computer suddenly really sluggish

[theMan]

recenly, my rig (specs in sig) started getting really sluggish. to open a folder, it takes like, 60 seconds of solid HDD activity. when i select an item in windows explorer, the computer freezes for a few seconds, and i can't click on anything. also, FF started taking a really long time to open up. my 120gb sata drive is 60% full. i restarted, scanned with kaspersky, spybot, adaware, microsoft anti-spyware. i defragmented. still nothing helps. anyone know what to do next? oh yeah, this is windows 2000.

 

[Markfw]

spyware.... or the newest virus that takes Mcafee enterprise 8 to fix !!!!

 

[theMan]

i doubt it. nothing gets past kaspersky.

EDIT: also, the windows defrag utility, kept just stopping before it finished, with no indication of what happened. it would just stop. and i would start it again, and it would go for like 5 mins before stopping again. wtf?

 

[mosid786]

Remove any unnecessary startup items in msconfig, try performing a system restore. Uninstall and then reinstall your anti-virus software and run a full scandisk. Also check the Event Viewer for any error messages.

 

[theMan]

checked startup stuff. win2k doesnt have sys restore. i just installed kaspersky a few days ago, and just did a scan. nothing in event viewer. anything else? please help.

 

[mosid786]

Try reinstalling your printer drivers.

 

[theMan]

ok, what will that do?

 

[mosid786]

Possible conflict between printer monitoring software and windows explorer - reconfigure your printer.

 

[theMan]

ok, thanks.

 

[tjaisv]

Reformat your system and upgrade to XP. Problem solved.

 

[theMan]

oh sure, i actually downgraded from xp to 2k because of problems like this. XP SUCKS.

 

[zagood]

Your defrag is restarting because something is running in the background. Disable kaspersky and ALL virus/spyware scanners when you run defrag and unplug your machine from the net.

Finding what's slowing your machine down is like trying to remember where you put your keys. Retrace your steps and think of anything you might have installed right before your system started slowing down...it's usually some software you installed and didn't even think twice about.

That happened to me with RivaTuner the other day, it was arguing with my nVidia drivers for some reason. Uninstalled it and everything was fine.

-z