Computer Woes

[webwierdo]

My computer seems to be suffering from the following ailments.

1. Randomly it forgets it has a DVD/CD drive. It will be there at startup but sometimes when I attempt to open something it has disappeared from Windows Explorer. DVD/CD's with autoplay capabilites do not run. Restarting the computer fixes the issue temporarily.

2. Randomly my computer forgets it has a sound card. Again at startup it is fully functional but randomly when I try to use it a program tells me I don't not have a sound card installed. Restarting the computer fixes the issue temporarily. Also on closing, the windows closing sound plays though all other programs say I don't have a card.

3. Windows Media forgot how to play DVD's. It tries and the sound works but the screen is garbaled. Reinstalling Windows Media did not fix the issue. It acts the same way with multiple DVD's. Any other program capable of playing DVD's on my computer works perfectly.

4. Randomlly a bar appears in the task bar. It has the symbol of a generic program and no name. It appears for 2-3 seconds, takes the focus, and dissappears again. This happens at set random intervals.
For example, if it starts five min. after the full screen program starts it will happen at five min. intervals after that. It usually falls somewhere in 10-20 min.

5. Randomly the processes of exlporer.exe and svchost.exe take up extremely large amounts of memory slowing or freezing my system. The two do not happen seperately. Ending the processes and manually starting explorer.exe fixes the problem temporily

6. Randomly AVG antivirus warns me that my computer is trying to email an IP address. The warning stays on screen for about 5 min and can not be closed. The IP address switches between 3 choices that I have seen so far.

7. Leaving my computer on for extended periods of time (24 hrs + while rendering) AVG closes giving the error "Something bad has happened and AVG needed to close."

I run daily scans with AVG antivirus and weekly scans with Spybot and Ad-Aware. AVG never finds anything and Spybot/Ad-Aware only find data-mining cookies.

My system looks like this

Operating System System Model
Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (build 2600) Hewlett-Packard Presario R3000 PN318AV F.45
System Serial Number: CND5020MG2
Enclosure Type: Notebook
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
3.00 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
16 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: Hewlett-Packard 089C 31.45
Serial Number: CND5020MG2ABCDEF
BIOS: Hewlett-Packard F.45 04/06/2005
Drives Memory Modules c,d
60.00 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
7.83 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

ID7402G EZL920A SCSI CdRom Device [CD-ROM drive]
TEAC DV-W24EW [CD-ROM drive]

HP PSC 2350 USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 1
TOSHIBA MK6025GAS [Hard drive] (60.01 GB) -- drive 0, s/n Z44S1082S, rev KA201A, SMART Status: Healthy 896 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'U5' has 512 MB
Slot 'U6' has 512 MB
Local Drive Volumes


c: (NTFS on drive 0) 60.00 GB 7.83 GB free
Network Drives
None detected
Users (mouse over user name for details) Printers
local user accounts last logon
Administrator 12/20/2005 10:20:11 PM (admin)
Chris 3/25/2006 4:50:29 PM (admin)
local system accounts
ASPNET never
Guest never
HelpAssistant never
SUPPORT_388945a0 never

DISABLED Marks a disabled account; LOCKED OUT Marks a locked account

HP PSC 2350 series on USB001
Microsoft Office Document Image Writer Driver on Microsoft Document Imaging Writer Port:
Controllers Display
Standard floppy disk controller
ATI PCI IDE Bus Master Controller
Primary IDE Channel [Controller]
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller] ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9000/9100 IGP [Display adapter]
Default Monitor (2x)
MS_ 19.7 [Monitor] (19.7"vis)
Bus Adapters Multimedia
Texas Instruments PCI-1620 CardBus Controller with UltraMedia. (2x)
SCSI/RAID Host Controller
NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller (2x)
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller (2x) SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio
Communications Other Devices
Agere Systems AC'97 Modem


1394 Net Adapter #2
Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN
Physical Address: 00:90:4B:B7:A7:0C
Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC
primary Auto IP Address: 150.135.140.218 / 22
Gateway: 150.135.140.1
Dhcp Server: 128.196.128.234
Physical Address: 00:0F:B0:4A:2A:FE

Networking Dns Servers: 128.196.11.235
128.196.11.234
128.196.11.233
Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
Microsoft AC Adapter
Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery
HID-compliant consumer control device
HID-compliant device (3x)
USB Human Interface Device (3x)
HP PSC 2350
HID Keyboard Device
Quick Launch Buttons [Keyboard]
Alps Pointing-device [Mouse]
HID-compliant mouse
Generic USB Hub (2x)
USB Composite Device (2x)
USB Mass Storage Device
USB Printing Support
USB Root Hub (5x)
PSC 23500 (DOT4PRINT)
Virus Protection [Back to Top]
AVG Anti-Virus 7.1.385 Version 7.1.385
Realtime File Scanning On

[dparm]

I don't trust AVG's assessment of your system. Schedule an appointment with us in the Underground by calling 626-8324 from 7:30am to 6:00pm M-F. It sounds like you have a virus.

As for the "forgetfulness" of Windows, that may or may not be tied in with the virus. If it is, we can kill two birds with one stone. If not, we'll try and diagnose it while you're there.

[lnp]

Although I would say congrats are in order for the most detailed system profile ever in the OSCR forums.

[qpxh]

dude...the easiest thing to do is reformat...prolly save a lot of time too. just backup the files that you need and reformat the harddrive. if the computer wizzes think i'm wrong...then...you should listen to them..they know more. hehehe :-)

[abudhu]

dude...the easiest thing to do is reformat...prolly save a lot of time too. just backup the files that you need and reformat the harddrive. if the computer wizzes think i'm wrong...then...you should listen to them..they know more. hehehe :-)

At this point in time that seems too extreme. I'd suggest you make an appointment with one of our UnderGround Tech Leads first as was mentioned earlier.

[moser]

I would keep that as a possibilty though. Depending on how far the virus has spread (if that is infact the case) there may be too much damage to the system for a successful recovery. Therefore I would be prepared for the possibility of reformatting having to take place. If that is the case then we will discuss the options in the Underground as far as what can be done.