Totaly clueless aout whats wrong.

[sawvern]

Ok so for about a week now ive been having issues with my connection... i think. I dont get any error message and as far as i can find nothing running shouldnt be running, no viruses or maleware that i can find either. So ill try and describe whats happening just incase some one has a idea.

 

So about a week ago, i started having problems with programs that use the net. I would try and open IE and it wouldnt open, tried YIM and it couldnt connect, Steam tries to connect then times out and closes. SO i opend task manager and IE is running but not opening, so i closed it and tried again and it did the same but with it dwwin.exe runs also, dwwin.exe opens when ever i have a connection issue. I looked up dwwin.exe and its a eror reporting system for microsoft but no error comes up. Well i tried opening IE a third time and it open up but in task manager 2 are running at one time. I can connect and run things normaly unless i try and open a second tab. When i do the second tab wont connect, no error comes up either. Randomly if IE has been open to long 5-6 hours it will close and a dwwin.exe will apear in task manager, aftear this it locks my desktop up, i can reconnect to IE but thats it, cant open any programs or files. I have to restart my computer before i can open anything other than IE. I downloaded firefox today and im using it because i can surf with out 2 opening up but my other programs Steam, YIM still wont connect.

 

I know this doesnt really leave much to work with, but if anyone has any ideas, they would be greatly apreaciated.

[starams5]

Hi

 

For troubleshooting purposes try this, boot into safe mode with networking and see if you are experiencing the same problems with these applications.

[sawvern]

oops

 

Basic info:

WinXP pro

IE8

Qwest dsl 1.5 mbs

avg, malwaebytes, and spywareBlaster, along with windows firewall and virus scan. All uptodate.

[starams5]

Please follow the instructions in my first post then post back.

[sawvern]

Everything seems to be running fine, IE is open twice still but no issues with connecting to anything.

[starams5]

Then there is something that is starting with the computer that is in conflick with these applications. Click on start/Run. In the "Run" box type "msconfig" w/o the quotes. Navigate to the Startup tab and uncheck any items that don't need to be starting with the computer. Google any item you are unsure about, also see link below you can find info on many of the processes there.

 

ProcessLibrary.com - The online resource for process information!

[sawvern]

Ok turned everything off other than the Microsoft corp stuff, and its still having the same issues.

[starams5]

Hi sawvern

 

See link below on how to perform a repair installation, see if that helps.

 

Repair Installation

[RandyL]

No matter what you have heard there does still seem to be problems with IE8 and XP although it seems to work well with Vista.

 

Try uninstalling IE8 and see if that makes a difference.

 

The next thing I would suspect is malware. Possibly caused by P2P, torrents, toolbars, search programs etc.

 

Next try How to Reset or Restore Advanced Settings in Internet Explorer 7 I say this because many add-ons or malware add-ons can cause issues that this might remove.

 

If that works you should consider running our malware removal proccess.

 

To be quite honest it does sound like you have some programs and/or malware that is causing this. Remove these items if you have them.

[sawvern]

Sorry it has taken be a while to get back to you. I was stuck behind the blue screen of death. So about 15 min before i was just going to format the hard drive and lose $300 worth of stuff. I did one last run through in safe mode, msconfig, malware scan, virus scan, defrag, then checked event viewer and like 3 AVG programs where not loading. Thinking to my self i started having problems with AVG right after 8.5 updated, so did a total removal and it got me past the blue screen of death then ran a check on IE8 and files where missing, some where AVG 8.5 and IE8 updating about the same time just screwed everything up. So now im back to IE7 and AVG 8.0 and everything is working long before.

 

Didnt want to ramble on but just incase some one else has the same problem this might help, also thank you Randyl and Strams5 for taking the time to help me. I hope i get the chance to return the favor. ( not that im wishing you computer harm of course)

[RandyL]

This is good to hear.

 

I am still concerned though that it was more then just a program conflict although hopefully that's all it was. IE8 and AVG perhaps.

 

You might want to take a look at Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help Recommended Security products

 

You might notice that AVG is not on our list.

 

In any case I hope you are now trouble free and stay that way.

 

Best wishes.

[sawvern]

Well you were right Randyl for thinking it was more than a conflict, i was just having a good day. After restarting my machine the problems kicked back up. So i looked at your list of free security and removed AVG 8.5 ( since while i was sleeping 8.0 updated it self to 8.5 and one of the scanning programs was running at 1,897,678. K when i opend task manager, and the support at avg basicly told me tough luck its a free program errors happen) so i instaled Avira AntiVir. Ran a full scan and it found a running virus BOO/ something so i looked it up and all the reports i found said to run DR.Webb virus removal tool. Ran Dr.Webbs tool aftear 15 min Dr.Webb found the virus and cleaned it, restarted windows rescanned with Avira 3 times and totaly clean. So it seems i owe you a great thnx.

 

Oh side note is there any problem running more then one brand of virus protection? Or is that like wearing a hat undear an umbrella?

[RandyL]

Hi sawvern;

Running two real time antivirus programs at the same time can cause major conflicts. Always use just one. Running more then one anti-spyware programs is actually recommended. My AV has anti-spyware and I use Vistas built in Windows Defender (also available for XP) and I use Spyware Blaster.

 

You might want to scan with SUPERAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware just to double check that your machine is totally clean.

 

And your quite welcome. We all try to help the best we can.

[sawvern]

Ok thats good to know, right now im running Avira AV, spyblaster, and Malwarebytes. Im being paraniod and running scans everytime i start my machine right now. Its so nice to have things running the way they should again. Tobad you guys dont work on cars also cause im having some issues with that now, if its not one thing its another lol.

[RandyL]

There is no need to be paranoid. Just keep your AV updated and use common sense on your surfing habits and research any software you install.

 

When in doubt ask us first.

 

I think you are good to go bud.