Was I hacked? Startup is SLOWWWwww

Hello,

Today I believe I'm in laptop hell. I am using a friend's laptop (HP Compaq nx9030, Windows XP) and I think my son may have hacked into it to torture me. Long story.

When I start "Jane's" computer, I see quick flashes for Windows and HP, then I see a very long spell of just wallpaper. It seems to take about 5 minutes (or more) before I even see the Start button.

I took a look at Windows Explore to try to figure out what's wrong. The Start Menu for All Users has many more program files in it than the Start Menu for Jane and for Default User.

The actual Startup folders (for all, Jane, & default) have a different number of files, too.

Is that part of the problem?

I'm concerned that my son copied some files, or moved some around (or whatever), and that is what's causing the startup to be so slow.

Do you have any suggestions as to where I should look or what I should do?

Should I just use XP's "go back" feature? If so, should I back up my recent work on a disk because I'd lose the documents and bookmarks, etc.?

Thanks, in advance, for any help you might offer : ].

Best Wishes,

Wendy

 

Hi there,

Slow start ups are usually symptomatic of malware present in the system (most likely spyware but it could be anything). I don't think your son might have done any damage by shifting files, it is more likely he has been surfing the wrong side of the web.

You can safely try "XP go back" (Windows restore?), as it won't affect your documents files, but any program installed after the restore point will be deleted or severely crippled.

If I were you, I'd start by finding out if the computer is infected by running some antivirus and antispyware applications.

I don't know if you are prepared to do it yourself, perhaps a knowledgeable friend could help, this link could give you some material to try out:

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=50662