windows Computer crashing constantly-might have virus or trojan

[kristy]

Yesterday, on the suggestion of a very good friend of mine, i downloaded crossfire and installed it. today, i opened the computer, and my computer crashed at least fifty (no joke) times. i've seen the blue screen of death many times, and i finally was able to open the computer long enough to delete crossfire and everything that went with it, and restore the system to two days before i dl crossfire. for a little while, it didn't crash, and i thought the worst was over. i shut the computer down and went away for another six hours, before opening it up again and going on forums and facebook for a little bit. then, it happened again. the computer kept crashing, kept flashing the blue screen of death, and kept freezing. i finally unplugged it (the computer wouldn't shut off) and walked away to let the computer cool down for a bit. i'm writing this post on my brother's mac right now XD. but i really need to fix my computer. if i can't, then im so screwed, because that's the only pc my family uses and i would've been the one to screw it up. please please please help me

[Krauersaut]

What does the BSOD say?

[SkyeDarkhawk]

Often that blue screen will give you a hint as to what is going on.

 

Just for safety's sake, while you've got your computer unplugged, open it up and gently dust out the inside of it. It's possible that it's just getting a little too warm. While you're in there, take a few minutes to take out your RAM and put it back in, along with your video card, and another other cards you might have installed (Sound, network, etc).

 

Outside of that, due to my current job, I can only personally recommend to take your computer out to a Staples store and have their Easy Techs give it up a free PC Tune Up (Gentle dusting, some software scrubbing, etc) and then listen to their recommendations.

 

*coughs* Of course, you can also do many of the things they'll do yourself, such as deleting your temporary files (Disk Cleanup), defrag your hard drive (I'd recommend Auslogic's Disk Defrag), checking your system resources (RAM, CPU, etc) to see if you might need any upgrades or replacements, and scanning for viruses and whatnot (Avast! is pretty good).

Also, the Easy Tech will recommend Norton 360 or at least Norton Internet Security for your antivirus, firewall, and malware solution...

[TimoMajere]

Well.. there is plenty of things that can cause a PC to start crashing,, and even though Crossfire was the last thing installed.. that may NOT be the problem.. it could have simply revived an existing issue or compound a current one.

First things first.. a reformat is the LAST ditch solution.

 

Now.. for the cleanup and diagnosis:

 

First thing I want to suggest you do is a complete system and harddrive scan for all heuristics.. meaning every single file is to be scanned, *.zips, *.rar's *.cabs.. all of them.

However you should realize that onboard virus programs such as Macafee and Norton are the worst things to use cause theyre actually targets for virii and trojans.

Disable the police to commit the crime.

AVAST has proven to be extremely reliable , easy to use/understand and is almost daily changing its viral database and program to keep on top of things. HIGHLY suggest this program.

Anyhow.. Onboard virus scanners also have the negative nuance of NOT being able to scan active files.. and these 'actives' are where many infections reside. Onboard programs all use active windows program files in order to function properly. BUT a web browser.. even active, CAN be scanned.

 

I say all this now cause the link Im giving is for an online virus/spyware/malware/greyware/ scanner.

 

http://us.trendmicro.com/us/home/

 

Get Housecall and download it.. its only about 500-600k mainly cause it ONLY need to access your PC's browser in order to work, Bypassing the 'unable to scan actives' issue.

 

Do your scan and follow up.

 

It may also be a hardware issue.. such as system overheating ( check yer fans and clean them free of debris and dust. ) or a power supply on its last legs.

If u dont have one already, there are Free to use Registry cleaners and Diagnostic programs out there to assist you in routine maintenance. which everyone must do.

ALSO.. computers tend to clutter up with files in temporary Internet Files and the Temp folder. Outta try and see if theres a load of junk in there too. I cant explain it, but sometimes that temp crap interacts with system processes and that can cause issues too.

 

Like they said there.. Auslogics is the way to go.. i have the whole AUslogics Boostspeed package.. and yes.. Their disk defrag is more competent than window's default.

 

I cant offer much else past this with what you've provided , information wise. Hope something here can help.

 

You MIGHT want to check your Task manager too and see what processes are running and google them to see if they're relevant or the cause of your issues.

 

Ill see if I can dig up some links to some free stuff to help u out as well.

[Notajedi]

Can you get it to boot in safe mode, you can then hopefully do av and malware scan before it bsod's and also see the logs which will give clues as to what is failing.

Google safe mode and you should be able to see instructions how to get into safe mode for all operating systems.

[JoeDirt]

What OS.

[jaie]

Under technical information, it should say STOP: 0x [8 numbers / letters]

So just google "STOP: 0x[whatever it says]"

and you should find the cause and a solution on the first page from someone else who has had the problem in the past.

 

And depending on what you mean when you say "Kept flashing the blue screen of death",

there may be another problem.

Edited August 19, 2010 by jaie

[detoren]

If you dl x fire its not a virus and crossfire you cant dl its in ati catalist controle center but computers do break down at weerd moments .

So like the others already say tell os (operating system like vista or xp) and sort off computer and type what the error nr is .

[Krauersaut]

If you dl x fire its not a virus and crossfire you cant dl its in ati catalist controle center but computers do break down at weerd moments .

So like the others already say tell os (operating system like vista or xp) and sort off computer and type what the error nr is .

I guess she meant the game Cross Fire, not ATI's SLI equivalent.

[Bi0s]

check in the event viewer log and see what it says also

[FinZeroX]

Ye as mentioned, run defrag, checkdisk, CCleaner's(it's a software, google it) temp and registry cleaners. Also posting a HijackThis log might help if you think it's a virus.

Ps. I recommend to run Malwarebytes scan due to high detection level.

 

Ye as mentioned, run defrag, checkdisk, CCleaner's(it's a software, google it) temp and registry cleaners. Also posting a HijackThis log might help if you think it's a virus.

Ps. I recommend to run Malwarebytes scan due to high detection level.

 

Ye as mentioned, run defrag, checkdisk, CCleaner's(it's a software, google it) temp and registry cleaners. Also posting a HijackThis log might help if you think it's a virus.

Ps. I recommend to run Malwarebytes scan due to high detection level.

 

Sry about the triplets, my mobi WiFi lags

[F257]

i wouldent use a reg cleaner unless you were really sure - not the most stable of things. At the very most back up your reg before sweeping it . A hijackthis log would be useful though

[FinZeroX]

i wouldent use a reg cleaner unless you were really sure - not the most stable of things. At the very most back up your reg before sweeping it . A hijackthis log would be useful though

CCleaner mostly just erases registry of deleted programs and it has automatic backup function.

[kristy]

just to let you know...i'm not a computer pro at all XD so i only understood a little bit of what you're saying as for OS, i use windows 7...it could be that my computer isn't compatible with win7, although it worked fine with windows vista and xp. on vista and xp, i downloaded crossfire and my computer started crashing like it is now, but it wasn't as bad. when i removed crossfire, it stopped crashing. however, now i don't understand why it keeps crashing even though all files related to crossfire are gone.

[F257]

CCleaner mostly just erases registry of deleted programs and it has automatic backup function.

 

hmm..even so i owuldent poke it myself

 

@kristy, if you can run vista, you should be able to do windows 7. have you considered a live disc? unlikely as it may be it coud be hardware related . its a longshot but dust can do crazythings