Slow down

[Barny]

For no apparent reason my laptop has become painfully slow. Symptoms are:
startup, shutdown, freezing up, and on and on. Also following a freeze I keep
getting the message box asking to send an error report to Microsoft,
sometimes I cannot remove this box unless I restart?

I run regular maintenace tools to keep my computer safe. I use Comodo
firewall pro, Windows XP o/s, and all the usual office and home software. I
do not run games, rarely use chatrooms or msn and do nothing out of the
ordinary.

Packard Bell SW51-120

Any ideas please.

 

[philo]

For no apparent reason my laptop has become painfully slow. Symptoms are:
startup, shutdown, freezing up, and on and on. Also following a freeze I keep
getting the message box asking to send an error report to Microsoft,
sometimes I cannot remove this box unless I restart?

I run regular maintenace tools to keep my computer safe. I use Comodo
firewall pro, Windows XP o/s, and all the usual office and home software. I
do not run games, rarely use chatrooms or msn and do nothing out of the
ordinary.

Packard Bell SW51-120

Any ideas please.

There are a number of things that could cause the problem...
I'd start out with a RAM test

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

 

[Unknown]

What maintenance tools do you use?

 

[Charlie]

Check your log files for a hint as to what might be going on.

 

[Gerry]

Barny

How much RAM

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?

Open Disk Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and
click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents
Folder and post a copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as it
is more informative.

Please post copies of all Error and Warning Reports appearing in
the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for the last boot. No
Information Reports or Duplicates please. Indicate which also appear in
a previous boot.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer.

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[MAP]

This is a classic sign of heavy malware infestation at least from the systems
I've cleaned, what anti-virus/anti malware software do you use?
-
Mike Pawlak

 

[windmap]

Run disk cleanup tool , Uninstall all newly installed software and
hardware.Install any updates to drivers if available.Also download and run
free unwanted files cleaner CCleaner from www.ccleaner.com.

 

[R. McCarty]

Any recent changes ( Software, Driver or Microsoft Updates ) ?

If no, then the disk may be in an inconsistent ( Dirty ) state. This can be
the cause of abrupt performance loss. To check you'll need to do a
Read-Only Chkdsk C: from a command prompt window. The Chkdsk
will report whether it's found issues that need a Chkdsk with a fix or
repair qualifier /F /R which can only run at Windows startup.

*Never - EVER run Chkdsk with a fix or repair unless your data is
properly protected ( Backed up or Imaged ). Chkdsk can and does
remove data in the course of resolving issues.

 

[Frank Saunders MS-MVP IE,OE/WM]

For no apparent reason my laptop has become painfully slow. Symptoms are:
startup, shutdown, freezing up, and on and on. Also following a freeze I
keep
getting the message box asking to send an error report to Microsoft,
sometimes I cannot remove this box unless I restart?

I run regular maintenace tools to keep my computer safe. I use Comodo
firewall pro, Windows XP o/s, and all the usual office and home software.
I
do not run games, rarely use chatrooms or msn and do nothing out of the
ordinary.

Packard Bell SW51-120

Any ideas please.

Do a thorough check for malware, following all of the steps at one of these
Web pages.
Help with malware:
All MS-MVP Sites.
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/darnit.html
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm

Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by deceptive software.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827315

So How Did I Get Infected Anyway?
For quite a few people it's by installing programs like Messenger Plus,
whose ads for malware don't identify the malware as such and try to convince
you that you owe it to the author. See also:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=27971
Don't ever do a "default" install of anything. Always choose Custom and see
what else is being carried along. Don't install any extras you're not sure
of.