Solved Mystery lag spikes for about a week.

Welcome to PCHF Hobo,

I reckon that you have pretty much determined that your Internet service is in some way involved.


Download then run Speccy (free) and post the resultant url for us, details here, this will provide us with information about your computer hardware + any software that you have installed that may explain the present issue/s.

To publish a Speccy profile to the Web:

In Speccy, click File, and then click Publish Snapshot.

In the Publish Snapshot dialog box, click Yes to enable Speccy to proceed.

Speccy publishes the profile and displays a second Publish Snapshot. You can open the URL in your default browser, copy it to the clipboard, or close the dialog box.

Only thing of note in Speccy is the presence of some junk software (Iobit-yuk) and Avast AV, the latter has an add on called SafeZone and this has been known to cause Internet connection problems, it does tend to be more apparent with wireless connections but that is not to say that it is not responsible for slowing down your Ethernet connection, a quick question, some info and what I would suggest.

How long ago did you install MBAM.

Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 come with an improved Windows Defender, it offers the same real-time anti-virus/anti-malware protection as Microsoft Security Essentials. Windows Defender also shares the same malware signature definitions as Microsoft Security Essentials, and Forefront Endpoint Protection. Technically, Microsoft Security Essentials has not been renamed Windows Defender, or combined with it in Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.

Using Windows Defender in Windows 8/8.1 and 10 will free up resources taken up by any third party AV software + it will reduce the possibility of any conflicts.

What I would suggest, uninstall Avast, MBAM, Spybot and the IObit Uninstaller, make sure that Windows Defender has auto enabled, allow Defender to both update and scan your computer, run Speccy and post the updated url for us then try playing your two online games while you wait for us to get back to you.

Avast clean removal info here

If any AV product that you have is a paid for version you should always make sure that you have a copy of the product key kept somewhere safe just in case you ever wish to reinstall it.

Have you tried playing either game online since you made the suggested changes.

Still seeing the SafeZone browser in Speccy, check in your Windows Add/Remove programs option and in your FF add on, I use Chrome so not familiar with how to check in FF.

3/10/2018 9:15 PM;: SafeZone scheduled Autoupdate 1503799671

Yuk is a polite word for anything related to junk software, the type that promises the world and normally ends up hosing your computer by messing with the registry and recommending driver updates that are both unnecessary and end up leaving you with an unstable computer.

Hello Hobo,

Thanks for the update which appears to be good news

What I would suggest, create a new system restore point for your now stable settings, download and install Super Anti Spyware (free) from here see how it goes for a couple of days, if still ok, create a new system restore point and then try a fresh install of MBAM and see how that goes, I have suggested doing it this way as the free version of MBAM has a 14 day free trial of the Pro version and that would mean it would replace Windows Defender while you are trying to make sure that the computer is stable.

Thanks for the kind thought but not necessary on my behalf.

You could make a donation to the site, gets you a few perks as well, see info here