Windows 10 Lenovo PC - Very slow, Freezes up, and Non-Responding messages

I bought a brand new Lenovo PC this year, as my old Dell PC was very, very, very slow, and was experiencing the same issues   I thought it was because the OS was XP.  Bought a new one and the same things are happening:  Not-Responding messages on just about any program (even window explorer), internet freezes-up (IE, Firefox, Chrome), Every time I use the internet, it freezes-up.  I have McAfee installed, run ccCleaner, and other malwares programs, but it is still running slow.  I have a removable (5TB back-up) drive, and a printer attached to this PC.  I had the same back-up drive connected to my old PC.  Could it be that I have a malware or a virus on my back-up drive?  I thought that buying a new computer, with windows 10, would solve my issues, but nooooooo, issues are still around.

You might try a Live CD w/ Linux Mint or Ubuntu, just to rule out hardware issues. (Running the ISO from a USB drive is faster than actually running from a true live CD or DVD media, obviously)

Have you ever run SysInternal's Process Explorer? (Downloadable from Microsoft's TechNet, as SysInternals is part of MS these days) It will show you all processes currently running, with company digital sigs, virus total reports, etc...)

(Have you tried wired internet access thru a known good router, just to rule out a marginal wireless adapter and/or wireless router connection issue? (Any computer would seem to freeze while waiting on data from wireless router if connection is marginal..)

If your Win10 installation is infected, the forums here have folks that might be able to help you out, head over to the Security section.

Thank you for your prompt response.  Yes, I have ran Sysinternal Process Explorer, but I have no idea what I am looking for.  I have my pc hard wired to the modem, not wireless.  I have no knowledge of the LINUX OS, or Ubuntu.  I tried last year to learn about it, when my old pc was acting up, but I couldn't get it

Edited by A87CEO, 01 October 2016 - 09:20 PM.

Look up Rkill under downloads at this forum, linked for safe download, or, alternatively, UltraVirusKiller (install or run portable version, then click on Process manager, which will display all processes running, with digital signatures and with VirusTotal cross-references. Although some processes such as remote access or specialized AV tools might show as having 1 or 2 hits on VT, anything with more than that might be suspect)

If you see anything suspicious, you may kill a process individually, or, alternatively, simply select 'Kill all processes', which will terminate all non-essential processes until relaunched or with next reboot.

Also, from UVK Welcome Screen, examine the "Autoruns" tab (each entry also has VirusTotal cross-references)...; look carefully for anything mysterious or suspicious.

(The previously mentioned ProcessExplorer also has the ability to check digital signatures and VirusTotal reports as well....)

Info on UVK: http://www.carifred.com/uvk/

Edited by MDD1963, 02 October 2016 - 05:31 AM.

From your search box/Cortana 'ask me anything' box, select CMD prompt, right click on it, select "Run as administrator",  and upon getting the command prompt:

MRT

(this will run the MS Malicious Software Removal Tool, essentially a Defender scan. If that completes OK after 20-30 min, proceed to next step, and, under same prompt, enter:

sfc /scannow

(Note, there is a space after 'sfc'; sfc /scannow runs system file checker, scanning integrity of all protected system files, repairing those with problems if possible)

Edited by MDD1963, 02 October 2016 - 06:01 AM.

Hi MDD1963,

I ran all RKill, UVK, and sfc.  I looked at everything, but didn"t see anything unusual (however, I must admit I have no idea what I am looking for).  I also ran all the different different third party utilities, within the portable UVK program.  It seems that my registry has over 500 entries, that are bad.  Since I didn't buy the UVK Pro, it could not clean it.  Can you suggest a free registry cleaner, that could do the job. Thanks.

Ever thought of uninstalling McAfee? It's become a very slow AV. Make sure to also download their clean uninstaller to get rid of drivers and other traces. (I consider McAfee the worst bloated virus you can have, but many will disagree, I'm sure, so let's not go there please).

On Windows10, which you now use, a built-in Windows Defender is a pretty decent AV. Add Malwarebytes (MBAM) and their antiexploit (MBAE) and you're unlikely to need much more, and all is faster and simpler than McA. If you insist to use McA - make sure you exclude it in Defender, and make sure to exclude Defender in McAfee.

Now, seriously, you have an enormous external drive connected. Process Explorer might reveal that while it's connected, antivirus is scanning that drive again and again. You need to disconnect that drive. There's no point connecting except when you need to use it for data or making a backup. It's a security risk anyway. And should be scanned by, for instance, Emsisoft EEK, available here.

In process explorer just click on a column where Memory is displayed. that'll sort it to show you what's using most. Can also be done from Windows10 Tak Manager (right click the taskbar, select Task Manager, and sort by CPU, Memory, anything - you can add columns there).

Leave registry alone for now. Let Windows clean it up.

Just my 2cents of random thoughts