computer question

[cheezyflier]

maybe one of you may know the answer.

my computer has gotten excruciatingly slow the past couple of days. i ran a virus scan with avg pro, and with norton. they haven't found anything. i cleaned out my cache with ccleaner and adaware. i have defragged, and also ran the clean up utility. the only other differences i have noticed is, when i start up, i get the icon for my windows profile but i have to click on it before i get the window for my password. used to be the window came up automatically. also, process lasso, a program i use to monitor my cpu usage shows my processor working alot harder than it used to, but i am not seeing any new processes in my task manager.
these are my specs:

dell dimension 2400 desktop
windows home sp2
pentium 4, 2.80 ghz
30G "C" drive
200G "E" storage drive
2 G ddr ram
nvidia geforce fx5500

does anyone have any ideas, something i might try? something to look for?



.

[RickN]

Did you install something that uses Microsoft Net? It can be a real hog and some versions require the log in.

[Lionheart]

Program Protector, and Program Defender working in the background will slow computers down immensely, especially with FS.


Also, spyware... Totally diff from regular virus'. Try running a spyware sweeper and see how many you have.


I once took off something like 90 or 900 spyware bots from his computer. He always went into those websites with the kids that have their own pages with music going.. That and gaming.. Man, his computer was like new after it was cleaned... .



Bill

[gigabyte]

Dam, I had a long reply typed and the Cat wiped it out by closing the browser...

I agree this sounds like Spyware or possibly a Root Kit, and those can be nasty. I would suggest a couple of things, try an online scanner like Trend Micro Housecall (just google the name) it catches most Spyware, and it can't be poisoned be the spyware itself because it is not resident. The other suggestion is a good spyware checker/cleaner, I like SpyBot Search and Destroy, but there are several. If you get one installed the best bet is to run it from Safe Mode, that way most spyware does not get loaded and can be cleaned.

The Root Kit issue is harder and generally needs a boot from another disk, if you need to do that the best thing I know of, is Ultimate Boot CD 4 Windows, I can send you the links for that if you need it, just drop me a PM.

One other thing you might want to try is get a Start Up Manager and disable everything in the list then start the system and go through the process of enabling every item one at a time and rebooting after each, that way you might find out what is causing the problem. This will not solve a root kit problem but it might catch some of the Spyware that use Start up entries, and it is fairly quick and easy.

Good luck with this, and drop me a note if I can help with the boot disk thing.

[JoeW]

How does one disable "Program Protector" and "Program Defender"?
I have XP with all the updates and SP's and can't find these programs.

[aeromed202]

I've had good results with RegCure, about $30 to buy and the start manager is well worth it. It is easy to use and does a decent job cleaning file frags too. I have also used an uninstaller called REVO which has been a help for finding and removing programs hiding in the wirework. Hope this helps.

[kilo delta]

Try these programs......I swear by them. They're free too.:ernae:

Spybot S&D.... http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html

Lavasoft Adaware....http://www.lavasoft.com/single/trialpay.php

[cheezyflier]

i will try all of these tonight when the wife lets me off duty. wish me luck!

[harleyman]

How did it go????

[cheezyflier]

thanks for all the help everyone. after trying everything you guys mentioned it turns out that the one thing that solved the problem was Trend Micro Housecall. it found 20 something things it called "grayware"
but the names it gave each one ended either in trojan or worm.
it cleaned everything out, and now my box runs like it should. i have a feeling i need to watch the kids a little more closely when they surf.

[Lionheart]

thanks for all the help everyone. after trying everything you guys mentioned it turns out that the one thing that solved the problem was Trend Micro Housecall. it found 20 something things it called "grayware"
but the names it gave each one ended either in trojan or worm.
it cleaned everything out, and now my box runs like it should. i have a feeling i need to watch the kids a little more closely when they surf.


Yep... Thats what I thought it might be.

Sites like Front Page, and the rest that kids go do are notorius for cookies that install this stuff. Even sites like Disney can install these things, beleive it or not. Thats where my Nephew picked up a huge amount from. There are tons of advertisement banners flashing. A good sign of a delivery system dropping things in.


One thing to do to keep this from happening is to flush the cookies often. This is the main 'door'. But most sites require cookies, so you have to kind of take a chance.



Bill

[Willy]

i have a feeling i need to watch the kids a little more closely when they surf.

Either that or do like I do... threaten their lives if they touch my computer. Even Mrs Willy is hesitant to get on it.

[Cazzie]

Make :censored: Microsoft Defender is turned off some way, it is notorious! While you're at it eliminate any tray items like Windows Gadgets, Google gadgets, Google Desktop, etc. Only thing running in my tray is nHancer unless I open FRAPS!

Caz

[cheezyflier]

Either that or do like I do... threaten their lives if they touch my computer. Even Mrs Willy is hesitant to get on it.

i actually did have to curtail the wife's activities recently, she likes to sign up for sweepstakes that have caused us to recieve more spam than you can imagine. on the other hand, the kids mostly make the rules here (liberal canada, you know) so there isn't too much i can really do with/to them.





Make :censored: Microsoft Defender is turned off some way, it is notorious! While you're at it eliminate any tray items like Windows Gadgets, Google gadgets, Google Desktop, etc. Only thing running in my tray is nHancer unless I open FRAPS!

Caz

i learned that lesson the hard way a few years back. i had so much crap in my tray, and in my start up registry that it took forever for that computer to start, let alone do anything. i don't know why every peice of software wants to be front and center all the time.