Is it xp home?

Can someone tell me if XP Home is the problem and can I install XP Pro over it?

first.. computer is laptop DELL Vostro 1500. 160 gig HD, 2 gig ram, 1.4 ghz processor, dedicated video card. OS XP home with SP 2 and 3. All updates except IE7... running graphics programs, OE is default mail, IE6 default brower, AVAST free antivirus, PCTools firewall, Uniblue Registry Cleaner, CCleaner, Tune UP utilities 2007 with updates. Embroidery Digitizing software, photo editing programs. Major uses of this laptop are for surfing, paying bills, creating and digitizing graphics into sewable designs. run Spybot S & D on a regular basis and AdAware. Now for the history
Purchased June 08. Did great then started having major issues but that ended up being a motherboard replacement after 6 months and redoing the computer completely back to factory install... after motherboard replacement still had problems... had IE7 on first motherboard and thought that was a problem...it seems to interfere with my digitizing program...do not know why... so did not put it back. have all other updates and securtity patches. After last security updates last month, the compter slowed to a turtle crawl. Boot up takes forever, and loading all the desktop items takes forever. Have taken out of start up anything I did not think was needed..stopped processes that I deemed not needed. Even uninstalled last updates...nothing helped...last night reinstalled the updates ... the programs are hanging and not responding as they should...it is like they are in a "wait and see attitude" ... I click an item( have one click activated) and then nothing...wait a minute or more and finally they will start. in email program it will open but windows with mail will not show for over a minute even though it is downloading. I have ONE email right now I cannot read or delete. when I click on it, it causes OE to stop responding completely so I leave it alone till I figure a way around it...so far nothing has helped.. Yes I have the preview pane open. I tried closing it and that did not help, it still stopped responding..it is from a recognized source and I do not suspect a virus or malware, but may have a graphic that will not open, but do not know..as the program just stops doing anything when I try to see it... I have to shut down OE and reopen to continue working in the mail program...I got the blue screen last night while on youtube. Never done that before. I have XP Multi media on another computer and never had these issues... have XP pro on another computer and never had these issues... WHY on this one? I use the same security programs and have my software from this one running on them as backups when this one just won't work right. But it is getting very old hat, the constant problems... do not suspect viruses or malware as I started scanning and keeping everything updated from the get go... so I guess what I am really asking, WHAT can I check to see WHAT is hogging my power and slowing the whole thing down even on initial boot... :confused thank you for any help at all

 

Way I see it, you need to run diagnostics on the mobo, and the memory just in case. I'm not saying this mobo is the problem just yet, but do other machines of the same type have a history of mobo issues?

 

Not that I am aware of... they replaced the motherboard with no argument when I told them how it was acting.. I have run the full diagnostics that are available on this system with DELL, XP and independent programs... don't know what else I can try... with the other motherboard it froze on diagnostics and half the time would not even turn on...have had NO problem booting with this mobo...ever since the replacement...it just NOW takes so long to boot and it should not...are there things like processess that can slow it down that do not need to be there?...those are what I am looking at...will run the tests again just to be sure... but still can't figure out why I cannot access that one email and delete without freezing the OE... the old mobo locked up the whole computer... this only locks the program... I can shut them down sometimes but the screen won't refresh and clear the image... so I shut the lid, wait till the power shuts off...reopen and all is good to go... for awhile... but I have never had these issues with other XP versions... my MEDIA version runs all the way to IE7 with ALL updates... the only upgrade I might be able to do is up the ram one more gig...but I don't think that is going to help what is going on now... but will check my memory and see what is what there... I run it through a UPS to protect from surges and brownouts... glad I did , we have a few here...

 

You can try this program to diagnose:

http://majorgeeks.com/download181.html

 

just got home and downloaded it...will try this and see what I come up with...

 

okay...I opened it and ran it...and it told me everything about my computer... well I know most of it... did the benchmarks... the first was 2nd from the top...the 2nd was third from the top if that makes sense to you... LOL... just looks like everything is as it should be... so what am I looking for here?...

 

I'm sorry, I spaced on the software name. That one is very basic, and good to start with. That's why it was first in my head. This one is called Sandra, and very good for benchmark tests, which can hopefully tell us what may not be running properly, or at full speed. These are only clues, however.

http://majorgeeks.com/SiSoftware_Sandra_Lite_d4664.html

Now, benchmarking with this program is tough on components. If you don't think they can handle the stress, don't do it.

There is also the possibility that you could have some type of malware infection that has not been detected. The memory tests out properly, so that is not slowing it down.

 

got a problem... some programs freeze this computer up tight and the only way out is to cut it off and start again...this appears to be one of them... Net Objects Fusion V.8 is another and PrintMaster the latest edition is another... so now what do I do? I tried it several times, made sure the firewall was not blocking it or anytning to do with it... locks it up tight... NOTHING will move then

 

Either you have a memory issue of some sort, slot, mobo, etc. Or, something is eating up your resources. Have you tried running Malwarebytes or Super Anti-virus?

If not, head over to the Malware Section, and do so. Not all programs will pick up on all infections.

 

I have AdAware, SpyBot S & D, Malawarebytes, CCleaner, Uniblue Registry Cleaner, Avast Free Antivirus, Asquared Hijack Free, PC tools firewall Plus, 3B Software, some of these are the paid versions. Also TuneUp Utilities and Advanced Spyware Remover. I am going to contact Dell and see about upping my memory as high as it will go on this computer...I believe I can go up another Gig...been wanting to do that anyway...thank you...

 

Just got off phone to DELL... I had two more gig to go...so ordered it for the full amount I can handle... when I told them what was going on, they said memory could be the problem...so brand new 2 gig chips (2 of them) are on their way...I have scanned this thing till my I am scanned out... losing too much work time.. have cleared out of start up things not needed... processes not needed... cleared photos and fonts not needed... has plenty of hard drive space available...more then half ... so memory should hopefully do the trick..thank you for pointing me that way... needed the reason to spend the money...

 

Unless the memory is proprietary, shop around. Alot of times you can find the same goodies at a better price, or even on sale.

 

A day late...LOL... I called DELL because it is still under warranty and did not want to make waves....and got a discount on it anyway..not a bad deal on memory right now...but can I install the PRO over the HOME edition or must I do a clean install?... I really like Pro better...but will not mess with it right now if I must do a clean install... and if the memory does not fix the problems I will do a clean install anyway and go to the pro.. Right now it is failing to do a refresh when I close down a program.. example. Close down OE or any program for that matter. It will disappear from the taskbar but not the screen ... if I close the lid then reopen it will clear...I keep this thing on a chiller pad to prevent over heating as I use it for long periods of time... need one of those things like a garage has that hooks up to the computer and diagnoses all the problems... a computer to diagnose a computer!... yeah that's it!... okay... time to be normal here. Thanks again for the help.

 

Actually, I own one of those scan tools, but it's for a car.

Since it's under warranty, do nothing to void it, that's for sure!!

You've got apps hanging up, that's for sure. When is the last time you did either a Disk Cleanup, or a Disk Defragment?

In regard to the "patch over" with Pro, since there is already a valid version of Windows on the HDD, if you pop in the XP Pro disc and after the first screen where you press enter to install Windows, on the NEXT screen after pressing F8 to accept terms and conditions, you can use the Repair option. It very well may install the version of Windows XP Pro over the version present on the HDD.

Also, how many anti-virus, anti-spyware programs are physically running real time protection in the background?

There should only be one of each firewall, anti-virus, and anti-spyware at once.

 

From what I can see, I only have one of each running... PC Tools firewall, Avast Antivirus and AdAaware Anniversary Edition. My registry utility is running too...but I think I can take that down to run only when I want to run it. I mainly keep my security stuff up.. I disabled the graphics "program" because I like my settings and can access that via the control panel..I do not have the printer program in start up as I very seldom use on this computer but send everything to another computer that has a printer hooked up full time. I have other spyware programs but use them on a "as need " basis. Wish I knew more of what makes laptops tick.. I can take the desktops apart in a heart beat and do better on them but laptops are another story. This is MY first one and it has been a learning experience. If it were not for the need, I would stick with the desktops. If I do a hijack this file, would you take a look at it and tell me what I can safely disable?

 

If you post it, I'll take a peek. Even though you have a 1.4GHz processor, it's dual core, so I really don't think that would be an issue, by the way.

What do you have running at startup in the system tray, and do you exit the programs that you don't need? You probably know this, but that would be the icons by the clock.

 

Thanks fellas... attached are 3 files... maybe you can make heads and tails of it... on the bar next to my clock is the gmail notifier, my wireless connection icon, my firewall, my antivirus and my email program is open so it is there...

on some of the things you see in the files Aladdin HASP is a security dongle for my digitizing software, I have a graphics pad and pen, Janome is the digitizer program. that is the main thing I use this for and the list mails and my website that I built and maintain through here..

 

Oh, you'll be much better of posting the logs in the malware removal forum here on Majorgeeks. The experts will never find your logs inhere. Just open a new thread in the malware removal forum. Then link to your post above. That way you don't have to upload again.

This is the link to the post above - the one you just wrote. Right click on the link and copy/paste it: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showpost.php?p=1315240&postcount=18
This is where you open a new thread: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=35

It's how it's done. You post logs in that forum.

 

why would I post about this in malware?... I am not concerned with malware at this time, but things bogging down my system that can be safely disabled?... I have kept this compture scanned for malware and virus since I got it in June 08... it gets scanned by several programs on a regular basis...so I am not to worried about that at this time, but thank you for the suggestion..if someone finds an instance of malware, then I will follow the prescribed course for removal of that. I have used it before for others on their computers ..

 

All right. My mistake - I'm sorry. :-o

 

Is your Java too old? One way to go about it is to run Java's scanner here - it'll tell you precisely what's needed: http://java.com/en/download/installed.jsp

Then download new Java and save it to your desktop but don't install yet.

Now you need to uninstall all old Java before reinstalling. Do it from Add/remove programs. Then run this tool from JavaRa. It will take down most of the residue: http://majorgeeks.com/JavaRa_d5967.html

Then a manual search for folders and what ever is left. Delete the findings.

Now install Sun Java Version 6 Update 13 (and what else was recommended from Sun' scanner). Finally delete the remains on the desktop.

Recently Sun Java improved their program so that it will take down old Java when you install new updates. However this is only the case for newer versions. Very old Java will still be left behind. And this is a security risk that one wouldn't want to take.

 

thank you...will go there now and checke what I have with what they have...don't believe mine is that old though...but doesn't hurt to check it out... I know there has to be a solution if more memory does not help ... tweaking is not my forte but I do want to learn. don't know why a laptop seems to give me more problems then a desktop..thank you again...

 

A fine idea! Java is important. :cool

 

Hey Doc! :wave

You can go ahead and post in malware, and as always I could be mistaken, but you look clean as a whistle as you claim to be.

Clean up the Java as suggested, just to err on the side of caution. Due to it's age (the laptop), you may find that many older versions are not present.

You haven't mentioned it, and I gotta ask again, how often do you do a Disk Cleanup, and a Disk Defragment?

Also, when is the last time you have used or run Ccleaner?

 

Secunia PSI can keep you updated. It's a fine program and highly recommended. It comes in a download-able version as well as an online scanner. F-Secure also offers a free online scan for updating. It's not the same, Secunia and F-Secure will find.

Secunia PSI for download: http://majorgeeks.com/Secunia_Personal_Software_Inspector_PSI_d6096.html
Secunia online: http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/online/
F-Secure online Health Check: http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/onlineservices/fshc.shtml

 

Java upadted from 6.7 to 6.13... no change in behavior...will go through and update as many things as I can... will not go to IE7 though... had problems with that last time...I scan for malware everyday when I am through with my work and surfing... I defrag about every two weeks...last defrag was last week. I ran my registry cleaner today...I have 3 different ones and rotate them... I have three paid for ones Uniblue, Tune Up Utilities and one by 3B can't remember the name off hand...then I have CCleaner... I am hoping the memory upgrade (up two whole gigs from what it is now) will help alot of the problems... my programs are memory intensive... especially my digitizing program... one reason why I had this built with a stand alone video card...but the digitizing program runs great... not had any problems for a long time on that... so I will have to wait and see I suppose, but thanks for those links for the updaters... will check them out... can you ever have too much software???? LOL

 

Well the only thing left I had to update was Adobe flash player... did that... still no improvement in performance...sigh... will wait on that memory to get here....

but love that updater program!

 

You may want to give IE8 a try, it has passed the Beta test stage, and I have been using it for a week now with no hassle.

 

I have thought of it...but with the way IE7 did me...I am afraid too... this IS my business computer... and takes forever for me to get it back up when I have to redo it... even with backups... not everything comes back ...maybe I can try it on my other XP home machine and see how it does there...I am only out my print program there and I can reinstall that ..will have to thnk on that one...

 

Okay... this is what I have and I will probably contact DELL to see if they have any suggestions.... Before Dell replaced the MOBO I restored it to factory settings..wiped it all out and started fresh...it ran okay but then the freeze ups and shut downs started and that is when DELL replaced the MOBO...then things did okay... but suddenly one day it started getting very sluggish... like something was eating up the power... I did defrag, it is give minimal improvement... I have it as clean as can be from viruses and malware... I have cleaned and tweaked the registry... I have removed from start up anything that can be removed and still not compromise the security of my computer... I have updated everything that can be updated and just downloaded the last of the windows updates on security... and finally installed 4 GIG of new memory...the max it will take... I tried starting it up with nothing in the USB ports to see if something there was the problem... okay results... NO CHANGE.... it still takes forever to start up... still takes forever to start programs... still cannot delete that one email that locks my OE up... still cannot figure out what I have missed... the only thing I can think is that something got corrupted when I did the reinstall and the MOBO was going bad...so it messed up something... so I thought a clean install might fix it or try a repair first... any suggestions???...I am off to bed now and will check in the morning... thanks for any help...

 

Can you pull up the task manager, click on the "CPU" column a couple of times and tell us if you see something besides the "System Idle Process" with an unusually high value? I'm particularly interested in this one, "SearchIndexer.exe".

 

There is a whole list here...

ashMaiSv.exe 3,012K
taskmgr.exe 4,424k
iexplore.exe 67,11bk
msimn.exe 21,616k
searchindexer.exe 6,236k
dmadmin.exe 3,224k
Tablet.exe 4,140k
svchost.exe 5626 k
wuaudt.exe 4,752k
snmp.exe 3,880k
tcpsvcs.exe 3,428k
SeaPort.exe 8,484k
alg.exe 3,592k
hasplms.exe 11,588k (this the dongle for my digitizing program and the number one use of this computer)
ashwebSv.exe 9,720k
svchost.exe 4,912k
lsass.exe 1,984k
services.exe 6,340k
winlogon.exe 1,968k
FWService.exe 13,392k
csrss.exe 4,096k
WLTRAY.EXE 5,992k
nvsvc32.exe 4,156k
smms.exe 408k
TabUserW.exe 2140k
svchost.exe 3408k
explorer.exe 44,312k
McSACore.exe 5,232k
spoolsv.exe 6,492k
RegistryBooster.exe 11,820k
msntask.exe 12,328k
jusched.exe 4,812k
gnotify.exe 8,128k
ashServ.exe 20,412k
aswUpdSv.exe 321k
BCMWLTRY.EXE 7,260K
WLTRYSVC.EXE 1,620K
jgs.exe 1,392k
FirewallGUI.exe 6,144k
ashDisp.exe 1,332k
svchost.exe 3,464k
svchost.exe 3,860k
svchost.exe 6,060k
svchost.exe 31,864k system
svchost.exe 4,980k
system 240k
system idle process 28k

whew... that's a lot

 

Ok... but can you check the "CPU" column not the "Mem Usage" column? I'm trying to find out whats chewing up your processor time. The "CPU" column will show us that. The top 5 - 10 will do. Also, make sure the "show processes for all users" is checked.

 

CPU usage?...top ten..... 00 how's that... occasionally there will be one or two go up to 4... but no higher... the Idle process is the highest with 98 sometimes... the only thing I have open right now is my OE... and whatever is in start up... and the taskmanager... and IE6 nothing but idle goes above 4

 

Have you checked the event viewer for errors? Also is the indexing service started(check in services)? You don't really need this "jusched.exe" running. You can use "Startup CPL": http://majorgeeks.com/download619.html to shut it down. I'm not sure about this one "dmadmin.exe", from what I can see it isn't supposed to be running all of the time. It's just supposed to do it's job and then stop. Don't stop it though, we need more info on it first.

In the mean time, try shutting down the indexing service from services and see if that helps.

 

Why do you keep saying this could not be malware related? You don't even have MBAM & SAS installed according to your logs. Please download, install, update and take SAS & MBAM for a couple of full scans? You see: the reason, they are better than all the rest is that they are better updated. They have better definitions and more of them. They will find malware that other programs don't.

 

Well for starters...what is MBAM and SAS?.... I have so much installed that I don't see where I need more but will install it if it helps... the indexing thing had no affect on this...I took it out...it was for Java updates and I can do those manually... so I am open to all there is... I will go and run all the scans again...but I have been coming out clean expect for some tracking cookes that are par for the course in surfing..and I regulalry clean them out.... but please tell me what they are and I will put them and run them...

 

Here you are:

SAS: http://majorgeeks.com/SUPERAntiSpyware_d5116.html
MBAM: http://majorgeeks.com/Malwarebytes_Anti-Malware_d5756.html

 

If you want to be thorough with those two, run SAS in safe mode and run MBAM in normal mode.

 

okay , will go into safe and do the SAS from there... but for now SAS found nothing and MBAM found one rouge but nothing executable... it took from the time I power on to the full desktop up and running close to 10 minutes...it used to be just a minute... this has gotten me to hair pulling and I don't have much to spare...so I off I go to safe and see what I find...

 

Did you happen to try stopping the indexing service? What is the free drive space percentage?

Because MBAM found something I would say you need to head on over to:
READ & RUN ME FIRST. Malware Removal Guide: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407. I think too, that running multiple registry fixers "enhancers" may have caused a problem with the registry.

As a general rule it's not a good idea to go trampling through the registry unless there is a specific need to fix a particular problem with it. Hence, that's why you see cCleaner recommended so often, it isn't as aggressive as most and for that reason has an excellent track record. On that note, after you get this problem taken care of, you might want to use this program: Erunt 1.1j: http://majorgeeks.com/download1267.html in the future.

You said you wanted to put XP Pro on the machine. The best way to do that is a clean install(format partition, and then install). Less problems down the road. If you're going to try and up grade(not recommended after all of these problems) then it is essential that you follow the READ & RUN ME FIRST thread and then start a thread in the malware removal forum. The malware removal folks are the best, and in doing so you may very well find out what else( if any thing) is causing problems on the laptop and how to fix it. It's also a good learning experience. Learn quite a bit about what makes that thing tick.

 

SAS in safe mode found one tracking cookie, I have more then 3/4 of the harddrive still free....just now stopped the indexing , will see how that works on start up... if I decide to do the upgrade I will do a clean install and save myself some head ache... I have an external backup with my most important stuff on it... most is backed up already..and I best do it real soon if I am, I have an update scheduled for my website.... so much fun here... okay... if I do a clean install...what do you recommend I put on in the very beginning to protect me from ALL attacks... I like the AVAST and the PCtools for my virus and firewall protection...they work fine on any system I have put them on...

 

Well, I was not able to make my machine run McAfee's SiteAdvisor. Had all sorts of problems. What a nightmare it was to uninstall. I did disable it before using Add/remove programs but I still had residue all over the PC. Had to search in safe mode with hidden files, folders, programs visible. Even so it was necessary to change permissions before the garbage would delete.

Boy am I glad they've made WOT. Excellent little thing. Won't ever have any McAfee again!

Could you have the same issue going here?

 

I run the site advisor on all my machines... never had a problem with it... the first thing I check when I run a program and it freezes is if my firewall is blocking it...but Site advisor works great and I depend on it to keep me from clicking on sites that are a problem....I scanned till my scanner is sore... probably after I get some orders done I will "redo" the system and put on Pro... never had problems like this...I just wonder if something got corrupted when I restored it when the MOBO was going bad...oh well it is a moot point at this stage... it is gonna get wiped out and start fresh...UNLESS it straightens it's little self out!.. .

 

Yes, but do you also have the same software combinations on all machines?

 

Have you done a defrag recently? And used the extra pagefile defrag from Sysinternals? PS: SiteAdvisor really can slow a PC down.

 

All my systems are pretty much the same... I have an emachine that runs Home but it does not have as much ram and I have all the same programs on it... as I used for a backup when this one was having the MOBO replaced... it has a slower processor and it is STILL faster then this one... the issues I have are on the initial start up ....got it down to 9 minutes from turn on to desk top all loaded... have tried to start up with out my dongle, and external plugged in...no difference... also the OE is slow to start and has problems veiwing the mail at first...like it has to load... My surfing speed is pretty good... it is my start up that is the problem more then anything... and I have ONE email I cannot access to delete it as it locks up the program and I have to close it and then reopen... it is from a reputable place on one of my yahoo lists... so I do not suspect a problem with it... it could have a graphic in that my settings do not like...I don't know... but I have since gotten other emails from the exact same source that do not cause any problems... I run my laptop through a UPS to protect against surges and brownouts... it has a chill pad under it... I had dreams of this really great running computer that I could use and keep my feet up to prevent them swelling... but it is driving me nuts sometimes... but at least it has a new MOBO and lots of RAM.... now to find out what is the problem...not a very good detective I fear...the problems began AFTER some Microsoft updates... and I uninstalled them but it made no difference to the speed... defragged just last week but will run it again tonight when I quit... it gives minimal improvement on running and none on start up... and sometimes shutdown can be just as slow...:confused

 

And you have checked your startup functions? Some tools are useful, - like StartUpLite: http://majorgeeks.com/StartUpLite_d5583.html

 

I think I would unintall a number of programs that I could easily get back. Like that Uniblue, SiteAdvisor and Spybot. Just to see if that did it.