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PC got CPU overload virus - Removal help (edit: hardware, not virus)

TheScavengerTheScavenger Member EpicPosts: 3,321

(hardware related, most likely a dead graphics card. Not a virus)

 

My computer hard crashes...and the starting screens (when staring windows) and tons of jumbled up text and symbols. Read about it, and it looks like its a CPU overload virus (though not sure if that is the actual name, I can't find anything about it when googling)

 

I scanned with Windows Defender Offline (from a bootable disk), AdwCleaner, Roguekiller, Combofix, TDSSKiller (with paremeters set) and finally MalwareBytes Anti-Rootkit. In that order.

 

WDO didn't find anything, nor did AdwCleaner. Roguekiller found a couple registry files, but false positive. Combofix found an .exe file in System folder, which it deleted. TDSSKiller found nothing, and Malwarebytes Anti-Rootkit found nothing.

I then did SFC /scannow and it didn't find anything.

Now, maybe its fixed. I dunno. PC has been running for half an hour now, without any problems and it boots up fine and nothing is jumbled up at the bootscreen. Don't notice high CPU usage. However, I haven't ran any games or used anything with flash...so I dunno how 100% it actually is.

 

Won't have time to do more testing till tomorrow, but when browsing the web and multiple boot ups...seems the problem is gone. But I want to make sure.

 

Whatever it is, I think its a new virus or what people are calling it is wrong. because I can't find anything on bleepingcomputer or malwarebytes forum about any virus called CPU overload virus or anything like it. Closest I found is MRT.exe virus, but I don't think that is what I got. But it could...since the guy who posted saying he had it, said his CPU went to 100% watching videos (because of flash) and other programs. But nothing I scanned with found anything, except the .exe in system, which is most definitely likely a virus. But that got removed. And I dunno if that relates or not.

 

The .exe I think was frapsvid.exe or something like that. But for one, I haven't used fraps in a while (many months)...and two...my fraps is actually a legit copy that I bought from their own site. So dunno what that is. But whatever, it got removed.

 

Thanks for any help :)

My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB: 

https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul



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Comments

  • Cod_EyeCod_Eye Member UncommonPosts: 1,016

    Not much help to you, but I recently got the "United Kingdom Police" virus http://www.pcrisk.com/removal-guides/7035-united-kingdom-police-your-pc-is-blocked-ukash-virus

    Completely locked me out, so I just reformatted the pc after moving files I needed to other hard drive.  Not entirely the best way of dealing with virus's but was the best solution for me and that I had a lot of stuff that I wanted removed anyway.

  • TheScavengerTheScavenger Member EpicPosts: 3,321
    I already reinstalled not that long ago (failed hard drive). :P Don't really want to do that again for a while since this PC is only on a month old install. Hoping there is another solution, or I fixed the problem from scanning or something.

    My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB: 

    https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul



  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347

    If the problem recurs, press Ctrl+Alt+Del and then choose the option to start Task Manager.  That will show you the CPU usage of every process that is running.  If some rogue program is using near 100% CPU usage, then that will tell you the name of the executable and let you know what to look for online to get further information on what you may be infected with.

    Incidentally, porn sites aren't unusually dangerous as far as viruses go.  Pictures and videos are not executable files, and thus, cannot contain viruses.  What may have happened is that the pop-up told your computer that it was a request to install something, but the text or picture on it didn't look that way to you.  When you clicked on it, Windows thought you were clicking OK to install or run something.

    The really dangerous things for malware are pirated software (as opposed to pirated media files such as movies or music) and computer game cheat programs.  Those get the user to bypass any "do you really want to run this?" safeguards that Windows has built-in because you genuinely do want to run a program, not realizing that the program doesn't do what you thought it did.  They're also programs for which there aren't any reputable sources, so users looking for them are forced to resort to shady sites.  For someone looking to distribute malware, that's perfect, as your victim will willingly download your executable off of a shady site and bypass some anti-malware safeguards that the computer has in place.

  • syntax42syntax42 Member UncommonPosts: 1,378

    If you can't start up in safe mode to scan and remove viruses, look for a virus scanner that can boot off USB or CD.  They are typically labeled as "Live CD" versions of virus scanners.  There are many free ones out there, so don't pay for one unless you really want to.  The one I remember using recently was made by Malwarebytes, but finding the download link was a challenge because they don't publish the fact that they have a free live CD.

    To use a live CD, you need to make it on a friend's computer.  If you make it on a USB drive, please do not let Windows boot with the drive connected, or the virus could spread itself to the USB drive and then other computers.

    Removal of the virus could be another challenge.  Once you have identified the virus, though, you can typically search for removal tools.

  • TheScavengerTheScavenger Member EpicPosts: 3,321

    If it happens again, or while I'm watching youtube or something...I'll have task manager open and see if anything abnormal happens. So far, everything has been fine. I'm running steam, browsing mmorpg.com/massively and have google voice open.

     

    If I can get into safe mode (I should, hopefully), any virus scanner I should get to run if it happens again? Is combofix better at finding stuff in safe mode? Or does it just depend on a virus I have (if any)?

    My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB: 

    https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul



  • TheScavengerTheScavenger Member EpicPosts: 3,321

    Well, not sure if I'm still  infected (if I ever was, besides that .exe)...but I've been on youtube, around the net on various game sites/steam/facebook and what not. Haven't played any games or checked to see if I can get to safe mode. But, I've have left the task manager on, and nothing abnormal happens. The CPU usage always stays really low, even when watching Youtube.

     

    I can still use windows update, and everything looks normal.

     

    So not sure what I got or what happened, or if its just dormant or something or if I got rid of it. But, haven't had any problems. When I updated windows and restarted the pc, PC started normally and it wasn't slow to get on or anything like that.

     

    But, before I posted this thread. Clicked that dumb popup that somehow got through my script defense and adblocker...and suddenly my computer (think the CPU) made this weird...very loud high pitched alien spaceship sounding noise. Locked up, then got extremely slow, then sort of went to normal. But then I went to a youtube video (after leaving the adult site), and the picture was completely green and the video was really slow and my computer hardcrashed. Then I got that jumbled text and symbols like there was a heavy infection (or/and attack) on the system itself. The jumbled text lasted 3 restarts (I had to force the PC off 3 times, and it failed to boot all three times). The text also overlayed the default windows text (and logo pictures) when booting. Couldn't even get to the login screen.

     

    But, then I managed to get past it and do the scans (the first being booting from my Windows Defender bootable disk scan). And its been normal since. But literally no virus scan really found anything...nothing at all. Just frapsvids.exe I think it was, so maybe that did something. Or maybe something else was/is going on.

     

     

    My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB: 

    https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul



  • CountSchmidtCountSchmidt Member Posts: 5

    Karma!

    But just try to save all your important files, reformat your HDD and reinstall your OS... If I were you I would use Google drive to save (up to 5gb free) most of my programming files and pictures and then use a USB drive or external HDD for the rest. Best of luck!

  • Dynamic1325Dynamic1325 Member UncommonPosts: 70
    If you'd like (or anyone for that matter), I might be of some help cleaning up the pc / making it a bit more safe.

    Shoot me a PM sometime ~ I have vent/TS/mumble/skype.
  • OmaliOmali MMO Business CorrespondentMember UncommonPosts: 1,177

    Download and burn yourself a Kaspersky Rescue CD. Everyone should have one on hand.

    http://support.kaspersky.com/us/viruses/rescuedisk

    image

  • TheScavengerTheScavenger Member EpicPosts: 3,321
    Originally posted by Omali

    Download and burn yourself a Kaspersky Rescue CD. Everyone should have one on hand.

    http://support.kaspersky.com/us/viruses/rescuedisk

    I'm guessing I'd need to do this on a different PC/laptop? Or since this PC is barely infected (if at all), except for what happened early today...would it be fine to burn a CD on this machine? Literally everything works, but if there is any chance of a really nasty infection...I'd rather get rid of it. But all my windows programs work, youtube vids work (which means flash does), no unusual behavior and internet works.

     

    The only other PC (or laptop in this case) is my friends laptop. But I wouldn't touch it with a flamethrower. He goes on youtube and gets porn adds popping up. He must have like 1000+ spywares and who knows how many viruses. No joke, Its really that bad...how it runs I dunno

     

    If its a bad idea to burn the Kaspersky Rescue CD on this PC...I'm kinda out of luck. I'd have to wait for my IT guy to come back, but he has been gone for a month now on family emergency. He isn't back till after Summer (possibly into Winter), And I'd ask him for help...but knowing what he is going through and dealing with...I'll go to online gurus help.

    My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB: 

    https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul



  • TheScavengerTheScavenger Member EpicPosts: 3,321
    Originally posted by Epic1oots
    Maybe it wasnt a virus at all but some failing hardware? did you think about that?

    That could be. And clicking that stupid ad was a coincidence. However, go to page 1 and go to the bottom of my sorta long post...does that sound like a major virus attack (weird ass sound and very messed up text overlaying the default starting text) or more of hardware failure? Or can both act the same? I guess it may explain why literally nothing was found by anything, even Combofix (which I see the helpers at malwarebytes always recommend it. And my IT guy uses it amongst others). And why there hasn't been any problems at all after that one time.

     

    (edit: One reason I reinstalled my PC last month was well...for blue screen errors at boot. But I haven't had those since I reinstalled. If anyone remembers me posting about that a while ago. But actually, I faintly remember having the complete lock up once before...but it was a while ago, and now I dunno if I did or not. Still, if I did, it didn't come with all the really really weird text)

     

    And to the guy that posted about help on steam and what not. Thanks, but I kinda like just forums...especially if it requires someone doing that desktop thing where they can go in and do stuff. I don't even really like my IT guy touching my PC :P Honestly nothing to hide (well nothing criminal, but I have personal work and...well actually...to me its kinda like a stranger going into your house and looking everywhere :P). Or sorta opening your journal and looking inside it, is another way to put it ;P

    My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB: 

    https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul



  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383

    Virus scanners are pretty good about preventing viruses and malware from installing automatically (although they can't save you from yourself).

    They are traditionally pretty bad at getting rid of something after you have caught it, unfortunately.

    Many systems that get hit with a virus - sure, you may be able to remove the virus, but it will be forever quirky after that - random popups that won't go away. Errors about missing files. Web browsers that perpetually auto-redirect themselves. Etc.

    The best thing to do if a virus strikes: Format, reinstall from your last clean backup, and learn your lesson.

  • TheScavengerTheScavenger Member EpicPosts: 3,321

    I guess my dad already had a copy of Kaspersky Rescue CD, I didn't need to get it myself. He used it when our IT guy got it to scan his system.

     

    Well, so my dad came by and dropped it off. And I scanned, took a little over two hours. Nothing found or anything. So maybe the ad had a malicious script that did something, or it was hardware or something.

     

    But haven't had any problems since.

    My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB: 

    https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul



  • rimaxo14rimaxo14 Member Posts: 118
    0.o

    EVGA FTW-3 MOBO X58
    EVGA GTX 580
    G.SKILL RIPJAW 12GB
    INTEL I7 950
    CORSAIR H70 CPU COOLER
    CORSAIR 1200W 80+GOLD

    image
  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 19,332

    If you ever have the problem again here is what you can do.BTW all those anti virus programs need to be updated often or they can be useless.

    First of all you start in safe mode.You will need internet access,btw i forget what key you hit on startup ,it probably varies,but you should see it on start up,example hold DEL key or F4 or F6.

    Then i highly suggest you go to Trend Micro online housecall.I have tried it for years ,it is free and always seems to be the most update.The program will need to be loaded onto your HD ,don't worry.It might take quite some time to run as it checks your system,not like you have a choice right,unless you want to delete your HD.

    Sometimes they will help you remove the infection but often not.However what they will have if a database that tells you where the virus stores it's files and how to remove them.

    usually the main drive files are easy to get rid of but it is the registry entries that can cause problems,so be prepared to go and remove registry entries.Really it is not tough to do,no need to be afraid of the registry as long as you take your time and don't hit the wrong entry and delete by accident.Even then chances of losing something important would be rare as many files will update the registry if something is missing.

     

    Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

  • TheScavengerTheScavenger Member EpicPosts: 3,321

    Thanks Wizadry :) I'll keep that in mind.

     

    Everything is working though. Windows update did the normal updates the other day, my CPU usage is always normal. Haven't had any popups or redirects and internet explorer is fine (I use firefox, but IE tends to be targeted for infections). So seems whatever it was, is solved. No virus scanner found anything really, but they probably don't always as you sorta mentioned.

     

    I think if I was infected, it would have happened again or when I'm playing games or something. Or would have trouble booting or whatever. But, if it does, I'll try the trend housecall and see if that helps. But, think I got lucky this time around.

    My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB: 

    https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul



  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347
    Sometimes runaway CPU usage can be a legitimate program doing something at a stupid time, such as legitimate anti-virus software picking a stupid time to do a full system scan.  Windows Vista itself was rather prone to focusing on prefetching when you wanted the computer to do something else; one of the more noticeable ways that Windows 7 improved performance over Vista was to shut down prefetching except for when the computer was idle.
  • TheScavengerTheScavenger Member EpicPosts: 3,321

    Well, I ended up being forced to go to a backup. Luckily, I had a backup after installing windows, updating it and installing necessary programs. Don't have my games, but ah well. Nice and quick. Literally took 10 minutes in the whole process.

     

    Shortly after posting the last message. Ironically. My computer, when running games, or watching youtube or anything that was a program...would lock up (not fully, but become extremely slow) and have this demonic sounding voice in the background that was all distorted sounding. It was worse than ever.

     

    Granted, it could be hardware. So if it keeps doing it, I'll know it wasn't a virus. I've been having hardware problems over the past year, and reinstalling (or going to a backup) seems to work, at least for a month or so. My dads computer has sorta the same problem, new harddrive (like mine) and he reinstalls...and a month later...he starts getting issues and his is definitely hardware. His TV PC (not his main one) motherboard corrupts system files or something. I have exact same motherboard, and its shitty. He reinstalled same day I did, and his was fine and started having problems exactly same time mine is. Which is a bit weird.

     

    In any case, if it was a virus (which it could be, as others on the sites forum said they had gotten viruses from said website even with script blockers and what not)...its taken care of now. And if its hardware, well, reinstalling (or going to a backup in my case) seems to fix it for about a month. And I can't afford to replace it...so...

     

    I should of just gone to a backup sooner :P Would have been easier. Only took 10 min lol. Thats quicker than any virus scanner took.

    My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB: 

    https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul



  • TheScavengerTheScavenger Member EpicPosts: 3,321

    Well, looks like its hardware. Its not virus related at all.

     

    Was playing Rift, computer completely locked up and the sound was all distorted (it was running, but was like a very slow slideshow)

     

    This happened with GW2 before I restored my PC to pretty much day one.

     

    It only happens with 3d games or intense PC games. I can play Civilization 4 just fine, and I think mount and blade works (but haven't tried it in past couple days)

     

    I can't have gotten the same virus, I haven't barely done anything on the PC since I restored it. So its definitely hardware. It looks like my motherboard has gone bad.

    My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB: 

    https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul



  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    Originally posted by TheScavenger

    Well, looks like its hardware. Its not virus related at all.

     

    Was playing Rift, computer completely locked up and the sound was all distorted (it was running, but was like a very slow slideshow)

     

    This happened with GW2 before I restored my PC to pretty much day one.

     

    It only happens with 3d games or intense PC games. I can play Civilization 4 just fine, and I think mount and blade works (but haven't tried it in past couple days)

     

    I can't have gotten the same virus, I haven't barely done anything on the PC since I restored it. So its definitely hardware. It looks like my motherboard has gone bad.

    This sounds more like a GPU issue than anything else. It could be HW failure but it could also be many other things. First you should disconnect and reconnect your GPU including the extra power cord(s) that go directly to it. Then you should re-install the graphics drivers and finally get a good real-time monitoring program like MSI Afterburner (free) that logs your GPU temps to a file. Depending on what GPU you have, Afterburner should also do a better job of controlling the GPU fan(s) than the built in utility.

    Leave the side of the case open while you play 3-D games and see if you can detect some physical problems: are all the fans (case, CPU and GPU) that should be spinning doing so? Is the GPU fan spinning faster (and louder) when running current 3D games?... if you don't have anything current just download the free Neverwinter - it really pushes the GPU with all bells and whistles turned on.

    There...some work for you :) Let us know how you do.

    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”

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  • TheScavengerTheScavenger Member EpicPosts: 3,321
    Originally posted by Iselin
    Originally posted by TheScavenger

    Well, looks like its hardware. Its not virus related at all.

     

    Was playing Rift, computer completely locked up and the sound was all distorted (it was running, but was like a very slow slideshow)

     

    This happened with GW2 before I restored my PC to pretty much day one.

     

    It only happens with 3d games or intense PC games. I can play Civilization 4 just fine, and I think mount and blade works (but haven't tried it in past couple days)

     

    I can't have gotten the same virus, I haven't barely done anything on the PC since I restored it. So its definitely hardware. It looks like my motherboard has gone bad.

    This sounds more like a GPU issue than anything else. It could be HW failure but it could also be many other things. First you should disconnect and reconnect your GPU including the extra power cord(s) that go directly to it. Then you should re-install the graphics drivers and finally get a good real-time monitoring program like MSI Afterburner (free) that logs your GPU temps to a file. Depending on what GPU you have, Afterburner should also do a better job of controlling the GPU fan(s) than the built in utility.

    Leave the side of the case open while you play 3-D games and see if you can detect some physical problems: are all the fans (case, CPU and GPU) that should be spinning doing so? Is the GPU fan spinning faster (and louder) when running current 3D games?... if you don't have anything current just download the free Neverwinter - it really pushes the GPU with all bells and whistles turned on.

    There...some work for you :) Let us know how you do.

    Yeah, my dad took off the side and moved the hard drive down a slot since it felt kinda hot to him him. But the graphics card, motherboard and everything else felt like the normal temperature. But I'll see if he wants me to try MSI.

     

    It could very well likely be my GPU going bad. It only happens with 3d intensive games, but I'm gonna try mount and blade and see if it doesn't do it there.

     

    So far, I can play civilization 4 and 5 just fine. I played Civ 4 for hours, and no problem at all.

     

    Can't play GTA IV, Crysis (first one), Guild Wars 2 or RIFT. GTA IV did it right away as soon as I got in the game and couldn't even get past the cut scene, same with Crysis. I can play GW2 for an hour before my PC hard locks. And then it keeps doing it, but the next day I can play for an hour. And I played RIFT for an hour and then it hard locked. Well, hard locked...it locks up...but it gets extremely slow and sound gets all distorted.

     

    I hope my GPU isn't going out. That is like most expensive. I need a new one anyway, but I can't afford it. And if I get a new PC, its gonna be an upgrade lol.

     

    My GPU is a Geforce 260GTX 896 MB. Its I think 5 years old, maybe coming on 6 now. It isn't that old...think more like 5, don't remember.

     

    (edit: just the other week, I could play all these just fine. They were all installed and playable, and I could actually play GTA and Crysis, but now they barely boot up. Granted, I upped Crysis with graphics mods...but my PC could still run it. I installed graphics mods for GTA IV, and it was slow, so I didn't play it for a while. But still, it didn't hard crash my pc)

    My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB: 

    https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul



  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347
    Originally posted by TheScavenger
    I played Civ 4 for hours, and no problem at all.

    Civilization 4 barely touches the GPU.  I could run it at high settings on a Radeon X1300 Pro, which is a low end card from three generations older than yours.

    If you've got hardware problems, then how about if you post your complete system specs so that we can see if there is any obvious reason why you ought to have hardware problems.

     

  • TheScavengerTheScavenger Member EpicPosts: 3,321

    I know Civ 4 isn't intensive. Its an ancient game lol. I put it there as an example of a game without any problems, and I listed games I've played thus far with problems. I'm not dumb :P I just put there to show that a game old and not intensive doesn't have any problems.

     

    Anyway, my system is 5 years or so old. Only my hard drive is new.

     

    I have a Geforce 260GTX 896MB as I said

     

    A crappy i5 CPU 3.3 Ghz ( Same exact motherboard and age as my dads motherboard that is having problems as well, but his problems right now are different than mine but a bit similar)

     

    8 gig DDR 3 ram (Windows 7 64bit)

     

    1.3 GB harddrive, not an SSD or anything special (it is pretty new, installed Windows on it about a month or two ago when I first reinstalled my PC)

     

    (edit: Forgot what my PSU is, but its kinda a crappy one. It was plenty enough wattage to power my system, but it isn't really a high end or high quality one)

    My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB: 

    https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul



  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347
    Originally posted by TheScavenger

    I know Civ 4 isn't intensive. Its an ancient game lol. I put it there as an example of a game without any problems, and I listed games I've played thus far with problems. I'm not dumb :P I just put there to show that a game old and not intensive doesn't have any problems.

     

    Anyway, my system is 5 years or so old. Only my hard drive is new.

     

    I have a Geforce 260GTX 896MB as I said

     

    A crappy i5 CPU 3.3 Ghz ( Same exact motherboard and age as my dads motherboard that is having problems as well, but his problems right now are different than mine but a bit similar)

     

    8 gig DDR 3 ram (Windows 7 64bit)

     

    1.3 GB harddrive, not an SSD or anything special (it is pretty new, installed Windows on it about a month or two ago when I first reinstalled my PC)

     

    (edit: Forgot what my PSU is, but its kinda a crappy one. It was plenty enough wattage to power my system, but it isn't really a high end or high quality one)

    You'd better find out what power supply you have, as a bad power supply can cause all sorts of weird problems.  If you have to open up the case and read the label, then do it.  While we're at it, which motherboard do you have?

    I'd also like to know what case you have, but that's more a matter of airflow.

    By the time the first 3.3 GHz Core i5 processor launched (Core i5-2500 in 2011), the GeForce GTX 260 was long gone and made no sense at all to buy unless you found it really cheap used.  There was a 3.33 GHz Core i5-660 that launched a year earlier, but if you bought that, then you really goofed, as it's two cores for the price of four.  And if you have a Core i5-750 or some such and overclocked it to 3.2 GHz, then you should first try undoing the overclock.

    Considering that neither Windows 7 nor the first Core i5 processor nor any motherboard that can take any Core i5 processor was even on the market 4 years ago, I'm somewhat skeptical that your computer is 5 years old.

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