CPU 100%, page file usage maxed out

[John]

I have an HP 503n with windows XP. 384 MB Ram, intel
celron 1.7 Ghz. 32 GIG hard drive.
The question is when:
I start up the computer after it loads up it runs
extremely slow. In the task manager it says that CPU
usage is at 100% and the page file usage increases until
it needs to increase virtual memory, after that page file
usage still increases until the computer will not respond
at all and the only way to turn off the computer is with
the power button.

Also in task manager in the process menu (explorer.exe)
memory usage starts out at around 800K and increases
until it gets to 1.5G the other applications are using
alot of memory as well about 5000k. Now when I close
explorer.exe the CPU usage goes to 2% and page file goes
to 128k. but I lose my desk top icons and task bar.

I know that explorer.exe is a big part of the problem. I
would greatly appriciate any help someone can give me?

 

[Bill]

Symptoms indicative of a virus or spyware - you don't
mention using your anti-virus program to check for this
problem. For an on-line check-up try one of these

http://security.symantec.com
http://housecall.trendmicro.com
http://www.coledata.com/virusalert.htm
http://www.cybertechhelp.com/html/misc/av.php
http://www.pandasoftware.es/activescan/activescan-com.asp
http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/
http://www.bitdefender.com/

Trojan scan
http://www.trojanscan.com/trojanscan/scanner.htm

General information. Check in the last two about
potential page file problems as well.
http://www.aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/
http://www.blackviper.com/index.html

Spyware protection
Google search for 'Ad-Aware' and 'SpyBot'. If you decide
to use these programs remember to update and run daily.

Bill