can i bother you with computer problems?

#1)
these are the "processes" running on my computer. what i'd like to know, is if they are all normal, or are just slowing down my computer:
ctfmon.exe - eslins - 2792K
QuickBrowser.exe - eslins - 6576K
qttask.exe - eslins - 2492K
wdfmgr.exe - local service - 1856K
mdm.exe - system - 3612K
explorer.exe - eslins 25,268K
alg.exe - local service - 5212K
spoolsv.exe - system - 6180K
logonui.exe - system - 2076K
svchost.exe - local service - 4996K
svchost.exe - network service - 3856K
svchost.exe - system - 28,700K
svchost.exe - system - 5280K
lsass.exe - system - 1396K
services.exe - system - 3640K
winlogon.exe - system - 1320K
csrss.exe - sytem - 6008K
smss.exe - system - 848K
wuauclt.exe - eslins - 5968K
system - system - 216K
system idle process - system - 20K

#2)
is it normal to have alot of "Windows XP Hotfix" files on your Add or Remove Program tray? i currently have over 70 Windows XP Hotfix programs in mine. they are all "Remove Only" programs.

#3)
in addition to the many Windows XP Hotfix programs in my Add or Remove Program tray, i also have "KGhost" (.14MB) and "ServerSide" (.23MB) which are both Remove Only programs. however, when i remove them, as soon as the computer is turned off and then back on, they are there like they were never removed. b4 now, i had been able to run a search on the programs and find them on my computer, however, it wouldn't allow me to delete them.

#4)
whenever i try to open a folder i get an "Error - Explorer" prompt that gives me the options to either "OK" it or x-out.

#5)
currently, my folders wont allow me to do anything with them. no searches or file browsing. it freezes and i have to "End Task" since they aren't responding.

#6)
my normally zippy 56K computer is currently running @ 23K. usually restarting solves this, but not tonight.

is there anything i can do, doc?

Have you scanned your computer for spyware? Try this http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

And what is your computer specification? Normally when I have this situation, I just reformat it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif When's your last reformat?

Try the listings here for a description of processes.

Another anti-malware program that is well respected is adaware:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

I don't know why you have so many hotfixes in your add/remove programs. Maybe it is because you haven't installed service pack 2. I have only 6 and I have installed sp2.

quickbrowser seems to be definitely scumware. Here's one link about it:
quickBrowser info

You probably have more of these things too.

Sometimes when you can't delete a program or file, you will have better luck if you boot up in safe mode. To get into safe mode you press F8 sometime before you get the welcome screen.

If you don't have much to lose, you may be better starting over with a clean install of XP, as was mentioned earlier.

I hope you have an anti-virus program installed and you have XP's firewall or another firewall installed. Otherwise you will be going through this often.

I have heard the same thing applies if you are running Kazaa or other file sharing software.

zbwu:
i have Spybot Search & Destroy. i don't use it, as i also have the latest version of Adaware, and from what i can see Adaware made Spybot S&D obsolete. *shrug*

what do you mean by comptuer specification? i know next to nothing about computers. as for the last reformat, it's been @ least 2 years.

PW:
thanks for the link. i'll start going thru it in depth tomorrow. it seems there are alot of viruses that take on the names of legit' Windows XP programs. doh!

eluminator:
i have the latest version of Adaware.
Service Pack 2 has been unable to install on my computer. it starts out okay but then during the 2nd part of the download something goes wrong and i get an unsuccessful installation message.
thanks for that QuickBrowser link! QuickBrowser is now gone from my computer!
i have no anti-virus software on my computer that i'm aware of. a quick look doesn't yield anything. XP's firewall is going tho.

thanks guys. slowly starting to make progress over here!

Edit:
here's the message i get when i try to install SP2:
"Service Pack 2 Setup Error

Windows XP Service Pack 2 cannot install.

The product key used to install Microsoft Windows may not be valid. For more information about why you have received this error message, and steps you can take to resolve this issue visit www.howtotell.com."

and going to howtotell.com ended up leading to more problems. i couldn't use their Validation Assistant.

Congratulation on getting rid of quick browser. Some of these things are hard to get rid of. Let's hope it hasn't re-appeared yet.

It's not necessary to install SP2, I just mentioned the lack of it may be why you have so many hotfixes. SP2 probably incorporates these hotfixes and makes them irrelevant.

AdAware doesn't make SpyBot obsolete. They work differently and catch different things. Unfortunately even when you run both, they don't catch all the malware. And you should check for updates before running.

In case we have a definition problem, when I said anti-virus I meant a program that runs on your computer and scans for, and removes, viruses. You need one of these also. AVG is popular and it's free. McAfee and Norton charge a yearly fee. I happen to use McAfee. These commercial ones package a lot of other "good" things with them. I don't use these other things, sometimes they cause trouble. Do some research before using them. I just enable the virus scanner part of the package.

Besides just using more passive software such as ad-aware and spybot, you should also try using more active programs such as Spyware Blaster, IE-Spyad2, and Microsoft AntiSpyware (beta at the moment).

Staying away from IE helps, too. Of course, there's also HijackThis!, which is great but it can really mess things up if you're not careful. .

Try Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel . It's a nice clean way to control which programs start up automatically at bootup. You can disable programs without removing them, in case you accidentally shut down something that you really needed.

AdAware should be used in conjunction with SpyBot S&D as they both find things the other doesn't.

[ QUOTE ]
Negeltu said:
AdAware should be used in conjunction with SpyBot S&D as they both find things the other doesn't.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed!

Same here. I have that wonderful CWS varient and opening IE (I run FireFox for surfing) for Uncle Bill's updates results in an immediate reinfestation. AdAware gets most of it out and Spybot S&D removes some more. Neither can get it all! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif The guy that wrote CWS Shredder has given-up. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
(btw a vuln for FireFox was very recently discovered. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif )

Larry

You can also try the Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif hehe...at your own risk of course. If you uninstall it make sure that you clean out the 40 or so registry entries it leaves behind in the registry.

Also, I recommend using Spyware Blaster and Spyware Guard...AND using the resident protection that Spybot offers. Tea Timer prevents alterations to the registry without your knowledge...and the IE plugin prevents hostile activex and bho's from installing.

OH OH.. and make sure that you turn java caching off...and activex controls...and be warey(hehe) of sites with javascripts as it is another potential source of infection. VBS scripts too... hmm... it goes on and on doesn't it? And if you use windows xp keep it's firewall enabled if you don't have any better.