Brand New Problem that No one knows about!!!!

[bass1702]

OK, Get this. 6 Computers of different brands, models etc. all over my city...have experienced the unknown. I am completely stumped and so are my other Level 3 Senior Techs. None of us have EVER seen this happen before.

I have included a list of details as to what had happened to all of the computers. I will continue to research and try to figure out what happened and how it happened. question is, where to begin.


All computers suffered the following:

computers running normally

out of nowhere, between 9am and 12pm on October 7, 2009, programs started to not respond (programs such as IE, MSOffice, Start Menu's, etc.)
System started lagging suffering Excrusiating slowness
Computers are rebooted
Upon login, full startup and idle takes at least an hour to complete (sometimes wouldnt complete at all as processors are maxed out)
Once completed, task manager>Performance shows all cores/processors maxed out steadily at 100% and not moving
No one opened any emails or downloaded anything. Just normal everyday tasks.
No extra software/processes were found to be running. Just normal everyday stuff, yet processors were maxed out.
Everday programs such as Microsoft Word take over an hour to open
Start menu stakes 7-15 minutes to open
msconfig would not open in order to set configuration to Diagnostic Mode. it was Unsuccessfully completed.
No errors or warnings are given as to malware, spyware, viruses, and so on.
Between 11am and 12pm on October 8, 2009, all computers return to normal and are functioning normally, as if nothing ever happened.

Operating Systems vary from Windows XP to Windows Vista. All computers have different motherboards and processors. No computer is alike in any way. My Computer is one of the 6 that this happened to. All I had open was a Chat room that I have open every day, Windows Media Player, and yahoo messenger. i have an ASUS Motherboard with an AMD Phenom II Quad Core Processor and 8G of RAM. Have NEVER had any problems. All Security Software is up-to-date and working properly...even on the other machines.

That is all I know. all Computers affected showed the exact same signs and symptoms and all computers returned to normal at the same time. I was unable to access security logs and other logs as I had to reformat my computer in order to get back online to begin research.


If ANYONE knows about this...or knows what COULD have caused this mysterious systematic problem...please...help me out. I have no idea where to begin my research. When the computers returned to normal...no further damage was aquired. everything was perfect.

Thanks a million!

Chris S.

 

[kimsland]

Check your Event logs
It is a common fault that many users have from time to time
Its usually either some task (like Vista Defrag, or Indexing or Antivirus short scan, that type of thing)
Any other multitude of background service happening
Even a manufacture driver update

I didn't get the fault

 

[bass1702]

No, its something more than that. All logs on the other computers didnt report anything amiss or out of the ordinary. Everything checks out normally. So its something else. have no idea what.

 

[aviation_man]

You said 6 different brands all over the city. How did you find out about the other computers acting like this?
Your computer, I'm assuming that you're the one that installed it? Ever use the same install disk twice? Is it OEM or Retail?
How old is your HDD? Ever swap HDD masters on it?

 

[bass1702]

Yes, I custom made my computer and built it myself (I am a computer tech). The other computers are friends/customers of mine. I woke up on the 7th to my phone blowing up and they were all telling me the exact same thing. And they all live in different parts of the city.

4 of the computers are in this general area where I live including mine. 3 are the Leasing Office of the apts I live in...and then mine. the other 3 are scattered in different locations of the city. All computers are completely different. All running Genuine Non-Pirated Software that they purchased. All having anti-virus and firewalls.

Myself and three other Senior Techs are stumped. we are at a loss here as to what had caused this and why all computers returned to normal at the exact same time.

 

[bass1702]

No software has been re-used on more than one machine. jsut the machines they belong to. My hard drive is brand new. Have never had a problem with it. i ran diagnostics on it as well as the other hard drives of the other computers...everything checks out PERFECT. there are no footprints, no recollections...no logs...no NOTHING...stating this had happened, what had happened or anything. its as if it never happened!

Myself and my techs are curious tho. We doubt it was this...but there is ALWAYS THE POSSIBILITY.....Solar Flare??? Or something of the sort. But, that raises questions as to why more computers werent affected. And why the problem seems systematic as all 6 computers went down at the same time and came back up at the same time...except for mine. mine started at 7pm-8pm on the 7th and i got it back by formatting and re-installing windows. the other 5 computers...in no way related....all went down at the same time and then all came back up as if nothing ever happened between 11am and 12pm today. the 8th.

 

[aviation_man]

No software has been re-used on more than one machine. jsut the machines they belong to. My hard drive is brand new. Have never had a problem with it. i ran diagnostics on it as well as the other hard drives of the other computers...everything checks out PERFECT. there are no footprints, no recollections...no logs...no NOTHING...stating this had happened, what had happened or anything. its as if it never happened!

Myself and my techs are curious tho. We doubt it was this...but there is ALWAYS THE POSSIBILITY.....Solar Flare??? Or something of the sort. But, that raises questions as to why more computers werent affected. And why the problem seems systematic as all 6 computers went down at the same time and came back up at the same time...except for mine. mine started at 7pm-8pm on the 7th and i got it back by formatting and re-installing windows. the other 5 computers...in no way related....all went down at the same time and then all came back up as if nothing ever happened between 11am and 12pm today. the 8th.

What OS are you running on?
Ever stay up very late at night to see what your computer does?
How long after you installed the OS did these problem(s) occur? (Right after, two weeks, two months..etc.)
Any common program on the computers? Any common AV's/Firewalls as well?
So the problem doesn't exist on your computer after reformatting? (This would insinuate a corrupt OS)
I'm not sure as to why all these errors happened at the same time, but there is a logical explanation to it.

 

[bass1702]

im running XP Pro. And I assure you...there has NEVER been a problem with my OS. As I have said before...I am a tech myself. I take VERY good care of my system. Plus, I have 3 other Senior Techs on my side. and we are ALL stumped. they looked at the other machines as well. Nothing! we are at a dead end.

As far as the length of time this occured after OS Installation....all OS's on each machine were installed at different times. So i couldnt tell you. As far as common software. None. my computer has totally different software than the other computers. no computer is the same.

LOL. I stay up all night anyways. Im always on my computer. My computer doesnt run software that i dont allow it to run. when its idle...its idle. doesnt do a thing! CPU Usage when idle is 0-2%.....NOT maxed out at 100% on all 4 cores.

 

[aviation_man]

You can take good care of your system, and still get a corrupted OS. Itunes corrupted my Registry once >:|
Just a thought, did you take out/replace the CMOS battery and see if that made any difference?
So this problem occurs at the exact same time everyday ever since the (7th?)?

 

[bass1702]

Brand New Board and CPU. Brand New Hard Drive. Fresh Install of Windows XP Pro....on my machine that is. As far as itunes goes...I do not have software like that on my machine....will never allow it.

This problem occured 1 time. started between 9am-10am on the 7th and ended on the 8th between 11am-12am.

Not recurring.

 

[bass1702]

also, three of the computers that suffered this issue...are business computers. so they have no other software except for antivirus, firewall, MS Office, and Remote Desktop Connections. THATS it! LOL. gotchya stumped yet???

 

[linkin]

stumped indeed. could have been a hacker trying to stop your business for some stupid/skitzophrenic reason.

 

[aviation_man]

also, three of the computers that suffered this issue...are business computers. so they have no other software except for antivirus, firewall, MS Office, and Remote Desktop Connections. THATS it! LOL. gotchya stumped yet???

Almost. It is a toughy.

What did you scan it with? Have you scanned it with Malwarebytes? Can you post a Hijack log?
You said "clients" thus, meaning, you've worked on their computers? At any point in time was the same Flashdrive (or anything like), computer, or anything else connected to their networks/computers?

 

[bass1702]

I htought of that as well. However....only 3 computers are running a business. my computer runs a seperate business...and the other 2 computers...arent running businesses at all. they are basic at home pc's.

No clue huh?

 

[aviation_man]

Ops, just caught this:

Remote Desktop Connections.

Did you/one of your friends remotely connect to their computers at any given time?

 

[bass1702]

negative. all computers are seperate. I do not connect my pc's/laptops or anything like that to their networks. I know its NOT a virus. if it was....my other 3 computers on my network would have done the same thing...but they were untouched and ok.

1 computer that went down....is also on a network of 3 computers....two were untouhed.

another computer was on a network of 6 computers....only 1 went down.

and then the leasing office....all three went down.

as far as hijack this....no. no log available. myself and 3 other techs looked at those tho...and didnt find anything that shouldnt be there.

 

[bass1702]

as far as remote desktop connections go. Only the LEASING OFFICE does that.....they remote connect to their offsite server for financial work. part of their business. they do it every single day. for the last 10 years.

I only connect to two pc's remotely...but ONLY if i am asked to do so for a computer problem...and I use LogMeIn Encrypted Secure Connection.

 

[kimsland]

i got it back by formatting and re-installing windows. the other 5 computers...in no way related....all went down at the same time and then all came back up as if nothing ever happened

How convenient :/
We cannot check your computer out any further

im running XP Pro. And I assure you...there has NEVER been a problem with my OS.

But now its formatted

.Solar Flare???

I somehow doubt it
That's more like a User would say, not a techo

The other computers are friends/customers of mine.

By chance are they all on Internet chat as well
And what are the programs you install on your "customer's computers?

By the way, it was probably Adobe updating or something very normal

 

[aviation_man]

Ok. I see. Can you supply a Hijack log at some point in this thread? Just to be extra extra safe (Not saying that I don't believe you and your techy friends aren't able to provide an accurate report).

It could also be some dumb program updating at the same time, just using an unnecessary amount of CPU usage.

 

[bass1702]

Aviation_man....is there anyway you could email me....or possibly call me...it would be easier to discuss exact details and such by phone.

If you can, Email me at [email protected]