Weird Windows 7 issue

[philc]

A mate brought around his nearly new Sony Vaio last night. All kinds of things had stopped working -WLAN, sound, some MS licenses were disabled. It had "just happened when he started it up".

A quick poke around Windows 7 showed that the issue was obvious. Most of the services had been set to "disabled". I used msconfig to re-enable them and it all came back fine.

The thing is, what would have caused this? The owner isn't clever enough to do it. The laptop has Norton Antivirus, so should be protected.I suspect he's been to a dodgy website and got something from there.

I told him to go away and run a full virus scan, but to also run Malware bytes over the whole thing, to see if something's lurking.

I cheerfully admit that I'm not a Windows expert, so I wondered if any of the Brisky techie team had seen this before?

Phil

[lfc958]

Had he done a recent automatic update, I have just done one that had 4 security fixes ( but not had this problem on rebooot).

Otherwise your probably correct in your assumption, with all these being disabled, I would probably change any passwords on the machine along with any secure sites he goes to as a precaution.

Edited 15 October, 2010 by lfc958

[Rhoobarb]

Also you cant rely on one or two AV scanners, you need a whole bunch to stay ahead now, particulalry if your not PC savvy or visit websites of questionable nature. There are plenty of free programs for this.

What you need is as many on demand scanners as you can and do a full scan on each once a fortnight. You need a couple of good active scanners (any more and you will slow the computer right down so it becomes counter-productive). Plus a few specialized tools to target certain nasties You need to be careful though with these, some can change things that might cause problems if you don't know what they do.

What you could do is run a program called hijackthis, it will create a log file of your current computer state. Paste it onto here and it will give a better idea to us whats going on.

And IMO, Norton and Mcafee suck badly, too overweight and bloated. Most overrated programs I know. People hold too much faith in them and then wonder why things go wrong.

Edited 15 October, 2010 by Rhoobarb

[philc]

Also you cant rely on one or two AV scanners, you need a whole bunch to stay ahead now, particulalry if your not PC savvy or visit websites of questionable nature. There are plenty of free programs for this.

What you need is as many on demand scanners as you can and do a full scan on each once a fortnight. You need a couple of good active scanners (any more and you will slow the computer right down so it becomes counter-productive). Plus a few specialized tools to target certain nasties You need to be careful though with these, some can change things that might cause problems if you don't know what they do.

What you could do is run a program called hijackthis, it will create a log file of your current computer state. Paste it onto here and it will give a better idea to us whats going on.

And IMO, Norton and Mcafee suck badly, too overweight and bloated. Most overrated programs I know.

I agree with everything you say about Norton and Mcafee, but it's his PC, not mine.

He's obviously not going to admit to visiting any dodgy sites, and he was hanging over me all the time I was looking, so I couldn't check too thoroughly. I suspect, as a single bloke, he could have been looking anywhere..............

Phil

[BIG BOSS MAN]

Make sure that is a full and activated version of Windows 7.

Another thing may be worth checking is whether it is profile specific or general i.e if it is just happening to his computer account, create a new profile and see if it has the same issue.

Ask him when this issue started, you may be able to roll back to a previous date before it began, otherwise a repair may be in order.

Edited 15 October, 2010 by cawmere

[philc]

Make sure that is a full and activated version of Windows 7.

Another thing may be worth checking is whether it is profile specific or general i.e if it is just happening to his computer account, create a new profile and see if it has the same issue.

Ask him when this issue started, you may be able to roll back to a previous date before it began, otherwise a repair may be in order.

Yep, fully activated and legal

Services apply to all profiles.

Part of the issue was that it stops you rolling back, the relevant services aren't running.

Phil

[jrw]

Also you cant rely on one or two AV scanners, you need a whole bunch to stay ahead now, particulalry if your not PC savvy or visit websites of questionable nature. There are plenty of free programs for this.

What you need is as many on demand scanners as you can and do a full scan on each once a fortnight. You need a couple of good active scanners (any more and you will slow the computer right down so it becomes counter-productive). Plus a few specialized tools to target certain nasties You need to be careful though with these, some can change things that might cause problems if you don't know what they do.

What you could do is run a program called hijackthis, it will create a log file of your current computer state. Paste it onto here and it will give a better idea to us whats going on.

And IMO, Norton and Mcafee suck badly, too overweight and bloated. Most overrated programs I know. People hold too much faith in them and then wonder why things go wrong.

Are you having a laugh? One AV scanner slows a PC down enough let alone multiple. One decent one is all that is needed nowadays with Windows Vista, 7 and their built in security. Also no need for a full scan if you have a AV prog that does On-access scans which if it is a decent AV it will do.

I have never had a virus - had many try and worm there way in but has always been stopped by the AV. I use Sophos btw.

[Rhoobarb]

Are you having a laugh? One AV scanner slows a PC down enough let alone multiple. One decent one is all that is needed nowadays with Windows Vista, 7 and their built in security. Also no need for a full scan if you have a AV prog that does On-access scans which if it is a decent AV it will do.

I have never had a virus - had many try and worm there way in but has always been stopped by the AV. I use Sophos btw.

Me having a laugh? You are very naive to think 1 will cover you, no matter how overpriced or popular. What about the ones your AV doesnt detect? Its not going to tell you if it doesnt know what it is, is it? Ive seen PCs riddled with viruses and have needed multiple programs to get rid of them because 1 just doesnt cut it.. With some viruses, what 1 program will detect, it might not detect others, whereas another program will, and so on. After all, a scanner is only as good as virus submissions, updates, etc. As a virus is released AV companies don't find out about it within seconds. Bascially, 1 AV will NOT pick up everything.

The built in securities are only good if you actually understand what the potentially confusing messages are and the consequences of putting 'allow' to unknown programs or 'deny' to programs that are needed. Thats why a fortnightly scan is a good idea. We are talking people who might not be PC savvy so might put 'continue' or 'allow' when they shouldnt, hardly good advice to rely on something that requires human decisions if they dont undestand it. Its ok for you to say 'I only need one', but for non-savvy people its a big mistake to rely on one on-access scanner with no full scheduled scan.

I wouldnt recommend it to anyone.

BTW: As for on-access scanners slowing the computer down, some are worse than others, but better than getting a virus and not knowing how to deal with it.

I HAVE had a virus, lots of them. Even with all the expensive or free AV programs they WILL get in.

[mannyo]

You should never install more than one AV scanner on a PC, installing more than one not only slows the PC down but also actually increases the risk of a virus getting through. The reason for this is because the AV products will conflict with each other, causing files not to be scanned, random system hangs, and more besides.

[Rhoobarb]

Never had a problem yet lol

[jrw]

You should never install more than one AV scanner on a PC, installing more than one not only slows the PC down but also actually increases the risk of a virus getting through. The reason for this is because the AV products will conflict with each other, causing files not to be scanned, random system hangs, and more besides.

+1

But who am I to know!! I'm just a naïve Microsoft and Apple certified tech supporting 40K+ workstations!

[mannyo]

+1

But who am I to know!! I'm just a naïve Microsoft and Apple certified tech supporting 40K+ workstations!

Ditto, but supporting 400 workstations and 70 servers.

Seriously Rhoobard, its a bad thing. You may not have had any problems yet, but you will do. 20 years of looking after PC's, and I have seen it all. Users bring in home PC's that are infected, and I discover 2 AV products and they wonder how the virus got through. Usually just remove one and do full scan with the other and the virus is removed. They usually come back a few days later thanking me, because their pc which they were thinking of replacing is now whizing along nicely.

[jrw]

Ditto, but supporting 400 workstations and 70 servers.

Seriously Rhoobard, its a bad thing. You may not have had any problems yet, but you will do. 20 years of looking after PC's, and I have seen it all. Users bring in home PC's that are infected, and I discover 2 AV products and they wonder how the virus got through. Usually just remove one and do full scan with the other and the virus is removed. They usually come back a few days later thanking me, because their pc which they were thinking of replacing is now whizing along nicely.

It really does make me laugh when people go on about how much they now about computers then come cap in hand to me to sort it when it stops working! You then find out they've usually got norton or other some terrible av solution.

I presume that Rhoobard you fix friends pcs in you spare time? You seriously need to get ONE decent av and start using that.

[Rhoobarb]

I think perhaps you are misunderstanding me, which is probably a fault on my part by clumping all malicious activities on computer into one term, AV and viruses. My apologies, but this is just a habit brought on by a long period of dealing with people who were uninterested in current techie jargon, buzzwords, details, etc. They just wanted their systems to work as cheaply as possible and not need to call me again.

My loose description was pertaining to having a layered defence via a primary scan/block (Firewall), secondary (AntiVirus), and tertiary (Malware/Spyware/Rootkits/BHO's/etc which I just group together with viruses as the effect is pretty much the same), with other on demand (i.e. not in memory) scanners and online scanners if anything should happen to get through all 3, with a final list of specific removal tools as a last resort.

My intention was not to advise 2 memory resident AV specific scanners where problems might occur as one battles the other over scanning rights, etc. But there are resident programs (Firewalls/Malware) that compliment resident AV scanners as I have yet to find a program that will deal with it all, rather than claim to.

TBH, most of the systems that came to me either had a single install of norton or mcafee on them, which as I stated earlier are a waste of resources.

My advice was just that, advice. My experience comes from dealing with people who don't know, don't claim to know and don't want to know. Qualifications

If the advice is not wanted, or considered bad advice, that's cool. But it is just advice. I'll stay out in future

EDIT: I would also add that 'startup control panel' and 'unlocker.exe' are extrememly helpfull in cleaning the startup without trawling the registry and force deleting 99% of locked memory resident files, respectively. These are usually the first programs I try to install on a knacked system. As some Viruses/Spyware/Malware can corrupt the installs before you've had a chance to install them.

Edited 17 October, 2010 by Rhoobarb

[mannyo]

I agree, and it seems we did misunderstand.

As a minimum these days, a PC should have.

1) Firewall (XP SP3, Vista, and Windows 7 builtin aint that bad), if you use XP SP2 or older then use a third party product.

2) Antivirus Software, if on a budget use AVG Free or Avast otherwise use something like NOD32 or Panda. Avoid Mcafee and Symantec prodicts as they are very resource hungry.

3) Although not essential, some kind of spyware/malware detection/removal. Not essential because some AV products have this built in, and Vista/7 have Windows Defender built tin.

[philc]

It really does make me laugh when people go on about how much they now about computers then come cap in hand to me to sort it when it stops working! You then find out they've usually got norton or other some terrible av solution.

"Weekend Warriors" is the term, I believe.

I still have no idea what may have caused the issue I saw. The arguments have been entertaining, though.

I have to admit that, when I get involved with o/s stuff, it's usually Unix these days so I'm very rusty. I only do stuff with Pc's for very close friends, as I know my limits!

Phil

[jrw]

"Weekend Warriors" is the term, I believe.

I still have no idea what may have caused the issue I saw. The arguments have been entertaining, though.

I have to admit that, when I get involved with o/s stuff, it's usually Unix these days so I'm very rusty. I only do stuff with Pc's for very close friends, as I know my limits!

Phil

Hey i like that one...Thats one to keep for the future!