Inconsitent PC Behaviour.

[Dellie]

I really dont know how to start this, but right now, my PC has been behaving very inconsitently over the past few days. From 95% RAM usage, to 100% hard drive usage, on seperate occasions, PC turning on incredibly slowly, and PC lagging severly while doing so, sometimes becoming completely un respnosive, and worst part is : it doesnt happen every time either...

And when that happens, i can see Avast ( since its the anti-virus software im currently using, among Malware bytes for scan purposes), telling me how one or two of its shields are off, having then to turn then back on (albeit slowely). or simply hard reseting the PC to hope geting things back to normal on next start up. ( which things do turn back to normal, atleast for now)

Mind you, i have done a scan of Malwarebytes when pc is on, Nothing, same with Avast, nothing ( including a boot time scan).
There are, however, Important pieces of information you need to know: i have had a virus on my pc i had to remove like a few days ago and again a few weeks ago. ( thanks to avast i think it dealt with them ? ), that was causing trouble, if you check below.:
I have assumed for them to be ''resovled'', i dont know if that is the case or not.

Another piece of info is, i have found something odd in CCleaner in start up: 
It says :''Open here PowerShell Window'', when i try to disable / delete it, it says ''Denied Access''

One last piece of information : I have only recently updated my windows 10 version to 2004 ( i belive i was at 1909 for few months now ).
I....dont know what is going on anymore, this behaviour is very inconsistent, doesnt happen all the time, and only started to happen recently, any idea's help ? Thank you dearly.

[Dellie]

:

[Dellie]

Here is what CCleaner shows on ''Registry clean up''

[Maurice Naggar]

Hello    

My name is Maurice.  Let me know what name you prefer to go by.

 

 

Please do not use the "registry" clean fundtion of CCleaner.    That can cause unforeseen grief down the road.

I would appreciate  getting some key details from this machine.
 NOTE: The tools and the information obtained is safe and not harmful to your privacy or your computer, please allow the programs to run if blocked by your system.

Do have patience while the report tool runs.  It may take several minutes.  Just let it run & take its time.  You may want to close your other open windows so that there is a clear field of view.
Download Malwarebytes Support Tool
    
  
    Once the file is downloaded, open your Downloads folder/location of the downloaded file
    Double-click mb-support-1.7.0.827.exe  to run the report

Once it starts, you will see a first screen with 2 buttons.  Click the one on the left marked "I don't have an open support ticket".

        You may be prompted by User Account Control (UAC) to allow changes to be made to your computer. Click Yes to consent.
        
    Place a checkmark next to Accept License Agreement and click Next
Now click the left-hand side pane "I do not have an open support ticket"

    You will be presented with a page stating, "Get Started!"
    Do NOT use the button “Start repair” !   But look instead at the far-left options list in black.

    Click the Advanced tab on the left column
    
    Click the Gather Logs button
    
    A progress bar will appear and the program will proceed with getting logs from your computer.  Please do have patience.  It takes several minutes to gather.
   
    Upon completion, click a file named mbst-grab-results.zip will be saved to your Desktop. Click OK.  Then Exit the tool.

    Please attach the ZIP file in your next reply.

Sincerely,

Maurice

[Dellie]

mbst-grab-results.zip

[Maurice Naggar]

Thank you for the support-tool-report.   I am a bit curious as to whether the Avast is a paid-for one, or, whether it is free.  The Windows 10 comes with a free and fully capable antivirus, Microsoft Defender Antivirus.

The Malwarebytes for Windows scan  of Sept 3   reported no malware ,  no P U P.   Same on Sept 1.    No malware.

Lets go slow and methodical about checking the system.   Having Windows 10 Version 2004 is a good thing.

IF you did not pay for Avast antivirus,   please take a time out & lets uninstall it.   Avast has been having aborts logged by the Windows system events

Quote

Error: (09/03/2020 01:35:52 AM) (Source: Service Control Manager) (EventID: 7000) (User:)
Description: The aswbIDSAgent service failed to start with the following error:
The service does not respond to the start signal or control signal in the expected time.

 

So if not paid for,  lets uninstall it   and thrn Restart Windows.     In any event, please advise about this.

That is the first thing.

.

 

[Dellie]

I have now done so, PC have turned on as usual, and the PC seems responsive, Windows defender seems to be fine as well (allthough malware bytes have taken over, since im still on free trial for active defenses from it with 4 days left)
I assume once the trial ends it will be fine with just using windows defender ? and was avast the one causing trouble ? im still curious about that open shell window in CCleaner too, i dont know if im safe yet or not, Thanks for taking your time by the way!

[Maurice Naggar]

I am glad to read that you have uninstalled the Avast.   We now need to run their cleanup tool to insure to remove any leftover traces of Avast.   That is now our next goald.

run the cleanup tool for Avast to insure no remains are left behind.

Please get, save, & then run the Avast uninstall tool

https://support.avast.com/en-us/article/Uninstall-Antivirus-Utility/

.

NEXT

I need to see a fresh new set of FRST reports.   The tool named FRSTENGLISH will be used for that.  It is on the Downloads folder of your system.

Run report with FRSTENGLISH.

Right-click on FRSTENGLISH and select Run as Administrator to start the tool , and reply YES to allow it to proceed and run.

_Windows  10 users will be prompted about Windows *SmartScreen protection* - click line More info information on that screen and click button Run anyway on next screen._
Click YES when prompted by Windows U A C prompt to allow it to run.
Note: If you are prompted by Windows SmartScreen, click More info & followup & choose Run anyway.

Approve the Windows UAC prompt on Windows Vista and newer operating systems by clicking on Continue or Yes. 

Click Yes when the* disclaimer* appears in FRST.
The tool may want to update itself - in that case you'll be prompted when the update is completed and ready to use.

Make sure that Addition options is checked    -       listed under Optional scan on the FRST screen
and click the box "90 day files "
Press Scan button and wait.

The tool will produce three logfiles on your desktop: _FRST.txt_ , _Addition.txt_  
Click OK button when it shows up. Close the Notepad windows when they show on screen. The tool saves the files.

Please attach these 2 files to your next reply.

.

other NOTES:   Once the Malwarebytes trial period is over, you will still be able to run Malwarebytes on demand.   As to Microsoft Defender Antivirus you will do fine with that.

As to CCleaner, I will help you to remove it from auto-running   ( which I do not recommend).

[Dellie]

Addition.txtFRST.txt

[Maurice Naggar]

Thank you so much for the FRST reports.

This next section is to do a custom run using a special custom script so that the System File checker tool of Windows is run, plus, to do a quick scan with Windows Defender antivirus, and 

to remove CCleaner smart cleaning from automatically running   ( which is not needed / not advised ).

Please know from a long long time Microsoft Windows helper & a very long time anti-malware helper,  no registry cleaner needs to be run.

.

You should do this at a point where you will not be needing to use the system for any other purpose.

The system will be rebooted after the script has run.

.

This custom script is for  Dellie  only / for this  machine only.

 
Close and save any open work files before starting this procedure. 

I am sending a    custom Fix script which is going to be used by the FRST  tool. They will both work together as a pair.

Please RIGHT-click the (attached file named) FIXLIST and select SAVE  link AS and save it directly ( as is) to the Downloads folder

The tool named FRSTENGLISH .exe   tool    is already on the Downloads
Start the Windows Explorer and then, to Downloads folder

RIGHT click on  FRSTENGLISH     and select RUN as Administrator and allow it to proceed.  Reply YES when prompted to allow to run.
  to run the tool. If the tool warns you the version is outdated, please download and run the updated version.
IF Windows prompts you about running this, select YES to allow it to proceed.

IF you get a block message from Windows about this tool......
click line More info information on that screen
and click button Run anyway on next screen.

on the FRST window:
Click the Fix button just once, and wait.

 

PLEASE have lots and lots of patience when this starts. You will see a green progress bar start. Lots of patience. This run here should be fairly quick.
If you receive a message that a reboot is required, please make sure you allow it to restart normally.
The tool will complete its run after restart.
When finished, the tool will make a log ( Fixlog.txt) in the same location from where it was run.

Please attach the FIXLOG.txt with your next reply later, at your next opportunity   

Fixlist.txt

[Dellie]

Fixlog.txt

[Maurice Naggar]

Thank you for the log report.   Bravo to you.

The Windows System File Checker reported no issue.   That is great.

I believe your system is good shape.   What I would like to see is that you do a manual Check for Updates using the normal Microsoft Windows Update.   The main goal is t see that Microsoft Defender Antivirus is able to get the latest definition updates.

go to the Start menu, click the Windows Settings icon. Select Update & Security.  Click on Windows Update. 
Next, click on the button "Check for Updates".

Have patience.   Monitor / observe the end result of the run.    Fill me in about this run.

[Dellie]

I have checked the windows updates, and it says everything is up to date, theres only ''optional'' driver updates :

[Maurice Naggar]

I am glad to know that Windows is up-to-date.   On these 3 drivers, it is up to you whether to accept those.

I think you can accept / select those.    Then watch the system over the next few days.

If you accept the Realtek driver, then whan all is done, make sure you do one Windows Restart   ( since that one is a LAN network driver).

[Dellie]

i am fine with leaving them be for now, system is running fine.

I will watch for anything weird and check in if anything pops up,  but this will do i think ! thank you so much for taking your time, and helping me out with fixing and taking me through the steps, i greatly appreciate it, you guys are awesome, doing this here, helping people in need, its fantastic, thank you!

[Maurice Naggar]

You are very very welcome. I have listed below a cleanup for the tools we used  & then I also have a few other tips.

Here are tips on keeping your web browsers safer.   Make time  and read all of this.     apply the tips.

See this article on our Malwarebytes Blog
https://blog.malwarebytes.com/security-world/technology/2019/01/browser-push-notifications-feature-asking-abused/

 

You want to disable the ability of each web browser on this machine from being able to allow "push ads". That means Chrome, Firefox, or Edge browser (on Windows 10), or on Opera.

Scroll down to the tips section "How do I disable them".

 

If this pc has the Google Chrome browser, or the Brave browser, I suggest you install the Malwarebytes Browser guard for Chrome.

To get & install the Malwarebytes Browser Guard extension for Chrome,

 

Open this link in your Chrome   browser: 

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/malwarebytes/ihcjicgdanjaechkgeegckofjjedodee

 

Then proceed with the setup.

.

Cleanups:

Delete the downloaded file   mb-support-1.7.0.827.exe    on the Downloads folder

Delete   mbst-grab-results.zip   on the Desktop

To remove the FRST  tool & its work files, do this.  Go to your  Downloads folder.  Do a RIGHT-click on FRSTENGLISH.exe & select RENAME & then change it to UNINSTALL.exe .
Then run that ( double click on it)  to begin the cleanup process.

 

Let me know if you need anything else at this point.

Sincerely,

Maurice

 

[Dellie]

I have done so, with clean up and push notifcations being blocked, and got the browser guard extension, thank you, have a good one !

[Maurice Naggar]

That is great.   All the best to you.     😊

[Maurice Naggar]

Glad we could help.

If you need this topic reopened, please send a Private Message to any one of the moderating team members. Please include a link to this topic with your request.

This applies only to the originator of this thread. Other members who need assistance please start your own topic in a new thread.

Please review the following for Tips to help protect from infection

Thank you