Computer Assistance requested

[Isgrimnur]

Within the last week, Google Chrome would start hanging when I attempted to use it. The bottom bar would mention the cache. Googling the issue indicated that there was an issue where the cache could become corrupt. Clearing the cache did nothing for me, so I gave up on it and moved over to Firefox. ... Firefox and IE exhibit the same issues.

So I move onto possibilities of malware. I run scans with several malware tools, virus scans, and they all will hang for a period before resuming. As will Windows Explorer.

So last night, I put Memtest on a USB stick, fire it up and let it run overnight. Bottom message this morning indicates that it completed, no issues found. I'm letting it run all day today just to be sure.

Is there anything else I can try before popping in the system restore disk (for the 3rd time) and nuking the system from orbit? If it still persists, I suppose I'll call it a hardware issue and start working the phones with Cyberpower.

I'm kinda frustrated at the moment.

[Anonymous Bosch]

I would try scanning for malware using a bootable emergency disk, like the free Kaspersky Rescue Disk in conjunction with the Kaspersky Rescue Disk Updater (to ensure you scan using the very latest definitions).

[Pyperkub]

Did you by any chance have Java enabled on Chrome? Some sort of cross-browser plug-in like that could maybe cause issues...

[Isgrimnur]

I don't believe I'd ever gotten back to installing Java. I had checked the browser extensions in Chrome and Firefox and turned everything off. No improvement was noticed.

[TheMix]

To what Pyperkub said, the recent update to Firefox actually disabled Java. Sites that need it started erring on me. Though not like what you were seeing. Instead they would throw a Java error telling me I needed to install the right version of Java.

I ended up just enabling the Java plugin in Firefox.

But I didn't have any issues in Chrome, so it's probably unrelated.

[Pyperkub]

Another prevalent plug-in that can cause such slowdowns is Acrobat.

[Isgrimnur]

The Kaspersky thing failed with an error almost immediate after I tried to put it on a USB drive.

So It's a scorched earth way forward and we'll try it again from scratch.

[Kasey Chang]

I'd recommend a test of your HD from a boot disk. I recommend UBCD4WIN, though that would require you build it on a separate computer.

http://www.ubcd4win.com/

I think AVG also gave a boot disk you can mount based on one of the Linux variants.

http://www.avg.com/us-en/avg-rescue-cd

[Anonymous Bosch]

The Kaspersky thing failed with an error almost immediate after I tried to put it on a USB drive.

So It's a scorched earth way forward and we'll try it again from scratch.

Are you sure that your flash drive was formatted to use FAT32 and not NTFS? If you're unsure how to format the flash drive using diskpart, the HP Flash Utility makes it very simple. Failing that, you're probably better off simply burning it to a disc (assuming you have a burner, that is).

Here's another quick idea: try scanning your system with the portable SUPERAntiSpyware scanner (it saves under a random filename so that malware infections are unable to block the scanner).

[Isgrimnur]

It got reformatted to a FAT system when I put memtest on it.

Back up and installing drivers and Norton Internet Security 11, all from the MB disk. Chrome is snapping right along.

[Isgrimnur]

Everything's running nicely, I've verified that the restore points are functioning.

It may be unrelated, but one of my name-based e-mails was compromised from Hong Kong yesterday.

Recovered, new password applied. No indication that any e-mails were sent or received, but it still seems a bit too coincidental.

[Zarathud]

Time to practice safe surfing, Isg. What good is an extra factoid of two if it bumps you offline?

[Isgrimnur]

I've gotten so good at the system reset option that it feels like an old hat.