Something wierd with my desktop

[Oldmoparguy1]

This is an old Compaq desktop, (2003) that I upgraded last fall with a new MB, processor and memory. Running XP-Pro SP3+latest updates. System runs 24/7, only app at the moment is MagicJack. Last month after an auto update to AVG 2013 free, M-J started failing randomly. Found that the HD was running continuously. Memory was filling up and being swapped to cache. The swapping was continous and nothing else could run. After much time looking at processes with task manager I found a process called toolbarupdater, (one of those un-asked for things AVG had installed), that had gone rogue. After some research I found that this was a problem in AVG 2012 and was fixed. Apparently not. Killed the process and memory gradually went back to normal. Fast forward to last evening and the system is having the same problem. Now What? Not AVG. Not anything??? I started killing processes one at a time until I finally crashed the system. Rebooted, same problem, so, now what? Whatever is causing the problem doesn't show in the task manager.. I'll have to make a boot c/d to run some kind diagnostic. It's going to be a day or two as I have something more important to do at the moment.

I'm open to any and all suggestions.

Wayne

[email protected]

 

[Rand]

maybe you are having an actual hardware failure like hdd?

does it do it on safe mode?


also you dont want your email address posted..

the internet bots will troll past it and start spamming you

 

[dparm]

If you have System Restore enabled, I would start rolling back until you can find the date the problem wasn't there.

 

[2004tdigls]

sounds like your hard disk is in its last death throws, back it up immediately using a disk cloning software found here

http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/09/05/5-free-apps-to-clone-your-hard-drive/

 

[Danno]

Any thoughts on a clean install with a freshly formatted hard drive?

 

[azjake]

You could drive yourself crazy trying to find the culprit so the best advice is probably to wipe the disk clean and re-install. You have to be very careful before installing any free software. Research it well before installing even if it's a well known product like AVG. Also I only install the product from the company's website and not from some third party website.

Watch the install screens very carefully for those little check boxes that are automatically checked for installing other software you don't want.

Given the sloppy code of toolbarupdater I'm guessing it was written by some guy who was working for McDonald's frying hamburgers then one night he saw an ad on TV for ITT Tech and bingo $30,000 and two years later he's an IT pro writing 3rd party software for Windows. Believe me there's a lot of those type of guys out there.

 

[Tegger]

Have a look at Event Viewer. Is it showing hardware errors related to the hard drive?

 

[JTK]

First thing I do is run msconfig and disable everything non-essential.

Then do a start > programs > accessories > system tools > disk cleanup.

Then a sweep with spybot or the likes just for good measure.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

Lots of good ideas, I've already done most of them. I know what the problem is, I don't know why. something is causing continuous memory swapping to cache, as fast as the drive will function. The cache memory count increments like the odometer in your car. This continuous accessing of the drive ties up the system to the point that nothing else can get through. I rung out the drive after the AVG problem. It's solid. Every thing was fine until sometime this week. Anyway, I'll get at it this weekend. Gotta run.

Thanks,

Wayne

 

[LeakySeals]

A memory leak somewhere exposed by constant up time. Upgrading to Magic Jack Plus can eliminate that box, you can use it for something less important.

 

[InhalingBullets]

Dump the AVG and get the free Microsoft Security Essentials. MSE is lighter on resources anyway.

 

[Doog]

Dump the MJ and AV like said before. Go to MSE like said. If your HDD still runs check the page file size. Make it 2046-4092. If that still doesn't work, time for a new HDD.

 

[LeakySeals]

Another reason why I like using a firmware device (like MJ+) vs. software and a PC (like MJ) is sound quality... As we know, dedicated network bandwidth and priority via QoS makes a huge difference for VoIP sound quality. I've been using Skype as my home phone for longer than I can remember (either 06 or 07). A few years ago I switched from PC/software to a Skype firmware device (similar to MJ+) with a direct network connection. The sound quality was night and day. Sure, you can dedicate the PC or application processes via L7, but I could never get it right. Now is simple, direct router connection, a QoS MAC rule at the router, and the sound is perfect. Totally reliable, no noise. People can't tell the difference when I talk to them.

 

[dparm]

I don't know why everyone says it's a HDD about to die. But you may as well run a chkdsk and see.