Slow Startup

MR_MU53NDO · 1 Oct 2012 at 07:08

i had three viruses, and i've removed them, but now my computer startup times are really slow and when i get into windows, applications are slow too (sometimes). i'm not sure whether i've missed a virus, and that's whats slowing it down, or whether it's something else. This happens even after i did a system restore to before the virus...

zeegy · 1 Oct 2012 at 09:26

Many virus' will attach themselves to system restore tasks too for this very reason, so that they can re-run/exploit after a restore.

time for another scan ima afraid!

BigBoy · 1 Oct 2012 at 10:31

Turn off system restore run virus scan and mailware bytes job done!

dal · 1 Oct 2012 at 11:48

Or do a clean install of windows if you wanted to be sure and get windows running lightening quick - might be a bit of an overkill though.

jackocurly0074 · 1 Oct 2012 at 12:19

You will need to do all scanning in safe mode to be sure you can actually get rid of the virus. Also it is somewhere worth using more than a single AV package as some may not detect it. A re-format should be the last resort there is always a chance that the virus has placed itself on other external HDDs/or spare ones etc so need to scan thoroughly!!

Raumarik · 1 Oct 2012 at 12:45

Turn off system restore.
Install malwarebytes and update to the latest version
Update your AV
restart in safe mode
Carry out a full scan using malwarebytes and clean/reboot as required.
Carry out a full scan using any AV products you have and clean/reboot as required.

Alternatively wipe and reinstall, which is possibly what I'd do in the circumstances if nothing is showing in the event log at startup which might hint that perhaps a driver or system file is corrupt.

jackocurly0074 · 1 Oct 2012 at 16:03

The reinstall is usually the best way to be sure that you have gotten rid of the virus. It may afterall take a lot of time to wipe it using multiple programs, and scanning several times etc. Depends how much stuff you have to backup of course..!

MR_MU53NDO · 1 Oct 2012 at 17:30

okay, so i was extremely stupid and it turns out that i hadn't deleted them from the virus vault, so they were still on my PC, but i've got rid of them now. the only problem is that now on boot up, the windows logo stays on the screen for ages longer than it did before the viruses, but the welcome screen only stays for up to 3 seconds. can someone tell me how to fix this so that it doesn't spend ages on boot up (i only have 2 startup items)

jackocurly0074 · 1 Oct 2012 at 23:01

How full is your main HDD running windows on btw? Which startup items are loading? Worth re-running a Spyware scanner in safe mode along with an AV scan. If that comes up clean it is often worth running hijack this, you can then either submit this to guys who know what to look for, or you can check the file paths of the items yourself. Usually it is clear when something is an imposter/not required.

MR_MU53NDO · 2 Oct 2012 at 06:35

jackocurly0074 said:
How full is your main HDD running windows on btw? Which startup items are loading? Worth re-running a Spyware scanner in safe mode along with an AV scan. If that comes up clean it is often worth running hijack this, you can then either submit this to guys who know what to look for, or you can check the file paths of the items yourself. Usually it is clear when something is an imposter/not required.

Main HDD is about 1/2 full, the other HDD is empty, but i've never got round to moving my documents across. But don't worry, i checked again (using AVG) and there are no viruses now, just a bit of a slow startup

jackocurly0074 · 2 Oct 2012 at 09:48

Are you able to show a list of the start-up processes under MSConfig? Also the services too, this might give an idea of what is causing the slow boot. Worth running something like CCleaner too to get rid of temporary files and check for registry errors (some which may be the aftermath of the virus).