PC slowing down - virtual memory??

aliEnRIK

I used Ashampoo once and it killed internet explorer from working with certain webpages

raz_uk

I don't have many programmes for security to be honest, just avira, online armor and malwarebyte. So not sure what the problem is here

I do have 512mb ram

posted_2

Are you using a router, or a usb modem?

You have

online armour
adaware
antivir
avg anti spyware

stickies
winamp
messenger
mediaplayer

then loads of browser helper objects

acrobat
skype
windows live
leechget
spybot
kaspersky, panda, norton/symantec, trend, superantispyware
superadblocker
etc.

Pare it down to the bare minumum (one resident AV (avira) and windows firewall, (malwarebytes doesn't load at startup, so keep it for manual scans)), and things should run smoother because the pagefile will hardly be touched - set the pagefile manually to be 16MB min - 1GB max, and then you can see how much swapping is going on by looking at the size of c:\pagefile.sys or by looking in task manager (after a clean boot, it should be 16MB).

512MB is enough to run XP comfortably, unless you overload the pc with unnecessary startup programs, and bho's

Then when it is running ok, install sp3

raz_uk

it's quite bizzare, i've freed up my hard drive to 23.5GB, and im still getting the virtual memory message from windows!!! what do i do? help!

im using a USB modem, how do I keep everything down to a bare minimum in terms of startup? on msconfig - there's only a 3 things ive kept on startup - so how are the other things starting up too?

aliEnRIK

Run another hijack log. Lets see whats left running

sunshine54

it's quite bizzare, i've freed up my hard drive to 23.5GB, and im still getting the virtual memory message from windows!!! what do i do? help!

i have already suggested your problem it is RAM related, not hard disk, in my posts 10 and 15 of this thread.
please read them again and increase your page file space (if it's windows managed set it manually to 999mb)

raz_uk

aliEnRIK wrote: »

Run another hijack log. Lets see whats left running

here's whats left from my new log:

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.2
Scan saved at 20:08:21, on 22/03/2009
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.6000.16791)
Boot mode: Normal
Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\csrss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Tall Emu\Online Armor\oasrv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\sched.exe
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avguard.exe
C:\Program Files\Tall Emu\Online Armor\oacat.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\slserv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wdfmgr.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\alg.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avgnt.exe
C:\Program Files\Tall Emu\Online Armor\oaui.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\Program Files\Tall Emu\Online Armor\oahlp.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuauclt.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\wbem\wmiprvse.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuauclt.exe
C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HijackThis\HijackThis.exe
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Reader Link Helper - !!06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: Skype add-on (mastermind) - !!22BF413B-C6D2-4d91-82A9-A0F997BA588C} - C:\Program Files\Skype\Toolbars\Internet Explorer\SkypeIEPlugin.dll
O2 - BHO: Spybot-S&D IE Protection - !!53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C:\PROGRA~1\SPYBOT~1\SDHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: Windows Live Sign-in Helper - !!9030D464-4C02-4ABF-8ECC-5164760863C6} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live\WindowsLiveLogin.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [avgnt] "C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avgnt.exe" /min
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [@OnlineArmor GUI] "C:\Program Files\Tall Emu\Online Armor\oaui.exe"
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-18\..\Run: [DWQueuedReporting] "C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\MICROS~1\DW\dwtrig20.exe" -t (User 'SYSTEM')
O4 - HKUS\.DEFAULT\..\Run: [DWQueuedReporting] "C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\MICROS~1\DW\dwtrig20.exe" -t (User 'Default user')
O6 - HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel present
O8 - Extra context menu item: Download using LeechGet - [URL="file://C:\Program"]file://C:\Program[/URL] Files\LeechGet 2007\\AddUrl.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Download using LeechGet Wizard - [URL="file://C:\Program"]file://C:\Program[/URL] Files\LeechGet 2007\\Wizard.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Parse with LeechGet - [URL="file://C:\Program"]file://C:\Program[/URL] Files\LeechGet 2007\\Parser.html
O12 - Plugin for .mpeg: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\PLUGINS\npqtplugin3.dll
O12 - Plugin for .mpg: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\PLUGINS\npqtplugin3.dll
O16 - DPF: !!17492023-C23A-453E-A040-C7C580BBF700} (Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool) - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=39204
O16 - DPF: !!5D6F45B3-9043-443D-A792-115447494D24} (UnoCtrl Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/EN-GB/a-UNO1/GAME_UNO1.cab
O16 - DPF: !!5ED80217-570B-4DA9-BF44-BE107C0EC166} (Windows Live Safety Center Base Module) - http://cdn.scan.onecare.live.com/resource/download/scanner/wlscbase6662.cab
O16 - DPF: !!644E432F-49D3-41A1-8DD5-E099162EEEC5} (Symantec RuFSI Utility Class) - http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/SharedContent/common/bin/cabsa.cab
O16 - DPF: !!67DABFBF-D0AB-41FA-9C46-CC0F21721616} (DivXBrowserPlugin Object) - http://go.divx.com/plugin/DivXBrowserPlugin.cab
O16 - DPF: !!9122D757-5A4F-4768-82C5-B4171D8556A7} (PhotoPickConvert Class) - http://appdirectory.messenger.msn.com/AppDirectory/P4Apps/PhotoSwap/PhtPkMSN.cab
O16 - DPF: {B1E2B96C-12FE-45E2-BEF1-44A219113CDD} (SABScanProcesses Class) - http://www.superadblocker.com/activex/sabspx.cab
O16 - DPF: {C3F79A2B-B9B4-4A66-B012-3EE46475B072} (MessengerStatsClient Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary/MessengerStatsPAClient.cab56907.cab
O16 - DPF: {F5A7706B-B9C0-4C89-A715-7A0C6B05DD48} (Minesweeper Flags Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary/MineSweeper.cab56986.cab
O20 - Winlogon Notify: !SASWinLogon - C:\Program Files\SUPERAntiSpyware\SASWINLO.DLL
O23 - Service: Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus Scheduler (AntiVirScheduler) - Avira GmbH - C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\sched.exe
O23 - Service: Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus Guard (AntiVirService) - Avira GmbH - C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avguard.exe
O23 - Service: InstallDriver Table Manager (IDriverT) - Macrovision Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Driver\11\Intel 32\IDriverT.exe
O23 - Service: Online Armor Helper Service (OAcat) - Tall Emu - C:\Program Files\Tall Emu\Online Armor\oacat.exe
O23 - Service: SmartLinkService (SLService) - - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\slserv.exe
O23 - Service: Online Armor (SvcOnlineArmor) - Tall Emu - C:\Program Files\Tall Emu\Online Armor\oasrv.exe
--
End of file - 5902 bytes

posted_2

Uninstall the excess (if you do uninstall online armour, disconnect from the net first, then enable windows firewall), and use hijackthis to reduce the leftovers. It has nothing to do with disk space as has already been explained, it is to do with what is running, and your VM settings.

IE browser helper objects can be found under IE, tools. programs, manage addons.

PeterPerfect

Things to do:
- Make sure that your virtual memory is at least 2x real memory. Thus make it 1Gbytes. I set mine as a custom size, ie fixed
- defrag your disk. If parts of a program are spread across the disk, then there is slow down.
- Check Windows task manager for process memory usage, and note what are the high values.

raz_uk

many thanks to everyone for the help - I have ran a defrag and things seem to be much smoother, also I have increased the virtual memory threshold which should help things tick along