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#1
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suspicious pc activity
I need some help with this one. I have an old pc running windows xp sp3, w/ Webroot desktop firewall and Webroot spy sweeper w/ anti-virus. I keep it up to date, and run regular scans. Here is the issue: Last night I noticed that several minutes after the PC was powered down the hard drive light started blinking. A closer look revealed that the case fan was running as well. I opened the case and noticed that the cpu fan was also running. The only way I can keep the CPU/HD/fan from running after a power off is to turn off the power at the power strip. I checked the BIOS settings to ensure that "Wake on LAN", "Wake on Call" etc. were all disabled. Every auto power on setting that I could find in the BIOS is disabled. What should I do next to combat this problem? I am fearful that I am now playing host to some malicious code, and do not want any of my personal or financial information to fall into the wrong hands. Any advice or recommendation you could provide would be greatly appreciated. My dinosaur machine: Asus k7v - bios 1008 beta 001C Athlon 900MHz 1.5GB PC-133 XP Pro SP3 Webroot Spy Sweeper w/ Anti-Virus Webroot Desktop Firewall Thanks in advance for the help! -- OldPC ------------------------------------------------------------------------ OldPC's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/members/oldpc.htm View this thread: http://forums.techarena.in/windows-security/1076039.htm http://forums.techarena.in |
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#2
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suspicious pc activity
What are your Automatic Update settings in Windows Security Center?
--- Leonard Grey Errare Humanum Est Security Tips for Everyone, from PC Magazine http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2334856,00.asp OldPC wrote: I need some help with this one. I have an old pc running windows xp sp3, w/ Webroot desktop firewall and Webroot spy sweeper w/ anti-virus. I keep it up to date, and run regular scans. Here is the issue: Last night I noticed that several minutes after the PC was powered down the hard drive light started blinking. A closer look revealed that the case fan was running as well. I opened the case and noticed that the cpu fan was also running. The only way I can keep the CPU/HD/fan from running after a power off is to turn off the power at the power strip. I checked the BIOS settings to ensure that "Wake on LAN", "Wake on Call" etc. were all disabled. Every auto power on setting that I could find in the BIOS is disabled. What should I do next to combat this problem? I am fearful that I am now playing host to some malicious code, and do not want any of my personal or financial information to fall into the wrong hands. Any advice or recommendation you could provide would be greatly appreciated. My dinosaur machine: Asus k7v - bios 1008 beta 001C Athlon 900MHz 1.5GB PC-133 XP Pro SP3 Webroot Spy Sweeper w/ Anti-Virus Webroot Desktop Firewall Thanks in advance for the help! |
#3
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suspicious pc activity
OldPC wrote:
I need some help with this one. I have an old pc running windows xp sp3, w/ Webroot desktop firewall and Webroot spy sweeper w/ anti-virus. I keep it up to date, and run regular scans. Here is the issue: Last night I noticed that several minutes after the PC was powered down the hard drive light started blinking. A closer look revealed that the case fan was running as well. I opened the case and noticed that the cpu fan was also running. The only way I can keep the CPU/HD/fan from running after a power off is to turn off the power at the power strip. I checked the BIOS settings to ensure that "Wake on LAN", "Wake on Call" etc. were all disabled. Every auto power on setting that I could find in the BIOS is disabled. What should I do next to combat this problem? I am fearful that I am now playing host to some malicious code, and do not want any of my personal or financial information to fall into the wrong hands. Any advice or recommendation you could provide would be greatly appreciated. My dinosaur machine: Asus k7v - bios 1008 beta 001C Athlon 900MHz 1.5GB PC-133 XP Pro SP3 Webroot Spy Sweeper w/ Anti-Virus Webroot Desktop Firewall I wouldn't automatically assume that you have malware. I must say that I'm not very fond of the Webroot offerings since they do seem to slow clients' machines down and often cause issues. I certainly wouldn't rule out hardware failure/flakiness on such an old machine. And of course you should try and answer The First Question Of Troubleshooting: If the problem is new, what changed between the time things worked and the time they didn't? (If hardware is the cause, then you probably won't have made any changes and Time is the culprit.) Here are general shutdown troubleshooting steps. Not everything may be applicable to you, of course. ***** Shutdown issues are generally caused by a program and/or process that is refusing to exit gracefully. The program and/or process can be from malware or can be legitimate (such as an invasive antivirus like Norton or McAfee). If you are using a Norton or McAfee product, uninstall it and replace with a better program such as NOD32, Kasperksy, or Avast (free). The Windows Firewall is adequate for most people. With Vista, shutdown issues can also be caused by old/poorly written drivers so make sure all drivers are updated. See Step B. below for general driver directions. A.The first step is always to make sure your computer is virus/malware free. http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...moving_Malware B. Drivers - The First Law of Driver Updates is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Normally if everything is working you want to leave things as they are. The exception is that heavy-duty gamers will usually want to update their video and sound drivers to squeeze every last bit of performance out of the hardware to get the fastest frame rates. If you're not one of those people, you don't need to update your drivers if there are no problems you are trying to solve. Never get drivers from Windows Update. Get them from: 1. The device mftr.'s website; OR 2. The motherboard mftr.'s website if hardware is onboard; OR 3. The OEM's website for your specific machine if you have an OEM computer (HP, Dell, Sony, etc.). Read the installation instructions on the website where you get the drivers. To find out what hardware is in your computer: 1. Read any documentation you got when you bought the computer. 2. If the computer is OEM, go to the OEM's website for your specific model machine and look at the specs (you'll be there to get the drivers anyway) 3. Download, install and run a free system inventory program like Belarc Advisor or System Information for Windows. http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html - Belarc Advisor http://www.gtopala.com/ - System Information for Windows C. If the computer is virus/malware-free, drivers are current, and no Norton or McAfee programs are installed, then do clean-boot troubleshooting to see which program/process is the culprit: How to perform a clean boot in Vista and XP - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796 D. If you need more information, here is an excellent shutdown troubleshooter: http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.htm Standard caveat: If troubleshooting the issue is too difficult - and there is absolutely no shame in admitting this isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a computer repair shop. This will not be your local BigComputerStore/GeekSquad type of place. Get recommendations from family, friends, colleagues. ***** Malke -- MS-MVP Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic! FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ |
#4
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suspicious pc activity
Leonard Grey - thanks for the reply. Auto Update Settings are set to notify me when new updates are available. Malke - Thanks for all of the info. Hardware flakiness is a definite possibility - this thing is old. Nothing has changed since before this started happening, other than time. I will have to dig into all of the info you attached and see what I can find. I will post an update after I investigate further. Re Webroot - I changed to Webroot from Symantec. Machine runs at light speed compared to when I had NIS installed. I'll have to do some investigating before deciding on security software for the next machine. -- OldPC ------------------------------------------------------------------------ OldPC's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/members/oldpc.htm View this thread: http://forums.techarena.in/windows-security/1076040.htm http://forums.techarena.in |
#5
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suspicious pc activity
With your AutoUpdate settings, I would agree with Malkie that you
possibly have hardware problems, especially with your power supply. However, you can never rule out malware. --- Leonard Grey Errare Humanum Est Security Tips for Everyone, from PC Magazine http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2334856,00.asp OldPC wrote: Leonard Grey - thanks for the reply. Auto Update Settings are set to notify me when new updates are available. Malke - Thanks for all of the info. Hardware flakiness is a definite possibility - this thing is old. Nothing has changed since before this started happening, other than time. I will have to dig into all of the info you attached and see what I can find. I will post an update after I investigate further. Re Webroot - I changed to Webroot from Symantec. Machine runs at light speed compared to when I had NIS installed. I'll have to do some investigating before deciding on security software for the next machine. |
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