I am 99% sure I have narrowed the problem down to something involving Avast AV. In an attempt to find out what was wrong I was disabling one thing after another to see if it made a difference.
I had temporarily disabled Avast shields, but still the problem persisted. I also use Winpatrol. In Winpatrol I examined services. This showed an Avast service still running. It refused to let me, (the admin) shut it off. So…
I uninstalled Avast and rebooted … problem gone.
Then I went on the net and found the link below. Problems spoken of in the link are remarkably similar to mine.
I will consider this matter closed unless I find additional data useful to someone else. If so, I’ll post it on this thread.
I uninstalled Avast and reinstalled it. I’m having no difficulty at this time.
I did have the most current version of Avast when I encountered the difficulty. I now have 5.0.545 after the reinstall.
Where would one get a legitimate copy of SP3? Did not Microsoft cease support of XP?
Do you think that has to do with the problem? It does not seem so to me at this time. Whatever the problem was, it is clear to me that it involves Avast. Can Avast malfunction because I do not have SP3 installed?
Thank you for the link. I have dialup and with that updating is VERY slow (30 or more hours to download SP3, at least), and hogs resources, so I generally don’t. I’ll get a relative with wifi to download SP3 for me.
It’s getting even more interesting now. I just updated Avast to version 5.0.677, and … the problem is back.
So … I have zero difficulty with version 5.0.545, but the bug with 5.0.677. Why, I have no idea.
“Is this a known problem with Avast?” I take it the answer is no.
No, it’s not a known problem with Avast, and it’s not a bug with Avast. You are using outdated software, and ones that present huge security holes that may have given you the opportunity to get malware (SP2). After you get that problem fixed, please do some scans with Avast to check for malware since these security holes are a prime way for malware to enter your system. You can also check your other software to make sure they are up to date with Secunia Software Inspector http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/, and this site will give you the vendor’s direct download if a patch is needed to upgrade. Many of us here scan our systems weekly since software changes to quickly, and this is another way to keep your defenses up on your system. Try doing all of this while using your relative’s WiFi. I understand the difficulties of dial-up :P, so I can empathize with you.
I understand … now. I thought about it during the night and reasoned it out.
My apologies.
And thank you for the additional data. I will check in to it.
Also:
the link to download SP3 the Pondus relayed indicates:
“This installation package is intended for IT professionals and developers downloading and installing on multiple computers on a network. If you’re updating just one computer, please visit Windows Update at http://update.microsoft.com .”
As long as you haven’t previously hidden the sp3 update you should just be able to run the normal windows update procedure to get it, might help to check if you have hidden it also.