Something's wrong - where to start?

[markon]

OK, for the last couple of weeks, this thing's been running real slow. At first, I thought it was my ISP, but since it was slow scrolling a page which had already loaded - after disconnecting - I think the fault lies here. As I type this, it takes about 20 seconds for the text to appear after I've finished typing.

Where do I start looking?

Asus A7V, Athlon 10GHz, 640Mb RAM

 

[RustyNale]

Welcome to AnandTech, markon

For starters, we need some more info...such as: what os are you running, have you loaded a new hardware/software recently, have you checked for viruses or spyware?

 

[markon]

Yeah, sorry.

Windows ME.

I have Zonealrm installed, have just checked for updates, and there's only one, I've just downloaded.

I also have a freebie virus scanner AVP monitor by Kapersky which, you guessed it, I'm downloading now.

AbouT a week ago, I visited pcpitstop.com and ran their diagnostics (before I noticed any problem). I followed their advice on only 2 issues IIRC -

- limiting the amount of space allocated to temporary internet files

- Setting maxvcache in the system.ini file

Both these measure have since been undone manually.

Since the speed of other packages seems to be OK, I'm beginning to suspect the problem is entirely related to IE6. Have now downloaded the cumulative patch for December 2002.

These updates are not yet installed, but they soon will be.

Aside from that, is there another way if telliing if I have a virus? I had assumed I'd done something wrong during the pcpitstop episode.

Thanks for your help

Mark

 

[Storm]

Are you running any type of software in the background? Possibly an antivirus type program or even a p2p program where you have files shared?.

 

[GlassGhost]

First off, a few simple sometimes overlooked things to consider:

1. Make sure there is enough disk space on your windows drive (C: for example.) Programs need temporary disk space (ina ddition to the windows spaw file) to work properly. Have at least 100mb free, minimum.

2. Defrag. This isn't as much of a problem with fast HDs, but can still effect response times on a packed HD.

3. Make sure you don't have any spyware running in the background. AdAware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/) is a great program, download it and run it.