and i also use windows firewall. i didn't install anything more since i am not sure what is good and what is not.

i've been having problems since saturday, the 9th (updates are automatic so i've no idea if there was a program update then or not).

problems are:

first, i had a "powerscan antivirus" popup unrequested on my firefox browser (which crashed immediately). since i've had a bad history with unrequested AV popups, i ran a scan on my c: and all it found were ALL the alwil software files (namely all avast files) that were infected with a trojan. at that point i got really scared, uninstalled avast, redownloaded, re-installed, updated the virus database and ran two scans.
one in safe-mode, after installing the AV - it found only one infected file - not an .exe file - (a trojan, it said) in the d: partition system restore files.
i am not sure if i did well but i disabled the system restore hoping to delete all files, then re-enabled SR.
then i did a second thorough scan, with archive scanning included, after entering windows. it didn't find anything more.

so this took care of the unrequested popups.

second problem: it takes forever since then to access the internet with firefox. i don't like iexplorer and i don't want to use it, i like firefox and i want to keep using it. but it takes a very long time to go online and also to browse pages once the browser is open. the main processes that strain the system are svchost.exe which seems to be running in separate locations for SYSTEM and NETWORK (i'm in a network so maybe that's ok but i'm not sure. avast is only installed on my computer, i don't know what the others have.) the processor hits 100% usage all the time and it's not really healthy for it.

reading through this thread i noticed that some users have disabled the archive scanning after doing the safe-mode scans so i've disabled it too to see if it makes any difference. so far i've seen none.

so what i wonder is this...

1. does the latest update make this happen? overusing the processor and slowing down my system??
it's getting annoying when even google won't show because of the long delays that cut the connection.

2. is it possible that by uninstalling the "positive" infected avast files i actually allowed a virus to spread and infect my computer? does re-installing and scanning in safe-mode provide a safety belt for this?

3. is it possible that a virus database used as an update was corrupted and made my AV go crazy on me?!

4. which online scan could i use to make sure the system IS clean and not giving me false good reads? i don't want to stop avast for an online scan by another AV, are there some good enough that wouldn't require stopping the running AV?

5. is it really the fact that avast was updated to fit with better, newer systems that's making it incompatible with my older and slower system?

sorry for all the questions. i am just getting really freaked out here.

[wyrmrider]

HI  EGR

different problem here so best not to Reply to this but to start a new post in the virus and worms forum (below)

start by going to malwarebytes and running their on line ROGUE REMOVER and THEN
their FREE ANTI MALWARE  update and run a full scan

post the log in your new post/ thread
Are you using Windows XP/Vista?
Scheduling the Boot Time Scan

Click on the Menu button.
Choose Schedule Boot Time Scan.
Doing so displays a dialog allowing you to schedule virus scanning.
Check Archives, if you want scan all the archives.
Specify whether all the disks or just a specific folder should be scanned.
Select Advanced options for scheduling details.
Select how to automatically process infected files (suggestion: send to Chest)
Choose how to automatically process infected system files (suggestion: ignore/do nothing)
Click the Schedule button to confirm the settings.

 
 

[Lisandro]

Are you using Windows XP/Vista?
Scheduling the Boot Time Scan

Click on the Menu button.
Choose Schedule Boot Time Scan.
Doing so displays a dialog allowing you to schedule virus scanning.
Check Archives, if you want scan all the archives.
Specify whether all the disks or just a specific folder should be scanned.
Select Advanced options for scheduling details.
Select how to automatically process infected files (suggestion: send to Chest)
Choose how to automatically process infected system files (suggestion: ignore/do nothing)
Click the Schedule button to confirm the settings.

wyrmrider, better quoting then copying...

[petek471]

Mr. wrymrider & Mr. DavidR,
I'm thinking about my laptop and how slow it scans compare to my wife's newer Core Duo PC and I'm wondering if I should run an anti-malware program just to see if there are any hidden programs that are not checked by Avast and Spybot.
What are your thoughts on this?
Thanks in advance.

[DavidR]

Well the two most commonly recommended are SuperAntiSpyware amd MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM).

SUPERantispyware On-Demand only in free version.
MalwareBytes Anti-Malware freeware version http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/malwarebytes/mbam-setup.exe, right click on the link and select Save As or Save File (As depending on your browser), save it to a location where you can find it easily later.

However, there is a down and dirty way you can quickly check what is going on, open Task Manager and see what is running, especially those eating CPU time and check those you don't know about on google, etc.

[petek471]

DavidR,
I did both scans and both showed no issues. I am now confident I know the cause of Avast running slow...its is CPU power, pure and simple, but proven in a more scirntific way. I guess its time to let go of this old laptop and search for something new. This laptop is like an older pair of undershorts. It is worn and maybe thin in places, but its so damn comfortable.
Again, than you for your support.
Pete
Raleigh, NC USA

[wyrmrider]

gland you found nothing on your good buddy
What OS your laptop?
usually some additional memory will make it seem like a new computer
run CCleaner and defrag will also help
you can go to BlackVipers page and find a guide on slimming down the overhead (W2k-XP)

[DavidR]

DavidR,
I did both scans and both showed no issues. I am now confident I know the cause of Avast running slow...its is CPU power, pure and simple, but proven in a more scirntific way. I guess its time to let go of this old laptop and search for something new. This laptop is like an older pair of undershorts. It is worn and maybe thin in places, but its so damn comfortable.
Again, than you for your support.
Pete
Raleigh, NC USA

You're welcome.

I know what you mean by being comfortable with a system, I have just bought a new system (spec in signature) and it took almost 5 days straight to get it set-up to how old system was.

My old system was still more powerful than yours, but I was starting to notice it wasn't as responsive as it used to be. I still have it (my new system sits on top of it, two black, Tower PCs, looks impressive). I very occasionally run the old system for one thing or another and boy do I notice the difference in speed or should I say the lack of it

So there is no need to break the bond right away until you get comfortable with the new system, but you will gradually use it less and less until you pack it away, just in case

[wyrmrider]

http://users.telenet.be/bluepatchy/miekiemoes/slowcomputer.html

http://www.blackviper.com/

[petek471]

Thanks gents, I'm presently virus, spyware and malware-free. When I run Avast, it uses between 85 and 100% of my CPU's processing power. No other programs or processes are hogging CPU (TeaTimer from Spybot resident scanner takes about 2-3% of CPU, and no other processes look significant or unauthorized). So I'm just out of CPU steam. Its time to call my brother and see which one of my nephews wants this laptop. And its time for me to start shopping. Maybe I'll switch back to a desktop so I can get a quad core CPU, a giant LCD and a real graphics card.
Thanks again for your kind support!

[wyrmrider]

New AMD integrated graphics is as good as low end graphics card plus you can add a PCIe graphics card for dual card - best of both worlds for all but the hard core gamer or professional CAD or Graphics apps
mate with AMD quad core for best value
Intel may have better performance at only the very top end- add $1000

[YoKenny]

DavidR,
I did both scans and both showed no issues. I am now confident I know the cause of Avast running slow...its is CPU power, pure and simple, but proven in a more scirntific way. I guess its time to let go of this old laptop and search for something new. This laptop is like an older pair of undershorts. It is worn and maybe thin in places, but its so damn comfortable.
Again, than you for your support.
Pete
Raleigh, NC USA

I had an old IBM ThinkPad like that but it died.

I spent two and a half wonderful years working in Raleigh, N.C. but I could not get a L1 visa to work longer so I had to return to The Great White North:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_and_Doug_McKenzie