Computer freezes after log in for several minutes

[Guest]

I have a brand new laptop with Vista. 2.0ghz, 2gb ram, 160gb hard drive.
I installed a few mainstream programs like iTunes, office 2007, adobe etc.
and haven't done anything else.
After I log in, svchost.exe shoots up to about 50% and stays there for a
matter of minutes and the pc slows down to a crawl. Once it has finished
whatever it's doing then everything is fine...

I've run all sorts of spyware scans and virus checks and I also removed all
unnecessary startup programs and services.

Does anyone have any idea what might be causing this?

Many thanks!

 

[Sean Spencer]

Hi Jon,

May I ask what Anti-virus software is installed on the laptop ?

Regards

Sean

 

[Guest]

I'm currently using the latest version of AVG Free. I had Norton Anti Virus
that came pre-installed but I thought that might be the problem so
uninstalled it to no avail.

 

[Sean Spencer]

Hi Jon,

That was going to be my first suggestion - get rid of Norton. I've had this
with several laptops recently, and every time its fixed the issue.

However, what I would now suggest is that you download Process Explorer from
Microsoft
(http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/processesandthreads/processexplorer.mspx)

This will allow you to look into what exactly is using 50% etc

Sean

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the link. I tried it and it showed me that windows defender was
causing the CPU spike. I disabled that from starting and now I'm being told
PlugPlay and DComLaunch are to blame. This seems quite odd.

 

[Sean Spencer]

Any other peripherals (printers, webcams etc) plugged in ?

Sean

 

[Guest]

It's connected wirelessly to a printer and has an inbuilt webcam.