Why is my PC so slow

[roses1]

Hi
i have found your site very helpful in the past so i thought i would ask for your help on this matter of my PC acting like a spectrum 48k....
I have a pent4 3.06mhz 1gig ddr ram, with 1.5mbit broadband but my PC is so slow, I ran your speed test and the best i could mange was 377 kbits with a average of about 290. I have Kapersky anti-virus,Ad-aware, zone alarm, spybot search and destroy, and spyware blaster which are all up todate and i run them every couple of days, i have zone alarm so i switched off the windows firewall, the only thing i have on my PC is a couple of games and power dvd,i empty my internet files all the time and defrag once a week
I had to reinstall windows about a few months ago but i never formated as i was not sure how to, could this be the problem?, about 85% of my harddrive is empty and i have nothing in my folders apart from a few pictures.
Any help would be so good as i am getting annoyed with my beloved PC
thanks
Heather

[NHH]

Hi Heather,

Does your PC only run slow when the internet connection is connected?
If so, your PC will most likely be infected with a worm so scan your PC with the Housecall Online Virus Scanner on Nethomehelp's front page..


If the PC is still sluggish without the internet connection then scan with Housecall anyway...


Let me know how you get on

[roses1]

HI Vin
thank you for replying to my post so quick
i ran the housecall virus scanner but like my own anti-virus it came up with no viruses, i will let my brother do the start up thing as i am new to computing and still learning
i will let you know how we get on
keep up the good work and i will spread the word about your site
thanks again
Heather x
PS are they any good PC books out there for newbies like myself

[roses1]

Hi......again
i tried to download startup manager but after it download i tried to run it all i got was a "run-time-error 21470247708007007e, i then uninstalled it and went to another site to download it but the same thing happened... beat your wondering what your dealing with here lol... i am trying
thanks
Heather

[NHH]

Hmmm..

Looks as if you definately got problems there.
That error is a problem with the Visual Basic runtime in Windows by the way, but let's find what startup programs you got running first....

First of all, click HERE and select to Open the file. This will run a program called Hijack This!.
Click on the Scan button, once the scan is done click on the Save Log button and save the log to your desktop.
On your desktop, double click on the hijackthis.log file.
Copy the contents of the log, and paste it into a reply here.


Quick question have you installed service pack 2 yet?

[roses1]

Hi Vin
thank you again for a quick reply
yes i have service pack 2.... now when i think about it thats when i started noticing the probs
here's the hijack this
Logfile of HijackThis v1.98.2
Scan saved at 16:48:15, on 03/11/2004
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP2 (6.00.2900.2180)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy2\Surround Mixer\CTSysVol.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTHELPER.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\BCMSMMSG.exe
C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe
C:\Program Files\Logitech\Desktop Messenger\8876480\Program\BackWeb-8876480.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\Program Files\Logitech\SetPoint\KEM.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\CTsvcCDA.exe
C:\Program Files\Logitech\SetPoint\KHALMNPR.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\MsPMSPSv.exe
C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE
C:\Documents and Settings\HH\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\O3VN6GL5\HijackThis[1].exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = www.blueyonder.co.uk/
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings,ProxyOverride = localhost
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C:\PROGRA~1\SPYBOT~1\SDHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: Google Toolbar Helper - {AA58ED58-01DD-4d91-8333-CF10577473F7} - c:\program files\google\googletoolbar1.dll
O3 - Toolbar: &Google - {2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F} - c:\program files\google\googletoolbar1.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CTSysVol] C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy2\Surround Mixer\CTSysVol.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CTHelper] CTHELPER.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AsioReg] REGSVR32.EXE /S CTASIO.DLL
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ATIModeChange] Ati2mdxx.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ATIPTA] C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI Control Panel\atiptaxx.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [BCMSMMSG] BCMSMMSG.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Zone Labs Client] "C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Logitech Hardware Abstraction Layer] KHALMNPR.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Openwares LiveUpdate] C:\Program Files\LiveUpdate\LiveUpdate.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [LDM] C:\Program Files\Logitech\Desktop Messenger\8876480\Program\BackWeb-8876480.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Logitech Desktop Messenger.lnk = C:\Program Files\Logitech\Desktop Messenger\8876480\Program\LDMConf.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Logitech SetPoint.lnk = C:\Program Files\Logitech\SetPoint\KEM.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Google Search - res://C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmsearch.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Backward Links - res://C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmbacklinks.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Cached Snapshot of Page - res://C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmcache.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Similar Pages - res://C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmsimilar.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Translate into English - res://C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmtrans.html
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O16 - DPF: {01FE8D0A-51AD-459B-B62B-85E135128B32} (DD_v4.DDv4) - www.drivershq.com/DD_v4.CAB
O16 - DPF: {14A3221B-1678-1982-A355-7263B1281987} - ms-its:mhtml:file://c:\nosuch.mht!http://ultimately-yours.com/dl/files.chm::/file.exe
O16 - DPF: {22222222-2222-2222-2222-222222222222} - file://c:\x.cab
O16 - DPF: {31B7EB4E-8B4B-11D1-A789-00A0CC6651A8} (Cult3D ActiveX Player) - www.cult3d.com/download/cult.cab
O16 - DPF: {74D05D43-3236-11D4-BDCD-00C04F9A3B61} (HouseCall Control) - a840.g.akamai.net/7/840/537/2004061001/housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/xscan53.cab
O16 - DPF: {D8089245-3211-40F6-819B-9E5E92CD61A2} (FlashXControl Object) - play.ladbrokescasino.com/freeplay/FlashAX.cab

do you have someway i can donate to your site as i feel that i owe you something for all this help, its good to know that there are people out there that are willing to help people out
thanks Vin

[NHH]

Hi Heather....

Sorry for the delay... work has been crazy, anyways...

I can see a few possible nasties in the HijackThis log but nothing major so...

Run HijackThis again as before, click on scan and tick the boxes next to the following.....

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings,ProxyOverride = localhost
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Openwares LiveUpdate] C:\Program Files\LiveUpdate\LiveUpdate.exe
O16 - DPF: {01FE8D0A-51AD-459B-B62B-85E135128B32} (DD_v4.DDv4) - www.drivershq.com/DD_v4.CAB
O16 - DPF: {14A3221B-1678-1982-A355-7263B1281987} - ms-its:mhtml:file://c:\nosuch.mht! ultimately-yours.com/dl/files.chm::/file.exe
O16 - DPF: {22222222-2222-2222-2222-222222222222} - file://c:\x.cab


Once these are ticked click on the Fixed Checked button.
Now that's done, restart your PC.

Now that may or may not have made a huge difference to the performance of your PC.


Q. When exactly is your PC acting slow? Accessing the internet? accessing the hard disk? (the flashing light on the front of the PC case), starting up? opening programs?

Q. Do you have any file sharing programs installed such as Kazza, eDonkey etc.?

P.S. You can donate by clicking on the "Make a donation" button on the Quick Links menu.

[roses1]

Hi Vin
Delay what delay... you been great
My PC acts up when im surfing and harddrive but not all the time, the internet more than the harddrive and for the file sharing programs, kazaa and winmx but both were uninstalled a few months ago
Its mostly me now that uses the PC as my brother has moved out (yipee) and only uses it now and again and he's been warned to only use it for games and email and no downloading ANYTHING.
I dont think i have much in the bank just now but as soon as i get paid again ill donate a couple of hours work for helping me out
ill delete those ones you told me to tomorrow as its almost 2am here ( scotland ) and let you know how it all goes
thanks loads and loads
Heather