Computer 'hiccuping'

[PCBruiser]

That really sounds like some forms of malware.  I strongly suggest you follow the instructions at the top of our malware forum and start a new topic there.  One of us will help you with the problem, or eliminate that possibility from consideration.  Please do follow the instructions, and post another topic with a DDS log, but also refer to this topic so whomever helps you there, and it could well be one of us, will have the benefit of this background.

[RoHe]

Have you tried booting in Safe Mode? If the problem goes away, something loading at normal boot-up is the problem. 

In that case, open msconfig and go to Startup tab. Uncheck everything except items related to your antiviral suite and firewall. Reboot and put check in "Don't show this again' box, if it appears after you reboot. If the problem goes away, you can go back into msconfig and re-check items one, or a few, at a time, rebooting and checking that box each time, until you ID the problem.

If unchecking everything except antiviral and firewall in msconfig doesn't help, disconnect the network/modem cable so you're off then net and uncheck everything including antiviral suite and firewall, and then reboot. If that fixes it, your antivral suite is the likely cause.

BTW: Have you disabled Windows Indexing Service? This useless hog indexes the hard drive in the background so searches go faster, but it's well-known to cause the types of hesitation you're seeing.  And the larger the hard drive(s), the longer the hiccup. 

Is your browser or Outlook, Thunderbird,  or some other mail service automatically checking for new mail every so often which might be causing things to hesitate?

Is some other app (eg, Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, iTunes, QuickTime, Java Updater, etc) set to phone home every so often looking for updates?  Any of those might be the cause but they won't show up in the Scheduler. You should be able tell that after you uncheck them in msconfig.

Ron

[Taz]

Ok, PCBruiser, have posted a thread in malware, ty for the help!
RoHe, i have booted in safe mode, and yes for the short period of time it did stop it completely.
I have since went into config and disabled everything and rebooted, and it still does it, even after disabling avira (my antivirus)
I gave gone to turn off indexing service but it seems i dont have it as far as the guide i read said, i have gone into the services in administrative tools and there is no indexing service as far as i can tell
My browser is firefox (always updated) and do not use outlook or any other mail associated program, i check my yahoo account through the web and not a program.
Unless it is set at defualt i dont have any adobe product or quicktime etc set to periodically phone home to update, and disabled them through the startup tab in config anyway (also schedular doesnt have anything in it either if that helps)
I turned off adobe acrobat update service, nvidia update service and steam client service in the services tab and still no luck, only things left are avira schedular, avira realtime protection, nvidia display drive and the nvidia stereoscopic 3D driver, which are all running.
I will periodically check this thread as well as the malware thread just in case someone posts the solution here by any chance and not the other thread where i have DDS logs up.
Thanks heaps guys for the help it is much appreciated - its a wonder such an awesome team keep doing this for free in their own time for nothing - ill be sure to donate something to make sure sites like these stay active for us people in need, thankyou again - you guys are legends!

[1972vet]

Just out of curiosity taz, do you have Windows media player 11 installed? The latest update for it? I noticed yesterday, while researching another completely seperate issue, that I must have at some point recently, updated to that version because when I went to open it, I got a completely different gui than I was familiar with and the run through for a "first run" setup for preferences. Anyway, I have since yesterday, been experiencing the same "hiccup" for a brief second every now and then and exactly as you described it. The sound file wll not advance but does seem to freeze in it's place for a very brief period, then it goes on as it should. Nothing skipped or missed, just an annoying brief freeze up before continuing.

When I get time later on today, I will uninstall the present version and go back to the previous version to see if that clears it up. You might check to see if you have this latest version and when it was installed as compared to when your "hiccup" issue began. Just a thought. May not be relative to your situation but I just thought of you instantly this morning when I noticed it.

[RoHe]

Here's a link to instructions to turn off Wn 7 Indexing Service:
http://www.nerdgrind.com/stop-indexing-service-in-windows-vista-and-windows-7-and-windows-xp/

Apps from Adobe, QuickTime etc phone home in the background without your knowledge or permission. I recentlly updated to latest QT and experienced delays loading Microsoft Security Essentials at boot. Took a while to pin it down to QT phoning home  but as soon as I put a stop to that, the delays went away. Open each indiividual app and look on its Tools menu for an Update option and disable it.  That does mean you will have to check for updates manually, but that's better than all the system hesitations.

You mentioned interrupts spike up 3-4% when it hesitates. In the Dell PC world, hesitations coupled with a even 3-4% increase in interupts typically means the video card is throwing out Delayed Procedure Callls (DPCs). The thing to try is to update to latest version of your video card driver, downloaded directly from the (nVidia) website. That frequently solves the problem.

If that doesn't solve it and you don't find the cause elsewhere (eg, with latest Media Player 11, as 1972vet mentioned), the next thing would be to question whether the vidio card is ailing or failing.  At minimum, reseat it in its slot.

Good Luck!
Ron

EDIT: Be sure to uninstall the old driver and use something like Driver Cleaner 3 (free) to get rid of all the leftover junk before installing the new one. Do not install the new driver "on top" of the old one.

[Hoov]

I am going to lock this thread as there is an active malware removal thread going on this very issue. If the computer is clean and the problem is still there, then we can unlock this and try going at it again. Having other people throw out ideas to fix an issue can cause great confusion on the part of the malware removal specialist and even the user.

[RoHe]

Since this thread has been unlocked, I presume you didn't find any malware -which is a good thing!


Driver Cleaner 3 is now called Driver Cleaner Pro and can be downloaded for free here:
http://www.afterdawn.com/software/security/system_cleanup/driver_cleaner_pro.cfm#description

The description says it runs under Win2k / Win95 / Win98 / WinME / WinNT / WinXP, but I saw in another forum that it also works with Vista and Win7, though I have not personally verified that.  There's always "XP compatibility" mode in Win7.

Be sure to set a manual System Restore point before running Driver Cleaner Pro, just to be safe, and read/follow the directions carefully.

And reseat the video card in its slot too.

Ron

[Taz]

Hey RoHe,

Yea nothing on the malware side, computer surprisingly is squeaky clean i would of thought there would of been something if not unrelated to my issue.
I just recently unseated the card to clean the computer, and do so every time, take out the ram, GPU, rad, all fans etc give a thorough whip over, but nothing changes :(
I will try out the Driver cleaner, from the last few days im gathering that it is 99% likely a DPC, and probably caused by IE8 (ruled this out today) Realtek audio driver, or my GPU drivers trying to update (which they are currently and have been since it came out) so heres hoping i can pin it down and fix it once and for all!
Will post results up in 5min
Cheers

[Taz]

No dice 
*** else could it be, its definitely something updating through the net or something, as it IMMEDIATELY stops and doesnt happen once as soon as i d/c, but when i reconnect, starts going mental again.

[Taz]

I cant fricken believe it!
My mate just came round with his WLAN card as he has the same one, and i indefinitely wanted to rule it out as a hardware interrupt as ive done it with every other piece of hardware, popped it in and found out that my one has a slight chip in it where it plugs in and so it is slightly loose, but never noticed as i screwed it into the case, and as such it moved the card a little.
Been 20min now and seems to be gone, and of course, NOW it all fits, the whole net thing, and it being either a hardware interrupt or DPC... but what i dont get is that this card came well after these problems arised.... and the fact it was on my old system too towards the end which every piece was gotten rid of inc WLAN card - so whatever - im not going to fuss over it just going to leave it alone, as it seems to be fixed. I would bet a good $50 that there was another conflicting problem(s) that were solved as well that contributed and this was probably the icing on the cake to fix it.
Either way...Jesus all that for a 'loose' WLAN card in the end - the embarassment!
Lets just hope i dont post up here again saying its come back...
Thanks again guys for all your help and support, at the very least i have learned a tonne and gotten several key programs along the way,
You can go ahead and lock the thread if you want if no one else wants to harp at me for wasting their time haha (i guess now i know why support always tells you to do the stupid things first you know and have done before you picked up the phone  )
Such a jackass, ill put a tip in the donation to par some of this embarassment, lol - cheers again guys

[Taz]

spoke too soon, but only does it slightly when the soide of the case is on - i can deal with it for now atleast, its not a software problem most likely

[Hoov]

That has give you someplace to look, hardware vibrations. Take a look at anything that sticks into a socket. Cables, cards, chips, etc.

I believe you said something before about taking your system apart periodically to clean it. As an electronics tech I can tell you that taking something apart too much can be just as detrimental as never cleaning it. Contacts in computers, for daughter boards and cables etc, are mechanical in nature and can wear out with to much use. So look at both sides of the contact and make sure there is no damage.

[RoHe]

Some progress!   

Check to see if some cable is moved around when you close the case and it's pushiing on either the WLAN or video card, or if it's the side of the case itself hitting something because a card isn't fully/properly seated. 

Is the 'new' WLAN card a later version of the one you originally had? Perhaps they fixed a problem with DPCs in a later release?

 

Ron

[Taz]

The only things I physically unseat and take out when I clean it is the ram sometimes and the gpu, and fans etc but I always leave the CPU and motherboard and are extremely careful not to even touch anything else if I can.
The WLAN card in it now is exactly the same modl I purchased them together, mine must have either already had or developed the tiny chip causing it to not sit properly.
It seems to be fixed when the side of the case is off but starts to happen again when I put it on, as far as I can see the case or fan is not running against anything, my cables are tidy at the bottom and the fan sits at the gpu. I'll try taking the fan off and putting the case together to eliminate the fan, maybe its bumping round at the mobi plug they are really fragile plugs.
Just glad I decided to double double check everything again, saved a lot of time.
Originally thought it was my gpu, then hdd so there was about 1500 thrown ay the problem then ultimately changed everything, glad I'm not up for more money I hope.
I'll fiddle around when I get home and see what I can come up with

[Hoov]

DO you have a digital camera that you can take a picture of the side of your computer with the case open?