Hello. I'm new on this forum, but was seeking some assistance with a strange problem that has suddenly afflicted my computer. Before I go on, I'll list my system Specs.
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
Intel Core i7 2760QM @ 2.40GHz
8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
CLEVO P150HMx (SOCKET 0) (Motherboard)
AMD Radeon HD 2048MB 6990M
699GB (750GB) Seagate ST9750422AS (SATA)
To describe what's happening, about two days ago I tried to boot up my computer after getting home from work, business as usual, but after the initial (POST?) screen, the boot process hung on the blinking white _ cursor instead of going on to boot Windows. I waited for around 15-20 minutes, eventually the white cursor went away but nothing else happened. So, I had to hold the power button to turn it off, waited several seconds, turned it back on. Similar results. Next time, I tried to check things in the BIOS options, and I noticed that the menus were very sluggish to scroll around. Even the system clock timer would sometimes take up to 4 or 5 seconds to update itself and display the new second. This has never been a problem before.
Well, I don't remember the 'exact' details, but after I believe another powerdown, the computer booted normally, though it seemed sluggish. Once getting into Windows everything behaved perfectly fine the rest of that night, no slow downs, no issues, I even played a resource intensive game for several hours with nothing out of the ordinary happening. Now tonight the computer is doing two more odd things that it has never done before. First and foremost, menus are very sluggish when they never had been before. Opening or minimizing windows seems to be 'slo-mo' taking 2-3 seconds for the animation to finish. As I'm typing this, sometimes the text will lock up and take a bit to catch up as the browser acts unresponsive. Scrolling pages suffers a slow down. None of this ever occurred before.
Secondly, Windows INCESSANTLY notifies me that a "USB Device is Not Recognized" literally over and over and over non-stop. If I click the "X" to close the bubble, it immediately pops up again. This is visible in Device Manager, the Device list constantly refreshes itself as if it keeps trying to detect something, even if nothing is plugged in. I don't know if this is related to the above, but it started happening around the same time.
I know this sounds like a potential malware issue, but let me say that I am pretty good about being safe on the internet, and I do my best to avoid any risky behavior all together. I have scanned for malware with several programs, including updated versions of Avast! Antivirus, Prevx 3.0, Malwarebyte's Anti-malware, and Spybot S&D, all of which claim the system is clean. Avast and Prevx have real-time protection which has always been on and nothing was noticed by them, nor have I even engaged in any dicey downloads or activity to cause this.
I ran the in-depth CHKDSK today, and no bad sectors were located. Also ran System File Checker, which said that no integrity issues were detected. Defraggler seems to think my HDD is in "Good" health and I don't see any non-zero 'real time values' for any uncorrectable sectors, or other things which I know to be serious.
I'm kind of stumped, these issues seem unrelated to me but all have coincided. I don't really do anything strange to this computer, only every day things. No overclocking or anything. The only thing I can think of for the Device Recognition pop-up would maybe be the fingerprint reader, which no longer works, trying to somehow reconnect itself and failing. It has been out of operation for months though, so that would be strange.
If anyone can shed some light on this issue, I would appreciate the assistance. Please let me know if there is anymore relevant information which I can provide to you to help troubleshooting.
Thank you.
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
Intel Core i7 2760QM @ 2.40GHz
8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
CLEVO P150HMx (SOCKET 0) (Motherboard)
AMD Radeon HD 2048MB 6990M
699GB (750GB) Seagate ST9750422AS (SATA)
To describe what's happening, about two days ago I tried to boot up my computer after getting home from work, business as usual, but after the initial (POST?) screen, the boot process hung on the blinking white _ cursor instead of going on to boot Windows. I waited for around 15-20 minutes, eventually the white cursor went away but nothing else happened. So, I had to hold the power button to turn it off, waited several seconds, turned it back on. Similar results. Next time, I tried to check things in the BIOS options, and I noticed that the menus were very sluggish to scroll around. Even the system clock timer would sometimes take up to 4 or 5 seconds to update itself and display the new second. This has never been a problem before.
Well, I don't remember the 'exact' details, but after I believe another powerdown, the computer booted normally, though it seemed sluggish. Once getting into Windows everything behaved perfectly fine the rest of that night, no slow downs, no issues, I even played a resource intensive game for several hours with nothing out of the ordinary happening. Now tonight the computer is doing two more odd things that it has never done before. First and foremost, menus are very sluggish when they never had been before. Opening or minimizing windows seems to be 'slo-mo' taking 2-3 seconds for the animation to finish. As I'm typing this, sometimes the text will lock up and take a bit to catch up as the browser acts unresponsive. Scrolling pages suffers a slow down. None of this ever occurred before.
Secondly, Windows INCESSANTLY notifies me that a "USB Device is Not Recognized" literally over and over and over non-stop. If I click the "X" to close the bubble, it immediately pops up again. This is visible in Device Manager, the Device list constantly refreshes itself as if it keeps trying to detect something, even if nothing is plugged in. I don't know if this is related to the above, but it started happening around the same time.
I know this sounds like a potential malware issue, but let me say that I am pretty good about being safe on the internet, and I do my best to avoid any risky behavior all together. I have scanned for malware with several programs, including updated versions of Avast! Antivirus, Prevx 3.0, Malwarebyte's Anti-malware, and Spybot S&D, all of which claim the system is clean. Avast and Prevx have real-time protection which has always been on and nothing was noticed by them, nor have I even engaged in any dicey downloads or activity to cause this.
I ran the in-depth CHKDSK today, and no bad sectors were located. Also ran System File Checker, which said that no integrity issues were detected. Defraggler seems to think my HDD is in "Good" health and I don't see any non-zero 'real time values' for any uncorrectable sectors, or other things which I know to be serious.
I'm kind of stumped, these issues seem unrelated to me but all have coincided. I don't really do anything strange to this computer, only every day things. No overclocking or anything. The only thing I can think of for the Device Recognition pop-up would maybe be the fingerprint reader, which no longer works, trying to somehow reconnect itself and failing. It has been out of operation for months though, so that would be strange.
If anyone can shed some light on this issue, I would appreciate the assistance. Please let me know if there is anymore relevant information which I can provide to you to help troubleshooting.
Thank you.