Unwanted updating on start up

[PEV]

I run Windows XP Home edition and AVG 2012 edition. With McAfee firewall

When I first installed AVG 2011 to replace AVG 2010 I had same issue as I have now - Whenever I started up my PC it would automatically update for 10-15 minutes making my PC unusable for that time.

At the time I got help from another help forum (which I can't remember) I was informed this was a problem with AVG 2011 and I was advised to go to AVG interface, click on tools, advanced, and untick 'enable this task' in scheduled scan,virus database update schedule, and programme update schedule.

That seemed to omprove things with AVG 2011 but now with AVG 2012 I am again getting ten or more minutes of intense activity(presumably updating) which makes PC useless for that period of time.

I have gone into tools, advanced and checked out the settings but they are already unchecked so it seems there is no remedy there! Could my PC be downloading other updates from windows or microsoft or some other source? Can anyone please advise how to deal with this problem?

Thanks very much.

Ray (PEV)

[Wizard]

How long has it been since you first downloaded the program ?

[PEV]

Hi Wizard

It's been since befor Christmas

[KenB]

Hi Ray,

 

If I were you I would ditch AVG and install MS Essentials.

AVG is not rated too highly by our security experts. They tend to favour Avira / Avast / MS Essentials ( not in that order :) )

[PEV]

Yeh

I have often thought of other AV's but AVG seems to be compatible with my McAfee firewall and I'm worried about getting out of my depth if installing anything new.

I do normally have a lot of free minutes on my o2 phone contract so if anyone would guide me one day I might try to do it that way?

Chees

Ray

[KenB]

I'm worried about getting out of my depth

The swap is relatively simple.

 

If you want to go down this route I can provide the steps :)

[PEV]

Are any of the suggested ones free like AVG as I have found 'AVG Free' has always picked up threats and it's only the messing about on start up that's needling me.Therefor it seems a shame to have to pay for a system.

Also something I said in my original post has not been mentioned.

Does anyone think the activity which is causing the prblem could be some other kind of update or down load such as a windows or other automatic download?

[KenB]

Are any of the suggested ones free

The 3 I suggested are all free.

 

I and Starbuck use MS Essentials.

 

Does anyone think the activity which is causing the prblem could be some other kind of update

If you install MS Essentials instead of AVG you will answer this question.

 

=================

 

If you want to continue with AVG ( there is a limit to how far I can help as I don't have this installed )

Switch off the boot up again.

Make a note of the time.

Once booted go to:

 

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\avg2012\scanlogs

 

If there is a log with the date and time of recent booting it is definitely AVG scanning on boot.

There will be a setting to change this.

[PEV]

Hi KenB I cannot find c/documents and settings etc.Where are they located please?

However under schedulled tasks in Control Panel I have found Google updateTask Users.'every hour' every day' Google updatetask machine in multiples. Are these the problem?

[PEV]

KenB I've foundc/documents etc and followed your instructions and there is no indication there of AVG updating.--Where would this be shown anyway?

Even when browsing long after start up I have always got crippling burdtd of activity in the PC box which makes moving from page to page imposible for several seconds - it's really annoying! Could it be something else other than updating?

Any more suggestion much appreciated

Thanks

Ray

[KenB]

Hi Ray

 

I cannot assist further with AVG as I have no way of verifying any suggestions.

 

I know you are reluctant to change - but I really would urge you to consider swapping for MS Essentials.

 

This would either solve your problem or we could discount the AV as the cause.

[RandyL]

Could it be something else other than updating?

I agree with Ken that it could be AVG. Not only can it be problematic it's not very good in my opinion.

 

1. AVG

2. Conflicting AV's. You have Mcafee firewall without the AV?

3. Malware

4. P2P file sharing.

5. Failing drive.

 

Solutions suggested by Ken is the best place to start . Uninstall AVG. There is no point going on if you don't systematically try one thing at a time. We don't know everything about your computer or what's on it. You could always reinstall it later but why?

[PEV]

Thanks RandyT

The suggestions are very helpful. The file sharing P2P are not an issue as it's only me and I don't exchange with others.

AVG plus McAfee firewall don't sound right but the experienced friend who set me up when I started swears by AVG and didn't find a conflict likely as he has used same for many years.

However! this does nothing to solve the present problem! I am going to plod on for a bit and at some point when it gets too much I shall probably try installinf another AV as suggested but as I have a history of messing up the simplest PC task I'm reluctan. By the way if i wre to try one of the other Free AV's where would I stand with the McAfee firewall?

I am also copying here a part of a previous post, what do you think?

'However under schedulled tasks in Control Panel I have found Google updateTask Users.'every hour' every day' Google updatetask machine in multiples. Are these the problem?'

 

Sincere thanks to all of you who have taken trouble to help me. I shall keep all your suggestions for future refference.

By the way Randy I have been storm chasing in Nebraska and other partd of tornado alley several times so may have passed through your back yard (well literally!) Getting to expensive and me too old to come out from England but absolutely love severe weather spotting.

Ray

[RandyL]

It's good to have someone here that knows my neck of the woods. No tornados this time of year but we just dug out from a foot of the wettest snow I can rememember.

 

If it turns out AVG is not the the problem it might be an IE add-on like the Google toolbar. You could try an IE reset which would disable all the add-ons. How to Reset or Restore Advanced Settings in Internet Explorer 7

 

A firewall and an AV should not conflict.

[Starbuck]

By the way if i wre to try one of the other Free AV's where would I stand with the McAfee firewall?

Is it only the firewall that's installed?

or is the firewall just part of a package?

If you want a good alternative free Firewall, i would recommend Online Armor.

http://www.tallemu.com/free-firewall-protection-software.html

 

I run this on my XP m/c and it never gives any problems.

On Vista and Win7 i use the Windows Firewall.

 

However under schedulled tasks in Control Panel I have found Google updateTask Users.'every hour' every day' Google updatetask machine in multiples. Are these the problem?'

What Google products do you have installed?

Sometimes even just having the Google Toolbar installed will add this Google Updater.

Why it needs to run, I have no idea. (just a stupid Google thing)

Google is great for searching, email and for Google maps, I use all of these but I don't have any google products installed.

You don't need them.

 

As for AVG, sorry but i stopped recommending that a long time ago.

These are the only free AV's that i recommend now: ( i only recommend programs i've installed and run myself)

• Avira AntiVir ... see note* ....installation guide Here
  
• Avast free
  
• MS Security Essentials ... see note** ...installation guide Here
  

 

Note*:

Avira now includes the Ask.com Toolbar unless you choose not to install it. This means it is pre-checked by default and it is recommended that you uncheck that option during installation.

 

Note**:

Upon installation MS Security Essentials will check that your OS is a legal copy.

 

Only install one AntiVirus program

 

Note:

If you do decide to remove AVG.

Use the Add/remove and then go to:

http://www.avg.com/filedir/util/avg_arm_sup_____.dir/avgremover.exe

 

download to your desktop.

then double click to start the uninstaller.

This will remove all traces of AVG.

 

Then install the AV of your choice.

[PEV]

Thanks again to everyone.

I will sit on this for a bit longer. See how bad things are and at some point try to take positive action but as it all works (after 5 minutes of crap) I'm teempted to grin and bear it but watch this space.

Ray

[Starbuck]

It's your system, so any decision is up to you.

But.... why grin and bare it?

Why not do something about it?

 

I have a history of messing up the simplest PC task I'm reluctant

So whether you do it now or later..... the result will probably be the same.

[PEV]

Thanks mate,

Know what you mean but with a great forum like this I am confident that when/if I take the plunge there will be good able folk there to help.

If you or some of the others lived in my neighbourhood I would just go for it but I just can't afford to be off line for any time while I cry help so that's why I'm stalling on taking action. But as I say it will get to me enough one day to MAKE ME do something.

Cheers

Ray

[PEV]

Hi Starbuck (and any other interested)

Just had another 15 minutes of paraysis after starting up!

I was thinking, I/we are presuming all the activity is background updating but does everyone agree? Could it be something else? I don't go with the suggestion the possibility of a failing drive because the problem is on startup and settles down after the initial period of continual activity if drive is faulty would the problem not be happening randomly?. I don't have access to any other PC so don't know what sounds are 'normal' and what sounds are .wrong'

I just want to explore all posibilities before doing an AV change as of course it would be aweful if nothing improved after the AV change over. So is there any way I can check for other causes?

And by the way some times like just now when I go over to Outlok Express or some other programme or web page there is a burst of intense activity from the box -only lasted about 30 seconds but on the same scale the paralyses everything on start up. Is this to be expected? as I said not knowing what sounds/activity are to be expected makes it all puzzling for me.

 

Thanks for your patience.

Ray

[KenB]

Ray,

 

Bite the bullet and uninstall AVG.

 

Download MS Essentials from here:

click here

 

From Starbuck's post:

 

If you do decide to remove AVG.

Use the Add/remove and then go to:

http://www.avg.com/filedir/util/avg_...avgremover.exe

 

download to your desktop.

then double click to start the uninstaller.

This will remove all traces of AVG.

 

It really is simple.

Essentials gets better reviews than AVG too :)

 

If you are unsure - just ask.

[Plastic Nev]

HI, for my little two pennyworth most posts so far have covered the aspects regarding AVG. I tend to agree in all that has been said regarding AV programs, so will say no more regarding them.

What I will suggest though is there could well be a large number of other programs set to run at start up, a lot of them will quite likely not be needed to run at start, and should only do so when needed.

Some of the time you are seeing as lost or wasted will be due to these programs opening up at start.

OK firewall, antivirus, and other security are essentials, as well as quite a lot of system needed things, but there will be some that can be turned off and only opened as and when you need them.

Let us know if you wish to look in that direction and we can possibly help you find and decide what you don't need at start up.

 

Nev.

[Starbuck]

We can certainly look at the possibility of the problem being caused by malware or lots of start up items:

 

Step 1

Please download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and save it to your desktop.

If the link redirects you to a mirror site for the download.... that's ok.

 

• Make sure you are connected to the Internet.
  
• Double-click on Download_mbam-setup.exe to install the application.
  
• When the installation begins, follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
  
• When installation has finished, make sure you leave both of these checked:
  • Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
    
  • Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

  [*]Then click Finish.

  [*]MBAM will automatically start and you will be asked to update the program before performing a scan. If an update is found, the program will automatically update itself. Press the OK button to close that box and continue. If you encounter any problems while downloading the updates, manually download them from here and just double-click on mbam-rules.exe to install.

  [*]On the Scanner tab:

  • Make sure the "Perform Full Scan" option is selected.
    
  • Then click on the Scan button.

  [*]If asked to select the drives to scan, leave all the drives selected and click on the Start Scan button.

  [*]The scan will begin and "Scan in progress" will show at the top. It may take some time to complete so please be patient.

  [*]When the scan is finished, a message box will say "The scan completed successfully. Click 'Show Results' to display all objects found".

  [*]Click OK to close the message box and continue with the removal process.

  [*]Back at the main Scanner screen, click on the Show Results button to see a list of any malware that was found.

  [*]Make sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.

  [*]When removal is completed, a log report will open in Notepad and you may be prompted to restart your computer. (see Note below)

  [*]The log is automatically saved and can be viewed by clicking the Logs tab in MBAM.

  [*]Copy and paste the contents of that report in your next reply and exit MBAM.

Note: If MBAM encounters a file that is difficult to remove, you will be presented with 1 of 2 prompts. Click OK to either and let MBAM proceed with the disinfection process. If asked to restart the computer, please do so immediately. Failure to reboot will prevent MBAM from removing all the malware.

 

 

 

Step 2

• Download OTL to your desktop.
  right click on the link and select 'Save Link/Target As'.
   
  if you have problems, try this download link:
  OTL
  
• Double click on the icon to run it. Make sure all other windows are closed and to let it run uninterrupted.
  
• When the window appears, underneath Output at the top change it to Minimal Output.
  
• Check the boxes beside LOP Check and Purity Check

.

 

.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v708/starbuck50/new/Otllatest.png

 

Now copy the lines in bold below.

 

netsvcs

msconfig

%SYSTEMDRIVE%\*.*

%systemroot%\system32\Spool\prtprocs\w32x86\*.dll

%systemroot%\*. /mp /s

%systemroot%\system32\*.dll /lockedfiles

%systemroot%\Tasks\*.job /lockedfiles

%systemroot%\system32\drivers\*.sys /lockedfiles

%systemroot%\system32\*.exe /lockedfiles

%systemroot%\System32\config\*.sav

%PROGRAMFILES%\*

%USERPROFILE%\..|smtmp;true;true;true /FP

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU

hklm\software\clients\startmenuinternet|command /rs

hklm\software\clients\startmenuinternet|command /64 /rs

CREATERESTOREPOINT

 

• right click in the Custom Scans/Fixes window (under the blue bar) and choose Paste.
   
  http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v708/starbuck50/new%20forum/scan-fix.png
  .
  
• Click the Run Scan button.
   
  http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v708/starbuck50/runscan.png
   
  
• Do not change any settings unless otherwise told to do so. The scan wont take long.
  
• When the scan completes, it will open two notepad windows. OTL.Txt and Extras.Txt. These are saved in the same location as OTL.
  
• Please copy (Edit->Select All, Edit->Copy) the contents of these files, one at a time, and post them with your next reply.

 

 

In your next reply, please submit:

MBAM scan report

Both reports from OTL

 

 

Thanks.

[PEV]

Ken

Thanks for the link and offer of help which I may take up but in my post I mentioned these isuues:-

 

I just want to explore all posibilities before doing an AV change as of course it would be aweful if nothing improved after the AV change over. So is there any way I can check for other causes?

And by the way some times like just now when I go over to Outlok Express or some other programme or web page there is a burst of intense activity from the box -only lasted about 30 seconds but on the same scale the paralyses everything on start up. Is this to be expected? as I said not knowing what sounds/activity are to be expected makes it all puzzling for me.

Can you/anyone suggest what/if there could be other cases for the problem other that my (non expert) assumption that it's all down to AVG updating.

Thanks

ray

[PEV]

Hi Starbuck

I'm about to follow your instructions but on the downloadmalware bytes page there is offer of a free scan of registry etc by 'Registry booster' which I have done and been informed I have over 400 system/user related related errors. when invited to fix problem I am invited to buy the software! I have seen this before and presume it's a bit of a con?

Anyway I'm ignoring it FTM but maybe you'd like to confirm my doubts as to the need to buy this stuff.

Anyway now to push on with your instructions.....

[Starbuck]

there is offer of a free scan of registry etc by 'Registry booster' which I have done and been informed I have over 400 system/user related related errors. when invited to fix problem I am invited to buy the software! I have seen this before and presume it's a bit of a con?

Registry Booster is not needed.

Offering this type of software is how the mirror sites make their money.

Ignore this and only download the MalwareBytes Antimalware program.