Bloom.exe Miner Overview

Bloom.exe is a process created by coin miner malware. This class of malware exploits the hardware of the victim’s system to mine cryptocurrency. The name “Bloom.exe” serves only to make the malware look as legitimate process and confuse the user. Like malicious miners of this kind, it mines Monero or DarkCoin, with all profits going to the attacker.

The Bloom.exe miner monitors system usage and adjusts its resource consumption accordingly. This makes its less noticeable, as it does not consume all available resources as other miners do. Additionally, Bloom.exe is able to use GPU resources, improving the effectiveness of the mining process, and making it harder to detect the malware activity (if you’re not gaming or don’t pay attention to fan noise levels).

Spreading Methods

As for distribution, Bloom.exe is similar to the other miners. It is mainly distributed under the guise of legitimate software. The second, but almost as popular method is drive-by downloads and illegal software, such as pirated games or cracked programs.

A less effective but no less popular method of distribution is malvertising. Con actors can hijack search results for some popular software, to let the users to their sites instead of genuine ones. And instead of getting the installer of a program, users download and run malware, with Bloom.exe miner being among them.

Technical Analysis

Let’s take a closer look at how this miner behaves. In fact, the majority of miner malware behaves rather similar, regardless of whether they are stand-alone or are based on XMRig or another well-known open-source project.

Traditionally, malware begins its life cycle by checking for a virtual environment, sandbox, or debugging tools. To do this, our sample checks the following registry keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\AppCertDlls

These keys contain some system settings and Windows security policies. Besides doing these checks, this malware often has its code packed, encrypted and obfuscated. These “passive” protection measures make Bloom.exe a tough nut for basic antiviruses.

C2 Communication

The malware uses several addresses for communications, including TCP 204.79.197.203:443, which belongs to Microsoft. This is possibly because frauds use some of the cloud services MS offers to anyone. Despite they are easy to take down, it is also easy to create new ones. There are also several addresses that could potentially belong to the command server:

https://pdfcrowd.com/?ref=pdf
https://pdfcrowd.com/doc/api/?ref=pdf
https://gettodaveriviedt0.com/secur3-appleld-verlfy1/?16shop

Payload

After all the checks and communications, the malware drops a payload on the system. It also loads a large number of files into the %windir%\System32\ folder, among which are:

C:\Windows\System32\OHcvDRK.exe
C:\Windows\System32\ROKnunx.exe
C:\Windows\System32\TAtNGGl.exe
C:\Windows\System32\WQDfJPu.exe

These are only a small part of what malware brings to the system; the more time malware is active – the more of these fileswill appear. Inside of these files are either modules that allow for certain functionality, or mining configurations.

How to Remove Bloom.exe?

To effectively remove Bloom.exe, I recommend using GridinSoft Anti-Malware, as it will easily detect and stop any malicious program, including this miner. Contrary to manual removal, this program will find every single element of the malware, ensuring that it won’t come back.

Download and install Anti-Malware by clicking the button below. After the installation, run a Full scan: this will check all the volumes present in the system, including hidden folders and system files. Scanning will take around 15 minutes.

After the scan, you will see the list of detected malicious and unwanted elements. It is possible to adjust the actions that the antimalware program does to each element: click "Advanced mode" and see the options in the drop-down menus. You can also see extended information about each detection - malware type, effects and potential source of infection.

Click "Clean Now" to start the removal process. Important: removal process may take several minutes when there are a lot of detections. Do not interrupt this process, and you will get your system as clean as new.

The post Bloom.exe appeared first on Gridinsoft Blog.

Why does my computer keep freezing?

There are some reasons why your computer keeps freezing or works poorly. Usually, it is a software problem, or too many apps are running on your computer simultaneously, which causes it to hang. We will not consider the option with weak hardware, where the system initially ran slowly. However, additional problems, such as a lack of hard disk space or issues with drivers, can also prevent it from working correctly.

So, what to do when you encounter the problem that a Windows PC freezes randomly?

Check if your computer is entirely dead-locked

To understand if your computer is completely frozen, you can try to move the mouse cursor over the screen. If it doesn’t move, your PC is locked and requires a forced reboot. You can also try pressing the “Caps Lock” button on your keyboard, this is another possible solution to computer crash randomly problems. If the Caps Lock indicator lights up, it’s probably a software problem and can be solved with the Windows Task Manager.

So, to do this, press Ctrl+Alt+Del and select the frozen program, then press End Task. However, if the Caps Lock indicator doesn’t work, your computer is dead-locked, and you need to restart your computer. Desktop computers may be rebooted with a button on a system unit, perhaps this will help to avoid computer freezing completely.. If you have a laptop, press the power button for ~10 seconds, forcing your PC to shut down.

Software Issues When Computer Keep Freezing

Software issues are the most common cause of my PC freezing randomly. At some point, the software loses control of the application or tries to run the application in a way that the Windows operating system does not recognize. This often happens when trying to run old programs in new versions of Windows or vice versa. Updating the software and the OS usually corrects the PC freezing problem. However, in some cases, reinstalling the application is the most effective way to deal with occasional software-related hangs.

Sometimes errors in running programs cause memory leaks. This happens when objects in a heap are no longer used. However, the garbage collector cannot remove them from memory; thus, they remain there unnecessarily. A memory leak is not good because it blocks memory resources and reduces system performance over time.

Check for Running Resource-Intensive Software

Sometimes, programs will remain running in the background even after you end working with them. This particularly true for different sort of virtual machines: they can stay in the background, showing no activity, while taking significant amount of your CPU and memory. Particular names to seek for in Task Manager are “Vmmem” (or “Vmmemvsl”), “VirtualBox”, “Vmware-vmx” or the like. Stopping them will give a huge relief to your hardware.

Check for Malware and Viruses

Computer freezes and crashes can be signs that your computer is infected. In some cases, malware loads your system by running dozens of processes in the background, consuming your computer’s RAM and causing it to freeze. It is often coin miners’ work, as it is their typical behavior – overloading the system, leaving no resources for other applications. In contrast, viruses can corrupt system files, without which the system cannot work correctly. As a result, this can cause blue screens of death. If your PC keeps freezing after rebooting, we recommend checking it for viruses with a our security solution.

Download and install Anti-Malware by clicking the button below. After the installation, run a Full scan: this will check all the volumes present in the system, including hidden folders and system files. Scanning will take around 15 minutes.

After the scan, you will see the list of detected malicious and unwanted elements. It is possible to adjust the actions that the antimalware program does to each element: click "Advanced mode" and see the options in the drop-down menus. You can also see extended information about each detection - malware type, effects and potential source of infection.

Click "Clean Now" to start the removal process. Important: removal process may take several minutes when there are a lot of detections. Do not interrupt this process, and you will get your system as clean as new.

Processor overheating

Because computers are susceptible to heat, a room without air conditioning on a 90-degree day can negatively affect your computer’s performance. You can tell if your PC is overheating by listening to your laptop or desktop computer’s internal fans. Suppose the cooling is running too loud or louder than usual. In that case, you should dust your PC and replace the thermal paste on the processor.

However, there is the opposite situation when the processor is overheating, and the cooling does not work, i.e. fans are silent. In this case, you should carefully inspect the coolers, maybe they are faulty, or contact is lost, listen further if your computer locks up randomly. At best, the processor will start to throttle, and at worst, overheating can lead to a complete shutdown. Next, get some air circulation in the room and ensure the CPU vents are not clogged with dust. If the problem with the PC keeps freezing is gone, that was the reason for the issue.

Multitasking Issues

Each program on your computer requires some internal and external (hardware) resources to run. If you run multiple programs simultaneously, your computer may need more memory or processing power. Therefore, run programs only as required to reduce the chance of being short on resources.

We also recommend checking the program autorun settings and disabling the autorun of unnecessary applications. This will significantly speed up the startup of your laptop. To do this, run the task manager, go to the “startup applications” tab, and disable unnecessary applications.

Driver Issues

Drivers directly affect the performance of your PC and can cause the computer to constantly freeze. If application drivers are corrupt or outdated, applications cannot appropriately interact with your hardware. Most modern operating systems get drivers from the Windows Update Center after installation, but drivers are rarely updated there. This is especially true for drivers for graphics adapters. For example, suppose your PC has powerful hardware but works slowly in graphics applications. In this case, we recommend downloading and installing the latest video driver from the manufacturer’s website. In most cases, this will solve the problem of poor performance in applications and the PC freezes for a few seconds.

Computer Keep Freezing? Lack of RAM!

Lack of memory is often the cause of occasional freezes. Unfortunately, you cannot solve this issue programmatically. However, you can try increasing the memory dump. The easiest way to check for insufficient RAM is to run a Windows memory diagnostic. Below are the steps to update your RAM:

1. Open the Start menu and type in Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool in the search box.
   
2. Click on it. This will reboot your system and check out your memory. It will also notify you if it finds any problems.
   

If no errors are found, there is probably nothing wrong with the memory. Most likely, your system and applications don’t have enough RAM. Consider upgrading your PC. At the very least, try adding RAM to fix the problem. You can find out if your system has enough RAM by running Task Manager and opening the Performance tab. If your device’s RAM is more than 70% used, you should add RAM to your device.

If you have a desktop PC, everything is as simple as possible. You just need to find out what type of memory you have installed. To do this, you need to open Task Manager, go to the tab performance, and click on memory.

If your memory type is not displayed there, use special utilities, such as AIDA64.

If you have a laptop, google your model to find out what RAM it uses. However, not all laptops allow you to expand RAM because, in compact models, this memory is soldered onto the motherboard and is physically impossible to replace.

Hardware issues that lead to the computer freezing

A more severe problem is a hardware issue, where a particular computer component is not working correctly or is malfunctioning. This can happen for some reasons, such as overheating or excessive dust buildup on components inside the computer. For example, as trivial as it sounds, a mouse or keyboard cord can become damaged over time, and a wireless device can have a dead battery. For the past few years, all computers have been equipped with high-speed SSD drives, but older machines have obsolete hard disk drives.

If your device has an older hard drive, we recommend replacing it with a faster SSD. This is guaranteed to give a significant performance boost to your PC. Although SSDs, if used correctly, can last quite a long time, and there will be no problems with their work if the SSD fails, it stops working completely.

How to Fix Computer Keeps Freezing

Are you facing the problem that “computer keeps freezing randomly”? In addition to the tips above, you can apply some of the following valuable techniques to minimize the risk of your computer freezing frequently:

Method #1. Clean up Windows Temporary Files

Microsoft Windows uses a cache to store temporary files to access them quickly. In addition to the fact that these files take up extra space, they can also interfere with Windows, causing performance issues. If you clear the cache folder, you can remove all unneeded files that may have been created in the past. And may have caused your OS to hang. To clear the Windows cache files, follow these steps:

1. Press Win+R and type or paste “%temp%” in the Run window to open the temporary cache folder.
   
2. Please select all the files with the CTRL+A key combination and then permanently delete them. You can use the disk cleanup tool by clicking start and typing “disk cleanup” in the search box.
   
3. In the window that opens, select the drive where the OS is installed (by default, it’s the C drive). Then, choose the types of data you want to delete in the next window. If you have very little space, you can select all of them.
   

Method #2. Check The Disk For Malfunctions

Suppose the hard drive’s response speed is not up to standard. In that case, Windows may not be able to access it at the necessary rate, and this causes the hard drive to freeze between access intervals. In addition, fragmentation errors may occur on the hard drive due to a PC crash or abnormal termination. Windows has a built-in tool to help you identify and fix disk problems. Another step that will help eliminate the problem is that my computer is hanging again and again. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Right-click Start and select Terminal (Administrator).
   
2. Type or paste “chkdsk” at the command prompt and press Enter.
   

This will start checking your hard drive for malfunctions using the Windows command line. Sometimes Windows will need to reboot to complete the check. When the utility finishes, it will notify you of any disk errors.

Method #3. Run Defragmentation

Defragmentation is reorganizing the data stored on your hard drive so that pieces of data line up continuously. It picks up all the parts of data that are scattered across your HDD and puts them back together in an orderly, neat, and clean fashion. To do so:

1. Open My Computer
2. Right-click on the desired drive and choose Properties.
   
3. Click the Tools tab.
4. Click Optimize
   
5. When the window appears, click Optimize.
   

As a result, defragmentation increases your computer’s performance by reducing the time it takes to access data and allows you to use your storage more efficiently.

Method #4. Run Memory Check

If you suspect your computer has memory problems, you can run the Windows Memory Diagnostics utility by completing the following steps:

1. Press Windows + R key combinations and type mdsched.exe in the input box. Then press Enter.
2. Click Restart now and check for problems (recommended) to check for problems immediately (If you want to check later, click “Check for problems the next time I start my computer”).
3. Windows will restart and you will get the following window showing the progress of the check and the number of passes it will run on memory. It might take several minutes for the tool to finish.

Method #5. Run System File Checker

Sometimes computer keeps freezing randomly due to corrupted or missing system files. Fortunately, the OS has a system file checker that should help you restore the original files. With any luck, it will automatically fix your problem. To use this tool, run the command line as administrator and type or paste the following command:

sfc /scannow

Windows will scan its files, and if it finds a corrupt or missing file, Windows will try to fix it automatically.

No matter how well you maintain your PC, all systems hang at some point. This can happen due to issues with operating system updates, as seen with some of the recent updates for Windows 10. For example, the October 2023 update, known as KB5031356, experienced significant installation issues due to the 0x8007000d error, which prevented successful update completions and led to other operational challenges like slow performance and reboot loops.

However, understanding what causes your computer to hang can help you prevent problems and troubleshoot problems in the future. We hope that the methods described above have helped you to solve the Windows freeze problem so that you can get back to using your device comfortably. Suppose none of the above solutions did help to solve the problem with computer keeps freezing. In that case, your PC likely has a hardware problem that requires further investigation. In this case, you can apply to the service center, where qualified specialists will be able to find and fix the problem.

The post 5 Methods to Fix Computer Keeps Freezing appeared first on Gridinsoft Blog.

Is Rsenginesvc.exe Virus?

As I wrote above, rsEngineSvc.exe process is a part of RAV Antivirus (Reason Core Security Engine Service). It is a program from ReasonLabs and supposedly serves to protect against viruses and various threats. In fact, RAV Antivirus appears when the user clicks on a malicious link or installs a cracked program.

Normally, rsEngineSvc should not cause any significant troubles. Nonetheless, its appearance is barely a desired thing for the user. The behavior of this “antivirus” is also obtrusive, with pop-ups and startup scans that you cannot disable. This, combined with higher-than-usual resource consumption, should be a good reason to remove rsEngineSvc from your computer.

RsEngineSvc.exe High CPU and Disk Usage Explained

Typically for any antivirus, RAV, that contains the rsEngineSvc.exe will perform scanning operations. During this routine, it is natural for most antiviruses to use CPU power and create a sensible disk load. However, due to the lackluster development, rsEngineSvc.exe (Reason Core Security Engine Service) is much less efficient, which leads to excessive usage of system resources.

The problem is particularly sensible for the systems with hard disk drives. HDDs are typically slower, slow enough to be overloaded by a single program that uses one intensively. Such discomfort, combined with less than controllable behavior is yet another reason to remove rsEngineSvc.

It is important to emphasize that the load created by rsEngineSvc is not malicious, e.g. it does not mine cryptocurrencies or performs other illegal activities at your expense.

Can I delete or uninstall rsEngineSvc?

To remove rsEngineSvc.exe from your system, I’d recommend Gridinsoft Anti-Malware. Since RAV Antivirus commonly arrives bundled with other programs, it is expected that your system to be flooded by other PUAs. And to get your system clean from any unwanted programs, using proper anti-malware software is essential.

Download and install Anti-Malware by clicking the button below. After the installation, run a Full scan: this will check all the volumes present in the system, including hidden folders and system files. Scanning will take around 15 minutes.

After the scan, you will see the list of detected malicious and unwanted elements. It is possible to adjust the actions that the antimalware program does to each element: click "Advanced mode" and see the options in the drop-down menus. You can also see extended information about each detection - malware type, effects and potential source of infection.

Click "Clean Now" to start the removal process. Important: removal process may take several minutes when there are a lot of detections. Do not interrupt this process, and you will get your system as clean as new.

How do you prevent rsEngineSvc.exe or other PUPs from installing?

To prevent the installation of rsenginesvc.exe or other potentially unwanted programs (PUPs), you need to be careful when downloading and installing freeware from the Internet. Additionally, exercise caution when visiting suspicious websites and opening malicious emails.
Here are some tips to help you protect your computer from PUPs:

• Use a reliable antivirus software such as Gridinsoft Anti-Malware and update it regularly. This will help you detect and remove PUPs if they get on your system.
• Be careful when visiting unknown or suspicious websites and do not click on pop-ups, banners, or links that may lead to PUP download.
• Be careful when downloading and installing freeware from unreliable sources, and always choose custom or advanced installation mode to decline additional offers or PUPs. Some programs may install other programs along with themselves without your consent or knowledge, so it is important to read all terms and agreements before installing any software.

The post rsEngineSvc.exe Process: Reason Core Security Engine Service appeared first on Gridinsoft Blog.

However, in some cases, the HxTsr.exe process may be responsible for performance issues, security, or system stability. It is possible that this process is tampered or infected with a virus that uses its name to masquerade on the system. Such malware can threaten your privacy, security, and finances, so it’s important to learn how to recognize and eliminate them.

What is HxTsr.exe?

The HxTsr.exe (Hidden Executable To Sync Remote Servers), is a part of MS Outlook app, the one that orchestrates part of its networking affairs. It appeared with the introduction of Microsoft Office 2013 and is also a component of built-in Windows 11/10 applications such as Mail, Calendar, and Contacts. It runs in the background and powers the Microsoft Outlook application which uses different types of accounts. HxTsr is also responsible for updating your mail, calendar, and contact data on your computer and in the cloud.

The HxTsr.exe process is located in the C:\Users\****\AppData\Local\Packages\microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_XXX\ folder, where XXX is the version of the application package. It is not a Windows system file and does not affect the operating system. It can be suspended or closed without affecting Windows, but it may cause the Outlook application or its counterparts to malfunction.

Can I delete HxTsr?

It is possible to close/suspend the HxTsr.exe process, but the question arises – can it be deleted completely?

Well, it is doable, even though there are a couple of drawbacks you will get. If you remove the HxTsr.exe process, it may affect the operation of Microsoft Outlook, Mail, Calendar and other applications that use it to synchronize data with mail servers. You may lose access to your email, contacts, tasks, and calendar or get errors while using them. So, if you do not use the “Mail” application, the removal will not make that much of an impact. Here is how you can do it:

1. Click on Start Menu > Settings > System > Apps and Features.
2. Wait till the app list is populated.
3. Click on the Mail & Calendar App.
4. It will reveal the menu to Move and Uninstall.
5. Click on the Uninstall button to remove the Mail & Calendar from Windows. This will remove the source programs of HxTsr.exe, removing it as well.

Is HxTsr.exe virus?

Although the HxTsr.exe process itself is not a virus or malware, it can be spoofed or used by such programs to disguise their activities. Viruses and malware may create copies of the HxTsr.exe process in other folders or with different names to trick the user or antivirus. They may also masquerade as the HxTsr.exe process to hide their presence. Such malware can threaten your privacy, security, and finances, so it’s important to learn how to recognize and eliminate them.

Typical malware effects that can mimic the HxTsr.exe process can be as follows:

• Computer slowdown
• Appearance of unwanted advertisements
• Theft of personal information
• Infection of other computers
• Breach of security or privacy

To recognize and remove malware masquerading as the HxTsr.exe process, you can perform the following steps:

Step 1: Open Task Manager

To open Task Manager, press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Esc or right-click on an empty spot on the taskbar and select “Task Manager”.

Step 2: View the list of processes

In Task Manager, choose the Processes tab and view a list of all running processes. Find the process named HxTsr.exe.

Step 3: Open the location of the process file

To open the file location of a process, right-click on the process in Task Manager and choose “Open File Location”. This will open the folder where the process executable is located.

It is located in the folder C:\Users\****\AppData\Local\Packages\microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_(version of the application package)

Its size is about 30 KB. It usually does not consume more than 1% of CPU and 10 MB of memory.

If you find any inconsistencies, do not rush to delete the file, as it may lead to undesirable consequences. First, check it for viruses.

Perform a full system scan with a quality antivirus software like Gridinsoft Anti-Malware and remove all detected threats. You can also check the HxTsr.exe process file for viruses using an online service such as Gridinsoft’s Online Virus Scanner.

Download and install Anti-Malware by clicking the button below. After the installation, run a Full scan: this will check all the volumes present in the system, including hidden folders and system files. Scanning will take around 15 minutes.

After the scan, you will see the list of detected malicious and unwanted elements. It is possible to adjust the actions that the antimalware program does to each element: click "Advanced mode" and see the options in the drop-down menus. You can also see extended information about each detection - malware type, effects and potential source of infection.

Click "Clean Now" to start the removal process. Important: removal process may take several minutes when there are a lot of detections. Do not interrupt this process, and you will get your system as clean as new.

The post HxTsr.exe – What is the HxTsr Process? appeared first on Gridinsoft Blog.

What is Csrss.exe?

Csrss.exe is a legitimate Windows process with the full name of Client Server Runtime Process and is critical to the system. This process is present in all modern Windows versions, and it is not uncommon to notice several instances running back to back. Such a phenomenon is normal and is not considered a sign of viruses. The system runs one upon the startup, and terminating it leads to BSoD.

This process in Windows 7, 8, and 10 is responsible for console programs, shutdown processes, starting another vital process – conhost.exe – and other critical system functions. It uses a few resources in normal mode, so there is no reason to terminate it. It is needed for System shutdown, Virtual DOS Machine (VDM) support and other system functions such as Ctrl+C and Ctrl+Break signal processing, user switching, and mounting and unmounting disks. As a legacy function, csrss.exe is responsible for opening the console window, but only to the extent of launching the conhost.exe process.

Csrss.exe BSOD – How to Fix?

Sometimes, after unsuccessful manipulations with the Csrss.exe file or other system files, the Windows may become unstable or not start. The corruption of important Windows system files can cause this. The solution is as follows:

Go to the Troubleshooting menu – Advanced Options – Command Prompt in the recovery environment. At the command prompt that launches, execute the following command:

sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=C:\Windows

After entering the command, press Enter and wait for the process to complete. This may take some time, but be sure to wait until the end, as it is required to finish the system files’ repair. After that, close the command prompt and restart your computer.

Analysis a Real Trojan Virus

We found several samples of Csrss.exe as Trojan Virus.

They can be downloaded from the Internet by the users themselves. Often when users open unknown files from the spam message, they infect the computer with different kinds of virus-like malware. But the malware developer usually has a plan B. They attach similar viruses to installing various free programs. Hence, if you skip the installation process and don’t look to the advantage setting, then ready that your computer will be infected with a virus-like this.

We discovered a sample of Trojan.CoinMiner written in Delphi, which is distributed via spam mail:

GridinSoft Anti-Malware detect it as “Trojan.Win32.CoinMiner.dd”

MD5: 922e0891ae30ac3adb3a09cb963570cc
SHA1: 77feeefff422519cdb63faa438fea87e5e70882a

Other antivirus programs detect Trojan.CoinMiner (csrss.exe) as:

Trojan Miner Drop Files:

C:\Windows\MicrosoftU
Auto.bat
Start.vbs
Start2.vbs
Hide.bat
Start.bat
Start2.bat
1.bat
2.bat
Srvany.exe
Csrss.exe
Srvanyx.exe

After Trojan.CoinMiner has been unpacked. It hides its presence using the strings in Hide.bat, setting the hidden and system attributes to the folder and files.

Attrib C:\Windows\MicrosoftU + S + H / S / D
Attrib C:\Windows\MicrosoftU\*. * + S + H / S / D

Trojan Miner uses the name of one of the system files “csrss.exe” to hide its presence in the system.

Csrss.exe virus starts with the following parameters:

• Stratum + tcp: //xmr.pool.minergate.com: 45560 – Resource for which “mining” will be entered
• Tatyana.kostomarova@gmail.com – user login from whom the extraction will be introduced
• Cryptonight – Mining algorithm

Another parameter is how many threads the program will work in. This “miner” has a formula for calculating the number of processor cores involved. It is in the .bat file that launches the “miner” for the first time:

Set / a CPU =% NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS% / 2 + 1
Srvanyx -a cryptonight -o stratum + tcp: //xmr.pool.minergate.com: 45560 -u tatyana.kostomarova@gmail.com -p x -t% cpu%

High CPU & GPU Troubleshooting

If you encounter abnormal GPU and CPU consumption by the csrss.exe process, you should first check the file location. To verify it, right-click on it and select “Open file location“. It should be located at “%SYSTEMROOT%\system32“.

Next, right-click on the file and select “Properties“, then the “Details” tab. This file’s Product Name should be “Microsoft® Windows® Operating System“. Also, the Copyright section should be “© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.”

If it is the original csrss.exe file, it may cause a high CPU/GPU load due to incorrect operation of the functions it is responsible for.

The Client Server Runtime Process’s excessive GPU consumption was previously a recognized problem in one of the Windows cumulative updates. However, Microsoft addressed the issue through various updates and hotfixes. You may still be using an older Windows version with this problem. If so, go to the Windows updates section and click “Check for updates“.

The next step is to update your GPU drivers. If you have an Nvidia, open Geforce Experience, and under the “Drivers” tab, click “Check for updates” and follow the instructions. If you have an AMD GPU, check the Radeon software for updates. It is vital to download drivers from official websites. Please avoid using low-trust sites or third-party installers like driver packs.

If the problem persists, run an SFC scan. To do this, run Command Prompt as administrator and paste the “sfc /scannow” command into it.

If the process csrss.exe still loads the device after all the manipulations, you can create a new user profile. To add a new user profile to your PC, go to Settings (gear icon) and select Accounts. Under Family & Other Users, click Add another person to this PC. Choose “I don’t have this person’s sign-in information” and then select “Add a user without a Microsoft account”. Fill in the details and click Next. Remember to grant administrator privileges only to those you trust.

Note: This guide is relevant for users of Windows 10. Windows 11 lacks the option to add a local account and asks you to use a Microsoft account.

Is CSRSS.exe trojan virus?

First, any claim that the “csrss.exe” file located in “C:\Windows\System32\” is a trojan virus is false. Low user knowledge along with unintelligible process names make system process names an excellent option for hiding malware. Usually, the malware tries to infect or disguise itself as critical system processes of the operating system. Also, many viruses use the name of that process or executable file to disguise itself so as not to make you suspicious. Each session creates a separate process, allowing the simultaneous running of several dozen processes.

Nevertheless, it is a good reason to worry if the csrss.exe high CPU and GPU load is constant. But even in this case, there are two options for abnormal process behavior: malware and user profile corruption. The original executable “csrss.exe” file is stored only in one place – in the “C:\Windows\System32\” directory. If only one OS is installed on the device, substituting or overwriting this file in the standard directory is almost impossible.

That being said, finding the files named “csrss.exe” in other directories on your PC is a sign of malware activity. To remove the threat, launch GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

Download and install Anti-Malware by clicking the button below. After the installation, run a Full scan: this will check all the volumes present in the system, including hidden folders and system files. Scanning will take around 15 minutes.

After the scan, you will see the list of detected malicious and unwanted elements. It is possible to adjust the actions that the antimalware program does to each element: click "Advanced mode" and see the options in the drop-down menus. You can also see extended information about each detection - malware type, effects and potential source of infection.

Click "Clean Now" to start the removal process. Important: removal process may take several minutes when there are a lot of detections. Do not interrupt this process, and you will get your system as clean as new.

The post Csrss.exe Trojan Virus appeared first on Gridinsoft Blog.

What is Computer Viruses?

A computer virus is a type of program that when executed modifies the other existing programs. What it does is that it replicates itself and inserts its code. The areas of the program affected in such a way by the malicious program are said to be infected.

Some computer viruses can steal your data, or encrypt your files to demand a ransom. The other kinds of malicious programs like cryptominers make your PC completely unusable. Not to mention that there exists quite an aggressive form of malware that once gets on the computer destroys the data with no recovery possible.

How to Detect a Computer Virus: Pay Attention

Despite the myriad of computer viruses existing out there in the world you will know when you get infected with some of them. Because in case of a computer infection, everything that doesn’t work properly may hint at it. But more precisely it is the following:

1. Browser lags or makes unwanted redirects;
2. You noticed that from your account has been sent emails that you clearly remember you didn`t write and send;
3. You also noticed that the hard drive seems to be working overly when you even don’t do that much;
4. New unknown applications appeared without you actually downloading them;
5. Unexpected pop-up windows started to annoy you increasingly;
6. The system began frequently to crash and message error;
7. You started to have missing files;
8. You also started to have shutting down or restarting system;
9. Your computer performance significantly slows down (it takes too much time to start up or open programs);
10. If your laptop’s battery is draining quickly, it could be a sign of malware running in the background. Malicious software can use a lot of your computer’s resources, causing your battery to deplete faster than usual, even when you’re not doing anything demanding.
11. Antivirus programs or firewalls don’t work or work problematic.

Prevent Computer Viruses

Of course the old rule says it’s better to prevent a problem than deal with it. In the case of computer safety and security, the same rule also applies. Bad security hygiene makes the way for various kinds of viruses to infect your computer and interfere with its work. For the responsible user, cyber security hygiene is one of the top priorities if not the first. Make yourself a note to always keep up with the next points:

#1. Have additional security solutions.

Apart from having your main antivirus and firewall, consider buying another antivirus or firewall. Just in case the main security solution fails you will always have the backup of your security tools.

#2. Make regular Backups.

Make it a habit to do regular backups of all important data you have on your computer. You can store it securely in the cloud or on the hard drive. In case of a compromise you won’t get your data completely lost.

#3. Use a firewall.

If you have some antivirus solution it doesn’t necessarily mean you have a firewall. But both PCs and Macs have pre-installed firewall software so make sure you have that activated on your computer.

#4. Use antivirus software.

There’s not that much to say that`s the most essential thing in your cybersecurity. Don`t leave yourself without an antivirus solution at all.

#5. Use strong passwords.

Strong password will consist of symbols, letters, and numbers and is at least eight characters long. And don`t reuse your username and password because once a hacker obtains them they can access all your accounts you have the same username and password on.

#6. Keep Everything Up to Date.

Just saying, if you have the latest version of the software it means you have a little possible percentage of being hacked. Companies like Oracle and Microsoft regularly do their updates to eliminate the bugs that hackers have been already exploiting.

How to Remove a Computer Virus?

So if you suspect that you have a virus on the computer take the steps below immediately to remove the threat:

1. Update your antivirus. Before you do a scan check if your antivirus solution has the latest update. Software vendors regularly do the updates adding to the list of new discovered in the wild or lab threats. If you have not done it yet your antivirus solution may not detect the virus that has infected the computer.
2. Disconnect from the internet. It will be a good idea to disconnect your computer from the internet as some viruses use the connection to do their malicious work. Once you have done it you can proceed further.
3. Do the reboot of your computer into safe mode. In the safe mode you can remove the virus without it returning. Because in some cases malware tends to return. But this mode leaves only the essential programs to work while disabling all others and of course, it will stop the virus.
4. Delete any temporary files. Some viruses initiate when your computer boots up. You may get rid of the virus if you delete the temporary file. But the advice will be not to rely on the deletion and proceed further to have the full proper deletion process.
5. Delete or quarantine the virus. After a scan is finished you can delete or quarantine the found file. Having done the step, run another scan to make sure there’s no malware left.
6. Reboot your computer. Simply turn your computer on. It doesn’t need to be in Safe Mode any longer.
7. Change all your passwords. If you fear that your passwords may have been compromised, change on all accounts the passwords.
8. Update your software, browser, and operating system. By doing so you will ensure that hackers cannot exploit the same vulnerability again.

Types of Computer Viruses

Out of the variety of viruses there are some most common ones. The possibility that it’s this particular virus has got onto your machine is very high. Because they are widely spread it won’t take too much effort to get rid of one of them.

But don’t underestimate them the sooner you detect a virus and erase it the better. So once you know the cause of the problem it should be the matter of time to successfully deal with it:

1. Trojan Virus. At first site a seemingly legitimate looking program but once on the victim’s machine will secretly do its primary job to steal, disrupt or damage the user`s data or network. Trojan can’t replicate itself. A victim should start the execution of it.
2. Ransomware. A malicious software that encrypts files and keeps them locked until the ransom is paid. All the encrypted files receive “.encrypted” extension.
3. Macro Virus. A computer virus written in the same macro language as Word or Microsoft Excel. It works with these software applications and doesn’t depend on what OS the victim has. If a macro virus infects a file it can also damage other applications and the system.
4. Bootkit Virus. This virus infects the boot sector and executable files simultaneously. Most viruses infect only one thing either the boot, system or program files. Because of such a double functionality the virus causes much more damage than any other.
5. Browser Hijacker. A malicious software that will change browser`s settings, appearance and its behavior. Browser hijacker creates revenue by dircting users to different websites and constantly showing pop up windows forcing users to click. Apart from such “innocent” things the virus can also collect the victim`s data or do the keystroke logging. Remove it as soon as you notice any changes you didn’t actually remember to make to your browser.

Find The Best Computer Virus Protection

It won’t be wrong to say that any antivirus protection is still protection. But of course, the question is how good that protection is. The best thing to do to know which antivirus software has the quality of protection is simply to try it out.

In this way you will see the work of the product in action and will decide for yourself if what this or that antivirus software vendor proposes is enough for your needs.

The search for the ideal antivirus solution won’t be hard if you know what the thing should do. The antivirus solution searches detects, and removes the malware. It’s the basic three-part system of any program that calls itself an antivirus solution. Additionally, most antivirus software has the feature of removing or quarantining the offending malware. Also an antivirus solution works on two principles: either way it scans the programs upon their uploading or checks those already existing.

Download and install Anti-Malware by clicking the button below. After the installation, run a Full scan: this will check all the volumes present in the system, including hidden folders and system files. Scanning will take around 15 minutes.

After the scan, you will see the list of detected malicious and unwanted elements. It is possible to adjust the actions that the antimalware program does to each element: click "Advanced mode" and see the options in the drop-down menus. You can also see extended information about each detection - malware type, effects and potential source of infection.

Click "Clean Now" to start the removal process. Important: removal process may take several minutes when there are a lot of detections. Do not interrupt this process, and you will get your system as clean as new.

Now that you’ve secured yourself with knowledge, try to secure your computer with Gridinsoft Anti-Malware. Not a bad start in testing out the various antivirus solutions in the search for that special one.

The post 11 Signs If Your Computer Has A Virus appeared first on Gridinsoft Blog.

What is a stress test?

A CPU load test overloads a computer’s processor by subjecting it to extreme usage. This measures the hardware’s performance by stressing it to the max, which helps you determine how much your system can handle. By using a computer stress test, you can determine the limits of your motherboard and other system components. Knowing these limits lets you use your PC to its fullest potential and prevents hardware overload by keeping your system from excessive stress.

How to perform a CPU stress test

To run a CPU check, follow these steps:

1. Reboot your computer and close all unnecessary applications. After that check your CPU temperature.
2. Choose one of the tools listed below, and then start your chosen stress-testing utility.
3. Observe the temperature of your hardware while the test is running, and be ready to stop the test if your PC overheats.

Performing a stress test on the PC allows you to get information about the general health, performance capacity, and stability of the computer, as well as any limitations or problems you need to know about. Unfortunately, this information needs to be more clearly presented, and in most cases, it will be necessary to deal with raw data. Understandable results will be available only after certain calculations. But overall, this operation is essential if you consider CPU overclocking or performing processor-intensive tasks.

How to prepare for a stress test

It is important to configure your computer correctly before stress testing the CPU. This includes setting up a controlled environment where background apps don’t interfere with the results. To set up and prepare your PC:

1. First, close all programs that are not essential to the computer’s operation. Right-click on anything on the taskbar that you don’t use frequently and select Close. Then open your task manager (Ctrl+Shift+Escape) and kill all non-critical processes (preferably without touching anything you don’t recognize).
2. Check the temperature of your CPU as a baseline before starting the test, and continue to monitor the temperature during the test to make sure that the processor does not heat up to a temperature limit.

How to start a CPU stress test

This is especially important if you’re buying a pre-built computer so you can understand how key components such as CPU, motherboard, and thermal controls work independently.

Tools you need to stress test your CPU

Below you can see some of the best stress testing software tools including Prime95, AIDA64, Intel BurnTest, and HeavyLoad. Don’t worry about which one offers the best CPU stress test, as they both give similar results. Here’s guide on how to use each of the most popular stress testing tools:

Prime95

Prime95 is an efficient utility that ensures that all components of your computer are functioning properly.

1. First of all you need to download the Prime95 and choose your operating system.
   The most popular system is Windows 64-bit.
   
2. Run the program and click Just stress testing. Choose the Blend option, which will test all computer components. Then press OK.
   
3. As soon as the test runs, everything will be up to 100%. And you will likely see a lot of noise and heat from your PC.
   
4. While paying attention to the temperature, the test is performed for about an hour.

AIDA64

AIDA64 is a mature testing and benchmarking tool with a free trial available. How to use it:

1. Download the free trial for AIDA64. Unarchive the zip file and run aida64.exe.



2. Tap Tools and choose System Stability Test. After that tap Start.



3. You can toggle from the results screen to see how each component responds to the test. For example, Sensor will show you temperature values for each internal hardware.

HeavyLoad

HeavyLoad is an easy-to-use program that covers all components of a computer, including the GPU. Just download the app, launch the tool, and check the boxes for the components you want to test. Then click the "Play" button – it’s that simple.

Intel BurnTest

Intel BurnTest was developed to push the most powerful computers to their limits. But to analyze real high-end hardware, Intel BurnTest is the way to go. When stress testing, make sure to monitor activity at all times.

Is stress testing safe?

Stress testing by itself is not harmful provided you use it correctly and monitor the results. The computers are designed to keep away from dangerous temperatures. Most CPUs can automatically shut down or cut the performance before the temperature threshold. But it will be good if you keep your computer from overloading and do not start the stress test without real reason and aforementioned preparations. With regular exposure to high temperatures, the life of your hardware components will be significantly reduced. That is exceptionally actual for laptops, as they do not have a lot of room inside of their body. A single overheating component may lead to overheating all other things on the motherboard.

Remember: The stress test of the CPU is needed within an hour or two, or rather until your PC starts to dangerously overheat. If your computer is running at this rate for 60 minutes without overheating or being forced to shut down, then it is in excellent condition.

Why might my CPU fail a stress test?

Stress test failure (i.e. unexpectedly poor results or inability to finish it) may be a sign of hardware problems. There are many reasons why this could happen. If your processor fails a stress test, you should get more specific information about what’s wrong. This may mean that you need to replace just one part or multiple components, or there is only a need to clean up your vents.

1. The fan isn’t doing its job.

Your computer needs fans to withdraw heat from the system unit. This is why fans can make a lot of noise once you expose your PC to some intensive tasks. If the fans groan loudly, but the processor is overheating, it may be the sign that the cooling system is not enough for your current PC setup. Alternatively, the fans can be corrupted – broken or unlubed bearings, or broken blades.

2. Poor airflow.

As powerful as the fans on your computer are, they won’t run properly without proper airflow. Clearing blocked air ducts and vents with a few bursts of compressed air can help your computer run like new again. Different tasks and programs on a computer age the hardware at different rates.

3. Problems with the thermal interface.

Aside from fans, there is a system that delivers the heat from key components to the radiators, so the air flow can cool it. Those are the CPU fan and the thermal paste between it and the CPU cover. Dried-dust paste, improper placement of the fan, dust-choked radiator – all these things may lead to overheating and stress test failure.

4. Hardware that’s past its prime.

Seeing disappointing results may sometimes be not a sign of problems with your computer, but a sign of obsolescence. Computers are designed to last as long as they can, but at a certain point they lose the ability to withstand the modern loads. CPU that is over 10 years old may be overclocked to higher rates than modern-day processors – but that will not give him a larger cache size and the newest instruction sets.

5. You’re weighed down by junk.

Some systems may suffer not because of old or damaged hardware, but because of junk files and programs acting as ballast. Consider cleaning apps you haven’t been used for a long time, remove file remnants of the removed programs, and clean the registry.

The post How to Stress Test Your PC’s CPU appeared first on Gridinsoft Blog.

In the case of freeware you get to download spyware without your explicitly given consent for it. The thing often happens when you don’t carefully read what you are going to download onto your device and as a result, you will have a surprise like spyware.

What Does Spyware Do?

Concerned parents often install on a child’s device specific programs that will allow them to monitor their activities online and see whether the child has access to some inappropriate content. Or it can be a jealous partner who secretly looks up what their significant one is doing on their phone. Famous spyware attacks 2022 do not operate overtly using cunning tricks, and increasingly appear together with other viruses.

Whatever the reason might be for you happen to have it what spyware is doing on your device is that it can monitor sensitive information, internet usage data, record login credentials, track someone’s physical location, intercept texts and emails, record and eavesdrop phone conversations, have an access to personal data such as videos and photos. Cybercriminals exploit spyware to get access to your passwords, banking information, and credit card numbers.

Symptoms of Spyware Examples

Any software that gets installed without the end user’s knowledge can be classified as spyware. This type of malicious software is also hard to get rid of because you won’t know at first sight that you have it but closely inspecting your device’s behavior and work should give you a hint if you have one.

Read the next ten signs you should look for if you have a suspicion you get infected with spyware:

1. Experiencing floods of pop-ups and ads

Every time you start to work with your computer it becomes almost impossible to do any task because of a sudden avalanche of different pop-ups and ads with some of them disturbingly too personal. You can’t just click away them every time you do so there’s another and another one until you’re out of breath for clicking them all. The same for when you just surf the internet on every website you go you encounter tens of ads and pop-ups.

The content of the ads can be various ranging from weird tips to getting your head showered with sand or an ad saying where you can buy the cheapest tickets to Australia. Apart from displaying pop-ups and ads, spyware also will vigorously collect your browser search history to send it back to advertisers or some unknown third party.

2. Changes in the amount of your hard disk space

Many kinds of malware once they get on your device have one of their tasks to do some malicious action to the user’s hard drive. Some instances of computer infection can be quite severe when you have to completely reformat your hard drive. The same goes for spyware which also has its effect on such computer parts as hard drives. Spyware infiltrates without the knowledge of the user, recording keystrokes, connects to the operating system, and begins to perform unauthorized actions.

When you get spyware infection the amount of your hard drive can change because the malware will use all it needs of your hard disk partitions and so the space occupied by the spyware will increase noticeably. On the contrary, the case might be that you noticed your hard drive decrease unusually. This can mean that malware that infected your computer deleted some files or programs.

3. Your antivirus software doesn’t work

Many malicious software when they infect a computer first try to disable any antivirus software present on the targeted machine. They do so to have an open door when proceeding with further malicious activities. Malware deliberately turns off antivirus software so it won’t interfere with its malicious doings and be silent for any alerts.

If you notice that your antivirus seems not to work, try to reload it when it won’t work, then it’s a sure sign something is messing with your system. It surely can be spyware that you have unknowingly downloaded and now it started first with your antivirus.

4. Unusual network activity with quite slow internet connection

If you see that your network activity recently has increased and there’s nothing you do that attributes to that amount of network connectivity rising the thing might be that you are caught up in spyware or it can be another kind of malware.

Recommendation: Read the article to find out if malware can spread over a shared Wi-Fi connection.

But before jumping straight to any conclusions check the next questions to be sure you didn’t miss anything important. See if there’s any torrent file you might be downloading at the moment. Could it be some legit program that uploads or downloads any data? Or maybe it is your computer that updates the operating system or updates some applications automatically? If the above-mentioned questions turned out to be negative then it’s a sure thing to look for spyware/malware.

5. The computer started to experience frequent crashes or hangs

Before saying for sure that you have been infected with spyware or any other top malware attacks, consider the other technical possibility because the problem may lie in this aspect. The thing is you have installed a program that doesn’t work with your computer’s specs or you changed some hardware element and something went wrong after the repair. If you experience Blue Screen of Death, hangs and crashes the reasons could be that of above but if they are not the case then it’s spyware that is interfering with your system.

6. In your browser, you have a new home page or tool bar

You don’t remember changing your browser’s home page or adding a new toolbar. It can be spyware that did the thing for you. And even if you have changed the settings they return.

Your browser still redirects you to some unfamiliar web pages or some unknown toolbars appear without you adding them then it’s a sure sign of spyware. This particular type of malware often does its malicious changes to targeted devices, specifically those concerned with a browser. It tries to manipulate the way you access the Internet.

7. Your computer’s work has slowed down

You also started to experience a sudden slowdown of your system. This happens because spyware is designed in such a way as to take a lot of system resources and eventually can even bring your system down. If you noticed this unpleasant symptom then the possibility is that your computer got infected. Of course, the thing also can be that your computer is old enough but we are talking here about average-aged machines so this option has been removed so far.

8. You receive very expensive bills that you don’t know where they could come from

You don’t know where this expensive bill for Netflix comes from. Or don’t remember to make an order for a new iPad. If this thing you started to have lately we recommend immediately changing all your important logins and checking your payment history so you also will need to block your credit card or change it. See all recent transactions you have made and look for any inconsistencies to prove the suspicions;

9. Your computer shows various and frequent error notifications

Every time your computer tries to complete some operation an error message might occur notifying you of an error. Your computer can’t manage to finish certain tasks ending with constant error messages. But you are also sure there’s currently nothing wrong with your computer not finishing the task. And this thing also started to occur lately and somehow all of a sudden. The thing is you might be experiencing the onslaught of spyware.

10. Generally Unusual Behavior of a Computer

It may be that your CD drawer started to open by itself. You saw that you sent emails that you don’t remember to send to anyone. Some previously unknown files appeared on your computer and your files or folders became missing;

In case your fears have been confirmed and you have been infected with spyware the one thing you need now for sure is an antivirus solution that will help you safely get rid of this unwanted and nosy guest on your computer. Try to use Anti-Spyware Scanner and Remover to be sure your privacy won`t be endangered again.

The post 10 Signs That Your Computer Is Infected With Spyware appeared first on Gridinsoft Blog.

Why do I need to clean my PC?

First, let’s talk about hardware cleaning. The components you have on your motherboard are not just a plate with pieces of silicon on it. Each detail has the recommended temperature range. Some parts may be sensitive to extreme vibrations or mounted in a certain position. But most of these things are basic and easy to follow, in contrast to the main enemy of each cooling system – dust.

If you have a pet at home, you likely know how much fur they lose during the spring or autumn months. Pets that live indoors, for example, may molt the whole year, so taking and hugging them is a simple way to make your clothes covered with their wool. And then imagine that all cooling mechanisms (at least two fans) suck all this wool. It sticks to your GPU/CPU, and the power supply covers the motherboard and disk drives. That struggles the heat sink, forcing the cooling fans to rotate faster and increasing the risk of fan failure – no heat sinks are designed to withstand the dust wrapped on its shaft.

Using a vacuum cleaner, you can easily clean all the dust you have inside the computer case. You can usually open the computer case with a single screwdriver. Ten minutes of simple dust cleaning procedure will endure the lifespan of your computer. This action is recommended to be performed three times a year for a simple user. Perform it more often if your PC is used heavily for gaming, 3D modeling, or other resource-intensive activities.

Cleaning the system

Most modern operating systems have their own embedded tools for system cleaning. However, Windows does not have automatic cleaning facilities. Moreover, the embedded tools for system cleaning cannot remove all junk files. Browser logs, error reports, cookies – all these things are stored on your disks but have no application. Here is the description of how to get rid of them and distinguish them from ones that may be used in the future.

First of all, let’s take a look at how to clean the junk files left by the system. Windows leaves a lot of garbage while operating. Each update you install also creates a backup copy for the case if you dislike the changes and want to roll your system back. However, current Windows releases can barely contain something that will force you to roll back. It is recommended to remove a backup file, which may take more than 10 GB of your disk space.

Open Control Panel (Search → type “Control Panel”). Go to System and Security, and choose the Free Up Disk Space option (at the bottom). Choose C: drive, and after the preliminary scan, click on “Clean up system files”. After pressing this button, this cleaning mechanism will show you the programs’ junk files and the garbage generated by your system. Then, you can clean it with one click. This procedure may take a while, especially if the backup file is large (>10 GB).

If you’ve been typing online searches like “how to make my computer faster” and not gotten very far, you can speed up your computer with these tips.

Clean up the browser cache

Cache is used by web browsers to increase website loading speed. It is kept in a separate file, among other web browser files. It is a useful feature that allows you to save traffic when you use metered connections and makes the websites open faster when you use a slow connection. Nonetheless, cache size may grow to hundreds of megabytes after several months of use. Another unwanted consequence of caching is that some websites will not show you the updates since the browser loaded the page from the cache.

Each browser has its way of cache cleaning, but in major, this option hides in the Settings.

Turn on swap file

Disk space is used by operating systems, not only as a storage device. While running the programs, Windows sometimes gets into a situation when the application asks for more RAM than the system currently offers without closing other programs. In such a situation, Windows, macOS, or Linux will offload the files of currently unused apps into a swap. Swap is a separate memory pool on your disk, explicitly created for keeping the data of new programs when another program needs more RAM.

Enabling the swap file may significantly increase the performance of the systems with relatively small amounts of RAM (<8 GB). If you use programs that consume a lot of RAM - 10-15 GB, it is recommended to enable the swap file, too, even if you have 20+GB of RAM.

Keep your disk drive clean

By default, Windows has the dynamically allocated swap file enabled. As I have described in a previous paragraph, swap files can make your computer run faster. Dynamic swap files have a single disadvantage – in case your disk is full, the swap has no place to expand. Hence, you may hope that your system will offload the unused apps, but oops – there is no free space for that action. Leaving the amount of free space close to your RAM amount will be enough to avoid such situations.

Another useful function that requires free space is hibernation. Your PC copies the data from RAM on your disk and then suspends it in this mode. In that mode, the desktop or laptop does not consume electricity, but you will be able to operate the programs exactly after the system starts, right from the place where you stopped.

Don’t forget to install Windows patches and driver updates

The developers of each operating system are interested in having more users. They are doing their best to optimize the system to avoid sudden lags, freezes, or other problems that harm the user experience. Installing a fresh patch on your Windows may increase your performance significantly. Using the scaling, you may feel the difference: install the post-release Windows 10, use it, and then update it to the last Windows 10 version. You will surely be amazed at the speed-up.

Drivers can make the situation better for a certain element of your computer. Some drivers add new functionality, but some fix critical problems or improve performance. Installing a new driver for your GPU, you may see a 15-30% increase in FPS in various games. 3D modelers may suffer from bugs fixed only by driver updates. New is likely the best!

Important note: don’t use third-party driver installers for driver updates. 90% of these programs are potentially unwanted and may carry severe hazards for your system.

Read also: How to fix slow PC?

The post How to Clean Up And Speed Up Your Computer? appeared first on Gridinsoft Blog.

Reboot your PC

Start with a restart. Even if you’ve done it several times already, just as a matter of procedure, do it again. Nothing? Ok, let’s try other things.

Check background tasks

Some of the programs on your PC work in the background, often without even communicating with you. And that is OK. Antivirus programs, for example, ought to turn on automatically upon system booting. But there is software for which there is no need to work in the background. However, despite slowing down the computer, some programs automatically put themselves on a startup list which means the system will launch them once it boots.

Here is Windows 10 instruction on how to check the programs listed for startup launch:

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to access the Task Manager.
2. Go to the Startup tab. You will see the list of programs that start at once after Windows boots. In the Status column, you will see “enabled” and “disabled” values. The former means that Windows will launch this program upon startup.
   You can disable any program from this list, or even all of them, to check whether background tasks cause the deceleration of your PC. You will be able to enable them back again whenever you like. If you’re not up to that, you can disable only the programs about which you are suspicious.
3. You can click any entry in the list with the right mouse button and choose Properties in the dropdown menu. In the properties window, you can see the exact name of the program by googling, which you can learn what exactly this program does.
4. To disable the startup launch of the program, right-click the entry right in the list and select Disable.

NOTA BENE! If your antivirus software is performing a scan, this takes a lot of resources. Giving the CPU other tasks at the same time may result in low performance. Let the scan complete, and then see how quick your PC is. If the problem remains, proceed to the next possible anomaly source.

Update the OS and drivers

Your computer might be working slowly because of the outdated hardware drivers conflicting with the latest system software or vice versa. If it is so, the best solution is to update everything. Windows 10 updates automatically, but users can postpone updates or specify a date to install them. It is unlikely but possible that your hardware drivers were designed to work on the system update you haven’t yet installed. However, the opposite situation is pretty much possible. Windows 10 only adds the latest device drivers to its significant updates. But the latter hardly include drivers for rare and specific devices. Therefore, it is reasonable to manually check for device drivers on the manufacturers’ official websites.

Or you can use special applications provided by hardware manufacturers to update drivers automatically as graphic cards and printer producers do. But not always there is such support.

Use Start Menu search and seek Windows Update, where you will see whether any updates are waiting for installation.

Reboot your PC after all the updates.

Free HDD space

Swapping is a process of loading data that exceeds the size of physical RAM into virtual RAM – a file on the HDD called swap file (also: page file). Its size can amount up to 4 times larger than that of the real RAM. The lower limit is 1,5 of the RAM.

Now you see why the OS needs some free space on the hard drive for smooth operation. Check whether your HDD is full. Of course, we’re talking about the same hard disk where your system is.

Clean up Temp files

Creating, storing, using, and deleting temporary files is a process that accompanies your computer’s execution of complex programs. There is a folder in the operating systems for these temp files. Some of the files stay there for a long time, and that’s okay.

Temp files piling up can cause a visible deceleration of the PC. The more so if there is a hard disk drive overload.

Follow this instruction to remove temporary files:

1. In the Start Menu search bar, type %temp% and hit Enter.
2. The temporary files window will open.
3. You can delete all of them. If some programs use any of these temp files right now, Windows will notify you, and you’ll be able to skip that very object. The rest of the files will be created again if they are needed.

If the temporary files were the reason for your PC slow down, you will feel the improvement right away.

Disable/remove browser extensions

If your computer becomes slow specifically as you use the Internet, the problem may lie in browser extensions. Users are often unaware of how many useless extensions they install into their browsers while surfing the Web, mindlessly clicking consent buttons without even looking at the proposition. You can either turn unwanted extensions off or even delete them. Considering many extensions are PUPs alright, maybe the second option is preferable.

However, before removing any extensions, make sure you are not browsing with many browser tabs open and active. Some users don’t care about it, while the open tabs can banally overload the PC.

To remove extensions in Google Chrome, press Chrome Menu (three dots icon at the upper right corner) and choose More Tools in the popping-out menu. In the next menu, select Extensions. Find an extension you want to disable or remove and do it. Flip the blue switch to disable the extension, press Details to learn more about it, and, finally, press Remove to get rid of it.

Do the anti-malware scan.

Many types of malware are capable of slowing the computer they target significantly. The most prominent example is a Trojan horse that uses your system’s resources to mine cryptocurrency.

Related reaning: Coin Miners – What is it? How to know that you are infected?.

Open your antivirus program control panel and run a deep scan. Since there is such malware that only some of the existing security programs can detect, it is advisable to use a different counter-malware software alongside your antivirus to achieve a better effect. We recommend GridinSoft Anti-Malware, a safety program that can function as a powerful scanner utility as well as your primary system antivirus.

Rule out CPU cooling problems

Central processing units can lower their frequency to reduce heat in the chip. It is called “throttling.” Poor ventilation within the system unit can trigger this safety measure.

Remove the cover from the system block and see whether hair, dust, and dirt obstruct normal airflow. Clean the interior of the system unit accurately. If you’re not sure what is allowable during cleaning: check with this article on cleaning a system unit.

Attentively examine cooling grids and fans. Consider replacing a CPU fan if it is out of order. By the way, graphic cards feature cooling fans as well. If your PC decelerates running video games, check the graphic card fan as well.

Check the hard disk

Although software causes of the computer being slow are more probable, we should not ignore the possibility of the hard drive malfunction. What can we check in a hard drive, and how? If it is damaged and if it is fragmented. For both examinations, we can use standard tools featured in operating systems. Both procedures take time.

To check HDD for errors, run CHKDSK.

1. Type “cmd” in the Start Menu search bar and open the found item, the Command Prompt.
2. Press the right mouse button on the found Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
3. In the command prompt, type the command:
   chkdsk C: /f /r /x
   
4. Press Enter.

This command launches a disk check attempting to fix any error or bad sector on the hard drive. CHKDSK will mark hard-damaged sectors so that they are not used again. If you’re up to scanning another drive, type its drive letter instead of “C.”

If your PC is Apple, use Disk Utility to do the same thing. Take this path:

Launchpad (Dock icon) – Other – Disk Utility

The second thing to be checked is disk fragmentation or, in other words, the extent to which data is scattered across the hard drive. It takes much more time to operate with a fragmented disk. To defragment the HDD, use the Windows in-built optimizer.

1. Search for Defragment and Optimize Drives in the Start Menu search bar.
2. Open the found utility and, in its window, select one of the drives and press the Optimize button near its entry.

Check hardware

If nothing worked, it is time to check the hardware then. There are three PC components whose defects might cause the symptoms you’re trying to cure: CPU, motherboard, and RAM.

To do the maximum from home, you can use Ultimate Boot CD, software created to detect hardware issues by measuring the time it takes your PC to do some specially designed tasks.

The UBCD is downloadable nowadays; it is not necessarily on a CD.

A device wherein the UBCD finds a defect should be replaced or fixed.

READ ALSO: How to Fix High CPU Usage.

Reinstall Windows

An operating system like Windows is a highly sophisticated program. As you use it and interact with it, it becomes more and more customized, thus deviating from its most optimal state.

Normally, these deviations are minor, but sometimes they get truly significant due to software conflicts that are hard to track. If the UBCD detected no hardware problems, but still there is something wrong with the computer’s running speed, it might be reasonable to cut the Gordian knot by reinstalling the system. If you choose to install the system anew without keeping your files, you will lose your data. However, since you can still launch your PC, just back up your files and proceed.

Here is the Windows 10 Reinstallation Manual.

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