Extreme Slowdown and no Add/Remove population

[Guest]

In addition to slow BOOT (5 minutes) and slow activation of OFFICE products I
find that the Add/Remove window does not populate

However the Tool under Window Defender does produce results ?!?

I have cleaned my system - removed caches, temp files, etc
Run several Virus checkers
Note: about a week ago I did get hit with WINFIXER but it was stopped by
Norton
I even used another tool to remove any remnants
The registry looks clean

However, after Boot - after say Word comes up (60 seconds) the applications
all run properly -- Even Internet Explore comes up clean and uses web

I suspect a possible slowdown in the retrieval of files by the harddisk.
(Disk or Fan are making "revving" noise - doesn't seem normal)

Is that Possible ??? Any other suggestions ?

Thanks
sirdad1

 

[Ron Badour]

The first thing you need to do is run msconfig.exe and check the startup tab
to see what items are being started at boot. My personal rule of thumb is
that only programs that are essential and those I use at every boot (i.e.,
EditPad, a Notepad replacement) are allowed to start at boot. You will
probably find things and have no idea what they are--use Google.com to
identify them. If you get rid of what doesn't need to start at boot, you
should find a much
faster boot process. This article tells you about the registry run keys:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314866

You also might want to consider getting rid of the bloated Norton AV and
getting one of the free ones such as Avast or AVG.

--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP 1997 - 2007
W98 Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour