I need to know what to do when XP slows down to almost a 30 second response time after a command is entered. I suspect my kids of doing something they don't realize with downloading music or something I don't understand how to deal with. Bottom line is, all former speed of XP has gone, and I have to wait and wait for windows to change/load or programs to launch etc. It's like trying to wade through molasses! Appreciate any help you can give me that can solve this problem. Thanks, Art

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Art,this is a common problem with xp, most likely you have programs or spys running in the background, you need to check your startup items to see what programs are running. then eliminate the ones you dont want to run. go to "run" on the start menu then type "msconfig" you will get a tabbed window. go to the tab that says startup, and uncheck the programs you dont want to start up with windows. if you get rid of somthing you want back just simply repeat the process. without further information i can only suggest this as a starting place to clean up you computer.


On Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 10:34 am, Art Robertson wrote:
>I need to know what to do when XP slows down to almost a 30 second response time
>after a command is entered. I suspect my kids of doing something they don't realize
>with downloading music or something I don't understand how to deal with. Bottom
>line is, all former speed of XP has gone, and I have to wait and wait for windows
>to change/load or programs to launch etc. It's like trying to wade through molasses!
>Appreciate any help you can give me that can solve this problem.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Art

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

It's quite possible your computer has been infected by some kind of malware. Best way to check this out is to follow directions at any of the following sites. The folks there are dedicated to malware removal and will be able to help you determine if your system is infected and if so how to clean it up. They require that you register but they are all free. Also be patient as they are usually very busy:

Spyware Beware
GeeksToGo
Tom Coyote

Using msconfig to diagnose a problem like this is a good idea but not a solution. Here is the process I follow:

How does it behave if you boot to Safe Mode with Networking? If better then something is starting at boot that is causing the problem. Try the following:

First, physically disconnect from the Internet to prevent a malware infection while 
your Anti-virus and/or Firewall are disabled in the following steps, then do a normal 
boot:

Click on Start then Run, type msconfig and press Enter.
Click on the Startup tab and disable everything.
Do a regular  boot, see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable several items at a time till you find the culprit.

If no, click on the Services tab. Check the Hide All Microsoft Services box 
then disable what's left.
Again, do a regular  boot, see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable services till you find the culprit.

Once you've found the culprit, uninstall it or find out how to eliminate it from your system. Simply disabling it in msconfig is a temporary fix at best.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Check through this recent post HERE, MrC

Malware Removal Specialist

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

The p2p Download software can use a lot of Computer resources, and the Virus's that are Downloaded using the p2p software will use most the rest of the Computer resources.

Parents are left with about 1% of the resources, and Hours of work cleaning the junk off the Computer.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Steve: I assume the p2p Download software you mention can be deleted in the "Add-Delete Programs" utility of XP?


On Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 7:01 pm, Steve wrote:
>The p2p Download software can use a lot of Computer resources, and the Virus's that
>are Downloaded using the p2p software will use most the rest of the Computer resources.
>

Parents are left with about 1% of the resources, and Hours of work cleaning
>the junk off the Computer.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Thanks for your response, Paul. I will do this step you suggest and see if the machine runs normally after reboot


On Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 12:25 pm, Paul Phiropoulos wrote:
>
>
>Art,this is a common problem with xp, most likely you have programs or spys running
>in the background, you need to check your startup items to see what programs are
>running. then eliminate the ones you dont want to run. go to "run" on the start menu
>then type "msconfig" you will get a tabbed window. go to the tab that says startup,
>and uncheck the programs you dont want to start up with windows. if you get rid of
>somthing you want back just simply repeat the process. without further information
>i can only suggest this as a starting place to clean up you computer.
>
>

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Thanks, Rich. I appreciate your info. I'm going to begin to apply these suggestions and see what happens...


On Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 5:43 pm, Rich Kurtz wrote:
>It's quite possible your computer has been infected by some kind of malware. Best
>way to check this out is to follow directions at any of the following sites. The
>folks there are dedicated to malware removal and will be able to help you determine
>if your system is infected and if so how to clean it up. They require that you register
>but they are all free. Also be patient as they are usually very busy:

>Spyware
>Beware
>GeeksToGo
>Tom
>Coyote
>

Using msconfig to diagnose a problem like this is a good idea but not a solution.
>Here is the process I follow:
>

How does it behave if you boot to Safe Mode with Networking?
>If better then something is starting at boot that is causing the problem. Try the
>following:
>
>First, physically disconnect from the Internet to prevent a malware infection while
>your Anti-virus and/or Firewall are disabled in the following steps, then do a normal
>boot:
>
>Click on Start then Run, type msconfig and press Enter.
>Click on the Startup tab and disable everything.
>Do a regular boot, see if it runs normal.
>If yes then use msconfig to enable several items at a time till you find the culprit.
>
>If no, click on the Services tab. Check the Hide All Microsoft Services box
>then disable what's left.
>Again, do a regular boot, see if it runs normal.
>If yes then use msconfig to enable services till you find the culprit.
>
>Reconnect to the Internet when done.
>

>Once you've found the culprit, uninstall it or find out how to eliminate it from
>your system. Simply disabling it in msconfig is a temporary fix at best.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Thanks, MrC. That one fix (PIO/DMA oberride) sure worked for the poster. I'm going to check that out! May be just what my machine needs.


On Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 5:49 pm, MrCharlie wrote:
>
>Check through this recent post HERE,
> MrC

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

I just went through something similar with My Sister, and her Kids Computer, The Kid installed Limewire. It was using 50% of the CPU. Limewire was easy to uninstall as any Programs. The Computer also had unbelievable amount of Virus's . Most were still sitting in the Limewire Download folder, as well as in the Windows system files from the ones that had been executed.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Good, Steve. I'll look for Limewire specifically and delete it and all associated files. Thanks!


On Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 8:54 pm, Steve wrote:
>I just went through something similar with My Sister, and her Kids Computer, The
>Kid installed Limewire. It was using 50% of the CPU. Limewire was easy to uninstall
>as any Programs. The Computer also had unbelievable amount of Virus's . Most were
>still sitting in the Limewire Download folder, as well as in the Windows system files
>from the ones that had been executed.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Link has a short list of other p2p softwares that may be installed. limewire is just one of the more common p2p programs being used these days. http://security.uchicago.edu/guidelines/peer-to-peer/

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Art there are other p2p programs out there limewire in particular is a bad one for hogging resources. peer to peer networking. they are file sharing programs that open you up to all kinds of malware and spys that potentially install on your computer or infect it. look for any of these types of programs and uninstall them. if you keep them make sure to get all the protection you need and get ready to run virus scans every other day. let me know how things work out.


On Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 1:13 pm, Art Robertson wrote:
>Good, Steve. I'll look for Limewire specifically and delete it and all associated
>files. Thanks!
>
>
>

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Thanks, Paul. Appreciate the additional info. I didn't find Limewire, but did disable some of the stuff from the Start menu, followed by a "System Restore" to almost two weeks prior to the big slowdown. This has helped a lot, but I still do not believe the machine is running at maximum efficiency yet. I'll keep pokin around, do a malware scan, and a defrag procedure. Art


On Friday, October 12, 2007 at 12:26 pm, Paul Phiropoulos wrote:
>
>Art there are other p2p programs out there limewire in particular is a bad one for
>hogging resources. peer to peer networking. they are file sharing programs that open
>you up to all kinds of malware and spys that potentially install on your computer
>or infect it. look for any of these types of programs and uninstall them. if you
>keep them make sure to get all the protection you need and get ready to run virus
>scans every other day.
>let me know how things work out.
>
>

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

hey art i am at lunch right now but i wanted to suggest a few things, look on the net for a program called "whats running" this programs gives you a real time look at the programs that are running and the origins of the programs, i think that you can actually click on the program you see and it will take you to the net and give you further information about the program. i am not sure if it is shareware or not, i would give you the link, but as i said i am at work right now. another program i use that is free, is called "Hijack this" it keeps an active list of your startup programs and runs when windows starts. i like this one because if something has changed that i dont know about it will show up in the hijack scan, and if you dont like it, checkmark it out, and your done you dont have to go to msconfig everytime. you can also set it up to ignore programs that you acutally want to run. that way if something new is installed that you dont know about it pops up in the list. the other thing that is very practical about hijack this, is if you are having problems and you have someone online trying to help you you can run the scan and save it as a document and send it to the person helping you. that way you dont have to explain everything the log file does it for you. check it out see ya Paul


On Friday, October 12, 2007 at 9:37 pm, Art Robertson wrote:
>Thanks, Paul. Appreciate the additional info. I didn't find Limewire, but did disable
>some of the stuff from the Start menu, followed by a "System Restore" to almost two
>weeks prior to the big slowdown. This has helped a lot, but I still do not believe
>the machine is running at maximum efficiency yet. I'll keep pokin around, do a malware
>scan, and a defrag procedure.
>
>Art
>
>
>

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

• Search this forum
• Start a new thread on a different subject

• Report abuse of the forum