System Slowing Down. Any Suggestions.

[Chaplain Doug]

Windows XP, SP2. I have a system that has been running fine for a few years.
It has a 3 GHz processor and 4 GB of memory. Recently everything is running
much slower. Programs open up very slowly, some Excel workbooks with macros
run interminably long. Internet browsing is slow.

The LAN is fine, as I can go to another system and it runs the same
processes and browses the net quickly. I have scanned for spyware and
viruses and removed spyware and found no viruses. What can cause a system to
bog down like this? Any suggestions on how I can restore the system to its
former vigor? Thanks for the help.

 

[Chaplain Doug]

When I am running an Excel workbook (which runs macro code that opens and
scans other workbooks), I find the following when monitoring system
performance:

CPU usage never goes above 4%
Network usage never goes above 0.02% (on a 1 GB network)
PF Usage never goes above 853 MB
Physical Memory available never goes below 2620124

It looks like the resources are fine. So what would cause a SLOW system
(the Excel process that used to take 40 seconds to complete now takes over 5
minutes).

 

[HeyBub]

When I am running an Excel workbook (which runs macro code that opens
and scans other workbooks), I find the following when monitoring
system performance:

CPU usage never goes above 4%
Network usage never goes above 0.02% (on a 1 GB network)
PF Usage never goes above 853 MB
Physical Memory available never goes below 2620124

It looks like the resources are fine. So what would cause a SLOW
system (the Excel process that used to take 40 seconds to complete
now takes over 5 minutes).

The list of possibilities is almost endless.

It could be that the mother ship has directed your computer to send 250,000
emails advertising headless nails or some other innovative product.

You should first scour you system for malware.

 

[Chaplain Doug]

I have done a complete scan with Symantec Antivirus and with Ad-Aware. The
Symantec found nothing. the Ada-Aware found quite a few non-critical items
which have now been removed. The system is still slow.

What else could I use to find MalWare?

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM]

I have done a complete scan with Symantec Antivirus and with Ad-Aware. The
Symantec found nothing. the Ada-Aware found quite a few non-critical
items
which have now been removed. The system is still slow.

That's not a thorough check for malware.

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.