Problems with browser and Creative Mixer

You can configure the startup page to any website its configured from Settings.


Please download Malwarebytes' AdwCleaner onto your Desktop.

• Double click on AdwCleaner_xxxx.exe to run the tool.
  
• Click on Scan.
  
• After done scanning, please hit Logfile. Locate the logfile in the Scan tab, double-click on it, copy the information inside of it, and paste it into your next reply.
  
• You can find the logfile at C:\AdwCleaner[Sx].txt as well.
  

I attempted to use Adwcleaner but, I get an error message saying Adwcleaner_70.40.ece is not a valid win32 application.  I was looking on the site and it shows to be for Windows 7, 8, and 10.

Looks like AdwCleaner is not compatible with Windows XP.

Fix with Junkware Removal Tool

Please download Malwarebytes' Junkware Removal Tool and save the file to your desktop.

• Right-click on the JRT.exe or Junkware Removal Tool icon and select Run as Administrator to start the tool.
  
• Follow the prompts and let this process run uninterrupted.
  
• This scan can take a while, depending on your System specs.
  
• Upon completion, a log (JRT.txt) will open on your desktop.

Please include the contents of that file in your reply.

Do not forget to re-enable your previously switched off protection software!
Please also manually reboot your machine after this procedure.

I had a version of AdwCleaner from June on a disk that worked in my PC.  I used it and there was something found in Chrome.  I am now able to get back into Chrome.  The results are below.  I will go ahead and run JRT as well.  and provide the results.  

# AdwCleaner v6.047 - Logfile created 17/11/2017 at 17:23:15
# Updated on 19/05/2017 by Malwarebytes
# Database : 2017-05-19.1 [Local]
# Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 (X86)
# Username : Teressa - PROSPERITY
# Running from : C:\Documents and Settings\Teressa\Desktop\AdwCleaner.exe
# Mode: Clean
# Support : https://www.malwarebytes.com/support



***** [ Services ] *****



***** [ Folders ] *****



***** [ Files ] *****



***** [ DLL ] *****



***** [ WMI ] *****



***** [ Shortcuts ] *****



***** [ Scheduled Tasks ] *****



***** [ Registry ] *****

[-] Key deleted: HKCU\Software\Google\Chrome\Extensions\chfdnecihphmhljaaejmgoiahnihplgn


***** [ Web browsers ] *****



*************************

:: "Tracing" keys deleted
:: Winsock settings cleared

*************************

C:\AdwCleaner\AdwCleaner[C0].txt - [875 Bytes] - [17/11/2017 17:23:15]
C:\AdwCleaner\AdwCleaner[S0].txt - [1224 Bytes] - [17/11/2017 17:17:39]

########## EOF - C:\AdwCleaner\AdwCleaner[C0].txt - [1020 Bytes] ##########

I ran JRT, the scan returned no infections.  I noted in TaskManager my PU is at 100% usage.  I found items running that I am uncertain of.  aswidsagent.exe, it's usinf 32,148k, E_s50RP7, smss.  There are 10 svchost.exe running, 4 local, 4 system, and 2 network.  One network svchost.exe is using 204,908 K.  I belive aswidsagent.exe, is AVG.  But, I uninstalled avg a couple of weeks ago and installed Avast.  I attempted to stop the aswidsagent.exe process, but I was blocked from doing so.

If the uninstallation was unsuccessful, use the AVG Remover tool. Please make sure to save all your work and close all open documents! Your PC will be restarted during the process:

Click here to download the AVG Remover tool.

Run the downloaded file and then click Continue to accept the AVG’s License Agreement and Privacy Policy. AVG Remover scans your PC to find all installed AVG products.

Select the product you would like to uninstall and click Remove.

Click Restart.

If the Open File - Security Warning dialog appears after the restart, click Run to complete the uninstallation.

If prompted, restart your PC again.

Note: Once the uninstallation process is complete, go to your C:\ drive, and delete the AVG_Remover folder manually.

I used the AVG tool.  Though, I am not sure everything is gone, because my Avast program has attempted to get my to buy Avast Cleanup Premium, and during the Avast scan, it shows remnants of AVG.  I was considering the extra protection, but one of the changes it wanted to make was to put programs like Malwarbytes to sleep, to boost speed.  I wasn't sure if that was a good thing.  Perhaps if Avast is doing all it should to keep me protected, it would be okay.  Aside from that, what I have noted is when I use Firefox or Chrome, my CPU Usage is really high, and tops my PC at 100% usage.  I uninstalled and reinstalled Firefox.  This did not help.  I attempted to go through each Addon one by one to test if that was the problem, but when I set Shockwave, Shockewave for Director, and Adobe Acrobat to Never be active, and I rebooted Firefox, I would not Firefox would still be running in Task Manager.  After about 20 minutes I would end process, and when I open it again, the addons I disabled were still active.

It is strongly recommended that you run only one antivirus program at a time. Having more than one antivirus program active in memory uses additional resources and can result in program conflicts and false virus alerts. If you choose to install more than one antivirus program on your computer, then only one of them should be active in memory at a time.

Safe Mode is a special Firefox mode that can be used to troubleshoot and fix problems. Safe Mode temporarily turns off hardware acceleration, resets some settings, and disables add-ons (extensions and themes) that might be causing problems. By comparing Firefox behavior in normal mode to its behavior in Safe Mode you may be able to pinpoint the cause of the problem.

Click the menu button menu , click Help and select Restart with Add-ons Disabled…. Firefox will start up with the Firefox Safe Mode dialog.

If the problem still happens in Safe Mode, it is not being caused by an extension or theme. Other possible causes could be plugins or changes made to Firefox preference settings, which are not disabled in Safe Mode.

If the problem does not happen in Safe Mode, it is most likely because of an extension, theme or hardware acceleration.

When I start Firefox in Safe mode, I get a Firefox crash report.  But, then a message asking if I wish to start Firefox in safemode.  It does start and I can use it.  What can I do to fix the problem with the addons or plugins?

Something else I noted is when I first start my PC, or I restart it there is an SVChost, that is using substantial CPU, to the point of not being able to run any other program.  If I kill the process everything starts working, and nothing seems to suffer stopping the process.  How can I determine why that process runs to begin with?

You have to disable all  add-ons and plugins and enable add-ons and plugins one at time and restart Firefox to check if last enabled add-ons or plugins causing the problem if its you have to uninstall it or disable it.


The svchost.exe (Service Host, or SvcHost) is a system process that hosts multiple Windows services. The svchost.exe located at C:\Windows\System32 folder if the svchost.exe running any other folder its a malware infection.

You can use Process Explorer to view services hosted by Svchost.exe. Double click the Svchost.exe causing the problem and from Services tab you can view all services hosted by Svchost.exe.

Last night, I attempted to go through each Addon in Firefox, I would remove one, and restart firefox, but the problem still persisted.  But, when I attempted to disable Shockwave, Shockewave for Director, and Adobe Acrobat and I rebooted Firefox, Firefox would still be running in Task Manager.  After about 20 minutes I would end process, and when I opened Firfox again, the addons I disabled, Shockwave, Shockewave for Director, and Adobe Acrobat, were still active.  I could not disable them.  Is there a work around for disabling those that I am missing?  Also, just what addons does Firefox itself need to run?

As for SVChost, how do I get to Process Explorer in XP?

Uninstall Adobe Shockwave or Flash Player and Adobe Acrobat to see issue resolves.



"Download Process Explorer"
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

These are some of the things that are running that I am not sure about.  https://www.mediafire.com/folder/3vz64nbcu7alh/Processes_Running

This shows the high svchost, https://www.mediafire.com/folder/0e2kkm7h9s4iv/svchost

All the processes are legit belongs to Microsoft.

I see one of the Svchost.exe utilizing CPU lot more than others double click this Svchost.exe and post a screenshot of the Services tab.

This is the folder, there are two screen captures.

http://www.mediafire.com/?0e2kkm7h9s4iv

GypsyCowgirl wrote:

This is the folder, there are two screen captures.

http://www.mediafire.com/?0e2kkm7h9s4iv

Along with the above link, I noted something.  When I kill the enormous process that is hogging so much CPU, my audio is killed.  So, the audio is one of the things running in that process.  If I kill that enormous process, I can run Chrome without a problem.  If that big process is running, I can not get online.

We need to find out which service is causing the high CPU usage to do that you need to stop the services one at time and each time you have stop a service check the CPU usage when you find out which service causing the problem disable the service from Services Manager. You can open Services Manager by typing services.msc into Run dialog box.

What I have noted is that it is the Windows Automatic update inside that svchost that is using a lot of CPU.  However, Firefox hogs a LOT of the CPU.  If I open Chrome it will run.  However Firefox has a hard time running because it is hogging all the CPU.  I would just use Chrome, but some of the sites I need to use won't open in Chrome, and have to be used in Firefox.

I have restarted Firefox in safe mode, and while running in safe mode the CPU usage is very low, unless a page is loading, then it goes up to 100% usage, but once the page loads it drops to low usage.

Please install all Windows updates and see Windows Update CPU usage normalized.

If the bug or issue you're experiencing vanishes when you open Firefox in Safe Mode, the problem is probably caused by your add-ons.