Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Hardware or Malware Problem? -> PC Sluggishness/Black Screen

Mar 6, 2016 7:14AM PST

Hi, I have a desktop with the following specs: Windows 7 64 Bit Intel i5 3.20Ghz (4 CPU) Nvedia 320 GT 512GB 4 GB DDR2 RAM 1 TB HDD Acer Aspire X5900 The said desktop is almost 7 years old.

I have faced a combination of the following issues: - Black Screen upon log in - Successful log in, only for computer to freeze (alt-tab-delete not responsive after 10-15 min - If it doesn't freeze, the computer is really sluggish in general. (freezes unbetween firefox tabs)

Here is what I have done so far: - Defrag/Disk clean-up of C drive - Ran chkdsk.exe - Ran sfc/scannnow in safe mode - Ran Malwarebytes, Trend Micro Maximum Protection, in normal and safe mode (both came out clean) - Plugged out and reconnected the HDD cable (since the connection might be loose for older PCs)

chkdsk gave my computer some reprieve in the sense that I am able to long in and use despite the sluggishness. But I do get black screens upon log in at random.

I suspect it might be: 1) Some kind of HDD failure 2) Memory leak - although im not sure how to verify this 3) Malware - but the tests came out clean

I have run out of troubleshooting options. Could really use some help from you guys here.

Thanks in advance!

Prior to this I realised the Base Filtering Engine was absent in my registry. I added it back, thats when it started. But I am not sure if it is related.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
Tell a little more.
Mar 6, 2016 7:52AM PST

1. Is the HDD giving you signs it has an issue? Last year I ran into a lot of failing Seagates.
2. Memory Leak. Rare. What made you think this? Keep in mind that by design a Virtual Memory OS should have very little free memory and since your PC only has 4GB that's slim for today.
3. Malware. Try Grif's list at http://www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/how-to-remove-pup-option-603542/#post-f742c795-5881-433b-a29b-6d758efe5cd3


What I see looks to be an older PC. It won't be as fast and may feel downright slow to today's machines. It only has 4GB, has a HDD rather than a SSD and then we don't know about its age or if the owner kept up with maintenance. For laptops I'm advising 1st of the month canned air on the vents. Desktops, every other month. If the machine is past 2 years we want to check fan health and if older consider replacing heatsink compound.

If it's some OS issue a factory restore will put it back to as new operation after the updates install.

- Collapse -
Will follow up
Mar 6, 2016 8:21AM PST

Thanks!

1) I suspected it might have been an HDD issue because windows has failed to read c drive on bootup numerous occasions prior to this. I had to either 1) reconnect cables from the HDD to motherboard or 2) keep restarting - it is entirely random.

2) Understood. I will run memtest from a boot USB to check if there are issues prevailing to RAM instead before running down the Malware list.

Thanks!

- Collapse -
What make/model HDD?
Mar 6, 2016 8:31AM PST

There are now a lot of articles about some models. Seagates seem to be a favorite.

My advice is to clone this drive to a new HDD or better yet some SSD before it fails.

Last week I picked up a 500GB SSD for 120. I already have the clone hardware and software which was under 30 dollars. That's a big speedup for most PCs.

- Collapse -
Hdd
Mar 6, 2016 11:43AM PST

There's a hint here that your hdd has a problem.
If you have good backups or don't mind losing it all continue testing.
Otherwise clone that hdd asap.
Set the clone aside...it's your life line back.
Now run test and play with stuff.

Check the hdd maker's site for a drive fitness test.
Run it and see what it says.....it's not foolproof so keep that in mind.

Replace the sata cable the feeds the hdd.