# PC running slowly - virus?



## Zapatista (10 Sep 2005)

Hi all,

A couple of weeks ago while surfing the net my PC became really slow all of a sudden. I have broadband so it should be fairly fast. The internet's not the only thing affected though. Every operation takes longer than it should. For example if I press on the start button, my program list takes about a minute to come up. Before this happened I had no anti-virus so when the problems started I bought Norton 2005. I ran a full system scan and 14 harmful threats were found and repaired/deleted. However my PC is still ridiculously slow. Could a virus have done irreparable damage to my hardrive? Is there anything I can attempt to remedy the problems I'm having? 

Any & all advice is greatly appreciated.

Zapa.


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## ClubMan (10 Sep 2005)

*Re: Help !*

Please give your posts a more meaningful title than _"Help!" _as explained in the  (I've changed the title to something more meaningful and more likely to elicit useful responses now).

A virus is one possibility and you should make sure that you do thorough scans for viruses and other parasites with up to date scanners.  explains more about protecting and disinfecting your _PC_. Are you sure that your existing virus scanner is continuously doing background scanning and live checking for problems and is being kept updated?

There would be lots of other reasons for the problem too. Have you changed anything (e.g. installed or reconfigured any software or hardware) between when it worked OK and when the problems arose?


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## Zapatista (10 Sep 2005)

Clubman,

Thanks for your sppedy reply. I downloaded a poker program recently but it was probably about a week before the problems started. I have since deleted it anyway. Like I said I purchased Norton2005 and I updated it as soon as I got it. I'm not sure if it is running constantly in the background or not. After I ran the scan the computer didn't speed up at all. Even though 14 threats were detected and dealt with.

Zapa.


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## ClubMan (10 Sep 2005)

You should also try some of the other virus, adware and parasite scanners/tools mentioned in the other thread - many of them are free for personal use. Sometimes problems not picked up by one tool are picked up by another. You should also be running a firewall especially with broadband. But right now you need to identify the cause of the problem and rectify that. Try checking the _Task Manager _(press the _Ctrl-Alt-Delete _keys at the same time and click on the _Task Manager _button) then click on the _CPU _column to sort the processes by _CPU _time used to see if any specific process is hogging the _PC_. This might give you some insight into what's sapping the _PC's _processing power.


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## Zapatista (10 Sep 2005)

I checked the task manager. There are two processes running that are taking up virtually all the CPU time. One is a system process - services.exe. The other is a user process called hot_plug.exe. There doesn't appear to be an option to view information about the processes. I imagine the system process is most likely required. However the hot_plug one is most likely not. I could end the process but I am curious about what it is.


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## RainyDay (10 Sep 2005)

Zapatista said:
			
		

> I downloaded a poker program recently but it was probably about a week before the problems started. I have since deleted it anyway.


Did you uninstall it before you deleted it?


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## Zapatista (10 Sep 2005)

I did. Don't think it caused the problems though.


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## Zapatista (10 Sep 2005)

Hope I'm not speaking to soon but I think I just found the problem. I aborted those processes that were running on task manager. Everything seems fine now. 

Cheers Clubman

Zapa.


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## ClubMan (10 Sep 2005)

What processes?


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## dam099 (10 Sep 2005)

Doing a google on hot_plug.exe suggests it may be Spyware, try downloading and running Spybot and Adaware
Services.exe is normally present on the system but maybe a piece of spyware is using that name to try and mask itself as it should not be using much CPU if the PC is idle.
Killing processes is not a complete fix when you next reboot they could load again.


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## black_pearl (14 Apr 2007)

I'm ressurecting an old thread but its relevant to my question. My PC is also running incredibly slowly and has been for ages.

I've ignored it until I got a message saying that I'm low on virtual memory. What is this and how can I get it?

I also followed all the above advice - no viruses as far as I can see, I've ran LOTS of those named in the clean pc thread. However, when I tried Windows Task Manager as suggested above, theres 44 processes running, most with weird names such as spoolsv.exe and dlbtbmgr.exe which altogether are taking up approx 262k of a 351k "commit charge". Is this all linked? What do I do, I'm just your average computer user, I've little specialist knowledge.

Thanks in advance!


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## gearoid (14 Apr 2007)

I'd try the following:
1. Open a dos session and run chkdsk /r to repair
2. Defrag your hard disk
3. Download/Run spybot or similar to see if you have any spyware or other nuisance software
4. Download/Run hijackthis which will check what processes are being created at startup to see if they are valid. You can post the log to a recognised techie forum for help...

From googling:
spoolsv is a valid windows process
dlbtmgr is a Dell multimedia process

Good luck


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## Technologist (15 Apr 2007)

black_pearl said:


> I've ignored it until I got a message saying that I'm low on virtual memory. What is this and how can I get it?


Virtual memory is memory generated on the hard disc once you've run out of real memory (RAM).

When this happens your computer runs very slowly.

Adding more virtual memory will not help.

The main problem is to figure out why you're running out of memory in the first place.


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## black_pearl (15 Apr 2007)

Thanks for that.
I know this is a really basic question but how do I open a dos session? And will I just type in 
chkdsk /r
and hit enter?


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## gearoid (15 Apr 2007)

From Start menu chose Command Prompt (XP).

You should get a little black window with a c:> prompt.

At the prompt type in chkdsk /r and then hit the carriage return

Alternatively select Run from the start menu and type the same command.

chkdsk checks for bad disk sectors and repairs them.

The defrag reorganises files so they are in contiguous parts of the disk. This can take hours and hours but it's worth it if you have a lot of data ... and are doing multiple deletes and inserts of files.

The other steps check for rogue programmes.


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## black_pearl (16 Apr 2007)

Have defragged the disk, took about half an hour but its done. Ran spybot, everything fine. Will give the dos session thing a go now. Thanks again Gearoid!


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## gearoid (16 Apr 2007)

No problem.
Looks like the defrag didn't have to do too much so was inconsequential.

To check on CPU usage:

Also do a Crtl-Alt-Delete to brink up windows Task Manager.

Click on the Processes tab and then click on the Mem Usage header to sort desnding on Memory Usage in the CPU.

What are the top 5 heaviest users?


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## gearoid (16 Apr 2007)

Re-read thread and I see you've already done that... but what are the worst offenders? Is it simply the case you need more RAM? Just wondering... In any case can you list the worst processes in terms of CPU usage... thanks


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## black_pearl (16 Apr 2007)

ran the dos thingy, apparantly the "volume is clean".

As regards the processes, they keep on changing but
iexplore.exe (huge at about 26,000 k)
LUCOMS~1.exe (which appeared and then just disapperared - i googled it, its something to do with norton Anti-virus)
svchost.exe 3,900k
explorer.exe 4,000k
CCAPP.exe
gcasDtServ.exe

Is RAM the same as harddisk space? I deleted stuff and now have 8GB free - more free than used.


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## gearoid (16 Apr 2007)

RAM is the memory of your computer where processing takes place.
Hard disk is where the files are stored.

One or two things... I've had problems with ccapp and Norton in general.

The fact ccapp is running would suggest that your system is reasonably well protected but in doing so it may be causing performance problems...

I don't know how old your system is or the specification but it may be that Norton and other bona fide programmes are using up much of the processor.

Also, you need to ensure that the operating system has sufficient memory for what is called the swap file.

It would be a good idea to download a tool called sisoft sandra which runs and gives a full report on your system in terms of processor speed, memory available, hard disk, swap etc. Perhaps you can post the results? What you may find though is that the spec of your PC is too low for your apps. Is it still under warranty or is it an old pc perchance?

PC Maintenance can take a while to learn but there are a lot of informative sites. It might be a good idea for you to start reading some websites on basic PC maintenance.


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## black_pearl (16 Apr 2007)

Thanks for the extremely fast reply!

I'm downloading sandra, we only have dial-up so theres an hour left to go. Its an old enough computer, maybe 2002, and considering my parents bought it I'd say the spec is probably pretty low. Although all thats really running on it is Microsoft Office, Norton and a Kodak photo viewer.

I'll run sandra and post the results as soon as I can. 
Thanks for all your help, I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and start reading up on this stuff.
PS - To where to I send the cheque for services rendered?! ;-)


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## gearoid (16 Apr 2007)

I would say the problem is that it's an old PC and you are running Norton!!!

Norton is an absolute hog on resources but and the ccapp process in particular is the cause of a lot of problems re performance.

I'm afraid you may have to save your shekels for a new PC but in the meantime you may consider replacing Norton with a more lightweight anti-virus product.

Regards,
Gearoid


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## black_pearl (17 Apr 2007)

Darn! We were using an older Norton but certain persons who shall remain nameless never downloaded updates. A years worth of updates would be more than our phone line could handle so we bought a brand-spanking new Norton which would solve all our worries. Or so we thought!

Is it possible to turn off ccapp -ie-does it related to Live Update so I could just do that manually? Or would you recommend just using something like AVG on its own? (obviously with spybot, adaware etc)


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## gearoid (17 Apr 2007)

From an external website:



> ccapp.exe is is responsible for the auto-protect and email checking facilities, both of which will not function correctly if this service is stopped. This program is important for the stable and secure running of your computer and should not be terminated.



You could possibly uninstall Norton and replace with AVG or other products such as a freeware antivirus checker, a firewall etc. I'd google to see if other people hit the same scenario. This would remove ccapp.

The issue is that you would need to download the freeware, disconnect from the web, then uninstall Norton and replace it with one or more of the other products which would hopefully be less resource intensive. The issue will be configuring the new software to deal with any pre-existing software as you need to learn how the new software works and do things such as protect or unprotect specific ports used by current programmes on your system.

I wouldn't do it lightly and it mightn't resolve all your problems.

It would seem Norton is the "smoking gun" in terms of performance. I've had serious problems with this process myself, but would have a much higher spec PC than I suspect you have. ccapp performs all the monitoring of external threats while you are online either browsing or receiving mail, or indeed running programmes so it uses a lot of resources and it is intrinsic to the proper running of Norton. On an already slow system it can slow things to an absolute crawl.


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## Ballyman (18 Apr 2007)

Hi

I have all of the above problems also. I removed Norton Anti Virus completely a few months back and the PC seemed to pick up a bit but it's back to where it was again now.

I ran several spy bots and installed AVG and cleaned up the system a bit after they found several problems. Took forever to run all these though and when they were finished and system had rebooted, the PC almost came to a complete halt, it was so slow. Took an absolute lifetime to do even the simplest thing, such as open notepad!! I removed AVG again as I suspected that this might be using up system resources and it has improved slightly but is still incredibly slow and annoying.

Ran chkdsk and it found some issues and said to run chkdsk /f. See pic.






I tried running that and all I got was the attached pic. I also tried chkdsk /r and got the same error. I did as the error stated and restarted the PC but it had finished the chkdsk /r in less than 5 seconds. Surely this can't right?
How can I get it to run it without shutting down the PC?
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j177/lynchefa/Wendy House/Chkdsk.jpg

I've also attached two pics of the task manager, one of the CPU time and the other of the memory usage, in descending order. I also keep getting the Virtual memory is low error.
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j177/lynchefa/Wendy House/Memory.jpg
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j177/lynchefa/Wendy House/CPU.jpg

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

BTW, I'm running Windows XP PS2. The PC is approximately 4 years old. Pentium 4, 2.4GHz and in My Computer it says 192MB of RAM. This doesn't sound right though (128 or 256MB etc???)but maybe it is.


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## ClubMan (18 Apr 2007)

You cannot _chkdsk _the boot volume without scheduling it to happen at next reboot.

I would take that drive out of the _PC_, install it in another one and rescan it there for viruses/malware/etc. and chkdsk/defrag it. If it is already infected then scanning it in-situ in the machine that boots off it may not clean it thoroughly since some viruses/malware could be masking their presence. I would also do a scan for rootkits.

192MB of RAM (e.g. 128MB + 64MB or 3 x 64MB) is not unusual. A bit low though.


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## gearoid (18 Apr 2007)

Clubman, There is the possibility of running chkdsk off a BartPE disk that is emulating XP. I think this might obviate the need for removing the hard drive.


On another point. Removing anti-virus software is a false economy. If the PC is running slowly upgrade RAM or failing that buy a new PC. Or switch to Linux .


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## Ballyman (18 Apr 2007)

How much RAM should I need, obviously I understand that this is similar to how long is a piece of string but the I only use the PC for Internet surfing, Torrent downloading, Poker and some Microsoft Office packages. As can be seen from the Task Manager pics there doesn't seem to be much running in the background so I don't know what is slowing it down.

How much does it cost!!

Is it easy to install, as in is it just plug and play?


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## ClubMan (18 Apr 2007)

gearoid said:


> Clubman, There is the possibility of running chkdsk off a BartPE disk that is emulating XP.  I think this might obviate the need for removing the hard drive.


Yes - good point. The UBCD (or UBCD for Windows) might also help as it allows various diagnostics/scans to be run. 


> On another point. Removing anti-virus software is a false economy. If the PC is running slowly upgrade RAM or failing that buy a new PC. Or switch to Linux .


I agree. As mentioned elsewhere I upgraded my mother's ancient _Dell Optiplex GX1 PIII 350MHz _with some additional _RAM _and an old 40GB hard disk and then stuck Xubuntu on it and it's more than sufficient for her basic needs and means no longer running an unsupported version of _W9x _with higher resource requirements. *Ubuntu 7.04 is out tomorrow so it'll be interesting to try it out.


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## ClubMan (18 Apr 2007)

Ballyman said:


> How much RAM should I need


You need to sort out the existing problems first especially if they only cropped up recently and the _PC _worked OK before this.

It's hard to say how much _RAM _is necessary but I would be looking at at least 256MB and possibly up to 512MB for basic use with _Windows _these days.


> How much does it cost!!
> 
> Is it easy to install, as in is it just plug and play?


Hard to say as it depends on what sort of memory you need and depending on your current configuration you might need to ditch/sell your existing memory to install more. You also need to make sure to buy 100% compatible memory. See this thread:

200pin or 144 pin laptop memory module?


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## gearoid (18 Apr 2007)

Google "Installing RAM". It should be easy and cheap. There are Irish firms on the web that sell RAM via an Post.

See the likes of
[broken link removed]

On the face of it you aren't running much, but a full inspection of your system is outside the scope of this thread. Bear in mind that you're running all the Operating System processes. Apparently XP can run on 64MB RAM but needs in practice 128mb. This leaves little room for anything else. Get at least 512MB RAM likely for far less than 100 euros and install it using instructions from the web.

The issue is that installing proper antivirus software at the moment is difficult as you don't have enough RAM but not having anti-virus software means you are open to all sorts of viruses, bots and malware that will also slow your system. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. You said it yourself. You got a quick hit from removing Norton, but then things slowed down possibly/probably due to malware. Bear in mind downloading from torrents comes with a health warning...


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## Ballyman (18 Apr 2007)

It's a desktop so installing RAM shouldn't be that difficult.

I'll give that a go and see what happens. At least that should speed up things so I can get AVG and Spybots working properly and I can start again then.

Thanks


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## ClubMan (18 Apr 2007)

As I said above upgrading the _RAM _is unlikely to solve any problems with performance that arose unexpectedly at some point in the (recent?) past. You need to sort these out first before worrying about _RAM_ upgrades. If/when you decide to to a _RAM _upgrade make sure to buy only 100% compatible memory and take the usual basic precautions when installing it.


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## Ballyman (18 Apr 2007)

OK. I see what you're saying ClubMan. I'd like to increase the memory anyway so that when I do get it sorted, I'll be able to run AVG and spybots without any bother as there wil be plenty of memory there for them. Am I thinking right in doing this?

I went onto Komplett.ie and put in my system details and it threw up [broken link removed] upgrade for me but when I went to the Packard Bell website they threw up [broken link removed] one for me.

Whats the difference?? There is a big price difference. Would the Komplett one do the job for me? My system is Packard Bell iMedia 5064.

I'm presuming it's like going into a main dealer for a service with a car. The local lad will do the same service for half the cost albeit with inferior, but working parts????


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## ClubMan (18 Apr 2007)

Ballyman said:


> OK. I see what you're saying ClubMan. I'd like to increase the memory anyway so that when I do get it sorted, I'll be able to run AVG and spybots without any bother as there wil be plenty of memory there for them. Am I thinking right in doing this?


If (and we don't know that this is the case) the machine is still affected by viruses/malware then throwing memory at the problem will probably not help. Better to clean the drive up first assuming that some sort of infection is the root of the problem.


> I went onto Komplett.ie and put in my system details and it threw up [broken link removed] upgrade for me but when I went to the Packard Bell website they threw up [broken link removed] one for me.
> 
> Whats the difference?? There is a big price difference. Would the Komplett one do the job for me? My system is Packard Bell iMedia 5064.


See the other thread that I linked to and only buy from a vendor who offers a money back guarantee if the parts recommended do not work or are not compatible. Also check what memory is actually installed right now, in what slots and how many slots you have to know what the optimal arrangement would be. As I mentioned before you could have to ditch some of the existing memory to make way for higher capacity parts.


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