windows xp , pc suddenly gone so slow?

6 responses so far ↓

• 1 Brian F // May 1, 2008

  You may have picked up a trojan/virus/malware.

  Download Spybot Search and Destroy from http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html

  Install it, run the Check for Errors, then run immunize. Immunize will block a BUNCH of known malware sites, and block most tracking cookies.
  I personally would Uncheck the "Tea Timer" option during the installation process, as I have on occasion seen this cause a problem with certain updates.
  Remember that spybot is NOT an antiviurs product, even though it does do a decent job of detecting and removing some of the more "popular" viruses out there.
  Remember, clicking on the Immunize button on the left side doesn't actually immunize the system, you need to click on the immunize button at the top of the screen with the big green "PLUS SIGN" to actually immunize the system.
  I would suggest running spybot weekly, remember to click on the update button first, get any updates, then immunize and check for problems. If you are running NOD32 or another product that is good at catching spyware along with viruses as your antiviurs scanner, it's not necessary to run quite as frequently, however at least running the update and immunize every week or two will help prevent tracking companies such as double-click.com from making money by tracking YOUR surfing habits.

  Download and run SmitfraudFix.exe from http://siri.urz.free.fr/Fix/SmitfraudFix.exe

  do a Scan (1) and unless it says you are completely clean, do a Clean (2)

  Run a free online virus scan such as the one at http://www.eset.com/onlinescan/ to check for and attempt repair of anything Spybot missed.

  The full NOD32 antiviurs product is available for a 30 day free trial, and is in my opinion one of the best/fastest scanners on the market, but if you are looking for a free product Avira, AVAST and AVG are OK scanners (for free) but remember to some extent you do get what you pay for: (Avoid Norton like the plague if you don't want problems with system stability in the future. As my wife used to tell the Minister she worked for "NORTON and SATAN rhyme, just a coincidence? I don't think so!") Trend Micro used to be a good antivirus product but has become incredibly bloated over the past couple years.

  http://www.free-av.com/en/download/1/download_avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.html
  http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
  http://free.grisoft.com/

  Download and run Cleanup! from http://stevengould.org/downloads/cleanup/CleanUp452.exe

  (when you run it the first time, pay attention, as it will want to run in a "demo mode" when you actually click the CLEAN UP button which will NOT delete anything, make sure you read the pop-up and click the NO button if you actually want to run it "for real")

  This will clean up your temporary files and directories where some viruses/spyware/malware often hide themselves ready to re-install as soon as you reboot.

  Reboot your PC, install a decent antivirus product as listed above, and re-scan your PC to make sure nothing slipped by.

• 2 luft70 // May 1, 2008

  looks like your computer is infested with spyware and adware. you can download some of these adware or spyware programs from the internet or buy them from a retailer.

• 3 ZeroX // May 1, 2008

  Press "Ctrl + alt + del"

  Then look in processes, there may be some program running in the background such as Spyware…

  If you find anything in that list that looks really suspicious do a Google search on it, to find out what the process is. And if its anything malicious.

  Also maybe you have some Anti-virus software constantly running in the background or something, because they can become real processor hogs especially if they are doing a scheduled complete hard-drive search.

  Hope that helps

• 4 jgserd // May 1, 2008

  i would suggest biting the bullet long enough to download CCleaner. It works wonders for my computer.

• 5 Tom // May 1, 2008

  This is my advice to you: GET FIREDOG FROM CIRCUIT CITY. My parent's computer was running slow, and they have firedog go in and it fixed it up. You could maybe have a virus, too.

• 6 rossng11 // May 1, 2008

  You may have spyware; try these:
  Avira: http://www.free-av.com/ (if you don't have anti-virus, or if you have Norton or AVG replace it with this)
  Spyware Terminator (turn off web security guard): http://www.spywareterminator.com/
  Spybot: http://www.safer-networking.org/ (use immunise feature)
  Superantispyware: http://www.superantispyware.com/
  Comodo: http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/ (turn off defense+ to see fewer alerts)

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