Hi there,

I've recently begun to encounter problems with my CPU usage. I've only had this laptop for around a month and before now it's been fine, but yesterday it suddenly began to run much slower, and when I did a quick ctrl alt delete check it showed that my CPU usage was at 100. I haven't installed anything in the last week or so, and at the moment my CPU usage is at 100 and all I'm running is Firefox and uTorrent. It's struggling to play videos and music (they keep skipping as if it's a scratched cd I'm playing when it's mp3s - and they worked fine before that) too. It also takes about 10 minutes to boot up the computer which is a bit ridiculous.

I've got a firewall set up and I've ran spyware and antivirus software so I reckon my computer is clear of that.

Any help would be very much appreciated! Thanks!

Sounds like it's infected...there are plenty of nasties that can get past firewalls & go undetected by anti-v & spyware scanners.

Start my hitting Ctrl-Alt-Del, click on the Processes tab, then click on "User Name" on the top of the 2nd column...this will rearrange all the processes. Do you see any unusual program listed next to your user name? How about any that are using unusally large CPU percentage? If so, highlite it & click "end process", then try to figure out what it is & where it is so that you can remove it.

Go to Start > Run, type in MSCONFIG, click OK, the click the Startup tab...scroll down thru the list. See anything unusual listed? If so, uncheck the box next to it, then click APPLY. You will have to reboot for the changes to take affect.

If that doesn't clear it up or if the same things return after you remove them, you have more hunting to do.

You can try HiJackThis to see if there are any suspicious entries & you may also need to run a Trojan Remover.

Also, you should disable System Restore (you will lose all retore points when you do this) & you should run you scans from Safe Mode. Once your system is clean, re-enable System Restore & set a new restore point.

Sorry about the typos...

If my suggestions don't help, you may wanna try posting in the Security & Virus forum

my my my jam, how could you let your self go like that. I no longer respect you...j/k

Also one thing i have noticed about allmost all malware, is that they will substitute the MSCONFIG dialog box with their own one. They are almost indisguisable from each other so watch out. Might wanna run "Safe mode with Networking" and run a few online virus scanners.

http://www.trendmicro.com/hc_intro/default.asp

http://security.norton.com/sscv6/default.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym

http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/

http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp?affid=294

Just to name a few.

Good luck.

Yeah it's def a virus or a trojan horse and not the process itself considering you have a pretty good processor inside that laptop.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ OC 2.7ghz
2GB Dual Channel DDR 3200
Nvidia 7900GT
SATA II 2x 200gig 7200rpm 16mb cache RAID-0
Gigabyte Nforce 4 SLI

OK thanks guys, I'll give all this a try this afternoon.

Ok I did everything except for the safemode thing, I'm having trouble getting into safemode, the original loading screen when I first restart my laptop loads up really fast but as soon as it starts loading windows up it starts going really slow, and pressing F8 doesn't seem to work....

I did run a trojan remover (Trojan Remover 6.5 I think), and I did a further spyware scan. I also just ran HiJack this and got this log....

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 10:44:50, on 25/07/2006
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP2 (6.00.2900.2180)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccSetMgr.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccEvtMgr.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccProxy.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\SNDSrvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\SPBBC\SPBBCSvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\CCPD-LC\symlcsvc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Program Files\Symantec\LiveUpdate\ALUSchedulerSvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\LightScribe\LSSrvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Norton Internet Security\Norton AntiVirus\navapsvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\Security Console\NSCSRVCE.EXE
C:\Program Files\Hewlett-Packard\Shared\hpqwmiex.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI Control Panel\atiptaxx.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\jusched.exe
C:\Program Files\Hp\HP Software Update\HPWuSchd2.exe
C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPEnh.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe
C:\Program Files\HP\QuickPlay\QPService.exe
C:\Program Files\HPQ\Quick Launch Buttons\EabServr.exe
C:\Program Files\hpq\HP Wireless Assistant\HP Wireless Assistant.exe
C:\Program Files\HP\Digital Imaging\bin\hpobnz08.exe
C:\Program Files\HP\Digital Imaging\bin\hpotdd01.exe
C:\Program Files\HP\Digital Imaging\bin\hpqimzone.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\hpq\Shared\HPQTOA~1.EXE
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\PC\Desktop\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://www.hp.com
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Connection Wizard,ShellNext = http://www.hp.com/
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\ssv.dll
O2 - BHO: NAV Helper - {A8F38D8D-E480-4D52-B7A2-731BB6995FDD} - C:\Program Files\Norton Internet Security\Norton AntiVirus\NavShExt.dll
O2 - BHO: Google Toolbar Helper - {AA58ED58-01DD-4d91-8333-CF10577473F7} - c:\program files\google\googletoolbar2.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Norton AntiVirus - {C4069E3A-68F1-403E-B40E-20066696354B} - C:\Program Files\Norton Internet Security\Norton AntiVirus\NavShExt.dll
O3 - Toolbar: &Google - {2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F} - c:\program files\google\googletoolbar2.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ATIPTA] "C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI Control Panel\atiptaxx.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\jusched.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [HP Software Update] C:\Program Files\Hp\HP Software Update\HPWuSchd2.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SynTPEnh] C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPEnh.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ccApp] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QPService] "C:\Program Files\HP\QuickPlay\QPService.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [eabconfg.cpl] C:\Program Files\HPQ\Quick Launch Buttons\EabServr.exe /Start
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Cpqset] C:\Program Files\HPQ\Default Settings\cpqset.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [RecGuard] C:\Windows\SMINST\RecGuard.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [hpWirelessAssistant] C:\Program Files\hpq\HP Wireless Assistant\HP Wireless Assistant.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TrojanScanner] C:\Program Files\Trojan Remover\Trjscan.exe
O4 - Global Startup: HP Photosmart Premier Fast Start.lnk = C:\Program Files\HP\Digital Imaging\bin\hpqthb08.exe
O4 - Global Startup: hp psc 2000 Series.lnk = C:\Program Files\HP\Digital Imaging\bin\hpobnz08.exe
O4 - Global Startup: hpoddt01.exe.lnk = ?
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Google Search - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmsearch.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Translate English Word - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmwordtrans.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Backward Links - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmbacklinks.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Cached Snapshot of Page - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmcache.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Similar Pages - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmsimilar.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Translate Page into English - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmtrans.html
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O14 - IERESET.INF: START_PAGE_URL=http://www.hp.com
O16 - DPF: {6E32070A-766D-4EE6-879C-DC1FA91D2FC3} (MUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/V5Controls/en/x86/client/muweb_site.cab?1153656959734
O17 - HKLM\System\CCS\Services\Tcpip\..\{D9BCC287-9EFE-4863-A742-FA43EFE8B030}: NameServer = 194.168.8.100,194.168.4.100
O18 - Protocol: livecall - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O18 - Protocol: msnim - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O23 - Service: Ati HotKey Poller - ATI Technologies Inc. - C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
O23 - Service: Automatic LiveUpdate Scheduler - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Symantec\LiveUpdate\ALUSchedulerSvc.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Event Manager (ccEvtMgr) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccEvtMgr.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Internet Security Password Validation (ccISPwdSvc) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Norton Internet Security\ccPwdSvc.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Network Proxy (ccProxy) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccProxy.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Settings Manager (ccSetMgr) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccSetMgr.exe
O23 - Service: COM Host (comHost) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Norton Internet Security\comHost.exe
O23 - Service: hpqwmiex - Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. - C:\Program Files\Hewlett-Packard\Shared\hpqwmiex.exe
O23 - Service: InstallDriver Table Manager (IDriverT) - Macrovision Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Driver\11\Intel 32\IDriverT.exe
O23 - Service: iPodService - Apple Computer, Inc. - C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
O23 - Service: LightScribeService Direct Disc Labeling Service (LightScribeService) - Hewlett-Packard Company - C:\Program Files\Common Files\LightScribe\LSSrvc.exe
O23 - Service: LiveUpdate - Symantec Corporation - C:\PROGRA~1\Symantec\LIVEUP~1\LUCOMS~1.EXE
O23 - Service: Norton AntiVirus Auto-Protect Service (navapsvc) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Norton Internet Security\Norton AntiVirus\navapsvc.exe
O23 - Service: Norton Protection Center Service (NSCService) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\Security Console\NSCSRVCE.EXE
O23 - Service: Symantec AVScan (SAVScan) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Norton Internet Security\Norton AntiVirus\SAVScan.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Network Drivers Service (SNDSrvc) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\SNDSrvc.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec SPBBCSvc (SPBBCSvc) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\SPBBC\SPBBCSvc.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Core LC - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\CCPD-LC\symlcsvc.exe

Anything on there to be suspicious of? Thanks for the help up to now!

Try saving your HiJack This log, and having it evaluated at the following site:

HijackThis log file analysis
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-- 1 Corinthians 15:3-4