Malware Causing Processor To Run At 100%

Spybot Search and Destroy

macman81 said:

I don't understand how AVG can be the problem-it was already on the machine when I got it, I reinstalled it last week as it wouldn't update.

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The fact that you had to reinstall due to update issues may be a clue

But acccording to the person who gave me this machine, it has been running increasingly slowly for about a year.

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Apart from what you have done already maybe it is time to consider a reinstall of windows ?

Not sure what else I can kill without possible harm to the system progs.

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By using msconfig and either selecting Diagnostic Start Up or disabling known applications in Start Up you will not harm your system programs - any changes you make are reversible.

The original problem was there with only AVG installed-I put all the other spyware progs on in a vain attempt to fix it.

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So as suggested by BoxCLeva you should remove them all and uninstall AVG and try another such as Avast.

I would also suggest after you have removed all that you test your PC speed with no anti virus or antispyware running to get a baseline. I would also disconnect any internet connections at this time for safety

Just to update, after removal of AVG (using Avast instead), things do seem to be more stable. Processor is idling at around 28%, but still spikes to 100% very easily, eg when opening a program. But at least the system is usable now. Will leave it for a few days and see how it settles down. Thanks to everyone for their advice, would never have thought AVG would be the culprit!

You also appear to be running MS defender, I have found this to be very resource hungry on my PC.

AVG 8.0 is known to cause CPU saturation on some platforms.