Few weeks ago my husband believed our computer got infected with some kind
of virus. Since then the PC takes forever to boot up (hours) and several
minutes to even open anything. The CPU is constantly at a 100% usage and I
don't know why. So he tried to installed the Norton antivirus but couldn't
because of the CPU usage. Now I want to try to salvage this because of the
files that are in the hard drive (of course don't ask about the
backup...forget that).
Help. Only positive feedbacks please. Thanks.

cheers

Skydog wrote:
> Few weeks ago my husband believed our computer got infected with some
> kind of virus. Since then the PC takes forever to boot up (hours) and
> several minutes to even open anything. The CPU is constantly at a
> 100% usage and I don't know why. So he tried to installed the Norton
> antivirus but couldn't because of the CPU usage. Now I want to try to
> salvage this because of the files that are in the hard drive (of
> course don't ask about the backup...forget that).
> Help. Only positive feedbacks please. Thanks.
>
> cheers

First of all if you've never done any of the stuff below, take it to
a professional, saves lots of time and headaches.
What operating system are you on? If windows XP ignore this first
part, but if 98 try making a boot disk on someone elses computer from
their virus program, and run the virus check before windows starts, in
DOS.
For windows XP or if the above doesn't work: First before anything
try and start in safe mode (hit F8 when or before windows boots up), and
run the anti-virus program (try the online scan I mention below). Ok
so it seems you still can open it and save stuff at least is this
correct. The computer is still salvageable, so don't throw it away,
only that some of your data might be lost. What ways do you have to
store your data? Only floppies, or do you have a zip drive or other
storage? Do you have a burner, and does it work even with the virus
(probably not)? First thing is to go to
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ and do an online scan if this is
possible. Then backup as much important stuff as possible. Now your
going to have to reinstall windows (do you have all your program disks,
I hope so).
Sorry this is all jumbled up as I was writing as things came to
me...hope it helps.
--
Night_Seer

"Night_Seer" <ecamacho4 at hotmail dot com> wrote in message
news:t-idnVBuG-mwxgSiRVn-uA@speakeasy.net...
> Skydog wrote:
> > Few weeks ago my husband believed our computer got infected with some
> > kind of virus. Since then the PC takes forever to boot up (hours) and
> > several minutes to even open anything. The CPU is constantly at a
> > 100% usage and I don't know why. So he tried to installed the Norton
> > antivirus but couldn't because of the CPU usage. Now I want to try to
> > salvage this because of the files that are in the hard drive (of
> > course don't ask about the backup...forget that).
> > Help. Only positive feedbacks please. Thanks.
> >
> > cheers
>
> First of all if you've never done any of the stuff below, take it to
> a professional, saves lots of time and headaches.
> What operating system are you on? If windows XP ignore this first
> part, but if 98 try making a boot disk on someone elses computer from
> their virus program, and run the virus check before windows starts, in
> DOS.
> For windows XP or if the above doesn't work: First before anything
> try and start in safe mode (hit F8 when or before windows boots up), and
> run the anti-virus program (try the online scan I mention below). Ok
> so it seems you still can open it and save stuff at least is this
> correct. The computer is still salvageable, so don't throw it away,
> only that some of your data might be lost. What ways do you have to
> store your data? Only floppies, or do you have a zip drive or other
> storage? Do you have a burner, and does it work even with the virus
> (probably not)? First thing is to go to
> http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ and do an online scan if this is
> possible. Then backup as much important stuff as possible. Now your
> going to have to reinstall windows (do you have all your program disks,
> I hope so).
> Sorry this is all jumbled up as I was writing as things came to
> me...hope it helps.
> --
> Night_Seer
>
>

Night_Seer touched on some potentially valid points. Offered:

A perhaps more likely culprit is an errant software, whether driver or
program. Safe mode will remove added drivers. The question here is what
things were done prior to behavior? Additionally, how do you know your cpu
usage (from a reportage standpoint) is at 100%? Do you have a task manager
utility? (Again, which OS?). If you do, you'll likely see a single process
utilizing 99-100%. (If driver, disable with safe mode. Application, remove
via control panel.) I view this more likely than virus.

hth
*bt.

"Ben There" <benthere@donethat.invalid> wrote in message
news:p5-dnWtpWPmD5jiiRVn-jw@comcast.com...
>
> "Night_Seer" <ecamacho4 at hotmail dot com> wrote in message
> news:t-idnVBuG-mwxgSiRVn-uA@speakeasy.net...
> > Skydog wrote:
> > > Few weeks ago my husband believed our computer got infected with some
> > > kind of virus. Since then the PC takes forever to boot up (hours) and
> > > several minutes to even open anything. The CPU is constantly at a
> > > 100% usage and I don't know why. So he tried to installed the Norton
> > > antivirus but couldn't because of the CPU usage. Now I want to try to
> > > salvage this because of the files that are in the hard drive (of
> > > course don't ask about the backup...forget that).
> > > Help. Only positive feedbacks please. Thanks.
> > >
> > > cheers
> >
> > First of all if you've never done any of the stuff below, take it to
> > a professional, saves lots of time and headaches.
> > What operating system are you on? If windows XP ignore this first
> > part, but if 98 try making a boot disk on someone elses computer from
> > their virus program, and run the virus check before windows starts, in
> > DOS.
> > For windows XP or if the above doesn't work: First before anything
> > try and start in safe mode (hit F8 when or before windows boots up), and
> > run the anti-virus program (try the online scan I mention below). Ok
> > so it seems you still can open it and save stuff at least is this
> > correct. The computer is still salvageable, so don't throw it away,
> > only that some of your data might be lost. What ways do you have to
> > store your data? Only floppies, or do you have a zip drive or other
> > storage? Do you have a burner, and does it work even with the virus
> > (probably not)? First thing is to go to
> > http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ and do an online scan if this is
> > possible. Then backup as much important stuff as possible. Now your
> > going to have to reinstall windows (do you have all your program disks,
> > I hope so).
> > Sorry this is all jumbled up as I was writing as things came to
> > me...hope it helps.
> > --
> > Night_Seer
> >
> >
>
> Night_Seer touched on some potentially valid points. Offered:
>
> A perhaps more likely culprit is an errant software, whether driver or
> program. Safe mode will remove added drivers. The question here is what
> things were done prior to behavior? Additionally, how do you know your cpu
> usage (from a reportage standpoint) is at 100%? Do you have a task manager
> utility? (Again, which OS?). If you do, you'll likely see a single process
> utilizing 99-100%. (If driver, disable with safe mode. Application, remove
> via control panel.) I view this more likely than virus.
>
> hth
> *bt.
>
>

Additional thoughts, including recinding: Yep, I've seen programs and
drivers wreak havoc, but a virus could definitely be a culprit; so apologies
for not addressing.:

Prior to load, do you have a restore option? If so, try that first. Also, if
you can identify the process, search it using http://symantec.com or
similar.

hth a bit more.
*bt.