Stuttering sound + no firewall = possible virus?

[plasma dragon00]

Hey, I got a little trouble here it seems. my parents Dell Dimension E310 has just started having some issues I cant seem to fix.

heres the issues -

sound stutters. horribly. when playing a sound from any source, such as itunes, windows media player, youtube, even windows startup/shutdown, the sound keeps skipping and seems to have slowed down slightly. its not the speakers because I connected a pair of personal headphones to the front panel audio, and the problem persisted.

the firewall (windows firewall) is always enabled on this pc. recently, when ive started it up, it said the firewall was off. click this baloon to turn it on. so I clicked it, said it couldnt enable it and to go into the control panel and enable it manually. I tried that, said it couldnt find the file needed to activate the firewall. I also went into the services section, found the firewall service and tried to enable it, still told me that it couldnt find the file.


I reinstalled the sound card driver, which seems to have fixed the sound issue. the firewall claims to be off at startup, but after about a minute, the status changes to on. I still took a logfile of each of the programs in the 8 step malware removal guide, I would greatly appreciate if someone could just look them over for me.

thank you all very much =)

~plasma

 

[kimsland]

Running
QuickBooks
Kodak EasyShare
iPod Service
Norton GoBack
Acronis
AVG8
Spybot S&D TeaTimer
iTunes.exe

And you're saying it runs?

I'd say, uninstall:
Spybot S&D
AVG8
Acronis
Norton GoBack
Kodak EasyShare

Then install
Avira
And then test again

 

[Kazi]

Kimsland
i hope you mean disabling spybot teatimer

Well isn't it useful to atleast have a backup software?
Could it be easier to just disable their startup from msconfig?

I'm sorry for the little arguing

 

[kimsland]

You could use this tool (instead of MSConfig) to disable startups: http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml

If you have already used MSConfig, you may have to bring it back to normal then restart then use the above tool. Or just use MSConfig Cleanup utility

Yes it's good having a backup software in place (certainly in business and corporate sectors this is a must.
But Norton Goback will slow you system
Acronis only needs running when needed
Kodak EasyShare, is hard to avoid being installed with photo CDs, but I do it!
AVG8 is too resource hungry
Spybot S&D TeaTimer, pretty much useless, unless you know more than me

Maybe I'll put it a different way
I have one startup program (presently ie usually none) it's AntiVirus
Once Windows starts, (you know 20secs) I then start what I need
I couldn't possible have all these things starting (that you have)
Actually looking at the list, I'd have none even installed !
I suppose user choice

 

[plasma dragon00]

well ill stop from startup -
QuickBooks
Kodak EasyShare
iPod Service
Spybot S&D TeaTimer

and uninstall
AVG8
Acronis


my parents use easyshare for the camera every now and then, quickbooks, hardly ever used but its my dads so i gotta keep it for him lol... ipod service on the offchance i transfer something to their pc with my ipod as a storage device. teatimer ive stopped using myself.

ill try avira, and ill uninstall AVG, if it works ill put it on my pc as well. im keeping spybot though because i do like to have a few tools to scan for spy/adware with, and, unless theres a large downside to it, id like to keep it.

and two last things to say/ask

1. i dont see it listed in the product comparison for any of the versions, does avira have automatic definitions updates? i find that to be very important with antivirus software, and also does it have realtime protection? i dont see it there either but i may be misreading.

2. as i already stated yesterday, i reinstalled the audio drivers, and all seemed fine. the problem is back though today, not NEARLY as bad as it was. after playing back 3 tracks in iTunes encoded in mp3 at 192 kb/ps, ive had like 10 stutters/skips. i think im gonna get my parents to call dell and see what they can do about it, because it also has a problem (also occuring very rarely) where the pc will reboot itself and once it gets past the Dell POST screen loading bar, it goes black and says it cant locate SATA device 0, press f1 to continue, or something along those lines. f1 doesnt fix it, so a power off/on is needed, and it works fine. i did format the drive and reinstall windows a few months ago to try to fix that, no luck though.

so any other input would be greatly appreciated, and if not, wish us luck with dell support. we have a little over 100 days left on the warranty

thanks guys ^_^

~plasma

 

[kimsland]

I'd still recommend un-installing Spybots S&D (but I've gone over this already)
If you truly want a good Malware removal program, Malwarebytes is No. 1 in my opinion.

Yes Avira has automatic updates (free version or paid version)
But the free version automatic update is stated as slightly delayed from the paid version. Anyway, it updates everyday.

Calling Dell
You can live chat with Dell for free, check out this thread howto
Note: Live chat, has instant response from Dell tech support, generally they are most interested in any hardware issues, but will help with settings, and some software
Here is the best link for that: https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic100658.html

 

[plasma dragon00]

avira cant/wont update, so im switching back to avg

 

[kimsland]

Before doing that, please do this:


Run Kaspersky Online AV Scanner

In order to use it you have to use Internet Explorer.
Go to Kaspersky and click the Accept button at the end of the page.

Note for Internet Explorer 7 users: If at any time you have trouble with the accept button of the licence, click on the Zoom tool located at the right bottom of the IE window and set the zoom to 75 %. Once the license accepted, reset to 100%.

• Read the Requirements and limitations before you click Accept.
• Allow the ActiveX download if necessary.
• Once the database has downloaded, click Next.
• Click on "My Computer"
• When the scan has completed, click Save Report As...
• Enter a name for the file in the Filename: text box and then click the down arrow to the right of Save as type: and select text file (*.txt)
• Click Save - by default the file will be saved to your Desktop, but you can change this if you wish.

Attach the report into your next reply

 

[plasma dragon00]

sorry i didnt see your reply fast enough, i already uninstalled avira and reinstalled avg. avira was giving me something like a file integrity error after it downloaded the update, every single time. im goin to sleep, so ill run the scan tomorrow and post it. actually, it may have to wait another day, as ill be out for most of the day tomorrow. should i tel my mom not do use any personal information like banking/credit cards? is avira's inability to update possibly related to an infection that the superAntispyware, malwarebyte, , spybot s&d, and avg scans didnt pick up?

sorry if that all seems a bit jumbled, im just tryin to get a few questions out there before i go to bed lol.

thank you very much for your time and patience so far, and good night for now

~plasma

 

[kimsland]

Doh! You're probably asleep (it's 3 hrs since you posted). WAKE-UP!
Oh wait, don't worry, you'll read it another day

Anyway, yes it's most likely a Virus\Malware issue
As for credit cards, advised no at the moment

The Kaspersky scan literally takes hours!
So it would have been best overnight for a full scan, oh well
Also it's recommended not to have another Antivirus installed (or at least not running) when running Kaspersky online scanner
Oh yeah, you need the report at the end (ie save it, ideally to Desktop) because without that report, we can't get rid of the found issues (we need that report!)

Anyway, post back when you can

P.S Report back

 

[plasma dragon00]

well it came up completely clean, no malware detected. ill attach the log file anyway though

thanks,

~plasma

 

[kimsland]

So, does Avira now update?
If not please confirm this:
Spybots Un-installed
Personal firewall off
Date and time correct?
AVG removed
Download from official server: http://www.free-av.com/en/download/1/download_avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.html

 

[plasma dragon00]

So, does Avira now update?
If not please confirm this:
Spybots Un-installed
Personal firewall off
Date and time correct?
AVG removed
Download from official server: http://www.free-av.com/en/download/1/download_avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.html

spybot is now uninstalled
as for personal firewall, we only use the default windows firewall
date and time is correct
i just re-uninstalled avg prior to re-installing avira
and just redownloaded and re-installed avira


and woot, it works! avira has successfully updated, and, depending on how it performs on this computer, i may use it on mine as well. i have a few more questions about it though. actually, just one i think lol. AVG free gives you two options - scan every single day automatically, or not at all and do it manually. id like a little more flexability with the scheduling, such as once a week maybe. does avira allow schedules to be custom tailored like that, if it supports scheduling at all?

and, gladly, this morning, possibly when the computer turned on, wasnt paying attention, but definitely after the kaspersky scan that found nothing, the sound is fixed, and i hadnt reinstalled the drivers again. so, i really wonder whats going on with this computer... its quite confusing

anyway, im logging for the night again, ill run my first avira scan on this computer tomorrow while im at school, and i check the forums every morning when i wake up, so any recommended scan settings? or settings i should change, at that.

so, once again, thank you so much for your time, help, and patience kimsland ^_^

~plasma

 

[kimsland]

Manual\Automatic...
Who cares. It works now :grinthumb

I'm sure its got all these things, but don't turn any on
Default settings
And manual scan whenever you like

WooHoo

 

[plasma dragon00]

avira found three viruses/unwanted programs, attaching logfile. it automaticaly quarantined them.

edit - looked in quarantine, the c:\program files\mystic inn entry is a game that my mom purchased from Big Fish Games, so unless a virus manifested itself in that particular folder, i think it would be safe. i think the first one in the system restore info is just that, the file contained in the system restore entry. still though, any opinion/ recommended course of action would be appreciated

edit2 - also, i dont know what the second entry is, and concerning the mystic inn one, do you happen to know if its part of the game itself, or like i said, a virus that manifests itself there? if its part of the game, it was a purchased game from big fish games, so i dont think it would be harmful, but nonetheless my mom gave me the OK to uninstall mystic inn, so i did.

edit3 - also i forgot to mention, the sound iis staticy again X_X

 

[kimsland]

That removed game file in the Mystic Inn folder, was certainly malicious and needed to be removed. Not sure if the game needs it, probably. Many Internet games are just big ads!

The System Restore issue, do this:
CLEAR & RESET SYSTEM RESTORE'S CACHE

Go to Start >> Run - type or copy/paste control sysdm.cpl,,4 & press Enter
* Tick on the checkbox - Turn off System Restore on all drives
* Click Apply
Turn it back 'On' by unticking the same checkbox & click Apply, and then OK

The sound.
Try running a CCleaner, and then Defrag

 

[plasma dragon00]

cleared and reactivated system restore, even did another virus scan, ccleaner, and defrag, no go for the sound though. still a tiny bit staticy. any other ideas left besides reinstalling the sound drivers each day? lol. we're most likely going to end up calling dell soon though.

 

[kimsland]

Calling Dell
You can live chat with Dell for free, check out this thread howto
Note: Live chat, has instant response from Dell tech support, generally they are most interested in any hardware issues, but will help with settings, and some software
Here is the best link for that: https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic100658.html