Windows 7: Facing an unknown problem with my PC; only folders open.

My PC has gone completely outrageous. A few days ago of this being posted, it worked just fine, and I used it for basically whatever; gaming, video streaming, working, etc. The very next day, I proceeded to check my history, and found it wasn't loading. Thinking this is just a slight bug from being on all day, I reset the computer. When I log in, my usual add-ons load on too, like a small bar to monitor my CPU percentage and RAM usage. After about 15-25 seconds of being logged on, my RAM skyrockets from around 17% to sometimes as high as 63% for no known reason as of yet. I then get the idea to search the Internet and see if it may be a problem. Double clicking my browser lead to me see that it did not open, so I went to the next, and when that didn't open, I crossed my fingers that Internet Explorer would. Sadly, that too did not open. All that replied to my clicks were the usual spinning wheel pointer.

I do some experimenting and find that only folders and the recycling bin will open. I can't run anything [such as Google Chrome, or Minecraft] after my RAM blasts to such height. After about two minutes of clicking any .exe, I get a message saying something about "being unable to respond in a timely manner.". Afterwards, I hit CTRL+ALT+DEL to see if I can close anything down, only to be greeted with a black screen, saying something along the lines of it being unavailable and that restarting should fix it [I can't verify what it says because when I went to check, I can't even log on anymore].



Yes, I've gone into Safe Mode, no the problem does not persist. I'd love to stay in Safe Mode, but, no sound is a real deal-breaker. I don't have a windows recovery disk because I was too dumb to realize it's importance 20 months ago, nor do I know where to go from here. This has baffled me more than anything I can ever imagine.

I apologize for this very long post, I just wanted to get plenty of detail. If anyone has a sliver of information on how to resolve this very [to me] frightening occurrence, please post with all information ASAP.

EDIT:
Also, the mouse images I use are not the default mouse images that you would find on another windows computer at BestBuy, or somewhere similar. I changed them to ones from a game, and upon logging into my account I always had to go to start > control panel > search 'mouse' > click 'change mouse settings' > pointers > OK but I never had to select it from any drop-down window. The fact that my mouse's images are custom upon start up intrigues me. I know this probably doesn't help in resolving any issues, but, I find it very odd.

Hello Vynarus and welcome to the forums

Can you download Process Explorer please?

Process Explorer

Save it to your Desktop, run it, then click File > Save as and save the log to your Desktop. Copy and paste this into your next post please.

Tom

Welcome to Seven Forums Vynarus. I would start with a System Restore Point from before the problem began. This would be a good starting point.

Safe Mode

A Guy

I hope this is what you mean, Tom. If not, I apologize.

Process CPU Private Bytes Working Set PID Description Company Name
Interrupts 1.93 0 K 0 K n/a Hardware Interrupts and DPCs
System Idle Process 87.43 0 K 24 K 0
System 0.80 144 K 1,452 K 4
smss.exe 544 K 1,196 K 256
TabTip32.exe 836 K 2,924 K 1580
conhost.exe 1,080 K 2,848 K 1252
hpsysdrv.exe 1,116 K 3,868 K 2916 hpsysdrv Hewlett-Packard
InputPersonalization.exe 1,156 K 2,852 K 3680 Input Personalization Server Microsoft Corporation
notepad.exe 1,432 K 3,428 K 2044 Notepad Microsoft Corporation
notepad.exe 1,432 K 3,436 K 3700 Notepad Microsoft Corporation
jusched.exe 1,452 K 4,732 K 2076 Java(TM) Update Scheduler Sun Microsystems, Inc.
WLIDSVCM.EXE 1,532 K 3,488 K 2380
ZoomEx.exe 1,560 K 4,764 K 3644
ZoomEx.exe 1,560 K 4,776 K 2884
wininit.exe 1,668 K 4,544 K 496
ZoomEx.exe 1,840 K 5,440 K 1492
mscorsvw.exe 1,932 K 3,956 K 3636 .NET Runtime Optimization Service Microsoft Corporation
SmartDefrag.exe 1,956 K 5,260 K 1512
wlanext.exe 1,960 K 5,292 K 1244
svchost.exe 2,040 K 5,540 K 2232 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
PnkBstrA.exe < 0.01 2,060 K 5,204 K 2092
taskeng.exe 2,072 K 5,348 K 1964
taskhost.exe 2,172 K 5,460 K 2592
svchost.exe 2,204 K 5,324 K 588 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
procexp.exe 2,540 K 7,644 K 2520 Sysinternals Process Explorer Sysinternals - Windows Sysinternals: Documentation, downloads and additional resources
csrss.exe < 0.01 2,576 K 4,824 K 420
lsm.exe 2,628 K 4,360 K 616
AutoUpdate.exe 2,756 K 5,040 K 1088
SearchProtocolHost.exe 0.02 2,760 K 8,472 K 2928
svchost.exe 2,764 K 5,996 K 2688 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
SearchFilterHost.exe 2,804 K 6,472 K 3840
AutoUpdate.exe 2,956 K 5,244 K 1604
taskeng.exe 2,976 K 7,152 K 1152
winlogon.exe 3,200 K 7,112 K 552
AutoSweep.exe 3,328 K 5,760 K 1544
svchost.exe < 0.01 3,688 K 7,312 K 844 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
HPClientServices.exe 3,992 K 7,940 K 1648 HP Client Services Hewlett-Packard Company
svchost.exe 4,208 K 8,752 K 792 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
lsass.exe 4,412 K 10,976 K 608 Local Security Authority Process Microsoft Corporation
wisptis.exe 4,440 K 8,744 K 1272
svchost.exe 4,604 K 9,320 K 712 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
ZoomEx.exe 5,000 K 12,256 K 3872
services.exe 5,052 K 10,192 K 600
wisptis.exe 0.04 5,136 K 11,060 K 1924
svchost.exe 5,484 K 9,440 K 1624 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
TabTip.exe 5,668 K 13,384 K 1960
spoolsv.exe 7,284 K 12,476 K 1420 Spooler SubSystem App Microsoft Corporation
csrss.exe 0.18 7,692 K 11,532 K 488
WLIDSVC.EXE < 0.01 7,840 K 15,192 K 2260
taskhost.exe 8,432 K 9,504 K 1824 Host Process for Windows Tasks Microsoft Corporation
ASCTray.exe 8,556 K 11,036 K 2976 ASCTray IObit
Monitor.exe 0.59 8,964 K 7,016 K 1536
svchost.exe < 0.01 11,076 K 19,428 K 980 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 15,136 K 20,092 K 1472 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe < 0.01 15,548 K 17,500 K 1056 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
audiodg.exe 15,928 K 15,808 K 416
chrome.exe < 0.01 21,008 K 20,660 K 3508 Google Chrome Google Inc.
procexp64.exe 2.16 22,052 K 40,712 K 2824 Sysinternals Process Explorer Sysinternals - Windows Sysinternals: Documentation, downloads and additional resources
svchost.exe 23,760 K 16,680 K 944 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
explorer.exe 0.03 30,660 K 48,560 K 2012 Windows Explorer Microsoft Corporation
chrome.exe < 0.01 33,288 K 39,196 K 3260 Google Chrome Google Inc.
chrome.exe 2.86 37,220 K 51,188 K 3284 Google Chrome Google Inc.
dwm.exe 1.04 39,560 K 48,360 K 1952 Desktop Window Manager Microsoft Corporation
SearchIndexer.exe < 0.01 41,708 K 15,664 K 2028 Microsoft Windows Search Indexer Microsoft Corporation
chrome.exe 53,716 K 55,724 K 3552 Google Chrome Google Inc.
chrome.exe 0.19 57,312 K 66,820 K 3240 Google Chrome Google Inc.
chrome.exe 58,996 K 65,000 K 3444 Google Chrome Google Inc.
chrome.exe 1.99 78,276 K 72,040 K 3160 Google Chrome Google Inc.
chrome.exe 0.73 111,252 K 119,708 K 2100 Google Chrome Google Inc.
svchost.exe 1,217,460 K 1,203,548 K 1008 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation

I would do a restore point, but I want that as my last option as of now. My last restore point was quite some months ago, and I've got some precious work in here, most of which I can't export off the PC. Thank you for including this as one of my options however.

Hmm, svchost is using over 1GB of RAM alone which is very suspicious. It wouldn't surprise me if you've got an underlying infection on your system so I'm going to see whether Jacee (our security expert) has time to investigate further. Will keep you posted!

Thanks much, Tom! I'd be esthetic if y'all saved me a trip to town, and my wallet a trip to less weight!
Y'all are definitely getting a recommendation from my family for when their PCs go kaput. Lotta good here.

Download DDS from one of these links:
DDS.com
DDS.pif

• Disable any script blocking protection
• Double click the dds icon to run the tool.
• When done, DDS will open two (2) logs:
  1. DDS.txt
  2. Attach.txt <--- will be minimized in the task tray
• Save both reports to your desktop.

Include the contents of both logs in your next post.

Should I do so in Safe Mode or in Regular?

I'm not sure how to disable Script Blocking as I'm unsure of which of my programs have it. I don't use Norton, but instead IObit. I must be blind or something because I can't find anything about IObit having script blockers.

Run the scan in regular mode. I hate to say this, but IOBIT can cause many problems