Screens turn white and computer hangs

[Cisridn]

I am working on a HP Pavillion with Windows XP
IT has an AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3400+ Speed 2166mhz
512 MB ram (PC3200DDR)
Video- onboard ATI Radeon Xpress 200 series

The computer boots up fine. I did notice that after windows finishes loading that the screen flickers once. After working on the computer the screen will turn white and the computer hangs. I get no response from the keyboard if I press ctrl+alt+del. The only way to shut the computer off is to use the power button. The time it takes for this to happen varies between 10 to 30 mins. When you open internet explorer it appears to happen sooner.
The internet connection is broadband cable.
The computer was purchased new with Windows XP already installed. The person that owns the computer notified me that they did do some music file sharing using software program called LimeWire. The person also informed me that they let the subsciption to the Norton internet suite expire , so the computer had been connected to the internet for maybe a week before they renewed their subsciption.

When the computer is booted into Safe Mode, it runs fine. I do not get the white screen or the hanging problem.

I am not sure this this problem is hardware or software related.

I networked this computer to mines and scanned the hard drive for malware and found the following:
xz.bat - Trojan Prodkill-cv
I was not able to remove it using my AV.

I would appreciate any advice on how to handle this problem. Also would it be better if I physically install the hard drive from this computer into mine to scan it for malware? I do have a mobile hard drive bay available.

[glc]

Boot it up into safe mode with networking and go to ewido.net and do an online malware scan.

[Cisridn]

Thanks GLC
I will do this tonight when I work on it again.

[kev7555]

Yup. From the symptoms you describe (along with an expired virus program and p2p file sharing going on) I would suspect malware.

You may wish to check out system security and privacy thread for recommendations on security programs.


-Kev

[Cisridn]

Thanks Kev,
I will check out the system security and privacy thread for ideas on security programs

I currently use the following:
McAfee for Anti-Virus
Zone Alarm for firewall
MicroSoft AntiSpyware (beta)
a-Squared
Ad-Adware SE
SpyBot Search and Destroy
CCWShredder

I have only scanned the problem computer with McAfee so far, but I plan on doing some serious cleaning tonight when I get a change to work on it again.

[glc]

Do you know how to use the McAfee command line scanner? You can do that in safe mode and probably be able to get rid of most stuff.

Download the latest SuperDAT update. It will have a file name of sdatxxxx.exe - copy it into an empty folder. Open a command prompt and change to that directory, type sdatxxxx /e

Give it a minute or so to expand, you won't see anything on the screen except a prompt. Then type scan /adl /clean and sit back for a while.

[Cisridn]

No, this is the first time I have heard about the McAfee command line scanner.
Does McAfee have instruction on how to use that on their website?

[Cisridn]

I am still having the problem when the computer boots into normal mode, that the screen turns white and the computer hangs.
I scan the computer with the following AV software with the computer in safe mode:
McAfee
Trend Micro's HouseCall
Ewido online scanner
All three were ran twice
All 3 found variou malware and remove it. A lot of tracking cookies. The XZ.bat I mentioned in before was removed.

I also uninstalled the P2P software that was being used to share music.

Any other scanner's I should try?
I still see that the screen flickers once after Windows complete's loading.
Could the video driver be causing a problem. This computers video is onboard - ATIRadeon Xpress 200 series.
My next step was to go thru the processes in task manager and end one process at a time until the problem stopped.
Is this a good idea or a waste of time?

[glc]

Does McAfee have instruction on how to use that on their website?

No - I posted the instructions.

http://download.mcafee.com/updates/superDat.asp

SuperDAT Update
DAT FILE: SuperDat 4700-dat/4320-engine
Filename: sdat4700.exe
File Size: 4946.3 kb
Release: 2/17/2006 10:32:03 AM

It may be time to advise the customer that a system recovery is needed. You will need a way to back up data files in safe mode - a USB hard drive should work.

[Cisridn]

Originally Posted by glc It may be time to advise the customer that a system recovery is needed. You will need a way to back up data files in safe mode - a USB hard drive should work.

Yeah, I was afraid I would have to do that. The only problem that I forsee is that the customer did not keep up with the manual or any CD's that came with the computer. This computer came with Window XP Media Edition. It does have a D: partition on the hard drive labeled as Recovery, so I will have to check that out to see if I can do the recovery from that partition alone.

I would like to Thank everybody for their time and suggestions regarding this issue.

[glc]

I believe you can - HP's online KB tells you how. I think it's a function key on bootup.

[Cisridn]

I preformed a system recovery using the d: partition HP had installed on the hard drive. You have to press F10 during the boot process when the blue screen is displayed. I did not need any addtional CD's.

After the recovery finished that problem was resolved. That was until I came across a file while deleting some folders containing files (P2P) that the owner of the computer had downloaded. The file had a .wmf extension, when I clicked it the screen turned white with pink vertical strips and the computer locked up. OH MY!
I restarted the computer into safe-mode and deleted the folder that I file was in. Windows notified me of a file in that folder that was a executable program. In my haste I did not write the name down before I click yes to delete, but I remember it started with the letter 'x'.
After deleting the P2P shared folders, I restarted into normal mode. The problem appears to be resolved again. I am currently in the process I performing all windows updates, install Zone Alarm firewall, and AVG anti-virus.

So far everything looks good. No lock ups or white screens.

I am going to hold on to the computer for a few days just in case I missed something and the problem reappears.