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My computer is approximately 2 months old and now has just recently
started to slow down after 3-4 hrs of use after each bootup. I have
scanned for viruses, malware/spyware, uninstalled unecessary programs,
defragmentized the hard drive, run diskcheck and cleared cookies and
temporary files from Internet Explorer. After a few hrs the system
slows down substantially thus making it difficult to browse the net
and switch inbetween programs.

I am currently running: Windows XP SP2 (with all updates), Pentium
Core Duo 2.4ghz, 2 Gigs of Ram, Norton Internet Security.

Any thoughts?

"The Pete" <> wrote in message
news: oups.com...
> My computer is approximately 2 months old and now has just recently
> started to slow down after 3-4 hrs of use after each bootup. I have
> scanned for viruses, malware/spyware, uninstalled unecessary programs,
> defragmentized the hard drive, run diskcheck and cleared cookies and
> temporary files from Internet Explorer. After a few hrs the system
> slows down substantially thus making it difficult to browse the net
> and switch inbetween programs.
>
> I am currently running: Windows XP SP2 (with all updates), Pentium
> Core Duo 2.4ghz, 2 Gigs of Ram, Norton Internet Security.
>
> Any thoughts?
>

I realize you've checked for spyware/malware, but that's what this sounds
like. Could be as innocent-looking a thing as a "search" toolbar, or maybe
some other little utility/application/addon you've installed, and some of
these can be very difficult for standard spyware-malware scans to detect.
Try this:

Go Run...msconfig, and on the "general" tab select " "disgnostic startup".
This temoporarily disables all but the most essential devices and services
and gives you what used to be called a "clean boot". Reboot then and see if
you experience any of the same problems. If not, then you know that
something ordinarily loaded on startup is your culprit -- in which case you
could then selctively enable devices/services/programs on startup and try to
hone in what's causing the slowdown.

Alternatively (or in combination with the above), run Task Manager |
Processes after boot-up, before doing anything else, and then order the list
by cpu-usage (there are better, handier tools for this, but TM will do fine
for a basic inspection). The "System Idle Process" should be at the top, and
under normal conditions on your machine I'm guessing that process should be
consuming about 98-99% of the cpu. Monitor that for a few minutes, without
launching any other programs. Now, to perceptively bog down a core2 duo,
some program would probably need to be grabbing upwards of 30-40% of your
cpu for a sustained period of time -- and that's the kind of thing you're
ultimately looking for. But any process you see after boot-up that grabs
more than 1-2% of your cpu for more than a few seconds is a candidate for
concern, even if they aren't necessarily rogues, so jot those down along
with their memory usage. Then leave Task Manager sitting on top and run
whatever apps you ordinarily run, do what you ordinarily do, and check back
with Task Manager from time to time to see what's changed -- especially if
you start to "feel" the slowdown.

Of course, if your system slows down and there's nothing actually hogging
the cpu, then you might have some kind of memory/drive/configuration
problem -- but since your machine is new and this problem only recently
started, I doubt that's the case.

Assuming you find some process hogs, it's easy to just google the name to
identify it better and see what others have to say about it. Some may well
turn out to be perfectly legitimate, so you can't just go deleting/disabling
things. But if, say, you happened to discover that NIS was hogging your
machine for some reason, you'd want to know this too.

Good hunting!

> "The Pete" <> wrote in message
> news: oups.com...
>> My computer is approximately 2 months old and now has just recently
>> started to slow down after 3-4 hrs of use after each bootup. I have
>> scanned for viruses, malware/spyware, uninstalled unecessary programs,
>> defragmentized the hard drive, run diskcheck and cleared cookies and
>> temporary files from Internet Explorer. After a few hrs the system
>> slows down substantially thus making it difficult to browse the net
>> and switch inbetween programs.
>>
>> I am currently running: Windows XP SP2 (with all updates), Pentium
>> Core Duo 2.4ghz, 2 Gigs of Ram, Norton Internet Security.
>>
>> Any thoughts?

Can't see your original post for some reason.
Norton I S is the best place to start. Not likely you've added that many
new programs over 2 months.

E. Scrooge

The Pete wrote:
> My computer is approximately 2 months old and now has just recently
> started to slow down after 3-4 hrs of use after each bootup. I have
> scanned for viruses, malware/spyware, uninstalled unecessary programs,
> defragmentized the hard drive, run diskcheck and cleared cookies and
> temporary files from Internet Explorer. After a few hrs the system
> slows down substantially thus making it difficult to browse the net
> and switch inbetween programs.
>
> I am currently running: Windows XP SP2 (with all updates), Pentium
> Core Duo 2.4ghz, 2 Gigs of Ram, Norton Internet Security.
>
> Any thoughts?
>

Has your HD filled up? This has happened twice on a friend's laptop and
seems to be surplus 'temporary' files generated by anti virus software.
They were buried in a hidden temporary sub-directory under Documents
and Settings\username .

"The Pete" <> wrote in message
news: oups.com...
> My computer is approximately 2 months old and now has just recently
> started to slow down after 3-4 hrs of use after each bootup. I have
> scanned for viruses, malware/spyware, uninstalled unecessary programs,
> defragmentized the hard drive, run diskcheck and cleared cookies and
> temporary files from Internet Explorer. After a few hrs the system
> slows down substantially thus making it difficult to browse the net
> and switch inbetween programs.
>
> I am currently running: Windows XP SP2 (with all updates), Pentium
> Core Duo 2.4ghz, 2 Gigs of Ram, Norton Internet Security.
>
> Any thoughts?
>

This could be due to over-heating. If your CPU cooler is not mounted
correctly or air-flows are blocked by dust or other obstructions, then the
CPU will overheat and the BIOS will force the CPU to slow down to
compensate.

Try vacumming out any excess dust around the CPU cooler, and make sure none
of your external vents are obstructed.

PC

E. Scrooge wrote:
>> "The Pete" <> wrote in message
>> news: oups.com...
>>> My computer is approximately 2 months old and now has just recently
>>> started to slow down after 3-4 hrs of use after each bootup. I have
>>> scanned for viruses, malware/spyware, uninstalled unecessary programs,
>>> defragmentized the hard drive, run diskcheck and cleared cookies and
>>> temporary files from Internet Explorer. After a few hrs the system
>>> slows down substantially thus making it difficult to browse the net
>>> and switch inbetween programs.
>>>
>>> I am currently running: Windows XP SP2 (with all updates), Pentium
>>> Core Duo 2.4ghz, 2 Gigs of Ram, Norton Internet Security.
>>>
>>> Any thoughts?
>
> Can't see your original post for some reason.
> Norton I S is the best place to start. Not likely you've added that many
> new programs over 2 months.
>
> E. Scrooge
>
>
I'd agree there. For some reason, on some machines Nortons goes apeshit
and starts chewing up all resources. Uninstall Nortons and see if you
have the same problems. A word of warning though. Nortons can be damn
difficult to fully remove.

After you manage to get rid of Nortons, try some of the freeware
anti-malware tools. Anti-virus: AVG, Avira Antivir, Avast.
Firewall: Zone alarm, Comodo, Outpost.
Spyware/adware: Lavasoft Ad-aware, Spybot Search & Destroy, Microsoft
Defender.

--

Rob
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
http://aspir8or.blogspot.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Beta testers who lie! Next time on Geraldo!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Rob S wrote:
> E. Scrooge wrote:
>>> "The Pete" <> wrote in message
>>> news: oups.com...
>>>> My computer is approximately 2 months old and now has just recently
>>>> started to slow down after 3-4 hrs of use after each bootup. I have
>>>> scanned for viruses, malware/spyware, uninstalled unecessary programs,
>>>> defragmentized the hard drive, run diskcheck and cleared cookies and
>>>> temporary files from Internet Explorer. After a few hrs the system
>>>> slows down substantially thus making it difficult to browse the net
>>>> and switch inbetween programs.
>>>>
>>>> I am currently running: Windows XP SP2 (with all updates), Pentium
>>>> Core Duo 2.4ghz, 2 Gigs of Ram, Norton Internet Security.
>>>>
>>>> Any thoughts?
>>
>> Can't see your original post for some reason.
>> Norton I S is the best place to start. Not likely you've added that
>> many new programs over 2 months.
>>
>> E. Scrooge
>>
> I'd agree there. For some reason, on some machines Nortons goes apeshit
> and starts chewing up all resources. Uninstall Nortons and see if you
> have the same problems. A word of warning though. Nortons can be damn
> difficult to fully remove.

I agree with that. Norton has a removal tool at
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT...05033108162039
but skip step 3 which has you re-install your norton products. do a
normal uninstall, and then run the removal tool to get rid of even more
crap.

Cadae wrote:
>
> "The Pete" <> wrote in message
> news: oups.com...
>> My computer is approximately 2 months old and now has just recently
>> started to slow down after 3-4 hrs of use after each bootup. I have
>> scanned for viruses, malware/spyware, uninstalled unecessary programs,
>> defragmentized the hard drive, run diskcheck and cleared cookies and
>> temporary files from Internet Explorer. After a few hrs the system
>> slows down substantially thus making it difficult to browse the net
>> and switch inbetween programs.
>>
>> I am currently running: Windows XP SP2 (with all updates), Pentium
>> Core Duo 2.4ghz, 2 Gigs of Ram, Norton Internet Security.
>>
>> Any thoughts?
>>
>
> This could be due to over-heating. If your CPU cooler is not mounted
> correctly or air-flows are blocked by dust or other obstructions, then
> the CPU will overheat and the BIOS will force the CPU to slow down to
> compensate.
>
> Try vacumming out any excess dust around the CPU cooler, and make sure
> none of your external vents are obstructed.

If it got that dirty in only 2 months, I wonder what kind of environment
he is using it in.

In article <4698211f$>, Here@home says...
>
> After you manage to get rid of Nortons, try some of the freeware
> anti-malware tools. Anti-virus: AVG, Avira Antivir, Avast.
> Firewall: Zone alarm, Comodo, Outpost.
> Spyware/adware: Lavasoft Ad-aware, Spybot Search & Destroy, Microsoft
> Defender.
>

Not Comodo unless you like the occasional bsod and watch a memory dump for half
an hour. They have a problem, and they don't know what it is. They know they
have it though.

-P.

--
=========================================
firstname dot lastname at gmail fullstop com

In article <469817be$>, says...
>
> This could be due to over-heating. If your CPU cooler is not mounted
> correctly or air-flows are blocked by dust or other obstructions, then the
> CPU will overheat and the BIOS will force the CPU to slow down to
> compensate.
>
> Try vacumming out any excess dust around the CPU cooler, and make sure none
> of your external vents are obstructed.
>
> PC

Overheating was one of the things that came to my mind, as well. I wouldn't
think dust at this point in the comp's life though.

To the OP: download a little program called 'speedfan'. It allows monitoring of
the cpu temperature. See if the slowdown co-incides with a rise in cpu temp.
Could just be bad contact between the cpu and heatsink.

cheers, -Peter

--
=========================================
firstname dot lastname at gmail fullstop com