Hey dudes...

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I’ve got a problem and I’m not sure how to fix it... much like some of the other people here (these thing happen even though VIAOs are ace).

I have a VGN-A417S and have had for about 7 months now. When it fully worked it was just like a dream (especially as I had received it as part of a £3.6k grant :smileytongue::smileytongue: for being a bum/student :smileytongue::smileytongue::smileytongue:).

At the moment I think it's either a virus that none of my virus detectors can’t get find, or something’s up.

Basically as I type (with only MSN Messenger, Microsoft ActiveSync, Windows Task Manager and this internet browser) my CPU is running slowly at 100% and it does this after about 20 minutes after a restart.

What I have found from looking in task manager is that I have 77 processes running, two of these images have duplicates(this seems a little high, there are other items such as the VIAO launcher but without those and the duplicates this would still be about 60). One of them has one duplicate whilst the other has 6! This duplicate has the cheek to duplicate - under different user names (either LOCAL SERVICE, SYSTEM, NETWORK SERVICE or my user name).

:smileythinking:

The amount of duplicates changes some disappear and some appear from nowhere but is a list of the duplicate image names at the moment:
image name (number of duplicates X user name)
svchost.exe (3xSYSTEM) (2xLOCAL SERVICE) (2XNETWORK SERVICE)
ati2evxx.exe (2xSYSTEM)

Maybe this is a virus trying to slow my laptop down... or maybe it tried to make it un
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Does this ring a bell to anyone? Or does this give anyone an idea to help the poor student try to get his laptop back to mint condition. Come on....! PLEASE!!! I thank you in advance for your reply!




P.S. In the end of the day there’s always good peace of mind with the ace 3 or 5 year guarantee that Sony VIAO give (which I also got for free!)

[stephanius]

Sorry Page,

svchost.exe and ati2evxx.exe are normal as you see them act on your machine.

Even if you google each process name listed in the device manager, you will not necessarily find the problem, since it is possible to prevent that a process shows up in the taskmanager.

I recommend you check your system for spyware and malware using software such as 'Spybot Search & Destory' and make sure that your antivirus package is up to date.

[page_duplicate_02]

Oh right ... cheers dude. Is it normal for 78 processes to be running?

I have windows defender and eTrust antivirus realtime as well as the internet here is meant to have its own antivirus system. Once again though these things happen.

Also are there any ways of monitoring fan speeds AND CPU temperature... I cheched the max heat that the processor on the A417S which is aparently 100 Celcius. Because of constantly being at 100% processor use, I downloaded SpeedFan which tells me that it has reached 105 Celcius. Should I worry? I know there is a system that shuts down your laptop if it gets too hot.

I checked the manual for my A417S and there isn't any information about cleaning dust from the fans. I understand that this may be a delecate task and probably has to be done by somebody else but on the other hand I doubted that anyone would pay to get dust taken out of their laptop.

Even when I fix this minor problem I'm still interested in upgrading the cooling fans on the laptop for better performance. Do you know if there are any ways of upgrading whilst maintainging your warranty with Sony? Or would this not in practice be money well spent?

Page

[tonybeard]

You can go the MSCONFIG direction and remove any unneccessary programs in the startup that are really not neccessary. removing them from the startup means they are not deleted but simply inactive till you require them. Dragndrop is really not neccessary to be in the startup as is the vaiolink auto updater, windows updater etc. Better still grab Tune Up utilities 2006 for 30 days and do all it reccommends fromhere

[Blencogo]

You can also delete all the files in your "Prefetch" directory every couple of months. This part loads programs for faster access. All sorts of old programs can get in here when you no longer use them.

It may take a little longer for the first boot after you empty it as the essential progs are reloaded but you should see the benefits after that!

78 processes sounds an awful lot - I have 46 running at the moment!

[robpaxton]

And if you really want to know what autoruns when you start your computer then dowload Autoruns from Sysinternals.com

It can be very useful in finding and eliminating unwanted autorunning software because it also indicates where in the registry it's loaded from - just make sure that you take care when using it to stop any autorun software. . . .

[rich912]

Thanks for that link Rob – a very handy utility!