Computer help forum: S-l-o-w-d-o-w-n......

that I have done a comprehensive virus check without finding any offenders.

This may take a while, but it should help things run smoother.

First, scan for viruses and spyware by following the steps below:

Click on either, or both of the links below and run the free online virus scanners to get a "second opinion":

Housecall Online Scanner

Panda Online Scanner

Next, download, install, update, then run ALL of the free spyware programs from the links below:

Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition Spyware Removal Tool

Spybot Search & Destroy Spyware Removal Tool

CWShredder 2.1x Hijack Removal Tool
_____________________

Next, shut down some of the unnecessary start up programs and eliminate unnecessary files by following the steps below:

For Windows 2000/XP, ignore the first couple of sentences about checking "resources" in the link below but follow the rest of the procedures including the "Services" links at the bottom. (On XP, it's best if you DO NOT delete the .chk files. Leave them where there are.)

How To Shut Down Unnecessary Start Up Programs

Because the links for the "Services" are no longer functioning in the link above, use this one:

Services Guide For Windows XP

How To Clean Unwanted Files From The Hard Drive

After following all the procedures above, run Error Checking/Chkdsk and Defrag to optimize the hard drive:

How To Run 'Error Checking/Chkdsk' On Win2000/XP

Hope this helps.

Grif

Is that the pests try to defend against removal. Your note about Spybot suggests to me that your machine has a pest since Spybot across hundreds of machines only is a problem when a pest is present and is creating the issues.

Take the battle up a notch and look for HIJACKTHIS HELP.

Bob

I've had trouble with Housecall when PC-Cillin is active,but I forget which component I had to shut off to not interfere with Housecall.

I ran into a similar thing last week and narrowed it down to what was most likely an error in a Critical Update installation. I came home after working on the road to find that my PC was just crawling along and ended up doing a restore back only as far as the check point just before I left town. I did the restore after all of my regular cleanings, checks and decrementing. After I verified everything was up to speed, I then went back to Windows update and reinstalled the latest (only one in my case) and restarted after the update and everything is still good. As suggested, make sure you back up any data that you have so that you can restore with out a bunch of re-entering.

Good luck, kt

I would suggest a mac. I recently [1.5 years ago] flipped our company from PC to MAC and haven't had any of those problems, not have I have to add patches, extra security programs, update anything, or generally troubleshoot on a daily, weekly, monthly, or even yearly level. I used to spend about an hour a day [at least] in tech support even in our smaller company.

I see that we are still entertaining this pseudo "I have a Mac, therefore I've found computing holigrail naivette."

The Mac platform (Unix, Intel now) is not even Mac anymore. It has never been submitted to the pounding stress and code attacks that the Windows platform has.
The Windows operating system has always been sort of a general, sprawling, large code engine made to address all kinds of computing needs. If I find a piece of off-the beaten-track software that I like to use, I look for a Windows PC-not a Mac.

The best solution for a Windows system that has slowed down is to reset a backed up partition image of the system to the main root drive. This means: store your data on a second partition or a separate drive. The Mac user is kind of a lazy computing user. It has always cringed at changing the oil in its car engine, so to speak.This is easier than most people think. This is more realistic thanb blindly reciting the mantra of a brilliant marketting guru.

I went to a remote community school in a Nigerian village and they only had one computer. It was not a Unix, Linux, Mac computer. It was a regular Windows PC.

We are trying to address problems with this platform here-not a fringe platform like linux and the Mac.

So, don't be naive, most computing WORK around the world is carried out on a Windows PC. By the way, I've worked with UNIX and the Mac and other platforms. I guess that makes me less computing handicapped that someone stuck to a Mac or a Linux computer.

no one said anything about winpatrol it is a simple program that helps a lot it is free and helps with startup and ie if his start up has exceeded his ram he is in trouble i have 2 hard drives one for saved one for sys this works great and winpatrol, s&d, adaware,spyware removal is all i have on my pc and it does the job get winpatrol get to know it and it will help you keep your pc running fast

Try this cleaner it it a cool tool and Free

http://www.ccleaner.com/ref/?68504809653D4BC68AA8F8CA82E4B4C6

When my computer slows down I use a handy little tool called Free RAM XP Pro. Don't be dispised by the name, it works on Win 9x, ME, 2000, and XP, of coarse. All this does is free up some RAM and I find that it helps to make my computer run faster after I run it. I recommend to use it before you start something that may require a lot of RAM, like games.


This is availible at http://www.download.com/3000-2086-10070530.html

Good Luck and have a nice day

That's a nice guide to follow for stomping out ad/spyware. All of the programs suggested are free. The poster also left his AIM so you can contact him with any questions you may have

Sounds like you either have

1) Too many processes(applications) running on in your computer,

2) BIOS not up to date. Windows XP SP2 has ACPI 2.0 and BIOS were revised on some systems to accomodate this major revision,

3) Memory errors,

4) Some spyware is installed running -- Always a bad thing. If you have installed a great deal of free-ware, this can be a real possibility.

5) A conflicted registry.

6) You have two firewalls up and running simultaneously. For example, NORTON INTERNET SECURITY and WINDOWS XP Firewall.

7) If you have NORTON INTERNET SECURITY (or any other FIREWALL Utility) installed, there can be conflicts with the updates (more on this).

Your Athlon XP 2400+ is a processor with ample capability for mainstream PC applications. Your ASUS A7N8X Deluxe is a fine motherboard that is well supported with BIOS upgrades. And 1GB of memory is plenty of real estate for Windows XP SP2 -- there should not be any harddrive paging. Of course uninstalling applications no longer needed is a great way to free up workload.

Short of re-installing Windows XP, I recommend the following steps that seems to be effective at clearing up slowed down computers of my friends:

1) Uninstall applications no longer needed.

2) Download and install the latest and greatest BIOS for your motherboard. BIOS for many motherboards were revised to accommodate changes in the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) with SP2.

The XP help utility says:

"During Windows Setup, ACPI is installed only if all components present during Setup support power management. Some components, especially legacy components, do not support power management and can cause erratic behavior with Advanced Power Management (APM), or may prevent ACPI from being installed. Examples of such components are Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) components and an out-of-date BIOS."

3) Test your memory with Memtest86. I recommend version 3.2 since the tests were revised with more random patterns and are more likely to uncover errors. Download and create a floopy of this utility. Reboot your machine on this floopy and execute all of the tests. Should take about 45 minutes to go through one pass of the test suite. I have found that bad memory can also cause slowdowns rather than application crashes if memory errors occur. If you find some memory errors, try increasing the voltage first. If this does not work, restore the voltage to default (2.6V), then slow down the timings (CAS, RAS, CAS-to-RAS, CMD Rate from 1T to 2T). Memtest86 is an excellent tool to do this kind of tweaking.

Moving (or removing) memory modules can help you deduce which memory module is defective. If needed, you can populate one memory slot for this test.

If tweaking the memory timing is ineffectual, replace the defective memory module.

4) Install and run some of the excellent anti-spyware utilities such as Ad-aware, SpyBot Search and Destroy, and CWS Shredder. With these utilities, make sure you have the latest definitions. I like Ad-aware the most though SpyBot S&D will find stuff that gets past Ad-aware. Spyware can really rob your system.

5) Install the excellent JV16 tool and use its registry fixer and registry cleaner to straighten out the registry. There are free versions of this tool available on CNET, but the early versions (1.0 and 1.1) are actually easier to use than the more powerful later versions. Use the registry fixer first to fix errors, then the registry cleaner second to remove worthless registry entries.

6) Make sure you have one firewall running. Turnoff the Windows XP firewall if you have another one installed.

7) Uninstall and reinstall NORTON Internet Security. In the past, I have experienced slowdowns with this utility after 6 months because upgrades apparently become conflicted. Uninstall this utility and use the Windows XP firewall to see if system performance improves.

Use the search tool to find all the directories and files with "NORTON" or "SYMANTEC" to remove and rid your system of all traces. Use JV16 to cleanup the registry. Then do a reinstall of this utility. After the reinstall, use Liveupdate to obtain the updated software and definitions. Be patient, do not disturb this process. Make sure you reboot your system after each session, then use Liveupdate again and again until there are no more updates for this utility.

This procedure has cleared up some of the slowdown problems my friends have experienced with their computers.

I think these procedure will help you too

Good Luck

I am concerned about how it will handle Claria, but there is a new version of MS AntiSPyware that does not expire until December. There is also no browser home page hijacker in the product, although there are tools that will return the browser to Microsoft defaults.

I find it to be a fairly effective tool, considering it's a Beta.