Strange, frustrating issue. Dying HDD or Rootkit?

C

CHAoS_NiNJA

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
May 26, 2005
Messages
1,577
I am currently having a hell of a time and would like some input.

I've recently had a battle with the ZeroAccess rootkit, and through ComboFix and a few other things I felt I finally got rid of it. A few days ago, I noticed some lagging and freezing, so decided to do a full system format.

I am now experiencing a strange freezing pattern on my PC. For example, just now I was browsing the web and installing a few things while watching the MANvsGAME stream. My Opera browsers freezes and locks, while the sounds of the stream continue through. I right click my open desktop, nothing happens, now it seems to have frozen. My other programs I can move around freely until I click on them, in which then they freeze up. With Explorer and Opera frozen, when I drag a "free" window over them, they leave images of themselves behind, the usual trail images kind of deal (I was also noticing a small, temporary amount of that when nothing was frozen). Eventually, everything is clicked, and everything is frozen. Nothing moves, and alt-ctrl-del does nothing. Through all of this I can still hear the stream I was watching without issue, although obviously can no longer see it.

I have scanned with everything. Avast, in system and boot-time, Ad-Aware, Spybot, Malwarebytes, MSE, ComboFix, nothing detected any foul software.

I suspect two things, either there is a very, very well hidden virus/rootkit in my external drive (which holds ALL of my data, the backup died, so this would be horrible) or my main HDD (Velociraptor 150GB) is dying, and the freezing I'm seeing is from it simply stopping. Which sounds more likely to you, [H]?

Posting from said PC in safe mode, it doesn't seem to want to let me log in under normal Windows, it freezes when it attempts. This is my third full format in the last two days.
 
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Ok, I am...completely and utterly confused.

I used a completely different hard drive. Complete new install. No contact with my external or anything else, and yet, the exact same thing happened. Hard lock. One program freezing as I click it.

Both my theories (Rootkit/Bad HDD) have gone out the window. Either something in my hardware is beginning to die, or the copy of Windows I purchased from a small local computer shop isn't legit. (Its a burned copy and comes with its own code/sticker. The shop owner say he has mass licences, and I've seen/heard the same thing from a Radioshack my father shops at, so I thought nothing of it at the time...)

The only things connecting the two drives are A) The PC they're used in, B) the copy of Windows used and to a much smaller point C) I used Ninite to mass install all my usual programs.

I am completely and utterly stumped. Its been a long time since I've been this baffled. Any help?
 
Looks like this ended up being in the wrong forum. Turned out it WAS infact Ninite causing these freezes, which I found out by using it on my laptop as well, which then needed a format. I suggest everyone avoid using that software at any cost.

That said, any mod is free to move this into General Software.
 
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