Help. May have been hacked, and screen/display problems.

Hi, just wondering if someone can help me with a few things.

I left my laptop on over night. When I used it the next day, I opened the start menu and realised that 'windows easy transfer' was in the list of recently used programs. I have never used this, ever. I didn't even know what it was until I saw it there and clicked on it.
Could this be a sign that someone has hacked my laptop and transferred files over the internet?



Also, this has been going on for a few months now and is incredibly annoying...

Every so often, I will turn my laptop on, and instead of having one screen, it will be divided into 6 tiles with a black section running down the centre.
I have tried to fix this a number of times, using the device management and unistalling display drivers etc. But whenever I do that, it doesn't fix the problem and windows informs me that I need to install display drivers again.

It will be fine one day, but I turn it on the next day and it will be split into tiles again. Sometimes a simple restart temporarily fixes the issue, but sometimes it will just stay the same for a day or two (after multiple restarts). So I can't think what the cause could be.

Any help appreciated.

a reply to: GalaxyEyes

list your OS, hardware, and any relevant info you can think of.

Easy transfer isnt really what you think. Its more for migrating settings and files between your own computer if you upgrade your OS or something.

There are easier ways of getting files off your computer that wouldnt leave a trace, let alone use a built in utllity of windows.

It sounds like a registry problem, though without more knowledge I couldnt tell you. I am sure real guru type guys will show up. There are some really savvy tech guys here.

list your windows OS version and hardware for them so they can help you.

OK thanks.

I'm using vista on a compaq presario c700.

I wouldnt worry about the easy file transfer, as the guy above says thats for migrating your settings and my docs and stuff to a new PC/new install of windows.

As for the display driver tiles, that sounds like the graphics are going on it, faulty, do you let it get warm? do you use it on carpet or on a bed? Fabrics make ventilation very difficult for laptops to deal with heat and this heat can damage certain parts sometimes quite easily, esp cpu and graphics.

Concerning the tiles problem, you may have a virus/faulty program that starts on the startup of the computer (that activates the tile mode). To look at the startup programs go to startup ---> run then type msconfig then look in the startup tab. You may know what to deactivate if not a list is needed to see whats not normal...

run ccleaner on your computer also, it should get rid of any registery problems. And run an online antivirus prog like housecall online antivirus for exemple.

And keep your pc up to date.

But it isn't a hardware problem, so nothing to do with heat, but Biigs recommendations are still to be noted.

Go to HP.com and download the correct driver for your graphics card.
I recommend "Detect my product" as there are many c700 models.

Mobile Intel 965 Express Chipset Family Video/Graphics Driver most likely.

originally posted by: staple
Go to HP.com and download the correct driver for your graphics card.
I recommend "Detect my product" as there are many c700 models.

Mobile Intel 965 Express Chipset Family Video/Graphics Driver most likely.

Yes, that is the one I have installed. And windows automatically installs it when I delete it (as was suggested on another forum).

originally posted by: WeSbO
Concerning the tiles problem, you may have a virus/faulty program that starts on the startup of the computer (that activates the tile mode). To look at the startup programs go to startup ---> run then type msconfig then look in the startup tab. You may know what to deactivate if not a list is needed to see whats not normal...

The only things on that list I'm not sure of are 'RAID event monitor', 'Vprotect application' (manufacturer unknown!), and I have THREE 'Intel(R) common user interface' for some reason.
Why is there three?

run ccleaner on your computer also, it should get rid of any registery problems. And run an online antivirus prog like housecall online antivirus for exemple.

I have AVG installed. Why do I need to run an online antivirus program?

Thanks

originally posted by: Biigs
I wouldnt worry about the easy file transfer, as the guy above says thats for migrating your settings and my docs and stuff to a new PC/new install of windows.

OK thats good to know. Why is it in my recent programs list though?

As for the display driver tiles, that sounds like the graphics are going on it, faulty, do you let it get warm? do you use it on carpet or on a bed? Fabrics make ventilation very difficult for laptops to deal with heat and this heat can damage certain parts sometimes quite easily, esp cpu and graphics.

I always keep it either on a flat table, or when I'm on my bed it is on an elevated wire stand. And that way it gets more ventilation than it would do sat on a table.

It still gets hot though. Sometimes the fan is so loud it gives me a headache after a while. But I do the best I can to keep it ventilated.

I have witnessed some strange behavior with graphics due to hardware and drivers, since you have done the drivers its either the graphics or the motherboard.

Have you tried older drivers?

I dont know why its in your recent list, its vista tho and it does stupid things some times. Ive had things ive never use appear before, now weather i got drunk one night clicked it by accident and closed it and forgot or it just appeared i dont know, but im behind hardware and software firewalls and have AV so i doubt its hacking for me.

I don't know about the recently used program, but the graphics issue I may be able to help with.

I've been into overclocking for a while now, and what you're experiencing sounds like a classic case of what is known as screen tearing and/or artifacts.

Basically as other posters have mentioned heat and drivers can play an issue, but we need to break it down first.

In overclocking, when you get screen tearing or artifacts when you're overclocking it's called being an unstable overclock. Now, I know you haven't overclocked your laptop, but the same principle is at play here. Your GPU or VRAM is becoming unstable somehow, whether it is from heat, a driver problem, or -uh oh- failing hardware.

First of all, how old is this laptop?

Have you had any issues with the graphics becoming unstable since you bought the computer, or is this a recent development?

If it is a recent development, did you update drivers just beforehand?

If you didn't update drivers, and it's a recent problem, it is UNLIKELY to be driver related UNLESS the driver files have somehow become corrupted. Either way, it wouldn't hurt to update to the latest drivers for your laptop from the manufacturer's website.

Otherwise, depending on the age of the computer as well as the environment (smoke from cigarettes, pet hair, etc) your heatsinks may have become clogged with dust which is causing the GPU or VRAM to overheat and therefore lose stability and cause graphical errors or some hardware of yours may be completely failing.

If you want to, you can provide information and download some programs that may further help diagnose your issue such as HWmonitor (to watch temperatures) CPUID (to watch clockspeeds and learn what exactly the hardware in your computer is called) as well as some benchmark, stress test, and stability test applications that may help further pinpoint your problem... but, it's best to just start with drivers as other posters have mentioned.

OK thanks I will look into that.

It's an old laptop (7+ years probably by now). It happened after a windows update, and has been playing up since then.

I only use Windows for games, so I might be wrong, but it seems to me that the first thing you should do is run an anti-virus/anti-spyware program. If someone did get in remotely then you might have gotten a bug that allowed someone in. Also make sure you are up to date with your security updates. I wouldn't think it is very common for an average user PC to be hacked remotely, but it happens.

Once you are certain there is no virus or spyware or anything of that nature, then you can focus on actual hardware of software problems. This seems like the best course of action to me, but maybe someone has seen something like this before and can tell you what the problem is.

go to bleepingcomputer dot com slash download slash combofix

Combo fix is free and will rid you of all problems even root kits

Maybe one month ago I saw a computer with a strange problem, the mouse sometimes didn't work, and changing the mouse didn't help. Removing the hardware from the device manager didn't work either.

Some attempts later I decided to do a checkdisk, and it found and repaired some errors, removing the mouse error.

Conclusion: just because it's hardware doesn't mean it's not a software (drivers) problem, and because it's a software problem doesn't mean it's not a hardware problem, so I suggest a checkdisk.