What is wrong with my computer??

Question

I've done a complete virus scan (which includes adware & spyware), I've done disk cleanup, defragmented...yet my computer is still going a lot slower than it should. I have a pop up blocker, yet pop ups sometimes manage to pop up. And it's happening more & more. Programs will freeze & sometime Explorer will just shut down on it's own. What could be causing this & how could I fix it? (I can't afford to take my computer to a professional...plus last time, they screwed me over, majorly) Thanx in advance for all honest answers...

Answer 1

It's worth getting an expert to check your computer out at:

http://www.webuser.co.uk/forums/ubbthreads.php/Cat/0

Register, go to the Hijack This Forum, read the instructions on how to post a log, give a brief description of your problem (like you've just typed) and post your log there. The guys in there are fantastic and trustworthy and will guide you through in getting rid of anything nasty from your computer. Good luck!

Answer 2

I think we all struggle with this as our computer gets older and collects more programs that hog the cpu and memory. Reformating is a solution but a radical one which I generally leave as a last resort. Some things you can do is clear your "prefetch" list (all recently used programs end up on this list). To clean up this list hit Start -> Run and then enter prefetch and it will bring up a folder with all the prefetch progams. Select edit from the top menu and click on select all then hit the delete key.
The next big area is the number of programs that are loaded on boot-up. This can me addressed by Start -> Run then enter msconfig. You will see tabs for all the progams that are run on boot. You can safely eliminate about half of them if you can recognize what their function is (like pre-loading Quicktime or some other media player). You will need to re-boot after you do this manicure.
Lastly, my experience has been that the biggest thing slowing down my computer is my anti-virus program. I seems like after several months it just wants to sit and scan stuff in the background when I'm trying to get some work done. Try turning it off and see if performance improves. If it does then think about uninstalling your anti virus and re-installing a fresh copy. I usually have two different programs that I alternate between when I do this - like switching out McAffee with Norton. Most anit virus program vendors offer a limited time free try-out that you can use a swap out.
Also there is a free program out there called "Advanced Computer Care V2" found at http://www.iobit.com/ which helps a lot with cleaning up trash on your system.
Good luck.

Answer 3

Well, first of all, we need to know more about your computer. How fast is it? How much memory? How much space is left on your hard drive? What software did you use to scan it?

A lot of things affect the speed of your computer. What programs do you have starting at boot-up? They all use system resources, so if you haven't much memory, then you can be drained that way.

What scanning software did you use? Did you try only one? Most free spyware software do not find all of the instances, so it's smart to run a couple of different ones. I'm pretty lucky running adaware and spybot both.

Have you done a complete anti-virus scan? If you don't have the software, try downloading the free ClamAV. It's open source, and fairly well maintained.

Answer 4

What programs did you use to scan for Viruses and Spyware?

Some are crap and won't do you any good.

Adaware:
http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html

Spybot S&D:
http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10122137.html

AVG Antivirus:
http://www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10342876.html

I recommend installing Adaware first, update it and then have it scan and remove spyware. Then uninstall it, and install Spybot S&D, update it then have it scan and remove spyware.
Then uninstall it.
Then install AVG and update it, have it scan your PC for viruses.

If your computer CONTINUES to be slow after that, it may be that you have a lot of startup programs starting that are hogging your System resources.

Go to Start, Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs and remove/uninstall ANYTHING that says Mywebsearch, Toolbar, Searchbar or anything like that.

P.S. DO NOT FORMAT your computer...everyone who said to do that are wrong! Also, it appears many of the answerers did not read your entire question...duh.."did you defragment?" Some people eh?

Contact me if you need additional help!

Answer 5

You are loaded with spyware. Go to www.ewido.net and run an online scan and you will see how infected you are and delete all the infections.

Also check out how much memory is in your machine. If you are running less than 512MB then you don't have enough.

Answer 6

sometimes the virus scanners find viruses and cant fix them. Try your virus scanner again and see if it says unfixed or anything like this. If it dosnt try another virus scanner you can find them for free on the internet. If not you could use systen restore in control panel to stop it.
To stop it happening again virus check everything before you open it if you have downloaded it.

Answer 7

You could go to the task manager and see how much your CPU is being used up. The programs you are not using, end them. Or you could install more memory. If worst comes to worst, back up your files and format your hard drive.

Answer 8

Have you tried defragging your computer? Go to START then ALL PROGRAMS then ACCESSORIES then SYSTEM TOOLS then DISK DEFRAGMENTER... Also you might want to think about buying Norton Utilities System Works and using that... You don't have to download it... You can work off the disk..

Another thing that you can do is a SYSTEM RESTORE and set it to a date before your computer started slowing down. Follow the steps above except click on SYSTEM RESTORE instead of DISK DEFRAGMENTER.

Answer 9

it would be better to format the system u can do it for yourselves if u donot know how to do it then get it by done by one of your friend as most of them know how to do that as you cannot offer to take that to a professional

Answer 10

Have you ran Disk Deframent and Scan Disk. I would start there. If you do not know how let me know.