StarDestroyer.Net BBS

I've had a series of problems crop up all within the last 24-48 hours.

When I try and play a game it takes forever for the game to activate and load up maps. I mean much longer then normal.

The computer boots up very slowly.

Programs in general activate extremely slowly.

When I run winamp the file will play for a short while then crap out and now I can't play any sound files and sound dies on my computer outright.

Reformatting is not an option at this time.

Some more information, if you can, as well as several things I can think of:

- How old is this installation, and what OS is it?

- Have you made any software installations or hardware changes recently?

- Are the multiplier and FSB settings on your motherboard correct? My Asus A7N8X Deluxe, for instance, will reset to 12.5x multiplier and 100 MHz FSB after every power failure, causing slowdown until I correct the settings.

- Is your hard drive controller set to DMA mode? (Control Panel -> System -> Hardware tab -> Device Manager, then expand IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers and select Properties for the Primary IDE channel; click the Advanced tab and check the Transfer Mode settings.) The IDE controller might be set to PIO Mode, which really slows down hard disk access and can cause symptoms like you describe.

- What's your usual commit charge (CTRL-ALT-DEL to open the Task Manager, and it should display at the bottom of the window)? If it's high, what's eating up the resources?

- Could you post a StartupList log? This identifies a few things that HJT! is known to miss, but the logs are on the cumbersome side.

Datana wrote:- How old is this installation, and what OS is it?

It dates to December or January.

- Have you made any software installations or hardware changes recently?

Talking with Einy, we momentarily thought it was DRM related. I recently downloaded some movies on Kazaa that wouldn't play unless I had DRM and I clicked the more info button then backed out and deleted the things. These problems started occuring around that time.

- Are the multiplier and FSB settings on your motherboard correct? My Asus A7N8X Deluxe, for instance, will reset to 12.5x multiplier and 100 MHz FSB after every power failure, causing slowdown until I correct the settings.

- Is your hard drive controller set to DMA mode? (Control Panel -> System -> Hardware tab -> Device Manager, then expand IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers and select Properties for the Primary IDE channel; click the Advanced tab and check the Transfer Mode settings.) The IDE controller might be set to PIO Mode, which really slows down hard disk access and can cause symptoms like you describe.

- What's your usual commit charge (CTRL-ALT-DEL to open the Task Manager, and it should display at the bottom of the window)? If it's high, what's eating up the resources?

- Could you post a StartupList log? This identifies a few things that HJT! is known to miss, but the logs are on the cumbersome side.

Gonna have to get back to you on that.

Anyway, some more info.

I can not play any audio files with winamp, it crashes. I can not play BF1942, but I can play games like Republic Commando. Both attempt a load up and take an absurd length of time, but at least RC lets me play.

Run every anti-spyware app you got and throw in a virus scan.

In addition, try running the anti-spyware and anti-virus software while in safe mode.

Uraniun235 wrote:In addition, try running the anti-spyware and anti-virus software while in safe mode.

Good one!
Then run it in command line
No seriously run them, if not resolved run them in safe mode as Uraniun235 suggets.

Let us know if the problem is still there.

Alyeska wrote: Talking with Einy, we momentarily thought it was DRM related. I recently downloaded some movies on Kazaa that wouldn't play unless I had DRM and I clicked the more info button then backed out and deleted the things. These problems started occuring around that time.

Bad sign, you have probably been trojaned/infected if you installed some random DRM software.

Its probebly DRM, but it also sounds like you need a through de-frag, your Hijack log is clean, but since you mention slow startup..

I'd suggest Defragmenting your main Windows drive atleast.

Alyeska, its spoolsv.exe. I looked at your log and found that you have the same problems as me. The thing is bad enough that one of the solutions (besides the ones posted here) involved restoring your computer to its factory settings. I tell ya, it does not want to die.

VF5SS wrote:Alyeska, its spoolsv.exe. I looked at your log and found that you have the same problems as me. The thing is bad enough that one of the solutions (besides the ones posted here) involved restoring your computer to its factory settings. I tell ya, it does not want to die.

Probably isn't that -- spoolsv.exe is the Windows 2000/XP printer spool service, and if in system32 (which Alyeska's is) is completely normal.

(EDIT: A clarification, here: spoolsv.exe is a standard Windows 2k/XP system file, and will be found on every installation. It handles print spooling and caching. If it isn't in its usual directory (C:\WINNT\System32 or C:\Windows\System32), then it's a trojan or worm disguising itself. There are also numerous reports of the normal version of the file causing massive slowdowns, but usually only in the case of an outdated Epson or Canon printer driver coupled with WinXPSP2. Though this does give something else to check -- is the print spool empty? If something is still in there, that also causes some noticeable slowdowns.)

Yeah that's what I meant. I had the trojan of the same name.

Alyeska, remeber the other day you asked me why I don't use kazaa anymore?(This is why I stick with BT...)

Do a Disk Cleanup, then antispyware and antiviral, then defrag, then it's System Restore time, to the earliest possible date you still have. Then get the trial version of Advanced System Organizer and start cleaning the registry and mopping up extraneous files. Then defrag. Don't run any registry repair until after you restore, since that seems to mess up the restore points. I was having some problems, but the battery of redundant overkills seems to have solved them.

If you've fixed it already then never mind.

Good all reformat fixes all problems.

Automated registry cleaners do more harm that good.

ggs wrote:Automated registry cleaners do more harm that good.

Same with System Restore. If you've got a bug, 99% of the time your restore points are infected too, so you're not doing any good. This is why any standalone fixes from symantec require you to turn off system restore before running them.

System restore is great for fixing driver fuckups and that type of thing, but thats all it is good for.

It is not ment to fix malware infections.