Random Lag, possibly explorer.Troubleshooting issues.

[eracet]

Computer information VIA Speccy:

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/B7O6xIOdiCSoJCvX8ehj3ER

Attached is a list of startup, processes, installed programs etc, VIA AIDA64

 

[PlatypusKnight]

Hi eracet,

Can you post the CCleaner startup screenshots?

 

[PlatypusKnight]

Hey guys. Does anyone know about UnhackMe?
UnHackMe
This seems. . . . sketchy or snake oilish.

Any comments?

 

[PlatypusKnight]

@eracet kudos on DisplayFusion and the Stick of Truth.
Well played sir. Well played.

 

[Callender]

UnhackMe

UnhackMe: Yes I've used it. I got the full version free - currently not using it as it expired. I'm using RegRun Reanimator from the same software manufacturer.

Re: UnhackMe

From memory - It shows a list of any suspicious items found and you can fix them by selecting checkboxes or by using the command line. It will report on anything that's known blacklisted but other additional items that it considers unsafe need investigation as they may well be okay. It can also run a background guard but in the brief time that I used the software the background guard it didn't alert on anything.

My opinion: It's really only suited to advanced users who can figure out how to use the confusing interface. The same applies to RegRun Reanimator. I'm keeping RegRun Reanimator installed as it only runs on demand and has sometimes been useful.

It's not at all sketchy but the interface isn't great and some of the options are hard to find. It took ages to discover some features. Some of the translation is also not great.

 

[eracet]

CC Cleaner requests.

Startup = Windows
Startup2= Internet Explorer
Startup3= Scheduled Tasks

 

[eracet]

Unhack me I was running but currently am not, Its just sitting idol.
Its not running any scans.
Works ok when running though. Was free paid version as well.

As far as installed programs there may be some that are not listed.
I am running some off my old HDDs.

I have a program drive.
All new programs I am installing on new HDD.
A steam drive ( a ton of steam games)
My old Windows main partition ( This is the one I keep transfering data etc to new HDD)

 

[PlatypusKnight]

@eracet have not abandoned you. Will look through these and get back to you.

 

[PlatypusKnight]

@Callender thanks for that. I went to the website and for some reason it just looked funny. Thanks for ruling that out.

 

[eracet]

I havent done anymore troubleshooting.
Just wish this was a little easier to find.
Still wondering about the Hybrid drive or something with that ..
I do have another HDD but would like to find out if that is actually the issue before reloading windows or setting up yet another one.

Thanks PlatypusKnight for any help.
No hurry.

 

[PlatypusKnight]

I havent done anymore troubleshooting.
Just wish this was a little easier to find.
Still wondering about the Hybrid drive or something with that ..
I do have another HDD but would like to find out if that is actually the issue before reloading windows or setting up yet another one.

Thanks PlatypusKnight for any help.
No hurry.

Sorry to have kept you waiting. Finally got some free time.

Let's get right into it. Please turn off CCleaner Monitoring. It doesn't need to monitor anything.
Open CCleaner; [Options]; [Monitoring]; Uncheck [Enable system monitoring] and [enable Active Monitoring].

I used to use WinPatrol. I found it to be unnecessary, and it ALWAYS slowed my rig. You can make up your mind as to how much utility you get from it. Can you disable it from startup for the purpose of this diagnostic?

Please uninstall Ashampoo Uninstaller. Revo provides the best service in this category and is free, and more importantly doesn't run at startup.

Please uninstall DAEMON Tools. This is known junk software. If you browse the Blue Screen of Death forums you'll see just how many times this is the culprit. PowerIso is a perfectly fine substitute.

Please either uninstall SlimDrivers or stop it from running at boot.
You can stop it from running at boot from CCleaner's [Tools] [Startup] tab. It's under [Scheduled Tasks].

Can you tell me what StartPoint is? A quick Google shows no legitimate programs with that name.

Please run Malwarebytes again
Before you run a scan:
Click [Settings]
Then [Detection and Protection]
Check every box in this dialog window.
Please select the Warn User about detections options for both PUP (Potentially Unwanted Programs) and PUM (Potentially Unwanted Modifications).

Please post the results of this scan. Do NOT clean whatever it finds. Please give me an opportunity to look at it first. I'll be double checking the forums all weekend to make sure I catch your post as soon as possible.


Ok hopefully this will be the last program I'll need you to install.
Download and install Process Hacker from here: Process Hacker | SourceForge.net
You DO NOT have to allow it to be your default Task Manager. I would discourage you from doing that in fact.
After it's installed run Process Hacker.
Click [View]; [Tray Icons]
Put a check beside [CPU History]; [I/O History] and [Commit History].

Keep an eye on these icons for the next day. (You may have to pull them out of the Tray overrun and put them beside the clock so they stay there.) Remember to start Process Hacker every time you reboot. Alternately, put a copy of the shortcut in your [Startup] folder.

On my rig green is your CPU, Orange is RAM, and yellow is Hard Drive. I believe these are the default colors. If you hover your mouse over any of these icons it will tell you what is using the greatest percentage of that resource at any given moment.

Double click and it will open the Process Hacker main window. You can click [System Information] and get a graphical history of what's happening and track down what exactly is grinding your drive.

That way we can isolate the offender and remove it.

 

[eracet]

StartPoint I am not sure what that is exactly , I thought I found it before but will keep researching.
I kept winpatrol but uninstalled Daemon (I used it ages ago so reinstalled when starting a new windows).
Ashampoo uninstalled is already uninstalled, probably changed since previous posting.
Here is the log from Malwarebytes scan.

 

[PlatypusKnight]

Ok good. Have MBAM remove all StartPoint and Spigot entries.

Tell me how we're coming along with Process Hacker monitoring. Anything interesting?

 

[eracet]

Removed said spyware, Still unsure what Startpoint is .
Did do carbonite and it seemed to still have lag ,
Looking for some way to test out PC a little easier.
Carbonite only lags when it starts pulling the files for backup.
I can run installs on stuff but that is sometimes brief and there is only so much you can do there.

I also run some monitors on my LCD no my G19 keyboard , its easier to see RAM/ CPU usage then looking at the taskbar icons.

Once I find a good way of testing , I will start posting results.

 

[PlatypusKnight]

I also run some monitors on my LCD no my G19 keyboard , its easier to see RAM/ CPU usage then looking at the taskbar icons.

Remember it's not just RAM and CPU you should be looking at. That's why I suggested Process Hacker. You also want to be watching Drive Activity i.e. I.O. That's input / output.

That will tell you what's spinning up the drive and causing the system to lag (or if it's nothing at all).

 

[PlatypusKnight]

Also, do you have anyone who would be interested in installing monitoring software on your computer? As in monitor your keystrokes, take screenshots in the background etc.

Most conventional malware scanners don't find those.

 

[eracet]

I am still in the process of troubleshooting. Been kind of busy and everyone sick in the house doesnt help.
Installed a new HDD as well. mostly moving one that has a lot of errors and mostly junk files to a new one, actually cleaning out 2 HDDs.
But one is a download drive , lots of junk that needs to be deleted.
Still looking for an easier way to lag.
Will post any findings that I see.

 

[eracet]

Here is what I found so far.
Latency when doing installs/carbonite
When running carbonite see harddiskvolumeshadowcopy service. This is probably becouse it it copying data onto there storage.
With IO I always see lcore.exe running highest. This is logitech service for keyboard shortcuts.
Disk I have also seen system voume information running a read/write.

It does look as though the lag has gone down a lot, and doesnt seem to be interrupting any windows operations right now.

Not sure if its solved but getting closer.
Will continue testing and let know of any other findings

 

[eracet]

I have been testing Carbonite , when it does its read .
Its still giving lag, not extreme but noticable.
Do not see anything different on anything in Process hacker.

One thing that I found interesting is when I loaded Cyberghost it mentioned that my network drivers were outdated. Even though I believe they are all updated.
It ran an update VIA Cyberghost and nothing made any difference.

 

[PlatypusKnight]

cyberghost?

As in the VPN? I think you're fine @eracet. Not much better you can get it running at this point.