It's all gone pear shaped.

[oneredpanther]

Hmmmkay, some weird shit is happening to my computer.
I figure it's going to require the seminal format & reinstall when I get back from holiday, but thought i might give it a shot in here anyway.

Well, stuff's been weird for a while now. Random bluescreen crashes (running Windows2000 Pro, so this is a RARE thing indeed!) every now and then, programs getting corrupted, CHKDISK messing up all my music etc....

I got a Pagefile error the other day, but reset it and seemed to have no real remedy to the problem.

Just recently though my computer has ground almost to a halt. Everything is running at about one third of it's normal speed. It's like the RAM has just been taken out... every time I do ANYTHING, the hard disk chugs away at it. Even typing makes the HD active... im even getting lag typing this out!

It's taking 12+ seconds to open Winamp and even when completely idle, the Hard Disk is frantically doing *something* and the Performance Monitor shows the CPU usage bumping around at between 40% and 100% constantly.

WTF IS GOING ON????!!!!!

Any help in this matter before I nuke the bitch would be helpful!

Panth

Specaliciousness Here:

Intel Pentium III 500Mhz.
Intel 440BX 4x AGP Mobo.
384Mb SD-RAM.
nVidia GeForce 2 MX/400 32mb. Driver: nVidia standard v4.1.0.9
Creative SoundBlaster Live! Driver: Creative SBLive2K v3.1.0.7
DirectX 9.0
Windows2000 Professional Version 5.0 Build 2195 (SP2)
2 IDE Hard Disks in 4 Partitions, UDMA enabled, all running FAT32.

[Dawn Falcon]

Complete spec including all driver versions, directX versions and windows version (2k pro, sure, SP?). What file systems do your hard disk(s) use.

[rc mad]

When my pc slows down i do the following

• Check for programs running in the background (ctrl alt del), close any unnecessary proggys. (might free up memory)
• Remove any unnecessary programs from the startup group in the start menu. (will stop programs loading with windows) try using tweakui or x setup to stop programs loading with windows, not all programs use the startup group, they embed themselfs into the system but x setup can disable them.
• Remove un-needed files from the windows directory. Reduce the size of the windows directory, less files for the poot to search through, ie history, text files, and some image files are all good to remove - check each one to ensure you donn't delete system files.
• check for virus and other nastys
• Try reseating the memory
• Run a Hard drive checking program, Get a disk utility from the hdd manufacturer, their usually dos based startup floopy affairs that check the drive for physical errors.

If that don't work I usually do a full re install, after backing up any important files.

[Higaran]

Yea sounds like a virus, or your running a piece of software that isn't compatible with you pc, may be someting stupid like a utillity, or the software for you modem, if its a cable, or dsl one.

I remember when i downloaded the new driver for my sat modem, i kept making my pc crash I couldn't figure it out untill i called them and they told me that it isn't compatible with a dual proc system.

[Ash]

try running ad-aware and spybot, if you haven't, to remove any adware you might have picked up along the way

a virus scan (with whatever you use) might also help out, but aside from that it sounds like a format is probably what you need

[The_Assimilator]

Ah, the good ol' 440BX / P3 combo... I'm still running it 3 years after I bought it, it's still one of *the* most stable comobs around.

A reformat looks like the solution at this point... have you overclocked your proc at any time? If so, that P3 *could* be giving out from the strain.

Also, this may sound dumb, but how clean is the inside of your machine? Dust is a *real* enemy to CPU fans (all componenents, in fact), and it's amazing what a good vacuum can do for a wheezing PC.

Also, I have heard that DX9 can be shirty... but apart from that, yeah, what everyone else has said. Cull unnecessary startup progs, reseat RAM/graphics card, annihilate any spyware.

[oneredpanther]

Aye tell me about it.
I've been running the 440BX/P3 since October 1999 (for Homeworld. natch) and mechanically the thing's solid as a rock. Can't say anyone else's computer has beaten it for sheer stability and resilience.

I think the format is the only option, although i'll snaffle a Virus scanner from a mate before, just to be sure.

My sister is taken to opening random shit in her emails every now and then. gah.

Thanks for all your help.

[FallenSoloSLS]

OneRedPanther,

What kind of hardware are you running with your power supply?

That may be an item to look at.

Has your dog puked on your MOBO? It happened to me and ruined a lot!

[ÜberJumper]

Sounds like bad RAM.

[littlegreencube]

Try defragmenting. If you don't it can really feck things up.

[oneredpanther]

Ahhh wait....

There's something that gets loaded at startup called "Winkuyg.exe" which uses 4,400k of memory but a staggering 95% of processor time!

It comes up as a program error every half hour or so, but i only just twigged.

I can't close it down either, it's protected somehow.

Sounds like a virus of some kind, anyone heard of it before? Google turns up nothing.

[Dawn Falcon]

step 1: http://security.kolla.de/news.php?lang=en
step 2: http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

[Ash]

did ad-aware or spybot pick anything up?

[ÜberJumper]

You can check under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Run and \Runonce keys in the registry to see what's loading there.

[The5thElephant]

I had a similar problem and discovered it was 2 programs hogging my CPU, they were videodriv.exe and save.exe, both are useless and many people get this problem, especially the save.exe thing if you have Kazaa.

[oneredpanther]

thanks but none of this helps.

As I said before, a process called Winkuyg.exe runs on startup, then fails then reinitializes itself.

It's mentioned in the registry alongside some Legacy components, but any attempt to modify or remove the keys just gets me locked out.

[ASnogard]

Do a search for that Winkuyg.exe at google and at Microsofts Technet site to get some clues as to what it may be.

This may be stupid but a lot of people enable quick boot up and this by passes the std mem check at start-up.. disable the quick boot up and see if the mem check bitches.

Even when you sort out this stuff a re-format and re-install will still be a good idea if only to clear out any rubbish in the reg.

[The_Assimilator]

Google turns up zilch-o. Have you tried running MSConfig (start -> run -> type "msconfig"), and checking the autoexec.bat / config.sys / run-on-startup tabs?

Also, you *could* try searching for the proggy, and noting its location... then reboot in Safe Mode (hold down F5 at bootup), and *move* it to another location. Restart and see what happens, if Windows refuses to boot go back to Safe Mode and put Winkuyg.exe back where it was. If nothing bad happens, then it's cool. (You will prolly get error messages telling you that Winkuyg.exe is missing, but unless your comp crashes after getting them, they can be ignored.)

BTW, don't blame me if it goes even *more* pear-shaped... you really should have a good antivirus scanner installed, Panth.

[ÜberJumper]

MSconfig's only for Win98/Me systems, not win2k pro.

Panth, where does it show up in the registry? Can you screenshot a couple of the spots so we can see it in context?

[NovaBurn]

First off, when did these issues start to be very noticable? When did they start or has it been a gradual slow down?

What is on those 4 partitions that you have?

It is reccomended for best performance have just one partition, but if need be have 1 for the OS and essential apps only, the rest for personal docs and games.

How are the partitions set up? 2 per IDE hard drive? Try converting the hard drives to NTFS file format if you do a format, it runs much better for 2000/XP

(software side)

1. Download SpyBot Search & Destroy, best anti-spyware program out there,
also gets rid of dialers and crap like that.

2. antivirus check your whole damn system

3. uninstall crap you don't need/use

4. CHKDISK your whole hard drive, do the most robust check you can

5. Defrag hard drive after that


(hardware)

1. How old is the HDD? if it is pretty old then i would reccommend backing up emails and other important stuff liek that onto CD-RWs, it might be going out.

2. take apart the computer, clean out the fans, connection leads etc. Find someone you know with an air compressor and use it on the system (while still together) then use a hose attachment to suck the dust out. if no air compressor, use a can of compressed air you buy at walmart and do that. (along with the vaccum cleaner)

3. Check the leads between the ram and the motherboard and make sure that they are close without any dust inbetween.

4. How old is the RAM, although I doubt it, it could need a yanking and leads need cleaning

---------------------------

Ok if none of this works, when was the last time you did a full format and installation of Windows 2000 on the main IDE hard drive? If it has been a while, say 2 years+ then you NEED to do a full format and install of Win2K. I do one every year and run into no problems.

The problem could be that there has just been an accumulation of crap from stuff you've uninstalled/installed, downloaded. This stuff piles up and sometimes causes system slow downs, etc.

If all of the above fails, I would say do a full format of the main OS hard drive, convert it to NTFS file format install Win2k back onto it, along with only ESSENTIAL apps and updates.

I'm shooting blind here but it would help to know what is on what HDD

[The_Assimilator]

*sound of palm striking forehead*

D'oh! Keep forgetting that MSConfig is only for Win9x.

NovaBurn's got it covered, tho.

[Beast]

Winkuyg.exe sounds like a virus - allthough symtech/mcaffee show zilcho for it.
Failing the anti-virus, go with teh reformat - if your computer can stomach it - export a few vital files to a cd-r or something.

If you do nto have a firewall, it's also advisable for you to change your passwords post-reformat, as it *may* be a backdoor trojan thing.

Or it could simply be a "AOL" of a program that you do not need at all. If virus scan turns up nothing, try deleting the offending file. Because most likely, I think you will need a reformat, so now's the time to mess around with your computer to see if things work (provided the anti-virus doesnt detect anything)
If you are really bored I think symtech do an online-virus-scanner-thing, which might help.
http://security.symantec.com/ssc/lun...FNJSVSTIVVBENO
^^ there it is, I think.

[oneredpanther]

Another amusing oddity in my quest for an answer to this thing... I managed to start Windows 2000 in Safe Mode in order to eridacate the two files (Winklr.exe and Winkuyg.exe) hogging 99% of the processor time. Upon restarting the machine normally these files were gone, however another file was spawned in it's place called Winktf.exe which starting the hogging. I deleted this one, and yep... you guessed it! ANOTHER new file called Winkxmx.exe was spawned and started hogging again...

Obviously some kind of malicious application at work here so i'm off to garner meself a virus scanner and then we'll see what happens from there!

[Delphy]

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup.../startup_w.php lists wink*.exe as a possible symptom of the KLEZ virus.

I definately dont think it's a hardware issue, so get yourself that virus scanner and check it.

[Beast]

Winkxmx.exe
IS the klez virus
One moment, I shall linkor to the information on the klez:
http://securityresponse.symantec.com...klez.h@mm.html
Scan now! backup files to a cd-r, because from my experience, a format IS needed.

[oneredpanther]

Delphy, j00 are teh genius sir!

Ran the semantic removal application and everything is perfectly back to normal with no further action needed!

THANK YOU SIR!