FabSwingers.com forum: Computer help if you dont mind

By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

Hi gang, ive got an old computer that works well apart from whenI turn it on (not flashing at it lol)a scan starts and runs for about 20 minutes, I cant find what it is or how to stop it.

Drives me mad as it slows all programmes to a crawl at best.

Any way of finding it. Its running XP

I know xp is out of date but it started before windows stop supporting it.

cheers if you casn help guys

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

what isit like a HDD scan before it boots or a virus scan while its running?

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

http://en.kioskea.net/faq/389-windows-how-to-disable-scan-disk-at-start-up

Could be this hope this helps

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I'm a little unclear on something.

Is this scan you speak of running before Windows loads or after?

If it is something that is running on Windows startup, then I would suggest first to try looking in the startup group.

But I think the most important thing is to know what the scan is, and what it is looking for, and does the scan actually complete.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Bottom left 'start'

Click on 'run'

Type in the box 'msconfig' and enter.

Choose 'start up'.

A majority of these boxes can be unticked, including the one that's doing this. Hope it works!

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By *helbeeCouple
over a year ago

Nuneaton

defrag. etc

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

I need an idiots guide on termonology, sorry.

The computer opens up to my homescreen then the scan starts.

I can open google but opening web pages takes ages.

will try the earlier advice. Thanks guys.

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"Bottom left 'start'

Click on 'run'

Type in the box 'msconfig' and enter.

Choose 'start up'.

A majority of these boxes can be unticked, including the one that's doing this. Hope it works!

I know that one mate and its not that. cheers anyway

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

and think about upgrading ffs

lol

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"http://en.kioskea.net/faq/389-windows-how-to-disable-scan-disk-at-start-up

Could be this hope this helps"

Tried that mate and its set at what it should be.

Thanks anyway

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"and think about upgrading ffs

lol "

I would if I could afford to, plus apart from this is works fine.

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By *itSamCouple
over a year ago

Birmingham

"and think about upgrading ffs

lol "

I am running XP too on some of my machines and do not think that people have to bow down to bill gates as he wants to make more money. It should still be supported the money they make.

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By *itSamCouple
over a year ago

Birmingham

"and think about upgrading ffs

lol

I would if I could afford to, plus apart from this is works fine."

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

XP is really dated now man

but each to their own

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Right OP, I think I understand your problem and it is entirely unrelated to the operating system you are running.

I've had the odd one of these myself.

Sounds like you have some malware on your machine that is purporting to be providing a useful service, scanning your machine and then perhaps offering to optimise it's performance - of course when you click to optimise, you're expected to part with money.

Unfortunately, not all Anti-virus software picks up on these.

My mate is getting some weird pop-ups on his Windows 8 machine - I need to have a good look at it, because from what I can tell, it's actually his Anti-virus software doing it - trying to sell him more services.

Try and identify the service that is running.

To be perfectly honest, just saying that it's doing a scan doesn't really give us a lot to go on in providing a solution. You have to bear in mind that there is a vast multitude of different software packages and the potential for different configurations is practically infinite.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Xp is actually quite a good op system - plus doesn't need as much memory as newer systems.

Thing to do is:

1) open task manager ( right click on bar across bottom of your screen)

2) this will show you all processes running on pc.

3) once you find it, you can either right click + choose ' go to service', find the service + then change properties of service to 'disabled'.

Or - you can use the name of program, go to ' programs' on control panel + uninstall .

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By *ce WingerMan
over a year ago

P.O. Box DE1 0NQ

Running XP Pro on ma PC and I have no problems, then again ma mate sorts all my problems out cos I'm thick as pigshit when it comes to all this tech malarkey

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Try system restore and take it back few months ago when it worked.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"Xp is actually quite a good op system - plus doesn't need as much memory as newer systems.

Thing to do is:

1) open task manager ( right click on bar across bottom of your screen)

2) this will show you all processes running on pc.

3) once you find it, you can either right click + choose ' go to service', find the service + then change properties of service to 'disabled'.

Or - you can use the name of program, go to ' programs' on control panel + uninstall ."

+1 this

Thats the best way to find out what it is thats running and then put a stop to it, also seriously consider upgrading to 7

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By *evaquitCouple
over a year ago

Catthorpe

Started using the free version of Ubuntu and now I fully understand it I haven't looked back. Can't be doing with with all the virus and spyware stuffs on Windows. Maybe worth your time reading about Linux operating systems.

Him

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"...also seriously consider upgrading to 7

Depends how much RAM he's got, as Win7 needs a minimum of 2GB (I've run it with less and it really struggles and runs like a dog), but works better with 4GB.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"...also seriously consider upgrading to 7

Depends how much RAM he's got, as Win7 needs a minimum of 2GB (I've run it with less and it really struggles and runs like a dog), but works better with 4GB."

Agreed, im not 100% sure but i think win 10 is being offered as free upgrade as well when released ? Not sure what the minimum requirements are yet though ?

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Honestly, specify the exact 'symptoms' via Google. Browse the various sites/forums for the that way.

We can only offer general computer speed/functionality tips and places other than Fab probably have a lot more helpful information.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Any way of finding it. Its running XP

^ lol!

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Any way of finding it. Its running XP

^ lol!"

XP is a great, stable operating system. Outdated? Yes. But bad? Hell no.

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By *ig1gaz1Man
over a year ago

bradford

theres another problem that it could be after booting up the hard drive goes into struggle mode when accessing the hard drive

reason for this is the drive could be going faulty and windows is trying to access the hard drive

both the hard drive and system scans sound the same

if it happens again when your trying to access something heavy usage on your hard drive then its more like the hard drive at fault

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By *orders2forUCouple
over a year ago

Hawick

As XP is now unsupported issues are going to get worse.

Why not install Ubuntu and move on.

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By *illymint45Man
over a year ago

Cheshire

Go to download. Com and get a program called hijack this. Install and it will search for programs that have Hijacked your system. You can then select which programs to stop at start up but be careful some that appear will be needed.

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By *onConformistLikeUMan
over a year ago

Chorley

If it's anything like what's happening to one of mine your hard drive is on the way out.

My computer has started freezing and telling me the drive has bad sectors and stuff.

My only course of action is to back what I can up and transfer the data to a new hard drive before it rattles itself apart for good.

Seen as you're running XP I imagine your condition is pretty terminal.

I'd advise you to get another computer and buy a hard drive enclosure so you can recover your data.

I don't think there's any buttons you can press to fix your problem unfortunately.

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By *ig1gaz1Man
over a year ago

bradford

also freezing the hard drive before transfering data also helps you out when your hard drive is on its way out

just put it in a sealed plastic bag before it goes in freezer for 15 mins as gives extra time to transfer stuff

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By *ophieslutTV/TS
over a year ago

Central

In case it's not windows checking the disc for errors etc, and you don't see what's using up most of your power, via Task Manager - as someone detailed . , it could be worth a malwarebytes scan too. You'd download that programme and it will search for malware.

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

Thanks for the help guys.

Task manager showed nothing. I run Malwarebytes every day.

Did everything everyone has asked so far and still cant find whats scanning lol

cheers anyway.

xxx

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

What does the scan say exactly?

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

I dont know because I cant find whats scanning. Starts after my password is accepted and then finishes 10-20 minutes later.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Go into your bios by using the F key on start up and go to safe mode to see if you get the same problem if not use in that mode until you find out more about the problem .

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"Go into your bios by using the F key on start up and go to safe mode to see if you get the same problem if not use in that mode until you find out more about the problem ."

What F key mate and what am I looking for

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"I dont know because I cant find whats scanning. Starts after my password is accepted and then finishes 10-20 minutes later."

Ok. I could have asked about or googled if i knew what it was. have removed a trojan myself manually and it wasn't too hard. And malwarebytes isn't finding anything?

If you want i can pm you a link to a site that helps with malware? They will want you to scan your pc and then they look at your scan results and let you know if they can see anything. It's free, they're kids and adults who just like helping people out with their computers.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

When you start you comp up before windows comes on screen you should usually bottom left a message about entering bios and what F key to hit which in turn will take you to the gust off your comp where you will be able to use the arrows to move along menus , check out each menu until u find the 1 with safe mode then follow instructions on how to active . As i dont know what kind off comp u av i cant bring it up on net to tell you what F key to hit . Unless you give me make off comp as F keys do different jobs on different models .

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

packard Bell from the olden days of about 2006

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"When you start you comp up before windows comes on screen you should usually bottom left a message about entering bios and what F key to hit which in turn will take you to the gust off your comp where you will be able to use the arrows to move along menus , check out each menu until u find the 1 with safe mode then follow instructions on how to active . As i dont know what kind off comp u av i cant bring it up on net to tell you what F key to hit . Unless you give me make off comp as F keys do different jobs on different models . "

It's usually either 'F1' 'F10' or the 'DEL' key depending on your BIOS.

Which one it will be is displayed briefly when you first switch on and usually says something along the lines of 'Press F1 to enter system setup'

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

ok cheers

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Safe mode is nearly always tapping F8 when you first switch on, you will then see a black and white screen with several options.

I would suggest safe mode WITHOUT networking, let it load and see if the scan runs in safe mode ??

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

" packard Bell from the olden days of about 2006"

Your desktop will av a name somewhere on it or model number need that to narrow down F key .

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

just looked at the bios.

didnt have a clue what I was looking at

will try that later Sam and Jamie

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By *edsBonkingMan
over a year ago

Near MK

Absolutely nothing wrong with XP. I still run it and it flys. I use 2 other programs to keep my system clean. I'm not sure if I am allowed to post them here. So if you want I will pass details privately. As long as you can get on the web it will be fine. Just maybe slow whilst your machine is infected. Let me know. Paul

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

Ive just had one private message with some help.

Guys, any help is appreciated on here or via PM

Your all so kind

Thanks to you all

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Right, it is F8 you hit.

This is how you do it

- start your pc

- when it starts you will see a blank screen with little dots appearing before windows actually starts + you get to the actual login screen.

When you see these dots start appearing- hit F8.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"Ive just had one private message with some help.

Guys, any help is appreciated on here or via PM

Your all so kind

Thanks to you all"

You're welcome.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Did you happen to get your computer problem sorted out

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

Right thanks for the reponses on here and via PM. I cant thank you all enough.

I narrowed it down to my avg or a programme connected to it called AVG,EXE

Ive since deleted AVG and added avast and at the minute it seems fine

cheers everyone

xxx

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