unknown p c problem - detailed thread

Hi guys does anyone whats wrong with my computer:

Problems

1)main probem - Programmes starting to crash a lot more in recent weeks eg,
Firefox,wmp11,Norton av 2006. by crash I mean stop functioning and force me into a manual shutdown.i might be just listenig to music and surfing web and the whole laptop just becomes very sluggish and eventually the programmes fail,this has started occurring about 4/5times a week around 2/3weeks ago

2)slowish start up 2minutes or so to open a prog. Eg firefox

3)sometimes a folder may takes up to and over a minute just to open contents

Comp spec
-ms windows xp2
-pentium m processor 1.60ghz
-hp pavilion dv4000 1yr old
-512 ram
installed programmes which maybe the cause
àmaintainance programmes
-ad aware se personal mg
-spybot s&d mg
-cleanup! mg
-mru blaster mg
-norton internet security 2006
-c cleaner mg
-a squared mg
-free ram xp pro mg
-10bit defrag beta2.1 mg
àstandard programmes
-ie 7
-f.fox2 mg
-picassa 2
-winamp
-real player
-creative media source
-sonic digital media home
-vlc player mg
-mario forever
-wallpaper master
-driveimage xl mg
-sync back mg
-the godfather mg
-7zip mg
-SUPER(audio/video converter)
-storm codec 5
-u torrent--------->i download legal torrents with this
most will say that u torrent is a resource hog but these crashes have been occuring when u torrent is turned of

the programmes with mg after them are the ones i downloaded from here
the programmes which are underlined in colour are the most recent installs i.e 2-3 weeks , some of which may be the cause of my problem

nb - i use all the cleaning progs regularly and they are all up to date

really appreciate if anyone can inform if iv installed to many programmes or a dodge prog thanks to anybody who can be of any assisatance
please post back here or pm me for more info/questions thanks guys

 

The first thing I'd do is uninstall all Norton software; then go to Start>Run>msconfig and start unchecking software from the start-up menu. A visit to the malware removal forum and reading the stickies is probably a good idea too. If you run registry cleaners or system optimizers or defraggers too often, you can really mess things up. A guy I know was wonder why his PC was taking longer and longer to boot and load programs; he said "I defrag the drive and run ScanDisk (Win98) and clean the registry at least 5 times a day.. why is it so slow?" Serious and true story. He cleaned and optimized his PC/hard drive to death.... a word of warning....

hopperdave2000

 

great first quick reply, im gonna get some rest, and have a look at the comments tommorow and see were i go from there thanks hopperdave

 

Personally, I wouldn't neccessarily UNINSTALL Norton, as it may not be the problem, but if you turn off the AV software briefly and try opening some of the programs you know to be slow on starting, and see if it makes a difference to the speed. If it doesn't, re-enable Norton. If it does, you may want to investigate uninstalling Norton and using different free firewalls and AVs, such as Zonealarm and Avast, available in the download sections of MGs.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Avast_Home_Edition_d1968.html

http://www.majorgeeks.com/ZoneAlarm_Free_d388.html

If this doesn;t help I would work through the Malware Read and Run This First sticky, and if after that you are still experiencing problems, create a thread attaching the logs as requested in the Malware Forum.

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407

 

ok guys thanks for help so far iv just received a request from norton for this

odbcjet.exe

to connect to the internet,iv googled it and its known spyware so im gonna move over to the malware removal thread

ps. sorry about posting another similar thread its just im stressed out and cant find the problem

thanks again mg/ma

 

FYI - odbcjet.exe itself is not malware, but it is a file that some malware uses to attach itself to.

http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/trojbifrosepr.html

Go ahead and work through the sticky posted below though

 

sorry lev had to go for a second , em i think im gonna run the sticky when i get a day off from collage and hopefully that will work out , to be honest i think im in over my head....

again thanks for the help and i will post back as soon a i go forwards or backwards

cheers fergal

 

Just follow the sticky word for word.....it is intentionally written for people who perhaps don't have so much experience in this area. You will be fine. Just follow it to the letter and don't miss out any steps.

 

sorry guys for some reason i can only see your threads when i get them on gmail,there not showing up on mg......strange?

on the norton issue i only have 50days or so left so if i must uninstall norton i dont mind as i have heard great reviews of other free alternatives

 

hi guys

i never meant for this thread to dvelop into an anti-norton thread i and other users are jjust trying to identify the problem

as for spybot s&d the teatimer function is off

im not sure exactly what version of a squared i have but i got it from mg and it says its compatiable with your antivirus scanner

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4281.html

again thanks to everyone for help im pretty sure it is/was malware and not software incompatibilities but at this stage im still unsure exatcly what it is,
im getting help in the malware dept now so im pretty sure il be looked after there,
when i found out what was wrong il post back so maybe someone doesnt make the same mistake as me
cheers fergal