Constant Crashing, tried everything

My computer has just been horrible recently. The system resources are down to 0, I constantly get messages saying that the system is "dangerously low on resources" and am prompted to close programs, which of course only results in the blue screen of death and a reboot. I have never had this trouble before. It could just be my computer being spontaneously bad, but I am worried about spyware or adware or some sort of virus.

I have Zone Alarm, AVG Anti-Virus Free 7.0.300, Spybot S&D, Ad Aware 6, HijackThis, and ASViewer. I have run scans in everything (minus HijackThis and ASViewer because I don't understand the code) and come up empty-handed. I have also run Symantec's Online scan and they didn't detect a virus.

Any ideas?

 

Hi Muerte Roja, see if the following link helps you:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[LN];Q307814

Let us know how you go...

Cheers

 

Hi, thr next time your system crashes ,could you write down the error code and post it here.

Also what are your system specs?

power supply
processor
hard drive
memory
page file size


If you need help to identify the above just post an ill help you get the info.

 

I was using Word when I was running out of resources, so I think the problem does lie in a flawed template, so I'm going to try what Blackspear suggested. If I have any more problems I'll post a new reply. Thanks for the help.

 

Well I'm back again and for some reason I can't post a new thread so I'll post here and hope that someone catches it.

I recently was trying to run Windows Media Player (I'm not sure of the version and I can't check as you will see in the guts of this post) and it wouldn't start up. Zone Alarm (version 5.5.062.004) kept telling me that it was trying to access the trusted zone (my wireless network) and then the internet. This was a bit suspicious, so I denied it.

It kept not working, so I figured that something couldn't start up, so I allowed it access, and lo and behold, I got a little pop-up saying what a lucky guy I was because "AlwaysUpdatedNews" had awarded me with a browser enhancement and all I had to do was click OK. Naturally I clicked off my computer and restarted it in hopes that this adware hadn't done too much damage in the short time it was allowed access to the internet and my network.

I restarted and my AVG Free Edition (version 7.0.300) boot-up scanner said I was clean. Then, as windows started up, I was prompted to OK a Driver Search for some new hardware called a PCI Card. I clicked cancel and have clicked cancel each time I get the prompt (every time Windows starts). The only USB cables I have connected are my printer and my wireless adaptor. Just to be safe, after Windows had started up, I ran scans with AVG, Spybot S&D and AdAware 6.0. The only results were 6 cookies that Adware cleaned up. Just to be safe I went online and scanned with Symantec's online scan and was identified with the following viruses:

Adware.Huntbar
Adware.SideSearch
Adware.Minibug
Adware.Winfetch
Adware.Statblaster

I researched these viruses on their site, and got removal instructions, however, none of them had entries in my registry so it was impossible to remove them. That got me to thinking that if none were entered in my registry, did I really have any? To confirm the results I ran scans with Panda Software and Housecall. Both their scans said my system was clean. Most perplexing...

The only problems I have noticed with my computer are occasional interference with shutdown (what Symantec said was one of the adware symptoms), a lot of spam e-mails, and some code that appears right before windows starts up saying something along the lines of "tvdumpflags=0". It flashes really fast and it is displayed on two lines. Also, in my C:\ there are some files that are named "Autoexec.001" and "Autoexec.002" which I assume are some sort of virus, and a couple of random other ones which I don't know what they are tied to.

I would throw out Symantec's results if I didn't trust them so much and if Windows Media Player was working. Unfortunatley, I trust Symantec a lot, and Windows Media Player is still not working.

If anyone wants to offer any help, I would appreciate it greatly, and am willing to do whatever it takes. I run Windows 98 SE and I have HijackThis and ASViewer if you need them.

Thanks,
Muerte Roja

 

Due to the results you have seen, I would suggest that you download and run “Hijack This” found here and post your log at one of the forums found at A-SAP. The two bigger forums for HijackThis log processing, (meaning they process more log threads each day than most others) are: SpywareInfo.com and CastleCops.com. Be sure to read their posting policy in the links at their log review forum sections prior to posting.

Once your system is clean you should take a look here: Why did I get infected in the first place? Also, for further discussions on security and how to make your system that much stronger, see here and here

This is what works really well for me, very simple to use and maintain.

Hope this helps...

Let us know how you go.

Cheers

 

Thanks for the help, I'll post there. I read the thread on security advice, and am wondering if I can download some of the programs, not all, and not have to worry about them interfering with each other.

-Muerte Roja

 

If you are referring to what I use, I haven't seen any conflicts, all play together nicely...

Cheers

 

I'm having this problem, as well. I don't know a whole lot about computers, but I know somewhat. I did run Hijackthis a few days ago and nothing was there. Well, on the popup that pops up when you try to play WMP, part of it says "To view the contract you agreed to in order to get this far in installation, click here."

So I clicked, and there was a bunch of weird crap... it was telling me that I agreed that I would not remove this program from my computer. And that if I did want to remove it, I'd have to register to their site, give them my credit card number, and then they would open up an SSL connection and get rid of the program. Here the agreement: hxxp://www.alwaysupdatednews.com/terms/index.html . This is, pardon my language, BULLSHIT! I've done everything... virus scans, adaware scans, spybot scans, online scans, HIJACK this, Cwshredder, ect. And nothing.

I also have ZoneAlarm, and it had told me the file name "/toc_0008.exe" so I searched C drive and found it... then I deleted it. Restarted and it was still this.

I need help!

 

Sorry for doule posting, on that last line, I meant to say "and it's still there."

 

Hi PlzHelpMe,

Please follow Blackspear's instructions in Post #6 above, for posting a Hijackthis log at the appropriate forum for analysis. It looks like this infection will need more specialized tools with guided instructions by a spyware Expert to remove it.

Regards,

snap