CPU @100%, system slow, getting frustrated

This is a problem I've been dealing with for the last couple of days and its starting to drive me up the wall.

I did a favor for a friend 2 days ago, when I borrowed their scanner and downloaded a driver and program from the manufacturer's website (the scanner is a HP5100C & the software and driver were for Wins 95/98/NT 4.0) I had thought that anything that was written for 4.0 would be forwardly compatible with Win2000 Pro so I didn't think there would be a problem.

However, when I rebooted after installing the software, the computer was running *extremely* slowly...when it got to the point of just past the 'splash' screen, it rebooted. Then rebooted again, and a third time. Finally, on the fourth try it booted successfully but it took nearly 30 minutes to completely boot up and then I was unable to do anything that didn't take approximately 5 minutes to complete each process. I've been using my wife's computer to research the problem, I've found many instances of this happening with people running XP, but none that seem to really address the problem I've been experiencing. I went so far as to download the CWShredder software and run it on the computer, it did indeed find an instance of 'CoolWebSearch' and removed it, but upon reboot, the problem remained. I've downloaded and moved the program HiJackThis! but haven't been able to run it yet, even if/when I do run it I'm hard pressed to get the information from one computer to the next and I'd really like to avoid having to reformat the HD and reinstall the OS and software if possible.

I tried running my SpySweeper software, but with the CPU maxed at 100% its going to take a year to get through the program completely. I've tried to run Norton Anti-Virus, but it too incurs the same problem with the CPU being hogged with whatever is causing the logjam.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Use Safe mode to remove the scanner / driver .

Toggle F8 or Press Ctrl ( depends on your comp ) during bootup ( just before , verifying DMI pool , message comes on )
Select Safe Mode .
If that dos'nt work .
In Windows , Start > Shut Down , select Restart in MS-Dos mode .
At the DOS prompt , get to c:\Windows> and then type in win.com /d:m , press Enter & it will reboot to Safe Mode .

http://www.techtv.com/callforhelp/howto/story/0,24330,10060,00.html
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q180902
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001052409420406

W2k
http://www.le.ac.uk/cc/dsss/docs/startup.shtml

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Free online Spyware detector
Click on > Scan without registering
http://www.pestscan.com/

Or ,

http://www.spywareinfo.com/xscan.php
Screen for Adware, Spyware, Scumware, Diallers, ’Jackers and other unsolicited commercial software .

Remove Spyfiles by using these 6 programs .
Make sure you use the SpyBot/SpywareBlaster/Ad-aware/Bazooka/Swat It > Online > Update button regularly .

SpyBot
http://beam.to/spybotsd
http://www.spybot.us/spybotsd13.exe
http://majorgeeks.com/download2471.html
1st step , Choose your Mode ( at the top of screen )
Mode > Advanced ( if you want to have more options )
Editor's Note: The Resident shield in version 1.3 has an issue allowing certain cookies (Specifically Double Click)when set to notify. If page loading becomes a problem, right click the icon in the Systray, select “Resident IE” and either uncheck “Use Resident in IE sessions” or check "Block all bad pages silently".
Once you have the program installed , open SpyBot and select the "Immunize" icon on the left & Click on Immunize , in the new page .
Permanently running bad download blocker for Internet Explorer .
Select > Block all bad pages silently & click Install .
Then check the box "lock hosts file read-only as protection against hijackers".
Select your download site .
Open Spybot Search and Destroy. After clicking the button that says "Search for Updates" & the check is finished , you will see 5 items near the top of the window, "Search for Updates", "Download Updates", UniDo(Europe), "Show Log" and "Help". Next to UniDo(Europe) you will see a "down" arrow. Click the "down" arrow and you will see download site choices (3 in Europe, 1 in USA and 1 in Australia). Right click on your selection to make it default .
A Beginner's Guide to Spybot
http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/cc/documentation/security/spyware/Spybot_guide.htm
http://tomcoyote.org/SPYBOT/index1.php
http://tomcoyote.org/SPYBOT/index2.php

SpyBot lock host files greyed out
If it doesn't have a hosts file you cant lock it, so that tweak will be grayed out.
Have SpyBot install its hosts file.
http://www.zerosrealm.com/immunizing.php
Note: For those running in "Basic" mode ( version 1.2 ) you will NOT see this. You must be running in Advanced mode! To get in advanced mode, a really easy way is to go to Start >> All Programs >> Spybot Search and Destroy >> Spybot Search and Destroy (advanced). Click it. You are now in advanced mode.
Select your download site .
Open Spybot Search and Destroy. After clicking the button that says "Search for Updates" & the check is finished , you will see 5 items near the top of the window, "Search for Updates", "Download Updates", UniDo(Europe), "Show Log" and "Help". Next to UniDo(Europe) you will see a "down" arrow. Click the "down" arrow and you will see download site choices (3 in Europe, 1 in USA and 1 in Australia). Right click on your selection to make it default .

SpywareBlaster
http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareblaster.html
SpywareBlaster doesn't scan and clean for spyware - it prevents it from ever being installed.
Freeware

SpywareGuard
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html
SpywareGuard provides a real-time protection solution against spyware that is a great addition to SpywareBlaster's protection method. An anti-virus program scans files before you open them and prevents execution if a virus is detected - SpywareGuard does the same thing, but for spyware! And you can easily have an anti-virus program running alongside SpywareGuard.

Ad-aware
http://www.lavasoft.de/
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
All software offered on this page is free* to download and use and compatible with Windows 98/ME/NT40, Windows 2000 and Windows XP Home and Professional.
Download sites .
http://download.com.com/3000-2144-10045910.html?part=69274&subj=dlpage&tag=button
http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=506

The following explains how to set Ad-aware's settings to perform a "Full Scan."
http://spywarewarrior.com/viewtopic.php?p=3293#3293
In Ad-aware click the Gear to go to the Settings area.
The following items should be on a green check, not on a red X.
Under the Scanning button:

* Scan within archives
* Under Memory & Registry, Check EVERYTHING
* In Check Drives & Folders, make sure all of your hard drives are selected

Under the Advanced button, check ALL under Log detail level
(this makes it easier for visitors to the Lavasoft Support Forums to see what options you have selected should you require assistance.)
Under the Tweak button...
Some of these may not be an available option, depending on your version of Ad-aware and your version of Windows. Do not be concerned if you cannot select a certain item.

In Scanning Engine:

* Unload recognized processes during scanning
* Include info about ignored objects in logfile, if detected in scan
* Include basic Ad-aware settings in logfile
* Include additional Ad-aware settings in logfile
* Include used command line parameters in logfile

In Cleaning Engine:

* XP/2000: Allow unloading explorer to unload shell extensions prior to deletion
* Let Windows remove files in use at next reboot
* UNCHECK: Automatically try to unregister objects prior to deletion

Click Proceed to save these settings. When you would like to perform a "Full Scan," switch the scan mode from SmartScan to Custom.
http://www.lavahelp.com/howto/fullscan/index.html

Bazooka
http://www.webgrid.co.uk/security_2.html
http://www.winsite.com/bin/Info?17000000037943
http://www.kephyr.com/
Here is the current list of Bazooka fixes .
http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/library/index.phtml?source=appvisit
Bazooka is freeware and Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP compatible
Click on the files found & you will be taken to a site that will show you how to remove , either with a program or manually .
It reports on all drives & partitions , so remember to check all these , when doing manual remove .
After the Download - It is important to remember that once the installation of Bazooka is completed , that you should update the File Signatures by clicking on the Update tab and check for an update .
Make sure you Update after installing & then regularly .

Swat It
http://swatit.org/
Swat It is a Completely FREE program that scans your files for Trojans, Worms, Bots and other Hacker programs. Swat It can detect and remove over 4000 different Trojan programs plus variants. Swat It was recently independently tested against popular commercial scanning software and we were absolutely delighted by the results.
After the Download - It is important to remember that once the installation of Swat It is completed, that you should update the File Signatures by clicking on the Update tab and check for an update. All Product and File Signature Updates are Totally FREE, this means that you will never have to pay a single penny to get the very latest version of Swat It or to update the File Signatures.

List of fake spyware removers
http://netrn.net/spywareblog/archives/2004/05/30/
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/lesgrotte/fixes/scum.htm
Beware of SpyHunter
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03289/231446.stm

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Use hijackthis .
Print out your logfile .
http://hijackthis.de/index.php?langselect=english
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/hijackthis.zip
http://tomcoyote.com/hjt/
http://www.spywareinfo.com/downloads/tools/HijackThis.exe
http://www.zerosrealm.com/downloads/hjt.zip

And if needed ,

About Buster
13. About Buster - Use this tool to negate the latest CWS variant "res://". Complete details of how to use and updates maintained -> http://forums.subratam.org/index.php?showtopic=1072
http://www.subratam.org/
http://www.subratam.org/?page=removal
http://www.atribune.org/downloads/AboutBuster.zip
or
http://tools.zerosrealm.com/AboutBuster.zip

Here are ways to read the hijackthis logfile .

HijackThis log file analysis
http://hijackthis.de/index.php?langselect=english
HijackThis is a program used by experienced users in order to detect browser hijackers. It allows you to identify any sort of spyware and malware (as well as some trojan horses and worms). This is achieved by scanning special zones of the registry as well as the hard disk drive, the results being listed in a structured window. Another feature of HijackThis is the creation of a log file, which can be saved as a simple text file and opened by any text editor (notepad as default). Until now, inexperienced users, who could not analyze the log file by themselves, had no other choice than posting it in a specialized forum and to hope that a more experienced user takes some time to analyze it. The script presented on this page is a way to analyze your log without help from the outside: simply copy/paste the content of the log file in the textbox below and hit the analyze button.

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