EMERGENCY: Computer IS VERY SLOW

[JohnKimble]

Hi.

My computer, for some reason has been very, very slow. I have not changed any hardware lately, and I've been using the same hardware for around 8 months.

Hardware:

AMD Athlon XP 2400+
Asus A7N8X Mobo
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
Seagate 120GB 7200.7
Crucial 512 MB PC3200

It used to take 20-25 seconds to boot up to the Windows Desktop. Now it takes 1-2 minutes. When my Windows Desktop loads, it takes 2 minutes for my chatting program (Trillian) and Firefox to load. After opening firefox, it takes around 10 seconds til I can press on tab and then the mouse starts "lagging".

I checked my Physical Memory in Performance tab and there's 240 MB of RAM left. The CPU usage is 21% with Firefox and Trillian open.

I don't use any P2P Applications, (no kazaa, no limewire, none of that bullsh!t). The only program I use for that task is uTorrent, which uses at MOST 6 MB and is not full with spyware. I have tried doing a virus scan with Kaspersky and I have various anti-spyware programs, MS AntiSpyware, Pest Patrol, and AdAware.

It takes FOREVER for the scan, normal DVD burn a week ago was 7 mins and now its 30 mins. UnRAR'ing files takes forever, after 30 mins unrar'ing a 4 gb .rar im only 42% done.

So, I was wondering if any of you have had similar problems, and could provide a solution or tips.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Some of the warez you got with uTorrent was infected?

Try the security sticky in the Software forum.

 

[TriggerHappy101]

time to re-install windows! The windows gods have smited you.

 

[Quodus]

firstly i would try the usual windows defrag, check disk, clear cache, temp files, internet temp / history

secondly i would unplug your comp from the internet and run virus scan adaware tools etc.

also check to see what is running on start up in the registry ( virus checkers should do this but it worth a look)

thirdly , you can reset your bios to the default settings and see if that makes a difference.

if all else fails and you dont wanna put up with it backup files to a device of some discription, cd/dvd, usb hardrive etc. and delete partitions on both drive re format and reinstall windows and everything

Thats what i would do (personally) but see what other experianced members might suggest as this is my first response on this forum.

i hope its an easy fix

 

[thescreensavers]

tell me did you just update windows?

 

[Mik3y]

so you've scanned your entire system for adware and spyware and other sorts of malware? the situation is obviously a software issue, so try cleansing your windows registry. worst comes to worst, do a reformat, but i would do that as the last resort.

 

[JohnKimble]

Originally posted by: thescreensavers
tell me did you just update windows?

No.

 

[ta8689]

REINSTALL WINDOWS!!! Take my adivce. You will be sitting there for a longer time putting up with more crap if you just try to figure it out. A fresh install will make it happy again. Backup your crap on a dvd or 5 and get to work.

 

[JohnKimble]

Yeah, Trying to back up 100+ GB of data. And this time I'm installing Windows XP Pro Lite.

 

[Looney]

I would reinstall Windows... and if it still happens, it looks like it's a HDD issue.

 

[JohnKimble]

Can I just delete my primary partition (C : ) and reinstall it, while not touching my storage partition (D : ) ?

 

[ta8689]

yeah, that is possible, but you have to make sure nothings wrong with ur storage partition.

 

[JohnKimble]

Originally posted by: ta8689
yeah, that is possible, but you have to make sure nothings wrong with ur storage partition.

What can be wrong with my storage partition?

 

[ta8689]

Make sure yo didnt store viruses etc. on it. Because if you did it may just reinfect it all if it is indeed infected.

 

[JohnKimble]

Originally posted by: ta8689
Make sure yo didnt store viruses etc. on it. Because if you did it may just reinfect it all if it is indeed infected.

Doubt it. Alright, so can someone give me the steps for .. installing on the partition? I have Ultimate Boot Disc which is the CD I used to first partition my hard drive, using the Seagate Tools from it. Do I do the same thing? Or do I just load the XP Disc after I delete everything (c: deltree) ?

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: JohnKimble

Originally posted by: ta8689
Make sure yo didnt store viruses etc. on it. Because if you did it may just reinfect it all if it is indeed infected.

Doubt it. Alright, so can someone give me the steps for .. installing on the partition? I have Ultimate Boot Disc which is the CD I used to first partition my hard drive, using the Seagate Tools from it. Do I do the same thing? Or do I just load the XP Disc after I delete everything (c: deltree) ?

Since it does sound like you have a virus or a worm, I would unplug the power from your D: drive, and run fdisk against the C: drive, using the /mbr switch first, then
running fdisk again on the C: drive to delete the current partittion.

If both of your partittions are on the same drive, you may have no choice but to kiss the D: goodbye.

 

[JohnKimble]

Originally posted by: Muadib

Originally posted by: JohnKimble

Originally posted by: ta8689
Make sure yo didnt store viruses etc. on it. Because if you did it may just reinfect it all if it is indeed infected.

Doubt it. Alright, so can someone give me the steps for .. installing on the partition? I have Ultimate Boot Disc which is the CD I used to first partition my hard drive, using the Seagate Tools from it. Do I do the same thing? Or do I just load the XP Disc after I delete everything (c: deltree) ?

Since it does sound like you have a virus or a worm, I would unplug the power from your D: drive, and run fdisk against the C: drive, using the /mbr switch first, then
running fdisk again on the C: drive to delete the current partittion.

If both of your partittions are on the same drive, you may have no choice but to kiss the D: goodbye.

Um. Kiss the D Drive goodbye? I dont think so. No way I can get rid of all the files I have on D, because my DVD Burns take 30 mins now.

I don't know how it could be a virus // worm... I did a scan... Oh well.

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: JohnKimble

Originally posted by: Muadib

Originally posted by: JohnKimble

Originally posted by: ta8689
Make sure yo didnt store viruses etc. on it. Because if you did it may just reinfect it all if it is indeed infected.

Doubt it. Alright, so can someone give me the steps for .. installing on the partition? I have Ultimate Boot Disc which is the CD I used to first partition my hard drive, using the Seagate Tools from it. Do I do the same thing? Or do I just load the XP Disc after I delete everything (c: deltree) ?

Since it does sound like you have a virus or a worm, I would unplug the power from your D: drive, and run fdisk against the C: drive, using the /mbr switch first, then
running fdisk again on the C: drive to delete the current partittion.

If both of your partittions are on the same drive, you may have no choice but to kiss the D: goodbye.

Um. Kiss the D Drive goodbye? I dont think so. No way I can get rid of all the files I have on D, because my DVD Burns take 30 mins now.

I don't know how it could be a virus // worm... I did a scan... Oh well.

So you are saying that both partitions are on the same drive? Then your only other recource is to find the source of your problem. Did you run a scandisk on the drive? It could be on it way out like someone else suggested. What does your firewall show traffic wise? What virus software did your use? Did you check for spyware? When was the last time you did a defrag?

 

[JohnKimble]

Originally posted by: Muadib

Originally posted by: JohnKimble

Originally posted by: Muadib

Originally posted by: JohnKimble

Originally posted by: ta8689
Make sure yo didnt store viruses etc. on it. Because if you did it may just reinfect it all if it is indeed infected.

Doubt it. Alright, so can someone give me the steps for .. installing on the partition? I have Ultimate Boot Disc which is the CD I used to first partition my hard drive, using the Seagate Tools from it. Do I do the same thing? Or do I just load the XP Disc after I delete everything (c: deltree) ?

Since it does sound like you have a virus or a worm, I would unplug the power from your D: drive, and run fdisk against the C: drive, using the /mbr switch first, then
running fdisk again on the C: drive to delete the current partittion.

If both of your partittions are on the same drive, you may have no choice but to kiss the D: goodbye.

Um. Kiss the D Drive goodbye? I dont think so. No way I can get rid of all the files I have on D, because my DVD Burns take 30 mins now.

I don't know how it could be a virus // worm... I did a scan... Oh well.

So you are saying that both partitions are on the same drive? Then your only other recource is to find the source of your problem. Did you run a scandisk on the drive? It could be on it way out like someone else suggested. What does your firewall show traffic wise? What virus software did your use? Did you check for spyware? When was the last time you did a defrag?

Well, i ran chkdsk and it lasted 3-4 hours. did a defrag. kaspersky. not sure bout zone alarm tho.

 

[Muadib]

Sounds like you've done nothing to check for spyware. And what do you mean you aren't sure about Zonealarm?

 

[F1shF4t]

if u have 2 partitions on the same drive u can easily format one partition without touching or effecting the other. As long as u dont have any progs instaled on the second partition everything on it will be fine

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: Dark Cupcake
if u have 2 partitions on the same drive u can easily format one partition without touching or effecting the other. As long as u dont have any progs instaled on the second partition everything on it will be fine

You can as long as the drive is not infected with a virus or spyware.

 

[mechBgon]

JohnKimble, first scan for rootkits using F-Secure BlackLight, which is small and very fast.

After checking for rootkits, now try using the scan method I wrote up in this text file: http://www.omnicast.net/~tmcfadden/scan.txt. Don't worry too much about the part saying danger, danger, back up your data, that's just my little disclaimer Follow the directions precisely, including using Safe Mode With Command Prompt.

Also, if you have Kaspersky Antivirus installed, set it for maximum detection as shown on this page. After the other scan, restart the system in Safe Mode and run a Kaspersky scan using those maxed-out settings. Remember, Safe Mode is your friend when you're trying to check for malware.

 

[JEDIYoda]

also another good thing to do when checking for malware is to disconnect your computer from the internet..as in physiclly disconnect the computer.

I had malware once that was detected by the various programs I use, yet everytime I would delete it it would reappear as if by magic....

Until one day I read somewhere about disconnecting my computer from ther internet and then going into safe mode.

Good luck!!

 

[RebateMonger]

ASSUMING you are running XP (I don't think you ever said so), you don't need a special boot disk or anything else to re-install XP on your C: drive.

Just boot to the XP Install CD and tell it you want to Reformat the C: drive and then install a fresh copy of XP on it. The D: drive will be untouched.

After XP is installed, you can install an Antivirus and AntiSpyware app and scan your data on your D: drive. There's no way that just having data files on D: can contaminate your new computer. Just don't open them in any applications until you've scanned them first.