[Solved] Does this computer have a hardware problem

[mij]

Hiya, I'm back.

This computer was checked last week for malware etc. because it was 'hanging' when doing some tasks.

It did that again this morning and it took over a minute before it came back to cursor control.

Looking at 'event viewer' indicates a warning that it may be due to a hardware problem.

Is there a way to check this?

jim

[Plastic Nev]

Hi Jim, lets rule out the obvious first, do you have anything plugged in other than monitor, keyboard and mouse, such as external drive for example or a card in the reader (if it has one) or even a disk left in the disk drive.

 

Nev.

[mij]

Yes the printer/scanner is always plugged into the computer but is not switched on except when I want to scan/print something. The computer does this hanging whether the printer/scanner is on or off.

jim

[mij]

Perhaps I should have added that there is nothing else plugged into the computer. No extrenal drive, no card reader nor cd/dvd disk left in the drive.

jim

[Jelly Bean]

This is how to check

for issues.

[mij]

Thanks for that, using vista it is accessed differently but read the same anyway which is what I think you were referring to.

It looks from that the fault was hr=0x80092003 which is a 'defender' fault according to sites I get from google. It recommends removing the defender update KB931099 then going back in to update and reinstall it. I'll try that when I'm fresh in the morning.

thanks

jim

PS There were no critical issues :cool:

[Jelly Bean]

Vista and Windows 7 are not much diffrent.....Let me know how it goes....

[mij]

It was like looking for a needle in a haystack but I located it (KB931099 that is) and un-installed it using un-install in control panel in Win Vista.

On going to the MS up-date page it failed to notice that it was missing, even after 3 checks.

I don't know how to go about this now.

It appears this file is something to do with updating defender.

cheers

jim

[Plastic Nev]

Hi Jim, Windows defender is OK but only a minor player really in the general malware and spyware defences, I also use "Malwarebytes" and "Superantispyware" and prefer them over the ordinary Windows Defender. Up to you of course but I recommend downloading and installing those two, and scan regularly with them.

However as far as Defender is concerned, it may well be that a later update did install which either takes the place of or removes the need for the update KB931099. If a check for updates through defender says all is OK then I wouldn't worry any further about it.

The important thing though, has removing that update resulted in better performance, which is the real issue.

 

Nev.

[mij]

I do have both of those here as well. I check with them each weekend, perhaps I should have them run continuously.

Ok on defender and that a later update may circumnavigate that problem. Yes I will now monitor and see if the hanging still persists. I have just gone over to google chrome because firefox was proving too slow - well it was taking seconds......

cheers

jim

[mij]

I have run both malwarebytes and antispyware, found 149 or so tracking cookies but nowt else.

I have just run chkdsk which took quite some time to process as it was to fix any/all errors/bad sectors. I got a log from event viewer and all seems well to me there. I have pasted it below for your perusal to confirm that is so.

I experienced no hanging yesterday, I will keep monitoring it though.

cheers

jim

 

Checking file system on C: The type of the file system is NTFS. A disk check has been scheduled. Windows will now check the disk. 216384 file records processed. 640 large file records processed. 0 bad file records processed. 0 EA records processed. 37 reparse records processed. 281932 index entries processed. 0 unindexed files processed. 216384 security descriptors processed. CHKDSK is compacting the security descriptor stream... Cleaning up 8943 unused security descriptors. 32775 data files processed. CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal... 36319728 USN bytes processed. Usn Journal verification completed. CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)... 216368 files processed. File data verification completed. CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)... 74761858 free clusters processed. Free space verification is complete. Correcting errors in the master file table's (MFT) BITMAP attribute. Correcting errors in the Volume Bitmap. Windows has made corrections to the file system. 488384511 KB total disk space. 188915008 KB in 152326 files. 83072 KB in 32778 indexes. 0 KB in bad sectors. 338995 KB in use by the system. 65536 KB occupied by the log file. 299047436 KB available on disk. 4096 bytes in each allocation unit. 122096127 total allocation units on disk. 74761859 allocation units available on disk. Internal Info: 40 4d 03 00 1a d3 02 00 99 cd 04 00 00 00 00 00 @M.............. c7 22 00 00 25 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ."..%........... 42 00 00 00 52 73 fa 76 98 88 28 00 98 80 28 00 B...Rs.v..(...(. Windows has finished checking your disk. Please wait while your computer restarts.

[Plastic Nev]

Everything looks OK now Jim, the file error repairs in the MFT look to be only minor faults but now corrected so all should be OK. If any faults had been major it would have asked for the Windows disk, which it didn't so no worries.

 

Nev.

[mij]

Thanks Nev, that gives me some comfort in knowing that this seems to be going in the right direction. I will be away for a couple of days but will resume monitoring upon my return. No hanging up so far cross fingers.

Jim

[mij]

Hmmm, I'm wondering. Could this possibly be due to someone else piggy backing on our router? I say this because after we got back from our little trip I noticed the 'de donk' I've been getting on and off when neither my wife nor I have connected anything to the LAN. I also have been getting the opposite pitch when neither of us has disconnected from the LAN. I know this to be absolutely true because my other half has been in bed. Sometimes it takes for ages to connect to site. Ok I do realise I should keep a diary of timed events because stateside wakes up and that slows down some of the sites, but this seems to be early morning. Hmmmm. When I questioned this before I was unable to follow the instructions to change the password...... I don't think I'd be any better at it now. I'd need step by step hand-holding and then repeat for the other two 'pooters on this home system.

jim

[Plastic Nev]

Hi Jim, if you are getting the connection and disconnection signal it is a sure sign someone has latched onto your wireless. It is complicated when first looked at to stop that happening, but if taken one stage at a time it isn't that bad. I suggest printing off any instructions so you can read them through while doing it.

However, KenB is probably the best at describing what to do to secure your wireless network, so I will ask him to look in.

 

Nev.

[mij]

Thanks for that nev, I will come back later.

jim

[KenB]

Hi Jim,

Nev has asked me to see if I can help at all.

 

Using a wireless computer

Right Click on the monitor icon (bottom right of screen) > Connect to a Network

Point the curser at your network - you should get a little grey box pop up with Signal Strength / Security Type / etc.

What does it say next to "Security Type"? ( I could be WPA / WPA2 / etc ) or is it "Unsecured" ?

 

What is the make and model number of your router ?

[mij]

Thanks KenB for comingto my aid.

 

 

Yes a wireless router

 

 

WPA2 Personal

Encryption type AES

 

 

Make/model :- Thompson,TG585u7, Name: Bebox123

SSID:- Bebox123

 

 

I hope I've given the right info

jim

[KenB]

Hi Jim

 

If your security setting is WPA2 Personal then I doubt if anybody ( neighbour ) has hacked into your network.

 

I need to find the manual for your router - I will be back.

 

( I will be around for most of the day so check back regularly :) )

[mij]

Thanks KenB

 

Ok will do. A by-the-way is the letter u towards the end of the router model (TG585u7) should be a v not a u. I saw this more clearly by reading it from 'network'.

jim

[KenB]

OK - now have the manual.

 

On the router - There is a Wireless LED .....this should be Green.

If it is Red you have no security.

Please confirm that it is Green

 

Firstly can you access the router by doing the following:

Open an internet browser > then ( where you see http://www. .........) highlight all of this line and type 192.168.1.254

 

This should open a panel that will ask for username and password.

If you have not changed anything the username should be "administrator"

Don't put anything in the password box.

 

If you can't get in with that:

[TABLE=class: infoTable normalWidth centerText, width: 1]

[TR=class: altRow]

[TD=bgcolor: #EDEDED]27th Nov - 3rd Dec 2008[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #EDEDED]Administrator[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #EDEDED]Serial Number[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=bgcolor: #FFFFFF]3rd Dec 2008 - 23rd Nov 2009[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #FFFFFF]Administrator[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #FFFFFF]No Password[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: altRow]

[TD=bgcolor: #EDEDED]24th November 2009 onwards[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #EDEDED]admin[/TD]

[TD=bgcolor: #EDEDED]Serial Number[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

 

The serial number is on a sticker on the base of the router.

The numbers and letters following S/N and NOT including the number in brackets ( if there are any )

[mij]

OK - now have the manual.

 

On the router - There is a Wireless LED .....this should be Green.

If it is Red you have no security.

Please confirm that it is Green

 

Yes they are all green. There are 5 led's. one flashes two remain on continuously and one off(unlit).

 

Firstly can you access the router by doing the following:

Open an internet browser > then ( where you see http://www. .........) highlight all of this line and type 192.168.1.254

 

This should open a panel that will ask for username and password.

If you have not changed anything the username should be "administrator"

Don't put anything in the password box.

 

Putting in those numbers opens something but it does not ask me for any inputs. It offers a menu which includes THOMPSON GATEWAY, BROADBAND CONNECTION, TOOLBOX and HOME NETWORK.

 

Sorry about what might seem tardiness in my reply. I wasn't aware that this had gone into a second page, only just noticed that.

Cheers

jim

[KenB]

What happens if you click on "Thompson Gateway" ?

 

( again - I am around for most of the day :) )

 

Which LED is unlit?

[mij]

It gives me this page

jim

 

[TABLE="width: 700"] http://192.168.1.254/images/spacer.gif [TABLE="class: datatable, width: 100%"]

 

---

http://192.168.1.254/images/spacer.gif
http://192.168.1.254/images/spacer.gif	http://192.168.1.254/images/task__md.gif	http://192.168.1.254/images/spacer.gif

 

 

[KenB]

That's odd Jim. Using 192.168.1.254 should get you into your router settings.

 

Try this:

Start > Network > Right Click on the Thompson Gateway > View Device Web Page.