<html><body> <DIV>I have Ad-Aware and use it at least every week.  Same with SpyBot and NortonAV.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>None of the above have managed to find or stop whatever is burning cycles in my system.  The typical CPU percentage is running between 20 and 70% and really slowing down my system.  (Let's just say I'm not amused.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I think (but cannot prove) that one or more of the "CoolWWWSearch" malware processes is doing this to me, but -- as I said -- none of my anti-malware tools is finding anything.  It's discouraging.  (If anyone knows anything about dealing with this particular family of nasties, I'd be interested in hearing more.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>While in most cases I'd agree that what I plan might be a little extreme, I have not found an easy way around this.  Nor am I a complete stranger to the clean-the-hard-disk-and-start-over process.  Wouldn't be the first time.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>On the other hand, if I thought I had an alternative, I wouldn't be going this route.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks for the feedback.  All good ideas.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>-- Frank</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">-------------- Original message -------------- <BR>From: Thomas Hruska <thruska@cubiclesoft.com> <BR><BR>> frank.dolinar@comcast.net wrote: <BR>> > I've somehow managed to get some sort of CPU-cycle-eating malware on my home <BR>> system. <BR>> > <BR>> > To get rid of it, I'm going to wipe my C:\ drive and reload a new operating <BR>> system. <BR>> <BR>> Isn't that a bit extreme? Sounds similar to removing and reattaching <BR>> the same foot (both are painful and usually unnecessary). Between <BR>> Ad-aware and Spybot S&D, 99.99% of all malware is removable (and both of <BR>> the products I just mentioned have freeware editions - which is all that <BR>> most people running Windows need). <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> > I"m probably going to WinXPPro, since I've got it. I'd also like to set the <BR>> system up as a dual-boot with Ubuntu's latest. <BR>> > I'd love to move this system entirely to Linux, but that's not yet an option. <BR>> <BR>> Another option might be to use virtual machine software. Bochs is open <BR>> source but there's always VirtualPC and VMWare. VMWare has a free <BR>> version of their software called "player" (can't create images but it <BR>> does work with existing ones). Too bad the various distros. still just <BR>> ship ISOs and don't bother to create virtual-machine image builds. That <BR>> said, VMWare Player might be able to run the "Live" versions of various <BR>> distros. out there (I know VMWare has the ability to 'boot' from a ISO) <BR>> but I haven't tried it. Bochs has a similar capability. <BR>> <BR>> The reason I mention this is because you wouldn't have to dual-boot <BR>> then. Depending on which OS you want to use more, that should be your <BR>> host OS and then you run the "guest" OS under the host OS using virtual <BR>> machine te chnology. Note, however, that if you play a lot of video <BR>> games, most virtual machine software doesn't handle the native video <BR>> hardware very well (e.g. DirectX based games)...in that case, I'd <BR>> suggest Windows as the host OS just because most game manufacturers <BR>> target that platform. <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> > Can anyone offer some advice, suggestions, how-to information, or references. <BR>> > <BR>> > Thanks, <BR>> > Frank <BR>> <BR>> Oh, and 'hi', I'm new to this list and, while I seem to be a Windows <BR>> guy, I'm actually OS-agnostic for the most part; that is, I hate every <BR>> OS on some level and love them on some other - Windows, Mac, Linux, etc. <BR>> I may stop by for one of the meetings this group has sometime in the <BR>> near future even though I live in Okemos. <BR>> <BR>> -- <BR>> Thomas Hruska <BR>> CubicleSoft President <BR>> Ph: 517-803-4197 <BR>> <BR>> Safe C++ Design Principles (First Edition) <BR>> Learn how to write memory leak-free, secure, <BR>> portable, and user-friendly software. <BR>> <BR>> Learn more and view a sample chapter: <BR>> http://www.CubicleSoft.com/SafeCPPDesign/ <BR>> </BLOCKQUOTE></body></html>