System has become too slow

[Sridhar_Rao]

Hello guys,
I have a desktop running on XP SP2, 2.66 GHz Pentium, 768 MB RAM. I recently repartioned the drives and reinstalled all softwares. I use ZoneAlarm and Avast for security. I also have installed antibook and spybot-search & destroy software for additional security. I have not been very particular about the sites I visit. Of late, the system has become too slow. Even opening an intenet explorer window takes time. I have updated the antivirus definition and ran a complete scan, nothing was found. I have a feeling that something has stealthy took over my system and residing in the memory causing it to run slow. Sometimes, the system freezes and I have to reboot. There are keyloggers and other trojans that remain undetected. I permit only selective programs to access the net (zone alarm). I have disabled many programs that load up at starup too. The available virtual memory is 1.94 GB and the page file space is 1.08 GB.

Can anyone help me, what is causing the system to become so slow.

 

[anandk]

get ur hjt log auto-analysed at www.hijackthis.de

 

[freshseasons]

With your configuration you system shouldn't be slow.
Will all those Anti-spywares and Anti-Viruses running along with Zone Alarm i dont think even if we find something it can be repaired.( Or it would already have been done is so.)
Please format your system if possible .
If you cannot format you system , run De-fragmentation tool and defrag harddrive.
Also See if Harddrive is in DMA mode and not PIO.
Update the drivers of system Chipset .
Attach harddrive to another system and then run Anti-virus scan.This eliminates all the viruses that can Crop while booting.
Finally clear all the Zone Alarm Log files. ( Those are huge)
And finally Run ChkDsk and see if the harddrive has some bad sectors splattered all around.
Also check how much of physical Ram you have free and what is the ideal CPU usage.!
Please let us know your progress.Also post the Hijack it Log file on this forum that Anand has asked you to do. Best luck.

 

[zyberboy]

First uninstall both avast and zonealarm both are memory hogs

Install Avs or nod32 for av's.
"Jetico" , "look n stop" or mcafee for firewall.
Dont install real time spyware scanners(use on demand scanners)
Keep minimum programs running in system tray.

 

[koolbluez]

that's where disk-imaging comes in... i just image my partition after complete optimization... and whenever i fell i'm gettin ol , i just re-install my optimised image back... as good as new... use acronis true image if u wanna pay... or try PartitionLogic or Digital Dolly which r free.

i say... reinstall the whole damn thing.. make a copy... play...

 

[chirkut]

Try once by upgraddig cach memory from bios and Keep minimum programs running in system tray

 

[Sridhar_Rao]

Thanks to all you guys, I resorted to system format and OS reinstallation. Now things are fine.