No, really - my pc is possessed! (The Sequel)

Tiff_2

Hi guys!
Here's Part II... Thank you for your kind patience.

Secondly, the pc itself has been playing up. My OS is Vista basic and the pc is a Packard Bell, just over a year old. It will suddenly start flickering and the pages and toolbars flashing in and out of view and behaving like the techie version of the exorcist!

Even if I manage to be able to close all the pages, when I restart explorer, it still behaves in the same way. I have to actually switch it off to get rid of the problem and start all over again. It takes ages to load up every day too and the pc is often pausing - almost freezing - a lot while I'm working, which is really frustrating.

I have recently moved to Virgin broadband, (was with bulldog), but the pc was acting like this way before then.

Windows Defender, avast! antivirus, Spyware Doctor are all running, (usually), in the tray when I use the pc. PC takes quite a while to load on startup. In addition, I also have been using CCleaner, the Disk Cleanup and Super Anti-Spyware Free Edition regularly and making sure they're updated too.

My computer is lying through it's teeth and saying everything is working normally when I go into the cp and check if there's any problems / conflicts.

I know I have way too many photos - and photo programmes too - stored on the pc really. That's the only other thing that might be the cause, I thought. I would be so very grateful for any kind techie help given in idiot-speak, guys.
Safe journeys everyone.
Much Love,
Tiff xxx

aliEnRIK

Not what you want to hear, but my first guess is a motherboard or cpu problem (Which basically means a new computer)

Other possibles are fluctuating power suply (Unlikely)
Or dodgy ram (quite possible and the easiest to try)

You appear to have good anti virus/spyware programs
But lets just try MALWAREBYTES as one last test
http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html?part=dl-10804572&subj=dl&!!!!!button
UPDATE and QUICK SCAN (Id say FULL normally, but it might not make it all the way through)

If you cant get it to run through try running it in SAFE mode (Keep pressing F8 on boot up)

What firewall do you use?

Its also possible that Vista has become corrupted somehow

basmic

Sounds like a component failure to me too. The flickering signs tell me it may well be the graphic card/chip overheating, or it has faulty memory. It could well be the CPU overheating, however usually people mention their mouse pointer moving very slowly compared to normal.

Backup EVERYTHING important - emails, favourites, documents, photos. Then get it's hardware checked. It might be that one the heatsinks inside the case is clogged up with dust - in which case, clean it out!

Domokun

Is it the entire screen flickering, or individual windows on the screen? They way you say that if you restart it it stops flickering is odd, that wouldn't suggest a hardware problem, unless the action of typing on the keyboard or other movement is affecting the screen (perhaps a dodgy connection)?

EDIT: I wrongly assumed it was a laptop, not a desktop, sorry. The first question still applies.

mdbarber

when you restart explorer?, does this only happen when you use the internet?, try letting pc boot and just using for 1/2 an hour to write some letters or play freecell.
malwarebytes is a better antispyware option, uninstall the other 2 and use that

MajorR

check the lead (at both ends) from the monitor to the pc are pushed all the way in.

Jesthar

If your hard drive is significantly over 60% full, this could be contributing to the speed problems - performance starts to drop off after this point, and by the time you get to 80% and above things really start to grind...

Incidentally, you say you have Windows Defender, avast! antivirus, Spyware Doctor are all running - do you run the 'live scanners' of these all at the same time? That has been known to cause nasty slowdown problems (they get into arguments!), so try to only run one 'live' AV and one 'live' anti-spyware package at a time.

~Jes