computer help

[cmotherofpirl]

My main computer is in safe mode, running only 11 processes, no programs and the CPU is still running at 100%. I have run ad-aware, spybot and spyware docter to no avail. I cannot get into my zone alarm virus protect.

Any suggestions [besides rebooting] ?

Edited December 2, 2005 by cmotherofpirl

[Brother Adam]

Reboot. haha.

Use current computer as a paperwieght. buy new computer. They run as cheap as $300 now a days.

[philothea]

Get a mac mini. :

(Sorry, I haven't used Windows in years.)

[scardella]

Welcome to scardella's consulting!

I didn't know Zone Alarm made an anti-virus product...

What version of windows are you running?

[cmotherofpirl]

People if I could afford a new computer I wouldn't be asking for help with the old one

Scardella I am running windows xp pro.

Edited December 2, 2005 by cmotherofpirl

[thessalonian]

You'll have to try to reboot. If that doesn't work you will have to go in the the system restore. I believe it's CTRL F10 as it it booting up.

[cmotherofpirl]

rebooted to no avail. Computer is still running CPU at 100% no matter how many things I shut off.

[philothea]

I hope Scardella knows what to do.

(Other than that, would you consider installing Linux? It's free...)

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' date='Dec 2 2005, 07:21 PM']People if I could afford a new computer I wouldn't be asking for help with the old one
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[/quote]
Sell the old one as a paperweight to an ignorant businessman who relies too much on IT Services to know anything about computers and buy a new computer with the proceeds.

[thessalonian]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' date='Dec 2 2005, 07:06 PM']rebooted to no avail. Computer is still running CPU at 100% no matter how many things I shut off.
[right][snapback]808854[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]

There is a restore that allows you to take it back to a previous date. I think you get their through the control pannel in the start menu. That doesn't usually work for me. Try the ctrl-f10. It's not that hard to do but it's going to take your desktop back to the defaults on the desktop.

Edited December 3, 2005 by thessalonian

[scardella]

If you've updated latest virus scan/adware remover/etc and it hasn't been able to fix it, even after booting into safe mode and running it there, you've got one of the situations where either I'd pull it out and scan it from another computer or I'd pull everything that you want off and reformat/reinstall and restore that info. I haven't had much luck w/ System Restore, but I've heard others have.

So, really what I want to tell you is to pull out the hard drive, put it in another computer that has been patched fully and has the latest antivirus/adware stuff on it, and scan it from that computer. Put it back into the original computer and see if it's still running like that. If it is, pull the harddrive out again and reconnect it to the second computer and back up what you need from it. Then reformat and reinstall everything from scratch.

If that's not an option or you don't really know how to do that, I'm not sure if I could help remotely. You might want to see about going to Best Buy's Geek Squad or something similar. I'm fairly sure that they offer a virus removal service.

Edited December 3, 2005 by scardella

[qfnol31]

Do you know how to take an image of the task manager and post it?

You open the task manager (ctrl alt del way) and then you press print screen. After that you go to Paint and you paste it (Edit->Paste). After that you save it and it should work to post. I want to see what programs are running and such.

[Theologian in Training]

Use Fport [url="http://www.foundstone.com/index.htm?subnav=resources/navigation.htm&subcontent=/resources/proddesc/fport.htm"]http://www.foundstone.com/index.htm?subnav...ddesc/fport.htm[/url] It will tell you what ports are open, and what processes are associated with what is opened. It is primarily a network tool, but, in this case, it can help you figure out which process is running that is using all resources.

Personally, to me, it sounds like a virus or a trojan, in which case, it would be easier to backup and format, rather than going through the aggravation of finding everything that has been infected, or rooting through the registry, trying to kill off the apps that are infected.

Hope that helps

God Bless

[Theologian in Training]

[quote name='philothea' date='Dec 2 2005, 03:02 PM']Get a mac mini. :

(Sorry, I haven't used Windows in years.)
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[/quote]

See, now this is the reason, I have both formats...cross-platform technical support

The best of both worlds, though, admittedly, I do prefer one "world" over the other....the world of apples

[jasJis]

CMom,
I sent you an e-mail w/ my 1-800 #. Call me.

[scardella]

I think jasjis is right.

I'm a LOT better when I'm actually in front of the computer I'm trying to fix. Something like the phorum isn't as hot when it comes to diagnosing/fixing computer problems.

Edited December 3, 2005 by scardella

[jmjtina]

ironmonk has helped me in the past with apologetics AND computer problems!!!!

i miss him.