PC running really-REALY slow

GDudley

Help, my computer is running really, REALLY slow. So slow in fact I can only type one character of a word every 1 – 6 seconds, it’s taken an age to type this SOS. All programs that require mouse of keyboard use are affected including the internet.
I have a DELL Optiplex-740 with 1-TB HDD running XP with SP3 plus 3Gig of RAM. I believe the HDD is about 90% empty.
The HDD seems to be continually running in the background which I’m sure is a clue. The problem seemed to start about a week ago and is getting worse.
Is there a way to turn background processes off until I get to a point where normal operation is resumed or some other way to find what may be causing it?. I have PCTools AV and Registry Manager both of which shows a virus and problem free system and yesterday I downloaded and run Malawarebytes but all with no improvement. ** Help a drowning man !! **

BackOnTrack

Right click on the bar at the bottom fo the desktop select "taskmanager" click on the processes tab and on click on the top of the column labelled "CPU" and see if there is anything using a lot of your cpu

aliEnRIK

Please open malwarebytes, goto LOGS and post the WHOLE of the last log

reboot
Download HIJACK THIS (Make sure you click 'DOWNLOAD LATEST VERSION')
http://www.filehippo.com/download_hijackthis/
Click MAIN MENU then DO A SYSTEM SCAN AND SAVE A LOGFILE(Takes seconds) then post the log so we can see whats running
(do NOT do anything else with Hijack but scan and post the FULL log)
If you get a message that you cant write to the hosts file then Press the SHIFT key, and whilst holding it RIGHT CLICK and select RUN AS (admin)

GDudley

Hi
Thanks for the reply.
At the bottom of the Task Manager window it show "46 Processes" and CPU usage varying between 0% and 1% with an occasional increase to 3%.

Thanks

GDudley

Hi AliEnRIK
After running Malawarebytes I uninstalled it as I didn't want to take the chance of it slowing things down even more. I'm perfectly happy to re-install it though - shall I? - and run the tests you suggest?
Thanks
Gerry

closed

try it without pc tools and registry manager

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2436849

If it's slow in safe mode, run chkdsk c: /F

on the c: drive

GDudley

Hi AliEnRIK
I've done what you suggested and the Malawarebytes log is only 1 page but I think the Hijackthis file my be a bit big to paste here, it's 5 pages of A4. I don't think I can .zip it to here, can I?
Any suggestions>

and in reply to "CLOSED" - I did try with PCTools and Reg' Manager off but it doesn't seem to make any difference. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.
Gerry

aliEnRIK

Post the hijack log in sections

Aa for closeds advice, id recommend UNINSTALLING pctools and reg manager
pc tools as its not very good, and manager as you could very well break your operating system whilst using it
And some programs, even when disabled, can effect the operating system (ive had a similar experience with an old version of comodo)

GDudley

ok aliEnRIK, here goes. First is Malawarebytes then Hijackthis ...
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.50.1.1100
www.malwarebytes.org
Database version: 6141
Windows 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3
Internet Explorer 8.0.6001.18702
23/03/2011 14:57:05
mbam-log-2011-03-23 (14-57-05).txt
Scan type: Quick scan
Objects scanned: 151030
Time elapsed: 2 minute(s), 33 second(s)
Memory Processes Infected: 0
Memory Modules Infected: 0
Registry Keys Infected: 0
Registry Values Infected: 0
Registry Data Items Infected: 0
Folders Infected: 0
Files Infected: 0
Memory Processes Infected: (No malicious items detected)
Memory Modules Infected: (No malicious items detected)
Registry Keys Infected: (No malicious items detected)
Registry Values Infected: (No malicious items detected)
Registry Data Items Infected: (No malicious items detected)
Folders Infected: (No malicious items detected)
Files Infected: (No malicious items detected)
Gerrry

GDudley

Hijackthis page 1
Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.4
Scan saved at 16:02:20, on 23/03/2011
Platform: Windows XP SP3 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v8.00 (8.00.6001.18702)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
I:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
I:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
I:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
I:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
I:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
I:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
I:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
I:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\AOL\ACS\AOLacsd.exe
I:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\AppleMobileDeviceService.exe
I:\Program Files\Bonjour\mDNSResponder.exe
I:\PC Tools\BDT\BDTUpdateService.exe
I:\Program Files\Common Files\PC Tools\sMonitor\StartManSvc.exe
I:\Program Files\Common Files\Sage SData\Sage.SData.Service.exe
I:\PC Tools\pctsAuxs.exe
I:\PC Tools\pctsSvc.exe
I:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
I:\WINDOWS\wanmpsvc.exe
I:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
I:\PC Tools\TFEngine\TFService.exe
I:\PC Tools\pctsGui.exe
I:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\ACS\AOLDial.exe
I:\Program Files\Real\RealPlayer\RealPlay.exe
I:\Program Files\QuickTime\QTTask.exe
I:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\1295651651\ee\AOLSoftware.exe
I:\Acrobat 9.0\Acrobat\Acrotray.exe
I:\WINDOWS\system32\NILaunch.exe
I:\WINDOWS\stsystra.exe
I:\PC Tools\BDT\FGuard.exe
I:\Program Files\Logitech\SetPointP\SetPoint.exe
I:\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe
I:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
I:\Program Files\Common Files\LogiShrd\KHAL3\KHALMNPR.EXE
I:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
I:\Program Files\AOL 9.0 VR\waol.exe
I:\Program Files\AOL 9.0 VR\shellmon.exe

GDudley

Page 2
I:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\Topspeed\3.0\aoltpsd3.exe
I:\Microsoft Office\Office10\WINWORD.EXE
I:\Hijack This\Trend Micro\HiJackThis\HiJackThis.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.aol.co.uk/
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
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchURL,(Default) = http://search.aol.co.uk/web?isinit=true&query=%s
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings,ProxyOverride = *.local
R3 - URLSearchHook: PC Tools Browser Guard - {472734EA-242A-422b-ADF8-83D1E48CC825} - I:\PC Tools\BDT\PCTBrowserDefender.dll
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHelperStub - {18DF081C-E8AD-4283-A596-FA578C2EBDC3} - I:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEHelperShim.dll
O2 - BHO: Browser Defender BHO - {2A0F3D1B-0909-4FF4-B272-609CCE6054E7} - I:\PC Tools\BDT\PCTBrowserDefender.dll
O2 - BHO: AOL Toolbar Launcher - {7C554162-8CB7-45A4-B8F4-8EA1C75885F9} - I:\Program Files\AOL\AOL Toolbar 5.0\aoltb.dll
O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Conversion Toolbar Helper - {AE7CD045-E861-484f-8273-0445EE161910} - I:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O2 - BHO: SmartSelect - {F4971EE7-DAA0-4053-9964-665D8EE6A077} - I:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O3 - Toolbar: AOL Toolbar - {DE9C389F-3316-41A7-809B-AA305ED9D922} - I:\Program Files\AOL\AOL Toolbar 5.0\aoltb.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Adobe PDF - {47833539-D0C5-4125-9FA8-0819E2EAAC93} - I:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O3 - Toolbar: PC Tools Browser Guard - {472734EA-242A-422B-ADF8-83D1E48CC825} - I:\PC Tools\BDT\PCTBrowserDefender.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AOLDialer] I:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\ACS\AOLDial.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [RealTray] I:\Program Files\Real\RealPlayer\RealPlay.exe SYSTEMBOOTHIDEPLAYER
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "I:\Program Files\QuickTime\QTTask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [HostManager] I:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\1295651651\ee\AOLSoftware.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Adobe Acrobat Speed Launcher] "I:\Acrobat 9.0\Acrobat\Acrobat_sl.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Acrobat Assistant 8.0] "I:\Acrobat 9.0\Acrobat\Acrotray.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Net-It Launcher] I:\WINDOWS\system32\NILaunch.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SigmatelSysTrayApp] stsystra.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PCTools FGuard] I:\PC Tools\BDT\FGuard.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NeroFilterCheck] I:\WINDOWS\system32\NeroCheck.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Adobe ARM] "I:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\ARM\1.0\AdobeARM.exe"