Slow startup and slow computer overall...

[hithere]

Like the title says, my computer is slow at startup and it tends to respond slowly when opening programs...

I got tools like CCleaner, AV, Ad-aware, Spybot, ZoneAlarm, Microsoft AntiSpyware, etc. in short, i got all the tools needed to fight malware and i update them regualrly.. so i dont think it's a spyware problem...

I found threads similar to this one but they dont really help me...

however, it's probably because i got a lotta processes running.. my CPU usage is higher than usual... Also, I've downloaded RegCleaner but i dont know what to remove...???

What info do i need to give?
My OS is XP Home. Service Pack 2...

if u need more info, tell me..

Somebody please help me!
i may not be a "Private E-2" but i'm still not a pro...

Thanks in advance..

[Shadow_Puter_Dude]

Download HijackThis 1.99.1, Unzip to C:\Program Files\HijackThis. Run HJT, click-on Open the Misc Tools section buuton, check both List all minor sections (full) and List empty sections (complete), click-on Generate StartupList Log button, click-on Yes. Save log as StartupList.log and post as an attachment.

[hithere]

i'm familiar with hijackthis.. went through all this process long time ago, anyway, here's the log

EDIT: forgot to say Thanks for the reply!

[Shadow_Puter_Dude]

You really don't have all that much running. Have you tried selectively disabling a service to see how it effects your system startup, program load times. I would start with the Internet telephony service.

[armstrong]

When did this start? Was it after you upgraded to SP2 by any chance? I had to uninstal the upgrade on one of my computers because it caused it to slow down and the cpu was running at 100%.

[hithere]

Originally Posted by Shadow_Puter_Dude

You really don't have all that much running. Have you tried selectively disabling a service to see how it effects your system startup, program load times. I would start with the Internet telephony service.

Internet telephony service?? which one is that? : Skype? it was there before the problem occurred...

it's my dad's laptop he had an outdated norton anti-virus, no firewall, no anti-spyware, etc. So i downloaded and installed these stuff for him... and later things started to slow down..

It's weird but things are faster when i shutdown ZoneAlarm. I know it's bad not to have a firewall but the CPU usage drops to less than 10% when i shut it down... :

is my zonealarm program faulty or is something else causing the comp to slow down...? :

[Shadow_Puter_Dude]

Originally Posted by hithere

Internet telephony service?? which one is that? : Skype? it was there before the problem occurred...

it's my dad's laptop he had an outdated norton anti-virus, no firewall, no anti-spyware, etc. So i downloaded and installed these stuff for him... and later things started to slow down..

It's weird but things are faster when i shutdown ZoneAlarm. I know it's bad not to have a firewall but the CPU usage drops to less than 10% when i shut it down... :

is my zonealarm program faulty or is something else causing the comp to slow down...? :

Anytime you install a firewall things will slow a little, but shouldn't slow dramatically. If I may suggest, since ZoneAlarm seems to be slowing your system so ramatically, Download and Install Sygate Personal Firewall, and remove ZA. See what that does for you system performance.

[hithere]

i just finished uninstalling ZoneAlarm and installed Stargate firewall...

my comp isn't slow right now, so this just might be the solution...

btw, have any idea if i should allow or block "NDIS User mode I/O Driver"?????

[Shadow_Puter_Dude]

Originally Posted by hithere

btw, have any idea if i should allow or block "NDIS User mode I/O Driver"?????

You can go ahead and allow NDIS User mode I/O Driver

[hithere]

Ok, Thanks for everything man!

[Shadow_Puter_Dude]

You're Welcome.

[hithere]

hi
i just realized that the startup is not any faster...
it takes about 4 minutes.. that's long, right?

[Shadow_Puter_Dude]

Originally Posted by hithere

hi
i just realized that the startup is not any faster...
it takes about 4 minutes.. that's long, right?

Disconnect the computer from the modem, if you use broadband, then reboot. How long does it take to boot.

[hithere]

sorry for the late reply..
i did what u told me to (and i even timed it). i dont see much difference..
i dunno, maybe that's normal?? I keep the comp on nearly the whole day so it's just the startup i have to wait.. i just have to wait about 4 minutes after i switch it on to start using it...

however, once the computer finishes loading at startup, it's normal again.. i see fewer lags now...

[Shadow_Puter_Dude]

Your startup time depends a lot on how many programs you have in your startup, how many items are on your desktop, how many fonts you have loaded. Also how many programs run updaters at system start. You should look through your startup items and decide what you need and what you don't need to startup at system start.

[majinbuu]

also how much ram does your system have.

some systems with low amounts of ram, for example 256MB, will take a while to start, especially with SP2

[liberalghost]

I had the same problem and found the AVPersonal the problem. I removed it form the start up and things loaded much faster! It seems that the AVGuard was my problem.


And I liked the program. But alas, such is life!

[hithere]

Originally Posted by Shadow_Puter_Dude

You should look through your startup items and decide what you need and what you don't need to startup at system start.

i did look through with RegCleaner but i dunno some of the things listed there...

Originally Posted by majinbuu

also how much ram does your system have.

some systems with low amounts of ram, for example 256MB, will take a while to start, especially with SP2

in the System Properties it says i have 192MB of RAM.. :o u think that's the problem?

Originally Posted by liberalghost

I had the same problem and found the AVPersonal the problem. I removed it form the start up and things loaded much faster! It seems that the AVGuard was my problem.

i have AVPersonal too! and that AV Guard thing runs at startup too... maybe i should get a new anti virius too....?

[liberalghost]

Originally Posted by hithere

i did look through with RegCleaner but i dunno some of the things listed there...


in the System Properties it says i have 192MB of RAM.. :o u think that's the problem?


i have AVPersonal too! and that AV Guard thing runs at startup too... maybe i should get a new anti virius too....?

The RAM available could be because of too many resources running. (AVGuard could be one of the HOGS!)

How many antivirus progs do you have running?

AVGuard was a resource hog for me, so yes, I think that could be your problem. If only the AVPersonal is running, I reccomend the MG download of AVG (link following) and uninstall the AVPersonal. The AVG is freeware!

AVG

Food for thought!

Also, a good prgram to uninstall those stubborn progs that won't quit altogether is CCleaner. (Link following.)

CCleaner

[Shadow_Puter_Dude]

You don't need to use reg cleaner to disable startup items, you do that from MSConfig. MSConfig is a usefully tool, by disabling a startup item, you can diagnose startup issues.

192Mb is your system RAM, and is most likely what came with your system. You really should have at least 256Mb of RAM when running XP, 512Mb of System RAM is preferable.

AVPersonal could be the cause of your system slow down, it may not. Like I said before you won't know what is slowing your system the most until you start selectively disabling startup items.