Hard drive won't stop

I'm running Win 2000 on a pentiumII 300mhz, 96meg RAM, 6 gig HD (I know it's outdated). I recently switched to DSL from dial up. Since then my HD seems to be running constantly as if I'm running Defrag or something. My computer takes 3 or 4 minutes to boot compared to 60 seconds before, and most programs run very slow. Could this be related to the change in my internet connection? Also I have a hard time playing games due to the lack of memory which was never a problem before. I've tried removing all unnecessary files, programs etc. Ran defrag, disk cleanup (the obvious stuff) with no results. When I check TASK MANAGER for all running programs, ping.exe and find.exe seem to be alternating on and off. Also cmd.exe is listed about 30 times. Is this normal or am I in need of a HD format and OS re-install?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks, Hammer

 

Not normal and not good.

cmd.exe runs the 32bit DOS window on NT systems. So if you have 32 of them, there should be a bunch of DOS windows open.

The combination of that plus the ping and find commands taking up time might be a trojan of some sort. I searched and didn't find any specific mention of one doing that but I really don't like the sound of that activity. Try a scan at Housecall or some other good online scanner.

What happens to your system if you use task manager and try to kill all the cmd.exe and ping.exe/find.exe processes? Do they stay gone or do they launch again quickly and without your doing anything?

 

Thanks for the reply.
I ran Housecall and produced 1409 infected files (according to the program). 200 or so appear to be normal .exe files associated with my programs. The majority are located in WINNT and system32 and only a handful I am familiar with. Is there something specific I should look for? Also I tried to shut down the find and ping in task manager and they are in and out so quick I cant stop them. I did however shut down all the cmd applications(approx 50) and my HD stopped whining and grinding for a minute. The ping and find alternations also stopped without an immediate relaunch.
Thanks again

 

In the words of Scobie Doo "Ruh Roh Raggy!! "

You have a virus that has attached itself to all of your .exe files. More than likely klez.

Probably only fix is a format and clean install.


"Virus software is just a fad. Like CDs"

 

Hammer - much as it pains me to suggest a format/reinstall, I have to completely agree with ssmith10pn.

There are various clean-up things you could try but chances are that you would simply spend lots of time and effort only to wind up with an unstable system.

If you don't have backups of your data files, pictures, documents, favorites, address book, etc. you can burn them to a CD before you wipe the system. But no program files or anything like that.

When you get the operating system installed again, make sure a good AntiVirus program is the first application you load and get the def files updated. DO NOT copy the contents of your data CD back to the hard drive until you have AV running because it's possible to have put an infected file on the CD. If so, the AV software should spot it when you try to copy it to the hard drive.

 

Well, It sounds like I've got my work cut out for me. Sad thing is, I just did this 6 months ago. I guess it's back to the drawing board...
Thanks for all your help
Hammer