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General discussion

losing virtual memery

by gvosburgh Nov 23, 2004 10:43PM PST

I have WinXP with 512M of memory thats been working great until yesterday.All programs were operating very slowly and eventually I would get a "low virtual memory" message.I noticed that the harddrive was always on.
I disabled the startup programs.
I looked in the taskmanager and discovered that a file called bas.exe was using up to 100% of the cpu and almost 300m of memory.
I found the bas.exe file in the Windows\prefetch directory.I deleted that file and "ended the process" in the task manager.That fixed the problem but it comes back on after reboot.
What program or service turns this file on?
Greg

Discussion is locked

20 Posts
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Looks like...
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Nov 24, 2004 1:13AM PST

Not a well known pest (spyware, virus, trojan, etc.)

I'd use the usual suite of tools to see if you have a new pet.

Hint: Adaware, Spybot, Stinger, Housecall.

Bob

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Re: losing virtual memery
by Cetin Denislam Nov 24, 2004 1:30AM PST

The name that a malware uses, can be either intelligible or unintelligible. Your does sound intelligible but that doesn't help at all.

1. You can right click the file, select Properties and see if it gives you some clues.

2. Kill the process, delete the file and after that temporarily disable the prefetcher. For details, read :

Q307498 -"How to Disable the Prefetcher Component in Windows XP"

3. Click Start, type msconfig and press Enter. Under the Service Tab, check "Hide All Microsoft Services". Uncheck all the services listed. Under the General Tab, check "Selective Startup" unselect "Load Startup Items" , click OK,

4. Restart PC.

If you get rid of it, some malware service it's responsible and you can hunt from disabled services.

However, if you still can't be able to get rid of it, the next steps :

5. Run all the viruses and spyware test shown in the following Antiparasite Tools message.

6. Regarding HijackThis log. You can post its content in other on-line Forums (outside CNET). For an unknown reason, those logs are not supported even in Viruses and Security Alerts.


Good Luck,

Cetin


Trying to unweave, unwind, unravel
And piece together the past and the future,

T. S. Eliot

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Re: losing virtual memery
by radioactive1 Nov 24, 2004 1:34AM PST

I agree with Bob.

And I would add that you need to make sure you have downloaded and installed the latest Windows Update.

Make sure that you have a virus scanning software that has an up-to-date signature file. If you don't have one, I would suggest Avast (available at Downloads.com)

Also, if you want a great all-around, adware, spyware, popup, privacy software, check out All-in-one SecretMaker. This software will also quickly get rid of spam once you train it to learn which messages are acceptable to you.

Good Luck,

RadioActive1

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Re: losing virtual memery
by gvosburgh Nov 24, 2004 8:17AM PST

Thanks for your input guys.I've tried the top 5 programs mentioned so far but no succees.I thought for sure the programs would find it because I've been fighting the Vundo virus the last few days even though
I have an up to date Mcafee virusscan program.
Now I think I'll try disabling the services.
Greg

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Re: losing virtual memery
by Cetin Denislam Nov 24, 2004 6:20PM PST

Ahh, if you knew that name why didn?t you disclose it ? It was better for you and us (because we wasted the time in order to give you sketches instead of resolution). Obviously yours was a nasty one.

Try the Trojan.Vundo Removal Tool that?ll help you to get rid of it.

Good Luck,

Cetin


Trying to unweave, unwind, unravel
And piece together the past and the future,

T. S. Eliot

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Re: losing virtual memery
by gvosburgh Nov 25, 2004 1:56AM PST

Because it seemed that the file was contained in my Documents and Settings directory and that Mcafee had cleaned it several times.
Why didn't the other programs that I tried get rid of the Vundo virus?
Thanks
Greg

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Why didn't the other programs that I tried get rid of the Vu
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Nov 25, 2004 2:03AM PST

"Why didn't the other programs that I tried get rid of the Vundo virus?"

Simple. If you were a good virus writer, you would make sure it would survive all current anti-virus programs. You might even add code/features to make updating the antivirus impossible for the average user.

Then you put it out over the P2P networks and watch.

I hope this helps you understand why this happens.

-> More important is to find what behaviour or user is letting the pests in.

Bob

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Why ? The answer is simple ?
by Cetin Denislam Nov 25, 2004 2:35AM PST

In these days there's no 100 % bullet proof shield. That's why you should use as many as free scans available. And your virus was new, nasty and probable the tried AntiVirus products removal algorithms were ineffective.

One case is if your PC isn't infected and the new viruses definitions will take care. However, if yours was already infected a direct removal tool was/is more effective.


You are welcome and "Good Luck",

Cetin


Trying to unweave, unwind, unravel
And piece together the past and the future,

T. S. Eliot

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Re: Why ? The answer is simple ?
by gvosburgh Nov 26, 2004 12:19AM PST

The Vundo fix program worked.It removed the "bas" key from the registry.
It's been a great antivirus education the last few days.
It's good to know where to get some quality computer help advice.
Thanks for everybodys help and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!
Greg

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Re: Why ? The answer is simple ?
by juliefraz Nov 28, 2004 10:14AM PST

May I join in? I have the Vundo virus on my Windows XP laptop. For some reason, the Trojan.Vundo Removal Tool from Symantic does not work for me. I have tried the latest version 1.2.4.0 and thought I followed all directions. Any ideas for me?

Thank you,
Julie

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Try the Virus and Security Forum.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Nov 28, 2004 10:38AM PST

It's the 24x7 topic there.

Bob

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Re: Why ? The answer is simple ?
by gvosburgh Nov 29, 2004 3:43AM PST

The Vundo virus is gone but I think it may have caused more problems.
1)I can surf the web without any problems except when trying to access the Windows Updates site.Then IE hangs up with a white screen.I have to go into task manager to close IE.
2)Then when I try to click on the Automatic Updates tab,I get an "run a DLL as a app" error message.I sent the report to MS but got no response for a fix.
I went to MSKB and it mentions that I should get a hotfix from MS.
Do I have a corrupted file?Any ideas?

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When the OS is damaged, repair is never certain.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Nov 29, 2004 3:56AM PST

But the idea is that you reach a point you can SAVE ALL YOUR FILES YOU CAN NOT LOSE. Then you decide what to do next.

You can try a pass of IEFIX which automates many repairs.

But as you will learn, windows is not always repairable.

Bob

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Re: When the OS is damaged, repair is never certain.
by gvosburgh Nov 29, 2004 4:19AM PST

Where is IEFIX located or do I run it from the run box?

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Re: When the OS is damaged, repair is never certain.
by MarkFlax Former Forum moderator Nov 29, 2004 4:23AM PST
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This thread was about vundo and NOT about Windows Update ...
by Cetin Denislam Nov 29, 2004 4:49AM PST

>> Any ideas ? <<

Of course but why are you using the same style by not disclosing some pertinent info ? For example what MSKB article (example: Q305989) , what hotfix name ?

That?s why I?ll be short this time. Open IE and type http://www.windowsupdate.com

What happens in this case ?


Good Luck,

Cetin


Trying to unweave, unwind, unravel
And piece together the past and the future,

T. S. Eliot

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Re: This thread was about vundo and NOT about Windows Update
by gvosburgh Nov 29, 2004 5:17AM PST

I started the thread about the vundo virus but the virus is probably the cause of my windows update problem.
In MSKB I did a search on the error code I mentioned "run a dll as a app" and came up with Article 837633.
When I try to reach windows update web site,all I get is a blank screen and that's where it hangs up.

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Re: This thread was about vundo and NOT about Windows Update
by gvosburgh Nov 29, 2004 5:51AM PST

I started the thread about the vundo virus but the virus is probably the cause of my windows update problem.
In MSKB I did a search on the error code I mentioned "run a dll as a app" and came up with Article 837633.
When I try to reach windows update web site,all I get is a blank screen and that's where it hangs up.

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Read the answer in the original thread and ...
by Cetin Denislam Nov 29, 2004 10:58PM PST

See the answer in the original thread.

After you'll execute the WuSP2Fix.cmd from IE try to open via the URL :

http://www.windowsupdate.com


Good Luck,

Cetin


Trying to unweave, unwind, unravel
And piece together the past and the future,

T. S. Eliot

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Windows Update problems?
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Nov 29, 2004 5:34AM PST
Back to Windows Legacy OS forum

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