Slow computer - hard drive never stop accessing..

Hi - first, thanks for being here, and the help I've recieved periodically over the years.

My computer seems to be in love with itself...about every two minutes, but more frequently the more I am on it, the hd will light up and everything will freeze for about 30-45 seconds. When it's done doing...whatever...I get control back for another couple of minutes. Thinking it was malware, I worked through the cleaning process to no avail, then asked for help and was directed here.

This started shortly happening after I installed a Spore patch - really bad - and since I've removed everything Spore things are much better...but still not good. Not sure if this was coincidence or not. Also, I've tried to install SP2 three times over so many years and it always crashes me until I use a restore point without it. XP Home, btw.

Any ideas?
Thanks!
John

 

Firstly, just as an FYI, SP3 is now available so you might wish to try that instead of SP2 once we have you up and running better

Can you post a screenshot of what processes are running at the time when you computer's hard drive is doing this. You can see the processes by opening the Task Manager (CTRL+ALT+DELETE) and clicking the Processes tab).

Also a screenshot of the applications that are opening from startup would be useful. You can get this by downloading CCleaner and clicking the Tools option on the lefthand side of the main screen of CCleaner. Then click the Startup tab.

 

Any tips on how to capture a screenshot that doesn't exceed the maximum upload requirement?

 

Yes, download from this link the free version on the right-hand side.

http://wisdom-soft.com/sh/index.htm

 

argh..hard to get, because when it's doing it, I can't open anything. Thanks for the screenshot link...here's the captures:

 

and the last...

 

Whoa!! That's a lot of items on start up, so let's start there. You will need to remove the following from start up. To do so you need a Start up Manager such as StartUpCPL

Using that app, remove these from your start up. If you need help using the app, let me know.

NBJ - Nero Back It Up
Quicken Memory Desktop Tool
AOL Fast Start
AOL Host Manager
nwiz
SSBkgdupdate
PaperPortPTD
IndexSearch
SetDefPrt
Control Center 2.0
Type32
Carbonite Backup
Nero Filter Check
iTunes Helper

I've left a few in that I would personally take out, but not knowing how you use your PC it's best to leave them in for now.

 

Ok, unchecked all of those in StartCPL - the "brother" stuff is my printer/fax/scanner...unchecking those will just mean it loads when I use it, right? Will reboot now and see where we are.

 

Still in hell...everything clunky and sluggish. Argh.

 

Please post a screen shot of TM processes, when the PC starts to crawl. I agree with Lev and Mark. Way to much stuff starting up. Not seen most of them!!

 

"My computer seems to be in love with itself...about every two minutes, but more frequently the more I am on it, the hd will light up and everything will freeze for about 30-45 seconds"

Yes, the screenie is there. With normal CPU activity. Was hoping to see a shot with a lot more going on....

 

Agree with sikvik - need shots when the computer is being "clunky".

 

Ok, disabled everything but eset. Computer is more responsive...except when it locks up. It seems to come out of it a little faster than before, but still has some petit mal seizures. The problem with getting a TM snapshot when it's locked is...er...it's locked. The last shot was right after it let me back in control. It feels like we made a little headway, is there anything else we can do? Thanks, btw.

 

Take some screenshots of TM processes when the CPU is being utilized. Post those up.

Also can let you let us have a description of the kind of applications you are running when it freezes.

Also can you let us have the spec of the PC, or the make and model number so we can look it up.

 

Ok, after staring at the tm for awhile, it looked like my carbonite backup was backing up pretty constantly...I adjusted the settings, and things seem to be a lot better. I'll post again if it goes backward, but the combo of disabling all those startups and the backup seems to have done it. Thanks to all!