RAM, infection, or??? Opinions please....

I have an e-machines desktop purchased about 2 years ago. It came with 512MB of RAM; most times the computer works OK, but I have reformatted to HD more times that I care to admit due to performance issues that I could not resolve otherwise. Needless to say this is getting tedious. About 8 months ago I added 1G RAM to the computer. I used crucial.com to diagnose my needs (DDR, SD, etc) then confirmed with the manufacturer that this was indeed the correct RAM. However, my computer just seems to crawl on performance even with the upgraded RAM. A friend suggested taking out the original 512 stick and just let the 1G run alone; didn't help. I then switched the two stick locations (put the 1G where the 512 was originally, then put the 512 where I had put the 1G).......still no luck with performance. Not to be cheeky, but the hard drive works so hard/makes so much noice sometimes that I'm afraid it's gonna start flying around the room like a 747!! Also, my anti-virus program (Nod32) has recently been advising of Adaware infections in System files although this has been recent (about 2 weeks) which it will not let me delete the files.

So, opinions please..........is this a problem with the hardware, virus infection, or are e-machines computers just a piece of crap?? Another reformat of the HD on the horizon to see if this helps??

 

If you're concerned that you have a malware infection, go through the steps in this thread. Carefully.

And yes, eMachines are pieces of crap. LOL

 

OK, I'll go through the steps in the thread and see if that helps. My only other solution would be to reformat (or buy another computer!). I guess this is my fault for not know more about the emachines systems, but at the time thought it would be OK since they are made by Gateway. Th good news is that I'm not using it for business so it does not slow down productivity.

I'll let you know how things work out.