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Hardware Problem or Infection?

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3K views 80 replies 8 participants last post by  Kronks 
#1 · (Edited)
I am leaning toward some type of infection since I am on a desktop that doesn't move. When I type, it skips characters and causes misspelled words and missed spaces. I'll type something and NOT correct it so it's right:

I'm just tping alog here todemonstrate what my text looks like when I try to typ in a document or fill a form in an onine box. Can you spt where the problem is here? My typing is not that bad This machine ha a problem.

ETA:
I went into 'safe mode' and tried to login and run the TSG program. Did nothing and missed words continued. I also could not get 'Malwarebytes' to start. 'Spybot Search & Destroy" ran but found nothing.

And this is what I got when I ran the TSG program to supply info:

Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.4
OS Version:
Processor:
Processor Count:
RAM:
Graphics Card:
Hard Drives:
Motherboard:
Antivirus: None

I have a 4 yr old Dell 'Vostro' running W7. I've really not had problems until today. As you can see the computer seems to have a mind of its own. How can I work-around to at least get the TSG program to run? This is making me crazy! Thank you.
 
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#2 ·
You need to get a USB keyboard and try it, borrow one from anyone who has one and test it out.

There's no logical reason why a virus would cause thi but it's a pretty typical keyboard failure or potentially touchpad sensitivity issue, as such I'll move the thread to hardware for now.
 
#3 · (Edited)
You need to get a USB keyboard and try it, borrow one from anyone who has one and test it out.

There's no logical reason why a virus would cause thi but it's a pretty typical keyboard failure or potentially touchpad sensitivity issue, as such I'll move the thread to hardware for now.
Not being argumentative but curious if bad keyboard could cause settings to change? Monitor was set to turn off after 15 minutes of non-use. Now it stays on. I also noticed a couple of other things like that. Programs slow to start, not being able to run the TSG program, etc.

So I'll go find another keyboard and give that a try. Thank you for your time and information!
 
#4 ·
The monitor not turning off is more commonly caused by something preventing it from turning off meaning some active process is keeping the PC awake. (A bad keyboard might do exactly this, including the interrupted TSG so it's not necessarily a software problem)
You may need to disconnect the internal keyboard if the PC thinks some key is constantly being pressed and the secret on any Dell is to go to http://support.dell.com and type in your SERVICE TAG number which is on the same label as the serial number or express service code. It's usually on the bottom of the PC (sometimes you have to take out the battery to see it) and you should shut the PC down before you scribble it onto a piece of paper. The manuals and documents section will have a manual that tells you how to remove the internal keyboard.
 
#5 ·
Bought a new USB keyboard, hooked it up, removed old keyboard, went to Dell as directed in post #3 above. Dell support software kept kicking me out for losing internet connection - which was NOT the case. Tried to get the TSG software to work which it still won't. Programs open sluggishly, performance (such as it is...) sucks and I now have an extra keyboard that doesn't work just like the original..

Thoughts?
 
#7 · (Edited)
I never got to the internal keyboard and this is a desktop unit I am using.. DELL site I entered service tag # and site kept telling me connetion was lost so I got nowhere with that. I went and bought a new keyboard, plugged it in (removed original keyboard) but there was no change. I didn't go to safe mode but the new keyboard produced no different results.

This morning programs starting slowly, getting pop-up boxes about programs and processes that I have NO idea of what they are referring to. Looked at Device Manager for some reason and noticed 5 Firefox (what I am using) entries (!!!) which might be to what you were referring as stuff running somewhere unknown causing the monitor to not sleep. I also can't open items in the Control Panel. It takes 3 times longer to type anything with the missed letters and this computer seems just screwed in a number of ways.

Thanks for your time and trying to figure THIS one out!
 
#10 ·
Running W7 on a Dell Vostro 470 Service Tag # CW97YV1. I tried again earlier and got through. There were no instructions to remove an internal keyboard but about 100 on how to remove an external one. (Wouldn't you just unplug it...?) I also tried to get the TSG software to run - nothing. Thanks.
 
#12 ·
There is no internal keyboard for a desktop, only laptops. We weren't sure if you had a laptop or a desktop since Dell Vostro's are both.

Personally I don't like AVG or ZoneAlarm. Both use to be good products that lost their way a long time ago. It's unfortunate that System Restore was already broken, it's a great tool to fix issues that just randomly pop up like this.

If you bring up task manager, and click the bottom at the bottom to show processes from all users, then sort it by highest CPU usage, what is listed for the top 5 processes? Then click Memory and sort it by the usage as well, what are the top 5 there? It woudl probably be best to post a screen shot of Task Manager on the Processes tab actually with them sorted.
 
#13 ·
There is no internal keyboard for a desktop, only laptops. We weren't sure if you had a laptop or a desktop since Dell Vostro's are both.

Personally I don't like AVG or ZoneAlarm. Both use to be good products that lost their way a long time ago. It's unfortunate that System Restore was already broken, it's a great tool to fix issues that just randomly pop up like this.

If you bring up task manager, and click the bottom at the bottom to show processes from all users, then sort it by highest CPU usage, what is listed for the top 5 processes? Then click Memory and sort it by the usage as well, what are the top 5 there? It woudl probably be best to post a screen shot of Task Manager on the Processes tab actually with them sorted.
AVG is getting bothersome as well as ZA. I'm wanting to dump both but haven't as yet and now Control Panel won't respond so I can't uninstall. I made 2 captures. One is 'processes' from Task Manager and shows 4 Firefox entries and another (not shown) named 'svchost' that is also in the same range.

Capture 2 is the 'Memory' use and it seems to be mostly Firefox, too. Email stopped working (I use 'Pegasus Mail' which is a stand-alone program) and I'm gonna work with AT&T on that.

I feel stupid as I cannot remember how to insert or attach the two files! How do I do that? Thanks!
 
#18 ·
Several firefox.exe processes is not unusual.
I just opened 4 tabs in FF and I have 7 process.
Closed a tab and it went down to 6. (with 3 tabs open)
Closed the tab and it went down to 5. (with 2 tabs open)
Closed the tab and I had 4, the same as you. (with 1 tab open)
As you'll see, none of the 4 tabs in your screenshot are using any CPUs.
 
#19 ·
Click on CPU in the first screen-shot to order the items by Cpu usage (click again if needed, to put the highest usage at the top).
Do the same with the Memory heading to order by memory usage.
 
#22 ·
Thanks. I opened the action center from the task bar pennant-thing and got mostly nothing. I typed it in and got this (below):

There were no radio buttons but a slider which was already set to 'do not notify' (as specified in the link you provided). All the available choices don't work. I have to say I keep getting error messages about some missing .dll files when I try to open my Pegasus email program (which won't work). Maybe that is the root of a problem that tried to get reported and hung?

I still can't get email (have to use AT&T webmail :-( ) to open. I can't get some programs to work and my "Control Panel" is virtually useless. Can't add or remove programs or anything. I'm locked up pretty well plus the weird keyboard hits and misses that started this whole thing and got me a spare keyboard to have on hand. Thank you for finding that link but I seem unable to get it to do much of anything.
 

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#24 · (Edited)
Nothing. Only one of the 4 choices is "Change User Account Control Settings" which is the one with the slider set. All else will not open anything. Sorry this is so frustrating!

I had an older XP system years ago that Dell took control of my computer and fixed things using some special hidden partition. Since "Backup & Restore" has never worked do you have access (if it is still included in W7) to this capability? Thanks a lot for your help and time.
 
#27 ·
I've not used backup and restore either. It's never worked! This computer has had issues since I first got it, that being one of them.

I have a Western Digital "passport" external drive but it's not working properly. One error message I keep getting is about "WD Utilities not working" which is a few things for use with the drive. It then says it's going to shut down and does. If I get working again, I may do as you say.

I've downloaded and burned to disk that 'Memtest' ISO file and will run that tonight as suggested.

Thanks to all for the time and suggestions.
 
#30 · (Edited)
Yes, there is a memory diagnostics option in control panel. I ran 'extended' 3 times. It says results will show after Windows is restarted. Not hat I could find! Ran 2 times and no result shown. On 3rd time it hung at 21% so after 15 minutes I exited. I also keep getting an error message about a utilities application for my Western Digital external drive having problems. I uninstalled that WD app about 5 times with a stand-alone installer and from uninstall in Control Panel yet it lives! Like a zombie. This is very weird.
ETA: Ran the memory test again this morning.. It says it will restart and give the results of the test. I've run it 3 times and have not seen anything about results from those tests. Any idea where they might be kept? The monitor will now go into 'sleep' after a while but all else is still hosed.
 
#32 ·
I followed the instructions you provided but my result doesn't look like the one in the example. I'll attach what came out on my "Event Viewer":

Rectangle Font Screenshot Software Technology

The center column goes on a LONG way saying the same - 'Information' and 'error'. I found nothing else to give the result of the memory test(s) I ran.
 
#35 ·
Don't know if this tells you anything but 1) Computer takes a loooong time to boot, 2) programs are glacially slow to open, 3) search text is LARGE like safe mode or something and 4) monitor will 'sleep' after a loooong time. But upon waking, programs I try to open won't respond. I have to shut down and restart. Also, if I shut down Firefox and try to reopen it it gives me a box saying "Firefox is still running. It must be shutdown before you can start again. Then there are 2 boxes to either shut down the running Firefox or 'cancel'. And the keyboard craziness is still happening with no end in sight.
 
#36 ·
I just found this when I routinely checked my spam file to make sure nothing is mislabeled as such. I found this and the wording is poor but the content is a bit concerning. He DID, in fact, get one of the passwords that I use so it looks like my 'fsk666' password was hacked. Since I don't belong to any lurid sites or frequent them that looks like BS. So it's poor grammar but some info is correct. I'm not paying him $800!

The rest of it does bother me. Could this intrusion and having a 'RAT' file (whatever that is) installed (if true) be what is causing my problems? I copied the text, deleted the file and am pasting the text here. For what it's worth none of my other programs seem to be exhibiting problems. Email (Pegasus Mail) isn't functional and most programs open slowly although some don't open at all. Here's the text of the threat email:

Nov 1 at 11:21 AM
Hello!

I'm a programmer who cracked your email account and device about half year ago.
You entered a password on one of the insecure site you visited, and I catched it.
Your password from robhic@bellsouth.net on moment of crack: fsk666

Of course you can will change your password, or already made it.
But it doesn't matter, my rat software update it every time.

Please don't try to contact me or find me, it is impossible, since I sent you an email from your email account.

Through your e-mail, I uploaded malicious code to your Operation System.
I saved all of your contacts with friends, colleagues, relatives and a complete history of visits to the Internet resources.
Also I installed a rat software on your device and long tome spying for you.

You are not my only victim, I usually lock devices and ask for a ransom.
But I was struck by the sites of intimate content that you very often visit.

I am in shock of your reach fantasies! Wow! I've never seen anything like this!
I did not even know that SUCH content could be so exciting!

So, when you had fun on intime sites (you know what I mean!)
I made screenshot with using my program from your camera of yours device.
After that, I jointed them to the content of the currently viewed site.

Will be funny when I send these photos to your contacts! And if your relatives see it?
BUT I'm sure you don't want it. I definitely would not want to ...

I will not do this if you pay me a little amount.
I think $858 is a nice price for it!

I accept only Bitcoins.
My BTC wallet: 1BzkoGfrLtL59ZGjhKfvBwy47DEb6oba5f

If you have difficulty with this - Ask Google "how to make a payment on a bitcoin wallet". It's easy.
After receiving the above amount, all your data will be immediately removed automatically.
My virus will also will be destroy itself from your operating system.

My Trojan have auto alert, after this email is looked, I will be know it!

You have 2 days (48 hours) for make a payment.
If this does not happen - all your contacts will get crazy shots with your dirty life!
And so that you do not obstruct me, your device will be locked (also after 48 hours)

Do not take this frivolously! This is the last warning!
Various security services or antiviruses won't help you for sure (I have already collected all your data).

Here are the recommendations of a professional:
Antiviruses do not help against modern malicious code. Just do not enter your passwords on unsafe sites!

I hope you will be prudent.
Bye.
 
#38 ·
Thank you for that. I feel a bit better regarding that email! But I can't get into my AT&T email due to ZoneAlarm shutting it down because of a phishing virus. I'm getting with AT&T after I finish here. My Pegasus email still won't work as well as a few other programs. My computer isn't really any improved since 2 weeks ago. Do you think this thing has a good chance of "survival"? It's looking kinda bleak. But thanks, again, for those links, I appreciate it.
 
#40 ·
Oh one quick thing, does this problem happen *all* the time.
Ie if you boot up your PC, open notepad and start typing do you still get the problem.
(I assume you don't have a whole lot of crap running at start up, if you do give them time so whatever they do so your
machine is otherwise pretty idle).
 
#42 ·
Thanks. I opened the action center from the task bar pennant-thing and got mostly nothing. I typed it in and got this (below):

There were no radio buttons but a slider which was already set to 'do not notify' (as specified in the link you provided). All the available choices don't work. I have to say I keep getting error messages about some missing .dll files when I try to open my Pegasus email program (which won't work). Maybe that is the root of a problem that tried to get reported and hung?

I still can't get email (have to use AT&T webmail :-( ) to open. I can't get some programs to work and my "Control Panel" is virtually useless. Can't add or remove programs or anything. I'm locked up pretty well plus the weird keyboard hits and misses that started this whole thing and got me a spare keyboard to have on hand. Thank you for finding that link but I seem unable to get it to do much of anything.
WErfault running indicates it is reporting a problem I think, were you have a problem at the time?

Is it running right now?
 
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