Browser Hanging, Processes with Network Activity Dropping

[boconnel]

I have been dealing with a balky system for about two weeks. Some of the symptoms pointed to overheating, and flaky RAM. I purchased and installed an upgraded CPU fan which trimmed 15 degrees Celsius off the CPU which is good, but no great improvement.

I replaced and tripled the amount of RAM from 8Gb to 24Gb, better, but not perfect. The problem I am having now is that in using my Chrome browser, it will become unresponsive. I open IE and it is the same. I have been keeping Resource Monitor open and I notice under "Processes with Network Activity" that the number of processes suddenly drops to about 4-5 processes from 14 processes. If it recovers on its own, which it occasionally does, and the number of processes grows back up to around 14, the problem seems to clear.

My machine is attached via cable to my cable modem at 100 Mbps. My internet connection is 30/50 Mbps. I have another machine sitting right next to it which is Windows 7 Enterprise x64, connected wirelessly, which is having no problems whatsoever. If I shut off the LAN card and turn on my wireless adaptor, it doesn't change anything. Re-booting seems to make things happen again, for a while, but that is hardly a solution. Any suggestions?

 

[2xg]

Welcome to Seven Forums,

Can you create a different user on the same computer, log on as that new User and see if you can replicate the issue?

Also, do you have the latest driver for your network adapter?

 

[boconnel]

Thanks for the welcome.

I do believe I have the latest drivers, but I will try your suggestion to create a different user account and give that a try.

 

[boconnel]

Well, I created the new user and it has been running well for most of the day until....

Just got a repeat of the behavior. Processed drop to 4-5, then it looks like it recovers as a whole bunch of new processes spring into action, only to have them shortly disappear.

Although the machine says the driver is up to date for this network card (Realtek RTL81XX PCI-E), I think I located a later version that I am going to try.

 

[2xg]

Are there any Apps/Programs besides your browser that's hanging?

 

[boconnel]

It appears that Outlook also hangs, Dropbox, right now after the other changes I made I would say it is those apps that use the Internet. So far the new driver seems to be holding up.

 

[2xg]

Good to know, please keep us posted with your progress.

 

[boconnel]

I just hung again as the number of network activities fell off to around 4-5 again. Re-booted. Any suggestions?

 

[boconnel]

Once again, the network processes dropped off and Chrome hung. Had to re-boot to get it going.

 

[boconnel]

I have deleted the old User ID, as I have not had a compelling reason to go back to it. I have kept the old files which I will delete in a few days if I don't find a need for anything, like templates. I also deleted the user ID I created to help copy over files from the old ID to the New ID

 

[2xg]

Sorry for the late reply, busy at work.

When you say "It appears that Outlook also hangs", is it Microsoft Outlook? What version or Outlook.com? Any programs installed in your computer hangs as well or just cloud apps and browsing?

Have you tried connecting this one wired directly to the modem/router?

I have another machine sitting right next to it which is Windows 7 Enterprise x64, connected wirelessly, which is having no problems whatsoever.

 

[boconnel]

The machine with the problem is wired directly to the modem/router. I am running Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010. I haven't noticed a problem with Word or Excel when this happens, but I can't say I tested them thoroughly. The next time it hangs I will try to open and use them to see if they are affected.

 

[boconnel]

I just thought of another app that has been impacted. I also run an application from E*Trade, Market Trader, that I believe is java based, but connects real time to the Internet. That hangs as well.

 

[2xg]

Install Speccy the free edition, keep an eye out on the temps.

Secunia PSI will find all your outdated and the ones that need to be updated.

Uninstall Apps/Programs that are not needed or outdated. You may use Revo Uninstaller (freeware) to uninstall the programs.

Scan your computer using Free SuperAntiSpyware, it won't harm to do this.

Run chkdsk as well.

Another update of your progress will be appreciated.

 

[boconnel]

I found 192 adware tracking cookies and a key logger trojan. They have been removed. I have also deleted the files from the previous user account.

 

[boconnel]

The trojan: "ie8-ie9-recheckfix.exe"

 

[2xg]

Please try the rest of my recommendations and give us another update.

 

[boconnel]

I upgraded my CPU fan about two weeks ago and I have been monitoring the temperature. The new fan brought the temp down around 15 degrees Celsius.

I ran Secunia and it suggested I upgrade from Acrobat 8.1 to v11, $200 later that was done. It also found an issue with MSXML Core Services.

I really don't have apps that I don't use, as I keep an eye on these, but I did deinstall the Dell Docking program

I generally run chkdsk once a day on start up.

I'll continue to monitor the situation.

 

[boconnel]

We running pretty well most of the day and then recently hung. It affected Chrome, Outlook, a Java app. It did not affect Excel, Word, PowerPoint, the Resource Monitor. I had just opened iTunes when it happened and iTunes hung on opening. I looked under CPU on the Resource Monitor and saw that iTunes was waiting on another process. That process was a Network Service. I terminated that service but that didn't resolve the problem for Chrome, or Outlook, but iTunes started working. I re-booted and will monitor

 

[boconnel]

Still having issues. I will go with IE for the time being and not use Chrome and see if things change.