Web Pages hang-up / Unresponsive Browsers

[RPSher]

After using a browser (Chrome, Edge, Mozilla) for a  certain, indeterminate, period a web page will randomly  hang-up (freeze) and the  browser will become unresponsive.  Often the browser cannot be closed  except by using the 'task manager'.  Immediate attempts to reopen the browser (any browser) after closing  are generally unsuccessful.  Attempts to  reopen the browser (any browser) may be successful after waiting a certain, indeterminate, period of  time.  Often restart or shut-down/restart is required to re-access the browser (any browser).  While a browser is in an 'unrepsonvie' state Email (Outlook) send/receive does not function properly.

NOTE:  When problem first occured  was solely using Google Chrome, and presumed the  problem was with Chrome.  Undertook Chrome troubleshoot and when that didnt work, re-installed Chrome.  When that was unsuccessful,  tested the system using Edge and Mozilla, but the problem persisted.

[IT_WinSec]

Hello,

Welcome to the HP Support forum. Thank you for posting.

I will try to help you solve your issue. What you describe is not a specific concrete symptom and may be cause by quite a lot of things.

It could be some add-on you have, some program that interfere with it (good one, faulty one or viral/malicious one), it might be something in general with the operating system.

Perform a scan for threats/malware

* Scan the PC with Kaspersky TDSS Killer > http://media.kaspersky.com/utilities/VirusUtilities/EN/tdsskiller.exe

* Scan with ESET's online scanner > http://download.eset.com/special/eos/esetonlinescanner_enu.exe

* Scan with Sophos HitmanPro > https://www.hitmanpro.com/en-us/hmp.aspx

Let me know if anything malicious was found, take notes what was it. Remove it

Please, reset the browser's to default settings

Here is how to for IE, Firefox, Chrome > http://www.howtogeek.com/171924/how-to-reset-your-web-browser-to-its-default-settings/

How to for EDGE > http://www.howtogeek.com/237527/how-to-reset-microsoft-edge-in-windows-10/

Let me know what is starting with the PC

Download Autoruns (from Microsoft) from this URL => http://live.sysinternals.com/autoruns.exe

Information about the product => http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

- Save the file on your Desktop

- Run Microsoft Autoruns  with Administrator rights (right click -> Run as Administrator).

Agree with the standard license agreement from Microsoft.

- Once Autoruns is started, it will need some seconds (could be a minute) to gather the snapshot, wait for it.

Once it is ready, you will see the word Ready in the lower left side.

• Click on Options

Make sure that only the following are selected:

• Hide Empty Locations
• Hide Windows Entries

 - Click on  Rescan button  or  click on File -> Refresh to rescan the system.

It will need some seconds (could be a minute) to gather the snapshot, wait for it.

Once it is ready, you will see the word Ready in the lower left side.

- Finally, click on File -> Save

Save the snapshot on the desktop in .TXT file

Open the newly created TXT log file.

Mark and Select all of the text (e.g. CTR+A), copy it and

visit http://pastebin.com/  to paste it there

Create new paste and give me the URL to see the log file.

Looking forward to your reply with details.

[RPSher]

IT_WinSec --  Thanks very much for your prompt  and detailed feedback.  I have imbedded the requsted responses in the text of your post.  Let me know of  your thoughts and if there is anything else I can provide and or about which I might elaorate.  At this point, I don’t know if the steps taken have resolved the issues as I have engaged in only limited browsing and thus, probably wont know until at least a few days after these procedures are complete.  Again, many thanks for your thoughtful and professional approach.

02-14-2017 12:22 PM

Hello,

Welcome to the HP Support forum. Thank you for posting.

I will try to help you solve your issue. What you describe is not a specific concrete symptom and may be cause by quite a lot of things.

It could be some add-on you have, some program that interfere with it (good one, faulty one or viral/malicious one), it might be something in general with the operating system.

Perform a scan for threats/malware

* Scan the PC with Kaspersky TDSS Killer > http://media.kaspersky.com/utilities/VirusUtilities/EN/tdsskiller.exe

No threats ID’d

* Scan with ESET's online scanner > http://download.eset.com/special/eos/esetonlinescanner_enu.exe

Threats found;  three infected files:

A variant of win32/Adware.coupons.AA application

HTML/Phishing.Agent.A trojan

A variant of win32/Adware.coupons.AA application

Files scanned 289015

Infected files:  3

Cleaned threats:  3

* Scan with Sophos HitmanPro > https://www.hitmanpro.com/en-us/hmp.aspx

Threats . . . . . . . : 0

Traces  . . . . . . . : 550

Objects scanned . . . : 2,128,509

Files scanned . . . . : 109,451

Remnants scanned  . . : 577,115 files / 1,441,943 keys

NOTE:  550 “Traces” consisting of two (2) “suspicious” files and 548 “cookies” were deleted.

Scan log is available

Let me know if anything malicious was found, take notes what was it. Remove it

Please, reset the browser's to default settings

Here is how to for IE, Firefox, Chrome > http://www.howtogeek.com/171924/how-to-reset-your-web-browser-to-its-default-settings/

How to for EDGE > http://www.howtogeek.com/237527/how-to-reset-microsoft-edge-in-windows-10/

Chrome, Firefox and Edge have been reset to default settings

IE has not been installed on the system

Let me know what is starting with the PC

Download Autoruns (from Microsoft) from this URL => http://live.sysinternals.com/autoruns.exe

Information about the product => http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

- Save the file on your Desktop

- Run Microsoft Autoruns  with Administrator rights (right click -> Run as Administrator).

Agree with the standard license agreement from Microsoft.

- Once Autoruns is started, it will need some seconds (could be a minute) to gather the snapshot, wait for it.

Once it is ready, you will see the word Ready in the lower left side.

• Click on Options

Make sure that only the following are selected:

• Hide Empty Locations
• Hide Windows Entries

 - Click on  Rescan button  or  click on File -> Refresh to rescan the system.

It will need some seconds (could be a minute) to gather the snapshot, wait for it.

Once it is ready, you will see the word Ready in the lower left side.

- Finally, click on File -> Save

Save the snapshot on the desktop in .TXT file

Open the newly created TXT log file.

Mark and Select all of the text (e.g. CTR+A), copy it and

visit http://pastebin.com/  to paste it there

Create new paste and give me the URL to see the log file.

http://pastebin.com/TybXNAJv 

Let me know if this is what you need…..

Looking forward to your reply with details.

** If my advice helped you, use the button below to accept this post as a solution
** If you like my posts, click on the Thumb Up+ button for +1 Kudo

Best regards,
IT_WinSec
I do not work for HP Inc. I express personal opinion only.

[IT_WinSec]

Hi,

Thank you for following my instructions carefully.

Please, also scan your PC with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware >> https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download/

Once you run/install the app, ensure it updates itself and perform full scan. Remove any malware found.

Please, restart the PC at the end and do uninstall Malwarebytes when you are ready with it.

With regards to the ESET's scan, it did remove some adware which may cause (may have caused) such issues as you describe.

However, what worries me more is what I found in the Autoruns log file:

- Generally speaking you have quite a lot of software running in the background and although your PC is very powerful when it comes to hardware parameters and specs, this collection could sometimes cause the issues you describe.

I noticed you have McAfee Site Advisor (software and plugin), Intel TrueKey (software and plugin), McAfee Endpoint Security 10 [which includes AV, Host Intrustion Prevention System HIPS, HomeNetwork, WebProtection modules). All these + the Java addon are known to cause some issues under certain curcumstances. I come from an endpoint security team where I used to suppot McAfee related apps on daily bases and I have seen such issues as you describe often. Basically, I would remove it (at least the web protection module/Site Advisor/TrueKey) and I would also check the HIPS policy and settings.

These are all business class products not typically found on home users PCs . Is your PC part of a domain, part of a business/corporation ?