Computer slowed tremendously

[jyeh74]

I notice after using my computer for awhile, it slowed down. I tried using Spybot, Adaware and Virus scans in case there was trojans/viruses that slowed it down. Even after removing a couple of tojans and finding no viruses, I still do not know why my computer is slow- especially when surfing the net. Is my last resort reformatting? 1.5GB RAM and 1.2 Ghz CPU speed is what I am running on Win XP.

[hal2323]

Have you tried Defraging your drive?
Have you cleaned your registry lately?

[hech54]

.....
Malwarebytes
CCleaner

[Dv8ted2]

You may have two many startup items. Have you emptied the prefetch folder? There may be some holdout there. Did you disable system restore before you removed the trojans? Clear out the temp folder. Defrag

[minidv2dvd]

see if something is hogging the cpu. control/alt/del to bring up the task manager. click on the processes tab. click on cpu twice to sort the highest users to the top.

[jyeh74]

yup, did remove all prefetch folders and cache. Ran Malwarebytes too. I will run defrag. How do you exactly clean the registry?

Nothing major when I do ctrl/alt/del in task manager.

[wulf109]

Try a program called Exterminate-it. It was able to find and remove bots when none of the programs you mentioned were able to.
Reformatting your HD is the best solution in the long-run.

[pchan]

Use CPU-Z to check the CPU clock speed.
1. It might be overheat issue. The CPU may run at a lower speed due to overheat.

2. Another possibility is CMOS corruption. Sometimes faulty PSU and backup battery may corrupt the CMOS setting.
Try reset the CMOS.

[INFRATOM]

Some spywares and viruses are very high tech and even for more than average user is not possible to remove them because they are hidden from OS and run in the core. Their files are turned read only and clean up software cannot delete them and it just need a small downloader to download it right back .... Besides that, certain types are owned by the software companies and are skipped. So the only sure way is to format your computer and reinstall then it would be like the first day you got your computer.

[usually_quiet]

If this only happens while surfing the Internet, and has only been happening for a few days, check to see if an MS automatic update is in progress. My 1.6 GHz system seems to slow down quite a bit under those circumstances.

[jyeh74]

thanks everyone, ran almost everything you have mentioned. MS auto update is not in progress. Looking at process, these are the top memory usage

1) iexplore.exe at 148,916K
2) TeaTimer.exe at 76,920K
3) Rtvscan.exe at 67,392K
4) ccApp.exe at 52,156K
5) explorer.exe at 40,992K

Not sure what 1, 3, 4 is. 2 is Spybot. 5 is my IE.

[jyeh74]

I have tons of music, videos and movies I have collected. If I move them to an external HD, reformat, then move them back on the computer, will the virus and trojans that are hiding follow?

[johns0]

If the trojans are in the music/video folders they will migrate with them but stay dormant until they are activated such as clicking on them,just do a scan of the folder(s) with a virus scanner prog after.

[Nelson37]

Do you mean to say that the PC slows down after a few hours of use but runs normally for the first hour or two, or that the PC seemed to be faster at some time weeks or months in the past? Identify the time frame.

Profile says this is a 1.7 CPU, but you identify as a 1.2? Specify methods used to make BOTH identifications.

Is this a laptop? They are extremely prone to heat-related performance issues. Is it running SpeedStep or something similar?

Exactly HOW are you determining speed? Both online and off? Will the PC run normally when offline, ARE YOU SURE, or do you just spend most of the PC time on the Internet?

Have there been any significant changes in the environment, such as internet connection type, router, other PC's connected, neighbors possibly pirating your wireless signal, etc?

TeaTimer can be a very significant resource hog, and you are low on RAM. Try disabling it.

Have you tried running in Safe Mode, with Networking, and test that way? Emptied ALL the temp directories?

There is NO SUCH THING as a virus that cannot be cleaned.. All a matter of time, effort, and resources. Think in terms of infectious disease. If you are going to burn down and rebuild the hospital, you do not move ANY of the old patients back in unless they are THOROUGHLY decontaminated. If your media files are largely Internet-obtained, they represent a higher than average risk.

As a test, you might backup the files externally, re-format and re-install, then TEST THOROUGHLY for an extended period before restoring or using the external files. If the PC runs OK for a week or so, then you re-connect the old files and the crap re-occurrs, you have at least identified the infection vector. Could be something as simple as a bad codec pack obtained to "assist" with playback.

[jyeh74]

If the trojans are in the music/video folders they will migrate with them but stay dormant until they are activated such as clicking on them,just do a scan of the folder(s) with a virus scanner prog after.

I did a scan with norton anitvirus but found nothing.....

[jyeh74]

This is a desktop I have owned for about 5-6 years. It has been fast since I have reformated a year ago, but slow since then. I spend most of the time on the internet. Extremely slow. No changes in environment. Running wireless router as before with two other laptops on cable network. Both those laptops are running fine. I did a thorough norton antivirus scan on my whoel desktop including all the music, videos and files and found no viruses.

[MOVIEGEEK]

Use CCleaner to clean the junk off your PC and fix the registry.
www.ccleaner.com

Also turn off System Restore then turn it back on,I recommend a disk space usage setting of 1%.

[jyeh74]

moviegeek, i will use cccleaner. is it free? this automatically cleans the registry?

[MOVIEGEEK]

moviegeek, i will use cccleaner. is it free? this automatically cleans the registry?

Yes it's free and it's easy to use,you have to manually do the cleaning though.
Also set temporary internet files in IE to 100MB,I think the default is 3GB.

[jyeh74]

Temp internet files in IE is set at 50mb.
How do I manually clean the registry. CCcleaner does not auto do that?

[MOVIEGEEK]

Just hit the Cleaner or Registry button then the Analyze button,to clean or fix click on three:

[jyeh74]

When I am installing ccleaner it asks if it should add it to my recycle bin. I do not understand what purpose this serves. Usually people just delete things in the recycle bin.

It found 800mb in temporary internet files. How come it still found this much after I deleted all my cookies and temporary internet files under "tools" and "internet options"?

[citanool]

It's just a context menu option for recycle bin.

Many possibilities...the Help section of CCleaner is a good resource. Run it several times until nothing more is found.

JavaRa and PureRa are useful also.

AutoPatcher has a few speed tweaks and can install TweakUI with more.

[Nelson37]

Definitely run the Malwarebytes scanner, Norton is just not sufficient anymore.

On the Temp directories, you really need to manually clean them on a regular basis.

[jyeh74]

What is considered the best anti-malware/anti-spyware program? I am using Malewarebyte's Anti-Maleware, but I heard it is good to run a couple as one doesn't catch all.

I used to use a program called Spybot, but have since read terrible reviews. Used to use Adaware also. Any can comment which couple programs work the best against malware/spyware?

[freebird73717]

superantispyware
There is a free version as well as a paid version. Paid offers real-time protection and free does not.

I use both malwarebytes and superantispyware in conjunction with avast antivirus.

[videobread]

My two cents: Are you using AVG? If so your problem probably started since upgrading to ver 9.xxxxxxxx. AVG has a deep scanning function that has given a lot of people problems. It might take hour to run. Once it has performed the deep cleaning cycle completely you will find your system speed back to normal. If you shut off the computer in the middle and restart later the deep cleaning cycle has to start over from scratch. Try leaving your system on for 24 hour and see if it magically correct itself.

[jyeh74]

yup, superantispyware and malewarebyte's anti-maleware seem like the top contenders that everyone likes.


What about Adaware? Is that any good?

[freebird73717]

I haven't used adaware in years. Used to use it together with spybot a few years ago but have since moved to SAS and MBAM.

[videobread]

Search google for "avgchsvx.exe". The problems started with AVG 9.x
Open your task manager, click on Processes and look for AVG***.exe files running while nothing should be going on.