pc help.

[weirdoguy]

i recently formatted my hd. uh i updated all the drivers,got all or most of the windows updates.
but somethigns wrong with my internet.the modem is installed in and i see it on my toolbar that i am connected online.but when open ie. it says that im not connected to my isp or something. but the weird thing is im using programs that require online stuff. ex. aim,steam,ventrilo,ragnarok. it allows me to use those programs but ie wont work. this is becoming a problem.and when i right click my computer>properties>advanced tabs>under performance i click settings>advanced>the bottom where it says ram size, it always changes. i cliked change,its on custom size: initial size (mb) 1024, maximum size : 1024, i click set,and okay. but on the bottom it says total paging file size for all drives. it says min. allowed 2. recommeneded: 381mb, currently: 381mb. is there anyway i can change it so it stays on the custom one i set?
also it takes a while for some programst o load. ive been running norton and theres nothing. buut if anybody can help me please respond
thanks.
i am using a dsl modem,isp is verzon,im running off win xp home sp1,
i just opened a ie window and it took like 2 mins. i dont know if its my pc or what. but for sure that somethings wrong.
thanks to anyone who responds and trys to help

i also looked on my task manager. and i saw something that i had never saw before.
it was 'WinXPup.exe' it was running under 'system' not under my name but
when i told my firned about this he said it was a hacker program under 'winmx' and then again told me to reformat my pc once again to fix everything.
any ideas or helpfull things are welcome

 

[montag451]

Hi,
What other progs are running?

Did you disable winxp firewall, or, when asked select not to use it? Are you using a firewall? What antivirus have you got? [if none, then download AVGFREE sometime - www.grisoft.com]
Can you run ADAWARE - do a search
Can you run SPYBOT - do a search

Run scans with all of these in safe mode after disabling system restore in xp.

If you have trouble with doing any of that, then post back.
Otherwise, do the above, then post back with the results -
Might be worth downloading ZONEALARM and installing it in normal mode, straight after doing the scans in safe mode.
Then, log on and let us know