Windows boot slowly + Windows update constantly failed

Hello~
Recently my laptop is so fail. It used to run very smoothly.

1) Long ago i updated my bluetooth adapter driver, and the caused malfunction. I downloaded the driver from Dell Support website (apparently there are 3 under 'Network', and i get a lucky shot) and the bluetooth is fucntioning once again. however i checked through the device manager and found '!' marks on Bluetooth Peripheral Device. something is not right...

2) Recent windows update (automatically) has failed to install over and over again, hence prompting to redownload the same update every time i turn on the laptop. Specifically, its is 'security update for the .NET Framework 4 on Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2: January 8, 2013 (KB2742595)'.. There is another update coming (also tagged as Important) but come to fail as well. So currently there is 2 pending updates...

3) While im having these problem, the boot time has increases noticeably. Long black screen appears before the login page turn up. Some says this is related to device/driver error. im not sure myself.

4) Very recently i have my Avast Antivirus not working (turned off) and every time i ask it to turn on or resume, nothing happens. It remain not-functioning and so, i uninstall Avast and adopt AVG Antivirus. i think this is around when i was installing the bluetooth driver from Dell. it works though! but the '!' mark persist.

5) Before my Avast failed, i did scan my laptop for virus/malwares in safe mode. Using Avast, SUPERSpyware and Malwarebyte, i managed to remove a few of them but the cleaning has done nothing good to the problem. and by the way before that, i also performed clean boot (msconfig, hiding all Microsoft services, bla3) as stated in the following link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

So these are the things that has changed my super cool laptop in to something else. The speed is also noticeably slower than usual.. especially when doing too many stuff like gaming and all. Here are the specs:

Name Windows 7 Home Premium x64 Service Pack 1
Features Terminal Services in Remote Admin Mode, 64 Bit Edition, Media Center Edition, Multiprocessor Free, OEM-Version
SKU Home Basic Premium Edition
Activation Status Activated
Checked Build No
UAC Enabled Yes
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
System Device \Device\HarddiskVolume3
Kernel Version 6.1.7601.17944
Security 256 bits
Product Name Windows 7 Home Premium
Build Lab 7601.win7sp1_gdr.120830-0333

License Status Licensed (Windows Operating System - Windows(R) 7, OEM_SLP channel)
Hardware DEP Available Yes
DEP for 32 Bits Applications Yes
DEP for Drivers Yes
DEP Policy OptIn (only Windows system binaries)
Windows Update's version number 7.6.7600.256
Owner Dell


Restore Points
Installed AVG 2013 2013-02-06 13:24:51
Installed AVG 2013 2013-02-06 13:25:39
Windows Update 2013-02-06 15:06:37
Windows Update 2013-02-06 19:00:26
Windows Update 2013-02-06 19:28:51
Windows Update 2013-02-07 19:00:10
Windows Update 2013-02-08 01:35:14
Windows Update 2013-02-08 07:59:13
Windows Update 2013-02-08 08:00:07

User Name Dell
Workgroup WORKGROUP
Computer Name DELL-PC
Language English (Malaysia)
Installation Time 2011-10-20 13:26:53
Boot Time 2013-02-08 15:45:18
Up Time 1 Hour 58 Minutes 41 seconds

Pls help me. i want my old super cool laptop back!

 

So here i am :wave

Plis help~~

 

In addition to what David has already said - I would suggest visiting one of the sites that help you determine what device drivers you have and which ones can be updated. I've used Device Doctor in the past and found it to be very good (if not a little overly zealous sometimes) about recommending various drivers. They have a free version that you can download and use. All you have to do after it has looked at your system is to download each of the drivers and then install them. I would recommend making a directory in your downloads directory that is called Drivers and to store all of the downloaded files there so you can find them easily. Download all of them first just in case one of them causes you to loose internet connectivity. Remember that when you install new drivers you can always (or about 99% of the time) back up to the previous drivers by going to Start->Control Panel->System->Device Driver-><The Device>. There usually is a rollback option which will undo your upgrades.

The reason you upgrade your device drivers is because sometimes newer software takes advantage of new software drivers for your hardware. Without these updates some software will slow down or even stop working. So just like it is important to update your software - it is also important to update your hardware's software drivers too.

The really nice thing about Device Doctor is that even if you do not have an internet connection - it can save the list of device drivers you need to download as an HTML file which you can put on another computer and download the software there, transfer it back to the problem computer, and then install the updates.

I now return you to the masters of fixing malware.

 

I thought I would give an answer from someone who has been working with computers since 1972 (ie: myself). Not that I think I am a know-it-all - because I am not. I like computers, I program computers, and I used to be very involved in systems programming on main frames. Although I do know a lot about computers and how they work - I do not hold myself as some kind of expert when it comes to fixing PCs. For myself - yeah - I'm good enough to fix my own PCs and I do go out to about ten or twenty people's houses and fix their PCs as a public service - but my outlook is that you should read my suggestions and - IF YOU WANT TO DO THEM - then you can do them. But if one of the experts here says not to do it - then don't. They probably know a lot better than I what you should or should not do.

That being said:

1. Even though the back-up would probably contain whatever problem it is you are having to deal with a virus/malware laden backup is better than no backup at all. So first - back up your system to a NEW backup. There are lots of either free or cheap backup programs around and a new external USB hard drive is still fairly cheap. Buy one and back your system up to it before doing anything else.

2. If you have already run all of the programs the Major Geeks crew has suggested you run then you need to try some other programs.
2a. My first suggestion is - ON ANOTHER COMPUTER - download BitDefender Free, AVG Free, Avast Free, Avira Free, and McAfee's Stinger. Uninstall your current antivirus and install BitDefender free, let it run overnight to see if it catches anything. I think you may be surprised. I know I was. After 24 hours uninstall BitDefender and install AVG, do the upgrade and then do the complete system scan. Uninstall AVG and install Avast Free. Do the upgrade and then do the scan. Uninstall Avast and install McAfee's Stinger and run it. Uninstall that and re-install your original antivirus software.

3. Now we are going to do the same thing for malware.
3a. Get the MalwareBytes, SuperAntiSpyware, and any other malware software you can find. Uninstall any antimalware software you had installed and go through the list. You probably only need three or four of these so MalwareBytes, SUPERAntiSpyware, and Spybot Search & Destroy may be all you need. Let each one install, upgrade, and then do a complete scan. Again, you may be surprised that one or two of these will find a lot of stuff installed onto your system. Just let them clean things up and then uninstall them and put back whatever you had.

4. Now comes the tricky part. Under Windows Vista, System 7, and System 8 Microsoft does not recommend mucking around with MSConfig but MSConfig allows you to turn off or prevent from starting - almost any program and you can reset everything easily after figuring out which programs are causing the problem. So if you want to try this....
4a. Click Start->Run and typing msconfig and hit enter. This will bring up msconfig. The system may say something like "You really shouldn't do this" or scold you in some other manner. They are just saying that you could make everything stop running - but we are not going to do that. What you should do is to look at the entries in the SERVICES and the STARTUP tabs. Many of the things you see there you will not know why they are there. But some of them you should. For instance, ASP.NET State Service is a system service from Microsoft Corporation. How do I know this? It says so under Manufacturer. So what you are looking for are pieces of software from Unknown Manufacturers. Those may be what is causing the slow down of your system. So by looking at the manufacturer and the name of the sofware - you should be able to figure out which should or should not be running on your system. If you can't - ask here and the guys should be able to explain what they do - OR - Google the information. I just looked at mine and there isn't anything in the Services are that I do not know why it is there.
4b. Startup tab. This one is a bit trickier. In this one you really need to know more about your system than just the manufacturer's name. So here is what I suggest -> If you don't recognize a name - Google it or ask. In about 99% of the time if you Google what it is you will be able find out what it is and know whether or not to uncheck that box so it doesn't start up when your system starts up. I had a recent problem in not knowing what "Gozalez Agent" was. It turned out to be a part of BitDefender Free. But I could not find any references to it. However, I noticed there was a gzserv.exe program in the Startup tab and Googling that term made a reference from the BitDefender group show up talking about gzserv.exe which was the Gonzalez Agent or Service that did updates to BitDefender. Got it?
4c. Before you stop any services or startups - post here if you are still unsure and let the guys look at the list. In this way you can double-check before you begin stopping anything.

5. Do only one service or startup at a time and the reboot the system to see what happens. Once you find which program it is that is slowing down your computer you can reset the rest of the services/startups to run again and then concentrate on finding out why that particular piece of software is causing problems.

6. Note that msconfig does have a "Normal Startup" radio button you can always select to reset everything back to normal. I, personally, have several items not selected for startup with the system. This is because these items are started when needed rather than just sitting in my system taking up resources. Everything still comes up and these program begin running when I try to bring up the appropriate software (like Paperport which starts up the OneTouchMon(itor) program).

Again, always back up your system FIRST and then begin mucking around with it and if you do not feel comfortable playing around with msconfig - then DO NOT DO IT. You can make everything stop working if you just go around turning things off and back on again. But if you first check things out, ask questions if need be, then I am sure you can use msconfig to find out what it is that is slowing down your system.

 

Thx for suggestion. but due to past experience, i've come to hate such driver update scanner software. it caused me more bad than good things. hope an expert can comment on this point.

 

Hey plodr! LOVE the Avatar you have!

So what you are saying is that when GOGOMonica goes to do an update that KB2756921 should be selected and hidden so her system doesn't try to download and install it.

So she should do Start->Control Panel->Windows Update and then look at what all is waiting to download and update (Critical or Non-Critical?), find KB2756921, and tell Windows not to download and install that piece of software.

(Thought I'd expand upon what you posted because GOGOMonica may or may not know where to go to do what you are saying to do.)

Also, if you just bring up IE and go to Tools->Windows Update you can get to the Windows Update program as well.

 

The second update is Security update for Visual C++ 2010 Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package : August 9, 2011 (KB2565063)

Also, this is copied from CheckSUR.log


=================================
Checking System Update Readiness.
Binary Version 6.1.7601.21645
Package Version 17.0
2013-02-09 14:43

Checking Windows Servicing Packages

Checking Package Manifests and Catalogs
(f) CBS MUM Corrupt 0x00000000 servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-IE-Hyphenation-Parent-Package-English~31bf3856ad364e35~~~10.2.9200.16437.mum Expected file name Microsoft-Windows-IE-Hyphenation-Parent-Package-English~31bf3856ad364e35~neutral~~10.2.9200.16437.mum does not match the actual file name
(f) CBS MUM Corrupt 0x00000000 servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-IE-Spelling-Parent-Package-English~31bf3856ad364e35~~~10.2.9200.16437.mum Expected file name Microsoft-Windows-IE-Spelling-Parent-Package-English~31bf3856ad364e35~neutral~~10.2.9200.16437.mum does not match the actual file name

Checking Package Watchlist

Checking Component Watchlist

Checking Packages

Checking Component Store

Summary:
Seconds executed: 950
Found 2 errors
CBS MUM Corrupt Total count: 2

Unavailable repair files:
servicing\packages\Microsoft-Windows-IE-Hyphenation-Parent-Package-English~31bf3856ad364e35~~~10.2.9200.16437.mum
servicing\packages\Microsoft-Windows-IE-Spelling-Parent-Package-English~31bf3856ad364e35~~~10.2.9200.16437.mum
servicing\packages\Microsoft-Windows-IE-Hyphenation-Parent-Package-English~31bf3856ad364e35~~~10.2.9200.16437.cat
servicing\packages\Microsoft-Windows-IE-Spelling-Parent-Package-English~31bf3856ad364e35~~~10.2.9200.16437.cat