Magic Task Manager? Someone Explain This!

[CykelStativet]

BACKSTORY:

So.. I'm new here. Signed up just to tell my story. Forgive me if this belongs somewhere else. 

 

Anyways, I have a simple server. Just old hardware functioning as a NAS. For good measure I'll list the important hardware:

i3-2120 3.3GHz

4Gig's of RAM

3 HDD's

 

This runs on Windows Server 2012R2 and functions perfectly for my needs, which are SMB shares. I access this server only with Remote Desktop when necessary, however I notice that everything runs EXTREMELY slow. Especially Windows Explorer. The funny thing is that browsing the shares on any other PC runs smoothly, even though the shares are on the slow server.

 

INTERESTING STUFF STARTS HERE:

 

So one day while using Remote Desktop I noticed, by coincidence, that while Task Manager was open in the background, everything seemed to run smoothly. I started testing this. I closed TM and navigated Explorer. Now it was slow as balls. Then I opened TM again; everything runs perfectly.

 

WHAT?!?!?

 

I have tested this extensively now and can only conclude that my Task Manager is magic since this works every time.

I now have Task Manager running in the background all the time with refresh speed set to "Paused" and everything runs smooth like butter.

[Siedge]

Virus/Malware perhaps?

[ProjectBox153]

Doesn't sound right. I have used Windows Server 2012 R2 plenty and I've never seen weird behavior like that. It's faster on older hardware (core 2 Duos) than Windows 10 is on my much newer Sandy Bridge machine, even after almost two years of use and abuse. It just hasn't slowed down. 

[TurbulentWinds2]

Run Malwarebytes

[CykelStativet]

About malware: I haven't noticed any speed differences (except for the TM trick) since Windows was installed so I doubt it.

 

About performance: I agree, it runs perfectly. It's only when I'm navigating GUI through RDP (don't have monitor or keyboard hooked up so don't know if that's different) that it's painfully slow. Unless I open Task Manager of course  WTF?

[CykelStativet]

Just a "by the way". I'm not necessarily here for tips or help. Mostly wanted to tell my story of Windows craziness

[ProjectBox153]

1 minute ago, CykelStativet said:

About malware: I haven't noticed any speed differences (except for the TM trick) since Windows was installed so I doubt it.

 

About performance: I agree, it runs perfectly. It's only when I'm navigating GUI through RDP (don't have monitor or keyboard hooked up so don't know if that's different) that it's painfully slow. Unless I open Task Manager of course  WTF?

I'm curious. Does it do this when managed locally?

[CykelStativet]

Just now, Jamiec1130 said:

I'm curious. Does it do this when managed locally?

Well, I'm just not sure since I don't have monitor and keyboard hooked up. It's in a closet (ventilated, relax ) so I'm not keen on testing it.

[SansVarnic]

- Moved to Servers and NAS -

[Artyomka]

A lot of viruses detect that task manager is running and stop the moment you open it. Try using something like System Explorer to see running tasks.

[CykelStativet]

Update: I'm stupid. Forums are smarter than me.

Rouge msiexec.exe.

Problem solved.

Going to corner of shame.