Hesitation!

[Bphillips]

OK. So I read all the other posts about mouse hesitation and the like. But none seem to answer my problem.

Randomly, my mouse will hesitate, and if I try to play music or something it stops and starts.

What is causing this hesitation? Please help - it's slowly killing me.

I've run McAfee system scan
I've run AdAware
I've defragmented
I've cleaned my mouse

I have not installed anything new lately.

If I RESTART my computer, it seems to work fine...for a bit.

According to the graph in the task manager, by CPU usage ocillates between 22% and 44%

I have a total of 71.4 GB of space on my hard drive. I have 41.6 GB free.

It SOMETIMES happens when I run a CD or something in one of my CD trays - but not always.

While this is happening - like right now for instance - I don't have anything excessive running. Nothing I don't USUALLY have running.

Take a look at some of the screen shots I've added too. Is the problem there? And WHAT DO I DO? I love step-by-steps.

Thank you in advance.
-Bruce

[Xpenetrator]

I'm afraid your problem cannot be solved that easy...

1. Mouse hesitations can have a bunch of reasons, including hardware conflicts or interfering programs. Your second screenshot shows quite a lot of running stuff on your computer.

2. On top of the list I found "AOLSoftware.exe". This could have been added by the "W32/Tilebot-CL worm and IRC backdoor". http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/aolsoftware.exe-13800.html

I suggest downloading HiJackThis from http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3155.html then unzip it into a new folder (i.e. C:\HJT), start it and click on "Do a system scan and save a log file". Then copy and paste the whole log file into your next post.
This thread might belong to the "viruses, spyware and other nasties" forum, so I guess it should be moved.

Sorry, I wish I had better news for you...;)

[Bphillips]

Hey, it's no problem. As long as we can fix it - which I'm sure we can. This doesn't seem to be all that DAMAGING. Just annoying. Very. Very. Annoying. I'll download HijackThis and get back to you today. Is an admin going to move this thread? Do I start a new one all together? Thanks.

-B

[Xpenetrator]

This doesn't seem to be all that DAMAGING

Hmmm... it would mean nothing less than you are not the only person with full control over your computer. It tries to infect other computers and can make yours a part of a bot-net that could be used for criminal actions. Read this: http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/w32tilebotcl.html

Most european antivirus forums would tell you then that you cannot remove a backdoor 100% safely and your computer must be reformatted and reinstalled. And indeed, this would be the safest thing to do and as a sideeffect, you would get rid of the hesitations, too. But let's see first if you're really infected.

I can't help you much removing it since I'm not really experienced in this. The "viruses spyware and other nasties" forum will hopefully suggest some tools to try for you.

Is an admin going to move this thread?

I hope so...:)

[Bphillips]

OK. I'm now posting in the "viruses spyware and other nasties" forum. "Hesitation Part Deux". It includes a Hijack This log. Be sure to check it out! Collect the whole set.

[Xpenetrator]

But don't get scared - depending on its location the process could be legitimate, especially if AOL is your provider...:)

[Xpenetrator]

I thought you would post the log here...:)

Ok, it seems to be the legitimate aolsoftware.exe. The rest of the log looks clean, too. Good.

Now check this: Go start menu - right-click on 'my computer' and select 'properties'. The go to the "hardware" tab and open the device manager.
Do you see any yellow exclamation marks or red X entries?

If not:
Now go to the 'view' pull down menu on top - select 'resources by connection' and expand the the IRQ list (last entry in the tree view). Do many devices have the same IRQ number? (You can post a screenshot again if unsure)

Ah yes, I assume you use an USB mouse?

[Bphillips]

I do use a USB mouse. I don't see any red X's except my Linksys wireless card - which I want disabled.

Here's the screenshot of the IRQ list - but I think it looks right.

[Xpenetrator]

Sorry for the delay, had some meltdown here, too...:cheesy:

If you look closely, you'll see that one of the USB controllers is sharing an IRQ with the video card. This is not necessarily the cause of your problem (the symptoms do not fit into that) but a bad assignment anyway: The video chip should not share an IRQ. I guess you already tried another USB port? They are driven by other controllers and (I guess ) should work better if that is the problem.

Another thing we have to check is, have you already installed the latest versions of your mainboard chipset, mouse and graphics driver?

To check if another running program is causing the trouble, disable all autostart programs for a test, using msconfig:
Go 'Start-->Run', type 'msconfig <Enter>' and then select the 'Startup' tab. Uncheck all entries (you can turn them all on again later) and then check your mouse.

I forgot to ask if the mouse is a ball or laser and with tail or wireless? (Have you tried another one?)

[Bphillips]

How do I assign another IRQ to the video card or USB controller?

[Xpenetrator]

Unfortunately, XP doesn't allow the users to change these settings anymore. I spent the whole evening to find a way, no result. I didn't know that it's so hard to cope with such tiny resource problems in XP.

The only way seems to be by changing the HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) and making Windows re-configuring the whole PC. This can be done in the Device Manager or more flexible via the Boot.ini. Since this can be a bit awkward, I would first check if all other suggestions fail. In some cases, this may as well end in a reinstallation orgy, trying to find the point where Windows configures the hardware resources right.

I wouldn't do this unless the mouse shows the same problem on a freshly installed XP.

I should ask again if you already installed the latest versions of your mainboard chipset, mouse and graphics driver?
Does the problem appear if you boot into Safe Mode? If yes and disabling startup processes (you can turn them all off for a test) didn't help either, I guess it's time to reinstall Windows from scratch to continue troubleshooting.

[Bphillips]

I've never tried it under SafeMode. The problem is this hesitation thing doesn't start until after a while. It may be running fine for a couple hours, then all of a sudden it start hesitating.

Latest versions of the mouse and graphics drivers? I guess not....I didn't realize there are different versions for a driver - I thought it was a one time deal. Where do I find updated drivers?

[Xpenetrator]

I've never tried it under SafeMode. The problem is this hesitation thing doesn't start until after a while. It may be running fine for a couple hours, then all of a sudden it start hesitating.

Select "Safe Mode with networking drivers" and spent some time surfing the net in Safe Mode...:cheesy: But before that, please tell me if your Task Manager screenshot was made while the hesitations occured? If not, please provoke the hesitations once again in normal mode for me - when they show up, open Task Manager and have a look at your memory usage and the process list, if something is eating up your physical memory. A program could cause a "memory leak" -style problem which takes a while to build up.

In the other thread on this issue I saw that you observed not only the mouse is hesitating but the whole system. This changes pretty much everything and together with the delay until it shows up, temperature and other hardware problems are now on the list of suspects, too.

Latest versions of the mouse and graphics drivers? I guess not....I didn't realize there are different versions for a driver - I thought it was a one time deal. Where do I find updated drivers?

It's no one time deal - it's a never ending hassle and where you can get them depends on the exact products. That's why we need to know more about your computer. Exact model / manufacturer and if custom build, pretty much all hardware specs - especially the model/make of your mainboard, your graphics card and btw, from your mouse, too. :) If you can't find much without opening the box, download "Everest Home Edition" from http://www.lavalys.com/ and let that program look into your machine.

[Bphillips]

OK - it's donig it again, and here is the Processes screen shot with memory usage.

Here's what it says under the General tab about my computer:

Dell Dimension DE051
Intel(R)
Celeron(R) CPU 2.53GHz
2.53 GHz, 1.25 BG of RAM

Microsoft Windows CP
Home Edition
Version 2002
Service Pack 2

My computer also checks and automatically updates every day at 6AM.

[Bphillips]

Why do I have six "svchost.exe"'s running? Any why does my System Idle Process show somewhere between 84 and 96 on the CPU...scale? Is that the problem?

...and what is all that?

Incidentally, the only applications running are AIM and Yahoo Messenger. ...and now this one window in Mozilla.

[Xpenetrator]

Ok, I'll have to do a little research on that Dell now. :cheesy:

Why do I have six "svchost.exe"'s running? Any why does my System Idle Process show somewhere between 84 and 96 on the CPU...scale? Is that the problem?

The "Generic Host Process" -DLL is employed by several services on your computer and hence running in several instances. Everybody has at least 2 or 3 of them running. I don't know the real purpose of the "Idle Process", but it's normal that it seems to use all CPU if no other processes use it. Maybe the CPU plays PacMan on it when it gets bored...;)

Incidentally, the only applications running are AIM and Yahoo Messenger. ...and now this one window in Mozilla.

Most of it is all your autostart applications like antivirus, peripherals control and stuff sitting in the sys tray. To check if one of them is causing the problem, you can disable them all in msconfig for a test. You can turn them all (or the few you want to keep) on again later. Your problem may be caused by all running 3rd-party software, so you should turn off everything to see if that helps, even things that may appear essential. The only thing that seems to be important (WLan) is "WZCSLDR2.exe", but since I want you to turn off your Mcaffee services, surfing the net is not recommended for the duration of the test anyway. But meanwhile I doubt that the problem is caused by one of them...

The idea is stripping down all soft- and hardware until the problem disappears or only few things remain to sort out, since this kind of trouble can be caused by almost everything. The next step (if all disabling and stuff failed) would be to reinstall XP. Can you borrow a redundant hard disk from someone? Just put it in and install a fresh windows there, if it doesn't help you can put your own HDD back in without having wrecked your current installation for nothing. Is there any warranty left on that computer?

[Xpenetrator]

DE051 refers to a Dell Dimension 1100 or B110. Latest drivers and BIOS files for that are here: http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/devices.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&SystemID=DIM_CEL_1100&os=WW1&osl=EN

As far I found out, driver and BIOS updates are not performed automatically. At least you have to instruct the update application to download these update packets, in case there are newer available (you can apparently check this with the same tool).

Dell recommends applying this update during your next scheduled update cycle.

How old is that computer? Most of the updated files are from end of 2005, the drivers for the "Dell Premium Optical Mouse" (do you have this?) are from 10/26/2006 (!) the latest BIOS is from 2/20/2006. If your computer was purchased earlier, it is likely that some drivers are not up-to-date. This will most likely not cause your problem, but who knows if something corrupted a previously working driver. So you should update drivers for chipset, video adapter, input device, audio and (I guess) Dell Desktop System Software. If necessary, FlashBIOS update should be performed, too.

So try disabling autostart stuff first, if it doesn't help update drivers, if that doesn't help either you'll have to check if this happens on a clean XP, too (this will rule out if it's a software issue at all)

BTW, you didn't answer or I missed if you tried another USB port already?

[Netwolfdt]

The System Idle Process is a counter that counts how much cpu resources are free. Do you have IIS installed?