Help with client's computer

[blake987123]

The computer is an hp pavilion a720n running Windows XP home. I have removed a lot of malware/spyware and have restored the computer to an operational condition. I also removed a few viruses. The problem I am having now is that the computer will freeze in a strange way. It doesn't totally freeze, but most applications will not open. The process will be shown in Process Explorer but no window is displayed. I noticed that when I removed the ethernet connection and restarted the computer, the problems would go away. But, if I reinserted the ethernet cable the problems would reappear and even if I removed the cable they would not go away until the computer was restarted. The ethernet card is VIA Rhino II Fast Ethernet and I have installed the latest drivers. Please help me, I am a rookie trying to get started in this business.

[seedubya]

I had a similar problem with a client's pc the other day. It turned out to be a rootkit. I'd try removing the hdd and hooking up to a clean PC and scan that way. I used the UBCD4Win in my case but either would work.

[blake987123]

Thanks for the swift reply. I am building a UBCD4Win right now and I am wondering, will the virus software plug-in find rootkits? Or will I need to install something else?

[seedubya]

It has multiple malware scanners included, all of which will find rootkits to some extent. RKs are fully visible once viewed from without the OS in which they were installed