My computer is possessed!!! HELP!

lmw2184 said:

Gregrocker... I dont really want to shut everything down like that. I've had problems in the past shutting alot of programs down on startup just to increase boot time and it really wasnt worth it. Id like to find a solution to this problem somehow other than that.

What kind of problems have you ever encountered from "shutting alot of programs down on startup", which I take to mean "not allowing programs to automatically start".

I've never heard of anything like that. Am I totally misunderstanding the statement?

One way or the other, it seems you're going to have to determine what the heck is running in the backgound via task manager, resource monitor, services, event logs, startup options, etc.

Wish I knew of a free screen recorder...

When you step away from the computer, put the cat out, lock the door to prvent bums, and perform the demon ridding ritual.

I would also say, one or two scans for malware do not guarantee a clean, cat/bum resistant, unpossessed machine. Try a free online scan via ESET :: Get a FREE Online Virus Scan

koolkat77 said:

does anyone except yourself use your computer?

No. I live alone. People use my PC when they come over to my house but today or yesterday nobody has been here.

vaidas3 said:

do you have your pc users password protected? it would be good idea.. and then set to lock down it after some time when you dont use it.
have someone else used your pc? maybe there is some remote control software installed.. sometimes it can be legit software so antivirus may not report it.
i had many problems with AVG..
please try this What is Windows Defender Offline?

no. i dont like password protection. it slows stuff down and im the only one who uses my pc 99.9% of the time.

profdlp said:

lmw2184 said:

Gregrocker... I dont really want to shut everything down like that. I've had problems in the past shutting alot of programs down on startup just to increase boot time and it really wasnt worth it. Id like to find a solution to this problem somehow other than that.

It might be worth it if it helped solve the problem you're having, right?

Some of the things we suggest during the troubleshooting process may not seem to make sense right away, but they are not done just for kicks. I think what Greg is suggesting is to change one of the variables here and see if there is any change. It could well be that something is causing background processes associated with some of your programs (like "7-zip, AutoCAD, MyLockBox, HP update"...etc) to be triggered automatically. If those things are not allowed to start to begin with and the problem disappears then we have a real good lead as to where to check next.

Do the "msconfig", etc and see what happens. You'll probably know very soon if it makes a difference or not. If it doesn't it will only take 30 seconds and a reboot to put things back the way they were. If it does, you might have this problem fixed sooner rather than later. :)

No it wouldnt be worth it if it causes other problems on top of my existing problems. But what if I try it? Then how do I put things back the exact same way before if I have problems or the problem were trying to find by using this method doesnt work? System Restore wont do it. I hate computers. Did I mention that? Theyre not as smart as they think they are.

sibbil said:

lmw2184 said:

Gregrocker... I dont really want to shut everything down like that. I've had problems in the past shutting alot of programs down on startup just to increase boot time and it really wasnt worth it. Id like to find a solution to this problem somehow other than that.

What kind of problems have you ever encountered from "shutting alot of programs down on startup", which I take to mean "not allowing programs to automatically start".

I've never heard of anything like that. Am I totally misunderstanding the statement?

One way or the other, it seems you're going to have to determine what the heck is running in the backgound via task manager, resource monitor, services, event logs, startup options, etc.

Wish I knew of a free screen recorder...

When you step away from the computer, put the cat out, lock the door to prvent bums, and perform the demon ridding ritual.

I would also say, one or two scans for malware do not guarantee a clean, cat/bum resistant, unpossessed machine. Try a free online scan via ESET :: Get a FREE Online Virus Scan

lol. Ill try the scan. Ill also try shutting down all startup programs. But then how can you tell whats running? If a scan wont show everything, following that logic what makes you think shutting down all startup programs a running background process might not be hidden? Little confused on what you guys are looking for here and what I need to report back... dig?

Dig...

lmw2184 said:

no. i dont like password protection. it slows stuff down and im the only one who uses my pc 99.9% of the time.

Not that you should have to do this, but password protection should not be slowing anything down, other than the time it takes to type in the password. Which for your case, could be a simple one character password (or whatever the minimum is that it'll accept). Two problems: not secure (although an ittybit more than none) and it could just mask your real problem.

lmw2184 said:

Then how do I put things back the exact same way before if I have problems or the problem were trying to find by using this method doesnt work?

Just go back in there, undo what you did, reboot...

lmw2184 said:

lol. Ill try the scan. Ill also try shutting down all startup programs. But then how can you tell whats running? If a scan wont show everything, following that logic what makes you think shutting down all startup programs a running background process might be hidden? Little confused on what you guys are looking for here and what I need to report back... dig?

Well, that's gonna be the hard one to answer. Especially if you have no idea as to what should be running. But you've got to start somewhere... keep posting! And welcome!

lmw2184 said:

No. I live alone. People use my PC when they come over to my house but today or yesterday nobody has been here.

you hope you can trust those people. it doesnt matter if they werent here today or yesterday.. they may have installed something that was activated only today.

lmw2184 said:

no. i dont like password protection. it slows stuff down and im the only one who uses my pc 99.9% of the time.

password protection doesnt slow down stuff.. it only takes few seconds to enter password and you dont do it often enough to feel the differernce. I think admin should be always password protected no matter how many people uses pc.. you can have simple user not password protected.
but IMHO its worth doing for that 0.1%.. i think it will take you only 0.1% longer than not having a password. well its your pc you choose i only suggest it. i work at comany where password protection is mandatory and got used to it so i use it at home and dont feel like work is slowing down because of it.
password may not solve your problem because.. its still not clear what is causing it. the best way to find out is to try suggestions from other members in this forum. by eliminating things you will get to the cause.
by the way does it happens with internet dissconnected? you can try to dissconnect from internet when you dont use pc and see if it happens again.

You may install CCTV near your PC