bogged down xp system

[~A_Sammy]

Hi,

The system worked fine for about 6 months and then a couple of months ago it
started going slower and slower. I got an error report reply fm Msoft and
they said the thing causing the error was the nvidia driver for the video
card.

I got a new one from nvidia's site, and after removing the old one,
installed it.

Now I get about 10 min. use at regular speeds, and then it bogs down again.
By bog down I mean it will take about 5 seconds to respond to any keystroke,
and
about a minute to switch between taskes. These things normally are
instantanious, so its vexing to say the least. I've been using my laptop
for about 2 months now, instead of this computer because of this. When I
try using this one, I have to reboot it every 5 or 10 minutes, etc.

I also got a memory testor and ran it for a couple of hours per a suggestion
I got the last time I posted about this. Not in windows, but by itself.
It boots to its own routine from a floppy. The memory
tested perfectly on all the tests.

So, I'm out of ideas again. Can anybody help?

Tia.

Sammy

 

[GTS]

Hi,

The system worked fine for about 6 months and then a couple of months ago it
started going slower and slower. I got an error report reply fm Msoft and
they said the thing causing the error was the nvidia driver for the video
card.

I got a new one from nvidia's site, and after removing the old one,
installed it.

Now I get about 10 min. use at regular speeds, and then it bogs down again.
By bog down I mean it will take about 5 seconds to respond to any keystroke,
and
about a minute to switch between taskes. These things normally are
instantanious, so its vexing to say the least. I've been using my laptop
for about 2 months now, instead of this computer because of this. When I
try using this one, I have to reboot it every 5 or 10 minutes, etc.

I also got a memory testor and ran it for a couple of hours per a suggestion
I got the last time I posted about this. Not in windows, but by itself.
It boots to its own routine from a floppy. The memory
tested perfectly on all the tests.

So, I'm out of ideas again. Can anybody help?

Tia.

Sammy

Sounds like the behaviour of a trojan or worm or adware - have you tried
scanning the system? If you visit
http://security.symantec.com/ssc/home.asp?j=1&langid=ie&venid=sym&plfid=23&pkj=CCFWORVWHFHMFNZMBBX
you can scan for viruses etc for free.
If you download adaware from http://www.lavasoft.de you scan for adware.
Using Windows task Manager (CTRL-ALT-DEL), it shows which programs are
running and how much CPU and memory resources they are using. If you leave
this showing on screen, which process starts to use more resources over the
15 minute period you mention?
You can see a list of valid processes along with dodgy ones at
http://www.lafn.org/webconnect/mentor/startup/PENINDEX.HTM
Graham

 

[Stacey]

Hi,

The system worked fine for about 6 months and then a couple of months ago
it
started going slower and slower.

Sounds like spyware. Download -ADAWARE- and run it, you'll probably be
shocked how many spyware programs/files are running on your machines. I've
sen them in the hundreds. Also look for "gator" and get rid of whatever is
related to it, it can be a slippery beast to get rid of.

I still can't believe they are presecuting virus writers but ignoring
spyware distributors. Spyware IMHO is a much worse problem and that it's
still legal is beyond me...

 

[PWY]

Sounds like spyware. Download -ADAWARE- and run it, you'll probably be
shocked how many spyware programs/files are running on your machines. I've
sen them in the hundreds. Also look for "gator" and get rid of whatever is
related to it, it can be a slippery beast to get rid of.

I still can't believe they are presecuting virus writers but ignoring
spyware distributors. Spyware IMHO is a much worse problem and that it's
still legal is beyond me...

Also go to start-Accessories-System tools-Disk cleanup. Run Disk Cleanup
with all boxes checked.
Then go back to System Tools and run Disk Defragmenter.

PWY

 

[Vic.]

[snip]

I still can't believe they are presecuting virus writers but ignoring
spyware distributors. Spyware IMHO is a much worse problem and that it's
still legal is beyond me...

Well, a lot of the spyware (eg. Gator - whic is now called "Claria"
IIRC) depends on dumbasses clicking on those "Do you want to install
a million cursors", "Your computers time may not be correct!", "Do you
want to get a weather report ON YOUR DESKTOP!!!" banner ads.

Then when they install this junk, they don't scroll right to the
bottom of the multi-screen EULA, and so click "Accept" without
reading the bit that says "Oh, and by the way, we now own your pc".

Gator (or whoever) can turn around and say: "It was there in black and
white - if our clients don't bother to read it, you can't blame us,
can you?". This of course ignores the fact that the EULAs are couched
in purposefully vague and cryptic language, and that most naive users
will click "Ok" to *anything* to make a dialog go away and get where
they want to be.

Vic.

 

[Stacey]

[snip]

I still can't believe they are presecuting virus writers but ignoring
spyware distributors. Spyware IMHO is a much worse problem and that it's
still legal is beyond me...

Well, a lot of the spyware (eg. Gator - whic is now called "Claria"
IIRC) depends on dumbasses clicking on those "Do you want to install
a million cursors", "Your computers time may not be correct!", "Do you
want to get a weather report ON YOUR DESKTOP!!!" banner ads.

I've found spyware bundled with commercial applications! Kids games are the
worst. I agree with what you said but really how many EULA's do you read
before installing software? If you read every one, you are in the small
minority of people who do.

And no I really don't consider it in "Black and white" when it's burried in
the EULA that they are going to install other applications that track your
web surfing and report back to them, install pop-ups that come up even when
you are off line etc. I think someone needs to challenge this BS as it
costs end users money to have this garbage they "bundle" uninstalled as
ussually the spyware stays even if you uninstall the application it was
bundled with.

 

[Vic.]

[snip]

I still can't believe they are presecuting virus writers but ignoring
spyware distributors. Spyware IMHO is a much worse problem and that it's
still legal is beyond me...

Well, a lot of the spyware (eg. Gator - whic is now called "Claria"
IIRC) depends on dumbasses clicking on those "Do you want to install
a million cursors", "Your computers time may not be correct!", "Do you
want to get a weather report ON YOUR DESKTOP!!!" banner ads.

I've found spyware bundled with commercial applications! Kids games are the
worst.

I'm shocked. Spyware in any form is an evil, but to set out to
compromise a kid's pc is just so lame it's untrue..

Are big names involved here (eg. Disney)?

I agree with what you said but really how many EULA's do you read
before installing software? If you read every one, you are in the small
minority of people who do.

Do I read all EULAs thoroughly? Hell no!

But there again, I install very little stuff - I don't need 500
cursors, I don't need a weather report (I live in the UK, so I know
it's going to be overcast with some heavy rain :-/ ), My computer
clock is synced to the University of Manchester's tier-2 atomic clock
once a day, etc etc. I never touch warez, unlike a friend who snagged
his firewall and antivirus from KazAa, which to me is downright lunacy
- if there's one thing I want to come from a secure and trusted
source, it's the software, to which I entrust the safety of my
machine!

But a lot of people, God knows why, seem to love loading down their pc
with flashy junk. And I may be making huge assumptions, but I bet it's
the more naive computer users, who know they want the cute plug-ins
and animated cursors and tray applets, but don't know or care that
they're bogging down their machine *and* probably being spied on.
Until, of course the house of cards comes down, and their 2Ghz pc with
a gig of ram is brought down to XT speeds or rendered unstable by all
the cruddy apps fighting each other in the background.

And no I really don't consider it in "Black and white" when it's burried in
the EULA that they are going to install other applications that track your
web surfing and report back to them, install pop-ups that come up even when
you are off line etc.

Don't get me wrong: I don't think loading EULAs with unacceptable
terms, and disguising this with some cryptic legalese is an acceptable
way to do business at all.

Unfortunately, I fear that by stating their intent in the EULA,
spyware pushers may be covered legally: They said what they were going
to do, so why act surprised when they go ahead and do it?

I think someone needs to challenge this BS as it
costs end users money to have this garbage they "bundle" uninstalled as
ussually the spyware stays even if you uninstall the application it was
bundled with.

Again, I don't know how we can "challenge" spyware producers?
What they're doing is (in my view) immoral, unethical and doubtless
distasteful to the majority of net users, but it's probably legal.

All we can do is not install spyware in the first place.

Best,

Vic.

 

[Stacey]

I'm shocked. Spyware in any form is an evil, but to set out to
compromise a kid's pc is just so lame it's untrue..

Are big names involved here (eg. Disney)?

Broderbund is one brand I've found that does this. I think they "slip it in"
because no one would suspect a kids game to be loaded with spyware!

Do I read all EULAs thoroughly? Hell no!

But there again, I install very little stuff -

I use linux so I don't have to sweat this but..

Again, I don't know how we can "challenge" spyware producers?
What they're doing is (in my view) immoral, unethical and doubtless
distasteful to the majority of net users, but it's probably legal.

I'd think they could demand they make it more clear what the user is
participating in and make is easy to remove later. I guess it's going to
have to get much worse before anyone cries loud enough for this to happen.

 

[Matt]

I'd think they could demand they make it more clear what the user is
participating in

Software makers could get together and develop EULAs with standard
clauses, each clause with a checkbox. So the EU could see at a glance
whether or not he is agreeing not to reverse engineer, whether or not he
is agreeing to permit spyware, whether or not he can install on multiple
machines, etc.