WinME pausing. Really need help with this one.

Hi all! I have a fairly recent problem pop up but one that I cannot live
with - nor seem to troubleshoot.
I have a Celeron 466 clocked to 525 w/ 256 Ram and 32M V-Card, modem and
Ethernet card. Also running ME, cordless MS mouse/keyboard and 80 Gig HDD
partitioned to 3 drives ( c:\ = 8Gig)

I realize this is a lengthy explanation but when I comb through other posts,
the respondents always seem to need more details so here they are.

First, not looking for any 'buy a new PC' or 'throw away ME' type of advice
because that doesn't solve anything! Fact is, I am happy with ME and this PC
is fast enough for what I need it for. I keep it fairly tuned - software
wise, no misc programs at start-up nor PCHealth, system restore is off etc.
I've been on plenty of friends' PCs running XP that are far slower than mine
for booting up/powering down with CPUs of the most recent clockspeeds.

Here's the problem:
I recently moved and now have hi-speed DSL. It ran quite well at first [ a
week ago ] but I am having major problems now; perhaps the problems were
there but I never used the software that seems to make the problems appear.
Most noticeably, whenever I am on the Net, particularly when watching
streaming video or downloading via P2P, the mouse freezes up intermittently
and momentarily. The problem gradually worsens. Videos seem to pause and
the sound repeats itself - often for several seconds and then everything
resumes only to happen again. The strange thing is, even when I shut the net
off, the problem persists, but not as bad AND seemingly goes away with time
but never completely. Like I stated, this wasn't evident at first so I didn'
t draw a connection to using the Internet. It can get extremely bad when I
do several searches on a P2P program at once. There is no HD activity when
the pauses occur and the problem does not occur unless I have connected to
the net. Again, if I disconnect, the problem persists but not as bad.

I have also noticed one or more windows in IE freezing - well, the window
opens but the page doesn't load nor do toolbars so I must 'End Task'.
Frequent soft reboots are also required, leading to a scandisk. This is from
one of two reasons: the mouse never 'unpauses' OR, during powerdown, I get a
black screen and the cycle does not complete. In EITHER of these instances,
'Ctrl-Alt-Del' does NOTHING except OCCASSIONALLY, I will hear the system
internal speaker click rapidly whenever I move the mouse (beep on error?)

I did scan for viruses yesterday and to my surprise there were over 6000!
NONE of these activated during start-up however. These viruses were all
located in 2 directories only and not associated with any program I use.
They were all the same virus - as reported by Mcafee - same file size just a
different name. In a nutshell, I do not feel this is at all related to the
problem. I also DO NOT run the virus scanner or a firewall except on
demand - which is rare.

What have I done to troubleshoot? Trial and error to narrow down when this
problem appears - as already explained. Have defragmented the drive, cleaned
the registry (JV16 powertools), uninstalled and reinstalled a few programs,
and spent a lot of time searching for others with similar problems. The
latter I have found and the suspect often seems to be a network card ( which
I have, obviously ). Another frequent suspect is the mouse/keyboard. Mine
are both wireless. However, no clear solutions have been posted.

Whats my next step?

Thanks a heap for reading!

MajBach

Suspect spyware!

such problems are often caused by spyware - download Ad-Aware from
www.lavasoftusa.com, install, update, and run it to remove spyware, adware,
and other such nasties from your system.

See what it reports, and post back
What Virus did your AV detect - and were the definitions up-to-date?

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"MajBach1" wrote in message
...
Hi all! I have a fairly recent problem pop up but one that I cannot live
with - nor seem to troubleshoot.
I have a Celeron 466 clocked to 525 w/ 256 Ram and 32M V-Card, modem and
Ethernet card. Also running ME, cordless MS mouse/keyboard and 80 Gig HDD
partitioned to 3 drives ( c:\ = 8Gig)

I realize this is a lengthy explanation but when I comb through other
posts,
the respondents always seem to need more details so here they are.

First, not looking for any 'buy a new PC' or 'throw away ME' type of
advice
because that doesn't solve anything! Fact is, I am happy with ME and this
PC
is fast enough for what I need it for. I keep it fairly tuned - software
wise, no misc programs at start-up nor PCHealth, system restore is off
etc.
I've been on plenty of friends' PCs running XP that are far slower than
mine
for booting up/powering down with CPUs of the most recent clockspeeds.

Here's the problem:
I recently moved and now have hi-speed DSL. It ran quite well at first [ a
week ago ] but I am having major problems now; perhaps the problems were
there but I never used the software that seems to make the problems
appear.
Most noticeably, whenever I am on the Net, particularly when watching
streaming video or downloading via P2P, the mouse freezes up
intermittently
and momentarily. The problem gradually worsens. Videos seem to pause and
the sound repeats itself - often for several seconds and then everything
resumes only to happen again. The strange thing is, even when I shut the
net
off, the problem persists, but not as bad AND seemingly goes away with
time
but never completely. Like I stated, this wasn't evident at first so I
didn'
t draw a connection to using the Internet. It can get extremely bad when
I
do several searches on a P2P program at once. There is no HD activity when
the pauses occur and the problem does not occur unless I have connected to
the net. Again, if I disconnect, the problem persists but not as bad.

I have also noticed one or more windows in IE freezing - well, the window
opens but the page doesn't load nor do toolbars so I must 'End Task'.
Frequent soft reboots are also required, leading to a scandisk. This is
from
one of two reasons: the mouse never 'unpauses' OR, during powerdown, I get
a
black screen and the cycle does not complete. In EITHER of these
instances,
'Ctrl-Alt-Del' does NOTHING except OCCASSIONALLY, I will hear the system
internal speaker click rapidly whenever I move the mouse (beep on error?)

I did scan for viruses yesterday and to my surprise there were over 6000!
NONE of these activated during start-up however. These viruses were all
located in 2 directories only and not associated with any program I use.
They were all the same virus - as reported by Mcafee - same file size just
a
different name. In a nutshell, I do not feel this is at all related to the
problem. I also DO NOT run the virus scanner or a firewall except on
demand - which is rare.

What have I done to troubleshoot? Trial and error to narrow down when this
problem appears - as already explained. Have defragmented the drive,
cleaned
the registry (JV16 powertools), uninstalled and reinstalled a few
programs,
and spent a lot of time searching for others with similar problems. The
latter I have found and the suspect often seems to be a network card (
which
I have, obviously ). Another frequent suspect is the mouse/keyboard. Mine
are both wireless. However, no clear solutions have been posted.

Whats my next step?

Thanks a heap for reading!

MajBach

Noel Paton wrote:
Suspect spyware!

such problems are often caused by spyware - download Ad-Aware from
www.lavasoftusa.com, install, update, and run it to remove spyware, adware,
and other such nasties from your system.

See what it reports, and post back
What Virus did your AV detect - and were the definitions up-to-date?


and what P2P

Rick
so I know what to expect when the kids try that one... for some reason
all the ones they try usually only work for a day or two vbeg

Shareaza.
Note: This program NEVER has caused problems in the past.

"Rick T" wrote in message
...
Noel Paton wrote:
Suspect spyware!

such problems are often caused by spyware - download Ad-Aware from
www.lavasoftusa.com, install, update, and run it to remove spyware,
adware,
and other such nasties from your system.

See what it reports, and post back
What Virus did your AV detect - and were the definitions up-to-date?


and what P2P

Rick
so I know what to expect when the kids try that one... for some reason
all the ones they try usually only work for a day or two vbeg

Anti-spyware tools

free Ad-Aware SE 1.05 from Lavasoft
(http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/)

free SpyBot 1.3
(http://security.kolla.de/)

Pest Patrol
http://www.pestpatrol.com

Spy Sweeper
http://www.webroot.com/products/spys...3dc4a7b2258456

------


Anti-spyware tools

Adware/spyware/hijackers and other types of malicious programs are a
different animal. These can only be fought with certain anti-spyware
programs and (most importantly) by educating users. Here are some links that
will get you up to speed on the scope of the problem as well as some
recommended solutions.

The Parasite Fight:
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm

AumHa Forums :: View Forum - Parasites - Adware, Spyware & Other Scumwa
http://forum.aumha.org/viewforum.php?f=28

Security at Home: Spywa
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...e/default.mspx

Merijn.org:
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/

Lavasoft: Adaware SE
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/english/

The home of Spybot-S&D!:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

--
Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User Dec 2004
---

Here is the best site I know for tracking bad choices in antiparasite
softwa

http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm


Jim Eshelman, MS-MVP Windows/Security
Windows Support Center: http://aumha.org/
AumHa Forums: http://aumha.net/
Jan 2005
------


HTH,
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...t/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
"MajBach1" wrote in message
...
Shareaza.
Note: This program NEVER has caused problems in the past.

"Rick T" wrote in message
...
Noel Paton wrote:
Suspect spyware!

such problems are often caused by spyware - download Ad-Aware from
www.lavasoftusa.com, install, update, and run it to remove spyware,
adware,
and other such nasties from your system.

See what it reports, and post back
What Virus did your AV detect - and were the definitions up-to-date?


and what P2P

Rick
so I know what to expect when the kids try that one... for some reason
all the ones they try usually only work for a day or two vbeg

It' not only the P2P program that causes problems - it's the sites it links
to.
All it takes is for one to get infected, and suddenly you have viruses
crawling out of every orifice!!


--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"MajBach1" wrote in message
...
Shareaza.
Note: This program NEVER has caused problems in the past.

"Rick T" wrote in message
...
Noel Paton wrote:
Suspect spyware!

such problems are often caused by spyware - download Ad-Aware from
www.lavasoftusa.com, install, update, and run it to remove spyware,
adware,
and other such nasties from your system.

See what it reports, and post back
What Virus did your AV detect - and were the definitions up-to-date?


and what P2P

Rick
so I know what to expect when the kids try that one... for some reason
all the ones they try usually only work for a day or two vbeg

Little bit of an update: I have that the PC DOES exhibit this problem even
when I haven't loaded a P2P or viewed a live stream - it just gets worse
when I do that.

I didn't know that about P2P and viruses. I do not understand how a virus
gets through unless it is part of the file you are downloading. BTW, when I
said I used anti-virus on-demand earlier, this is when - to scan files I
have downloaded. My reason for using Shareaza is due to the fact that I
never get bad files.
Anyway, I have purchased Ad-Aware and Bulletproof (trial). Other than
cookies, there were only two registry values that were flagged.

Despite the fact that I usually bat 1000 when it comes to troubleshooting
software problems, I know little about hardware and networking. My gut
feeling is that this has something to do with the internet or my ethernet
card. Maybe I should try connecting the modem USB? I'm sure my USB is 1.1,
will I experience a bandwidth restriction this way?

Yes, I have decided to do a clean install of WinME. However, I am still
eager to determine what causes this behavior - just in case the problem
re-appears.
Thanks again for all the advice so far.


"Noel Paton" wrote in message
...
It' not only the P2P program that causes problems - it's the sites it
links
to.
All it takes is for one to get infected, and suddenly you have viruses
crawling out of every orifice!!


--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"MajBach1" wrote in message
...
Shareaza.
Note: This program NEVER has caused problems in the past.

"Rick T" wrote in message
...
Noel Paton wrote:
Suspect spyware!

such problems are often caused by spyware - download Ad-Aware from
www.lavasoftusa.com, install, update, and run it to remove spyware,
adware,
and other such nasties from your system.

See what it reports, and post back
What Virus did your AV detect - and were the definitions up-to-date?


and what P2P

Rick
so I know what to expect when the kids try that one... for some reason
all the ones they try usually only work for a day or two vbeg

IMHO, you are totally misunderstanding your situation, and I urge you to let
Noel walk you through a better solution before it's too late.
This is not the time (yet) to do a clean reinstall!
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...t/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
"MajBach1" wrote in message
...
Little bit of an update: I have that the PC DOES exhibit this problem even
when I haven't loaded a P2P or viewed a live stream - it just gets worse
when I do that.

I didn't know that about P2P and viruses. I do not understand how a virus
gets through unless it is part of the file you are downloading. BTW, when
I
said I used anti-virus on-demand earlier, this is when - to scan files I
have downloaded. My reason for using Shareaza is due to the fact that I
never get bad files.
Anyway, I have purchased Ad-Aware and Bulletproof (trial). Other than
cookies, there were only two registry values that were flagged.

Despite the fact that I usually bat 1000 when it comes to troubleshooting
software problems, I know little about hardware and networking. My gut
feeling is that this has something to do with the internet or my ethernet
card. Maybe I should try connecting the modem USB? I'm sure my USB is 1.1,
will I experience a bandwidth restriction this way?

Yes, I have decided to do a clean install of WinME. However, I am still
eager to determine what causes this behavior - just in case the problem
re-appears.
Thanks again for all the advice so far.


"Noel Paton" wrote in message
...
It' not only the P2P program that causes problems - it's the sites it
links
to.
All it takes is for one to get infected, and suddenly you have viruses
crawling out of every orifice!!


--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to
NG's

"MajBach1" wrote in message
...
Shareaza.
Note: This program NEVER has caused problems in the past.

"Rick T" wrote in message
...
Noel Paton wrote:
Suspect spyware!

such problems are often caused by spyware - download Ad-Aware from
www.lavasoftusa.com, install, update, and run it to remove spyware,
adware,
and other such nasties from your system.

See what it reports, and post back
What Virus did your AV detect - and were the definitions
up-to-date?


and what P2P

Rick
so I know what to expect when the kids try that one... for some
reason
all the ones they try usually only work for a day or two vbeg

It does look as if your system is clean (more by luck than judgement, I
suspect!), so we have to look elsewhere for the source of your problems.
Reinstalling ME clean will (probably) solve the immediate problem - only to
have it return at some later date, and then you'll go through the same
process again - and again.....
If you cure the problem now, you should be able to prevent a recurrence -
and avoid the hassle of a reinstall.

The first thing to do is to find out what's running on your box when the
problem hits - I suggest downloading Process Explorer from
www.sysinternals.com
- have it running in the background and make a note of what's consuming CPU
cycles and/or RAM when the problem strikes - post back with that data, and
we'll see where we go from there.

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"MajBach1" wrote in message
...
Little bit of an update: I have that the PC DOES exhibit this problem even
when I haven't loaded a P2P or viewed a live stream - it just gets worse
when I do that.

I didn't know that about P2P and viruses. I do not understand how a virus
gets through unless it is part of the file you are downloading. BTW, when
I
said I used anti-virus on-demand earlier, this is when - to scan files I
have downloaded. My reason for using Shareaza is due to the fact that I
never get bad files.
Anyway, I have purchased Ad-Aware and Bulletproof (trial). Other than
cookies, there were only two registry values that were flagged.

Despite the fact that I usually bat 1000 when it comes to troubleshooting
software problems, I know little about hardware and networking. My gut
feeling is that this has something to do with the internet or my ethernet
card. Maybe I should try connecting the modem USB? I'm sure my USB is 1.1,
will I experience a bandwidth restriction this way?

Yes, I have decided to do a clean install of WinME. However, I am still
eager to determine what causes this behavior - just in case the problem
re-appears.
Thanks again for all the advice so far.


"Noel Paton" wrote in message
...
It' not only the P2P program that causes problems - it's the sites it
links
to.
All it takes is for one to get infected, and suddenly you have viruses
crawling out of every orifice!!


--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"MajBach1" wrote in message
...
Shareaza.
Note: This program NEVER has caused problems in the past.

"Rick T" wrote in message
...
Noel Paton wrote:
Suspect spyware!

such problems are often caused by spyware - download Ad-Aware from
www.lavasoftusa.com, install, update, and run it to remove spyware,
adware,
and other such nasties from your system.

See what it reports, and post back
What Virus did your AV detect - and were the definitions up-to-date?


and what P2P

Rick
so I know what to expect when the kids try that one... for some reason
all the ones they try usually only work for a day or two vbeg

In ,
Noel Paton had this to say:

All it takes is for one to get infected, and suddenly you have viruses
crawling out of every orifice!!

I'm not sure where nor when Noel but I am sure that there will eventually be
a time and a place where comments like that are saved and etched in stone. I
almost wet my pants. That could be because I'm getting older and perhaps
incontinent but truth be told it's really because it was just that funny.

Galen

--

"My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me
the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am
in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial
stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for
mental exaltation." -- Sherlock Holmes