[Nymins]

my computer has been running really slow for awhile now. i have no idea what is wrong with it. i have done loads of virus and spyware scans and they haven't picked up anything. by slow i mean it takes ages to open applications and when winamp is playing music, it starts to stop or stuttered when i open something else.

here is a hi-jack this log:

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 12:45:06, on 07/05/2005
Platform: Windows XP SP1 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP1 (6.00.2800.1106)

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:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\nvsvc32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\msiexec.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\nymins\Start Menu\Programs\Internet Protection\HijackThis.exe

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TrojanScanner] C:\Program Files\Trojan Remover\Trjscan.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [nwiz] nwiz.exe /install
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\System32\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG7_CC] C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe /STARTUP
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG7_EMC] C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Zone Labs Client] C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Cmaudio] RunDll32 cmicnfg.cpl,CMICtrlWnd
O17 - HKLM\System\CCS\Services\Tcpip\..\{F95C1737-AB19-4999-B353-AE3B307A45CA}: NameServer = 194.74.65.68 194.72.9.39
O23 - Service: Adobe LM Service - Adobe Systems - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe Systems Shared\Service\Adobelmsvc.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Alert Manager Server (Avg7Alrt) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Update Service (Avg7UpdSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (NVSvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\WINDOWS\System32\nvsvc32.exe
O23 - Service: TrueVector Internet Monitor (vsmon) - Zone Labs, LLC - C:\WINDOWS\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe

thanks for any suggestions

[Yousaif]

Only thing I see out of whack in that list is that msiexec.exe is showing as running. That's part of the installer and should only be running when you are actively installing a program.

How long has it been since you formatted and reinstalled Windows? Could be just things are doing the Microsoft slowdown on you.

Have you tried checking in the task manager and seeing what is eating up all of your processor and or memory? What about disabling antivirus, firewall, and the trojan scanner to see if they are adversely affecting the performance?

-Yousaif

[Tipstaff]

It sounds more like your hard drive is badly fragmented. I would try defragmenting it first to see if that helps. Best to start it before you go to bed, and let it do it's thing overnight. A good defrag program like Diskeeper should do the trick, or at the very least Microsofts one should be fine (start, programs, accessories, system tools, disk defrag).

-Tip

[Mort_Cinder]

i agree with Tipstaff, if you dont defragment very often then that can really cause the computer to run slow.

[Nymins]

i defragged about a week or two ago. the msiexec.exe was just there cause i was uninstalling something. i reformatted about 3 weeks ago after a virus attacked my comp. do you think a fresh reinstall of windows would fix it?

[zachig]

Probably a fresh reinstall of windows will fix it. but, if i were you i would first do a deep defragmentation and then run a deep scanning for viruses and spyware.

For virus detection, use a decent Antivirus, like Kaspersky.
For spyware deection, use: Adaware, Spybot and CleanSpyWare.

Good Luck.

[Nymins]

im doing a defrag now. i have scanned many times with things like ad-ware se, trend micro, pestpartol, spybot and so on. and i have done a few avg scans too. none of them have picked up anything critical.

[PangingJr]

hard to tell what's causing the problem. some of my suggestions that i'm about to give you are already existed in this page and you might have already did some of it like disk defrag i just saw now...

based on the info you provided i'd try this first...
try disabling the 'Load ZoneAlarm at Startup' (do this change in ZoneAlarm) and reboot, after that do the disk Error-checking, run the check on every disks/partitions, then on the next reboot disable your antivirus real-time scan, and then do defragment files on every disks/partitions, also, if you use a 3rd party disk defrag program then schedule it to do an offline defrag during next system start-up. and see.

if that does not help then try a clean booting on the XP,
here's How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP.

i'd skid all the things that i wanted to try at earlier time except the disk chack and defrag and to go to try a clean booting on the XP, and then at later time we can try to find out about the actual cause of the problem. so see if the clean boot helps.

[Nymins]

its still the same after i do the "clean boot in Windows XP"

[PangingJr]

tell us your hardware specs briefly. i'm sorry if it's all in your sig.

[Nymins]

P4 2.8ghz
512mb ram
geforce 4 ti 4200
80gb hdd 7200rpm
Windows XP SP1
Onboard sound card (C-Media or something)

[PangingJr]

do you also have Windows firewall on? if you do try disabling it. and see.
what's the setting of system paging file?
have you applied any registry tweaks lately? if so what's it?

not sure now this will do any good since the clean boot didn't...

but before you go on to reformat you might want to try this and see if this could stop the system slowdown and bring all the performance back to normal...

go offline and do a completely uninstall the ZA, follow steps you see in this page. and see. and then uninstall both the AV and the trojan programs and see.

[Nymins]

i dont use windows firewall just zonealarm pro.
i have just applied a faster shut down and menu tweaks but they didn't really work. i have tried disabling avg and ZA too see if the performance would increase. it didn't. would a "repair install" fix anything?

[PangingJr]

repair install may not help if the problem is caused by 3rd party programs/drivers/services or registry. i'd go for a clean Windows install instend since it'll take just a bit more time than the repair.

try uninstalling the 3 programs first and see, if that won't take too much of your time.

[Nymins]

i uninstalled AVG and ZA. i cant see any improvements . im running ad-ware now to see if it picks anything up.

[e v o]

yeah run the latest ad-aware. Check in msconfig startup tab. Uncheck all the stuff you do not need. I like to have around 20 processes running when windows boots. Also in msconfig, go to the services tab, and check 'hide all microsoft' uncheck all the services you don't need. If you don't know just leave it. Usually ones you don't need are adobe gamma, nerocheck, etc. know that Ctrl-Alt-Del doesnt like reg cleaners, but try regscrubxp. It is a very safe registry cleaner. That will help a lot.

Also check the device manager for any things with ! on it. I would also update to SP2, but that's just me.

Ben

[Tipstaff]

As a test I would disconnect your ethernet cable, then reboot into safemode and run any spyware/adware cleaners. After that reboot your machine into normal mode, and play around with the system for a while. What you can do as well is to run a registry watching program like TeaTimer which comes with Spybot Search & Destroy (you can access that in SS&Ds adavance mode). Then, connect your ethernet back up, and watch what happens while you use the PC.

You also mentioned you have used the Fast Shutdown tweak. Did you use this from within TuneXP? If so, I would suggest some other settings from that program. Under the Memory heading use only the 4th through the 7th settings, and possibley ones below them if you know what they do. Don't run the first 3 though. Under the Hardware heading enable all the listings, however if you find your system is still slow disable the 1rst and 3rd ones.

Give those suggestions a try, and let us know, k?

Later.

-Tip

[Nymins]

yea i used TuneXP for the faster shutdown thing and some other hardware tweaks as well. ill try out that reg cleaner e v o talked about and all of your suggestions tip. thanks so far hopefully ill get it up and running good soon .

[PangingJr]

just thinking that the problem that you're having might have something to do with the XP could not do an optimize disk layout or it just cannot do it well like before anymore, this results has to do with the XP's prefetcher service all the way to how the XP's handles its memory management. forcing the disk layout can be done but can also caused data loss or a corrupted XP install.
anyway, IF this is the case, then i'd think if you could start over by reformating/reinstall might be the easiest way for you. wait and see first what's going to happen. i like to know what's causing the problem myself.