Slow/freezing

Hi- referred here from Safer Networking as they have exhausted their attempts to help.

I was suspicious of an infection but it would seem it's something else.

Here is the latest comment form Safer Networking: The last scan we ran checked your Master Boot Record as the latest threats have been targeting and infecting it, but with your aswMBR and MBRcheck logs yours looks just fine.

Here's the link to my thread: http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=65784&page=2


Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Where is your Paging File located? (On which Disk?)

It is not necessarily "definitive" but the scans you have already run over at SaferNetworking are unable to locate Paging file even though the Size of Paging File is listed.

It is necessary to have at least 200mb Paging File on Drive C:\
the remainder and even bulk of Paging File can be located on any of the other Hard Drives or Partitians.
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I'd recommend selecting "No Paging File" on all disks.
Then Reboot.

then Select to place Paging File on C:\ as Windows Managed.

If you prefer to have a set amount minimum and maximum of Paging File, then place at 512mb on C:\, and 7.5gb in one chunk on your best other Hard Drive.

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the above is only a suggestion from first glance and may not remedy your situation.

A good way to get an overview of your machine's hardware, operating system and software is to use the online PCPitstop Overdrive tool.

Please Run the PCPitstop.com OverDrive Full Tests then post the URL from Results into your next post in this same topic Thread.

Here's how:

You must use your Internet Explorer for this procedure. (doesn't work so well in Firefox or others). If your machine is running Vista or Windows 7, you must Select IE to “Run as Administrator”. After completing PCPitstop OverDrive you can close your IE browser and re-open it Normally so that you are no longer running as administrator.

Go to: http://www.pcpitstop.com
Click on "Free Computer Check-up" listed below PC Pitstop OverDrive
In the User Login - Click on "Sign up FREE!"
You'll need to submit a valid email address and create your own password, then click - Create Account(button)

Now enter your email address and password to Log in, Select - Scan this system Now!(button)
You will then be asked to download an ActiveX component and allow it to install.
It is safe and does not compromise your privacy.
Follow the on-screen prompts to install the ActiveX and to allow the Full Tests to be run on your machine.

The Full Tests take about 2 1/2 - 3 minutes on most machines.
When complete, a Results - Summary - Recommended Fixes will be displayed.

Please post the URL internet address, from your Results, back here into this Topic Thread so that we can review the configuration and present performance levels of your machine.

Note: During the graphics 2D and graphics 3D testing, your screen will display some rapidly moving objects.
If you are sensitive to visual flashing, it may cause dizziness. Therefore, look away from the screen during that portion of the testing.

After reviewing the results we will be more informed and may be able to provide better recommendations for you to work towards improving your machine's performance.

While PCPitstop does offer a variety of Paid Products, the PCPitstop OverDrive testing is FREE. Please ignore the references to Paid Products. At WTT we prefer to provide manual solution instructions that you can apply directly to your machine.

Thank you very much for the quick response.

I checked the paging file settings and they were already set to Windows managed but I did as requested anyway. Set it to no paging file and rebooted. It's now reset itself to Windows managed- and it's the C drive.

Here are the results from PCPitstop: http://www.pcpitstop.com/betapit/sec.asp?conid=24900937

Thanks again.

Anything to do here? Thanks.

Download and run TFC.exe (a temporary file cleaner which will clear out unnecessary temp files AND cookie files)
http://forums.whatthetech.com/index.php?au…um=10&st=10

When you double-click on TFC.exe – Follow the on-screen prompts.
Please know that this utility "will" remove login passwords which you may have saved in your browser(s)

After TFC.exe has finished, please reboot into SAFE Mode.
While in SAFE Mode, please run your Defrag Utility (the native Windows Defrag will be sufficient)

Then perform another run of PCPitstop OverDrive and post the new Results URL link.

Also let us know about the current performance of your machine, and any additional questions you may have.

Best Regards

Thank you. I ran TFC and restarted the computer in safe mode. However the defragmenter would not run so I booted normally and am running the defrag now- is that ok?

OK – yes Optimal – no It is important to have application and system files "out-of-use", meaning not active during Defrag. Defrag will "ignore" any files that are presently in use when Defrag is operating. The result is that files actively in use will remain at whatever level of fragmentation that they previously suffered. Since your C:\ had been 61% fragmented (fairly high fragmentation starts at about 15%) that means that any improvement you make via defrag should show a resulting improvement of performance responsiveness. Let's see what PCPitstop OverDrive indicates in a second run. Also please do a bit of browsing and opening a few of your commonly used application programs. Let us know if you notice any improvement. You may actually not. And we need to know that too, if that is the case.

Thanks- any idea why defrag wouldn't run in safe mode?

I will certainly try again but I don't know what I can do differently to get it to run.

Anyway, here's the latest report form PCPitstop: http://www.pcpitstop.com/betapit/sec.asp?conid=24900937

Thanks again.

Ooops! My bad. Windows 7 Service Pack 1 no longer allows Disk Defragmentation when logged into SAFE Mode. I'll give this a little more thought and get back to you, hopefully with a better suggestion. Ooops… My very bad. Re-reading finds that you are running Vista x64 Ultimate. Vista removed almost all user control over native Defrag. Again, I'll get back to you.

LOL. I've done some random checks and anecdotally it DOES seem to be behaving a little better. At least it hasn't frozen on me and I haven't noticed any obvious slowness. Thank you.

After a few "uninstall" cleanup recommendations I will recommend for you to download and run Auslogics Disk Defrag.

But first…

The HP Printer helper and imaging processes do not need to be running active from Startup and may be contributing to slow down by consuming resources.
– Consider "disabling" the HP processes which appear in MSCONFIG - StartUps

Google Toolbar may be contributing to slow down by consuming resources.
(In general, browser toolbars are resource hogs and browsers perform more briskly without them)
– consider uninstalling Google Toolbar

Google Toolbar update notifier is an entirely unnecessary feature.
– consider disabling Google update notifier via MSCONFIG - Startups

Comment: A general good-practices rule is to use only one Firewall, one AntiVirus, and one AntiSpyware

You have both Ad-Aware and Spybot S&D running active.
These were both favorites for me about 10 years ago, but have fallen down in effectiveness and have increased their impact of slowing machine functionality, in the past few years.
Lavasoft - Ad-Aware is the bigger of the two as an offender in consuming machine resources.

Recommendation: I recommend Malwarebytes (free) for AntiSpyware (better protection and less impact on machine resources than your present utilities.
– Consider: Uninstall Ad-Aware
– Consider: Uninstall Spybot Search & Destroy
– Consider: Download and install Malwarebytes (free) – not as a continuous background running application, but as an on-demand scanner

– Consider: "If" Spybot Search & Destroy is your favorite and you still wish to use it, OK. But uninstall all other Antispyware (Ad-Aware) (and if you keep Spybot, do not add Malwarebytes.

Observation: Google Chrome appears to be running (10) ten instances of its browser.
— Really? You probably do not need (10) ten instances of Google Chrome running active.
– Consider disabling or uninstalling Google Chrome.
– Don't get me wrong here, lots of folks prefer and use Google Chrome without problems, and it does browse briskly, plus has a built in .pdf viewer
So it is a matter of user-choice…. but not so many instances of it.
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other Software:

Do you use Adobe Air as a player/platform in conjunction with your iTunes?
It may be required for playing various video and gaming applications you enjoy.
If not, it is a resource hog.
– Consider uninstalling Adobe Air

Adobe Reader (for viewing .pdf files) is a resource hog and also often lags behind the curve for updating security vulnerabilities
– Consider uninstalling Adobe Reader
– Consider download and install Foxit Reader (free) as an alternative for .pdf reading

What is: FirstClass® Client ?
Do you use it?

Do you use EA Download Manager?
– Consider uninstalling EA Download Manager.

You have both Creative Softwae Audio and Realtek High Definition Audio Driver
You probably need Realtek High Definition Audio Driver but maybe not the Creative Software Audio
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Now that you have considered the above, lets bring up the idea of using Ausologic Disk Defrag.
We waited until now, so that any decisions about "disabing" and "uninstalling" could be taken care of before Defragging.

Before Defragging, run TFC.exe to clear out any Temporary files.
(right-click) on TFC.exe - then select "run as administrator"

Also consider deleting all but the most recent Restore Points

Also consider selecting - No Paging File (for the period of defragging)

Now Run Ausologic Disk Defragmenter
I'm not sure it will run in SAFE Mode, but give it a try.
If not, then run from Normal Boot Mode

Next, Run a fresh PCPitstop OverDrive and post the Results link