BleepingComputer.com: Slow, loads of obsolete printers in registry

Hi

Windows 2003R2 server which has a number of problems which really need a wipe and reinstall, but I'm not in a position to do that unless it actually breaks down... so I'm dealing with the issues one by one.

It is suspiciously slow sometimes, and won't complete a scan either with Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware or with Spybot; they both crash after a time. I tried a utility from Microsoft to check for rootkits and that froze the server altogether. So... I kind of suspect something. I scanned the server from across the network instead with both MBAM and SD and they found nothing however.

I ran a Hijack This scan and don't see much in the log, except for vast numbers of entries for obsolete printers (all those from wc054 in the attached file, and others). I'm wondering if these might be slowing the server down, and slowing down logins and logoffs of Terminal Server users too. So... my question is, how do I remove them safely? They don't appear in Active Directory as far as I can tell, nor in the Printers & Faxes Control Panel applet. The Printer Management Console doesn't seem to exist on this server although it is set to be a Print Server (and domain controller and all else besides). TIA.

 hijackthis.log (55.13K)
Number of downloads: 3

Edit: Moved topic from Windows NT/2000/2003/2008 to the more appropriate forum. ~ Animal

I've deleted the obsolete printer entries from the HKU\S-1-5-18\..\Run registry section (took a backup first). Will see what happens after the next server reboot, I suppose. May have to stop some workstation somewhere sharing it too... but the workstation that used to do so has long since been renamed and doesn't share it any more.

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Hi,

It's no good, I'm afraid. DDS doesn't apparently run on Windows Server 2003, and the server has crashed each time so far before GMER has finished a scan...

We're going to wipe it. It has other problems anyway.

Thanks.

It appears that this issue is resolved, therefore I am closing the topic. If that is not the case and you need or wish to continue with this topic, please send me or any Moderator a Personal Message (PM) that you would like this topic re-opened.