[DeeeJ]

I am using a Dell Latitude D600 running Windows XP Pro. Aside from Windows Firewall, I use Comodo Security as well as AVG. I occasionally sweep for spyware/malware with various other online apps and have run the Malicious Software Removal Tool from MS every time updates are sent out. I rarely, if ever, have problems.

Now...I had serious one connecting to my wireless connection for almost 24 hours yesterday (and I dont know yet if its relevant or not) and when I finally managed to get the signal back, I noticed the computer was running super-slow. Opened up task manager and a program I run occasionally called ProcessExplorer and noticed something very unusual: some processes appeared to be duplicates. Now, I know that there are valid reasons for this to happen somtimes (such as in the case of svchost) but this was just odd because the processes that were showing more than one instance were programs that, prior to today, never showed up as duplicates. I thought it was a fluke.

Now, I'm not so sure. I searched for explanations or similar accounts but none were exactly illuminating; I'm beginning to wonder if my system has somehow been hacked or infected. I have updated all my security software and installed all relevant MS updates; I have pulled up msconfig to prune the startup menu a bit because I had noticed a program I had disabled from startup months ago had begin to run when I booted up, (although I still dont know why that happened, either); no drivers needed updates or to be rolled back; I even restored the computer to the checkpoint 48 hours before - all without results. The computer is still really lagging, programs that I dont want in startup continue to come back upon reboots, and I have no idea how to change it. I keep seeing these heretofore unseen 'twin' instances and I wonder if somehow I've just never noticed.

Am I going crazy? I can't decide if this is a real problem or if I'm just being a paranoid dumbass. Thanks for any and all help, suggestions, readings of the Riot Act, etc.

DJ

[lunarlander]

Which programs are being duplicated ?