Thanks to OCD for the thorough checkup. I agree that this problem seems related to something other than malware. But, I see some things. You indicate the computer froze up a few times. I also see an excessive amount of security applications running on the computer.
You have several things working against you here. Unfortunately, with the age of the computer you are quite likely still dealing with some kind of hardware issue. Trying to explain these things through a forum environment is tough, and its even tougher for the person on the other end to do the basic things that every computer should have every couple of years.
So, I'm going to run off a few things to you and you can take them or leave them.
The age of the computer is enough to consider that there is a high chance of bad capacitors on the motherboard. If that's the case - forget it. The computer is old enough, its time to throw it out and get a new one. To find out, you'll have to remove a couple of screws and pop the side off the computer. You'll look for bulging and leaking capacitors as seen here: https://www.google.c...iw=1366&bih=624 - If you find any, our job is done here. That's probably your problem and go shop for a new computer.
If you don't have bad capacitors go ahead and clean the case out if it is dirty. Clogged fans and overheating can certainly cause some of your issues. Take it carefully outside and use some compressed air to get the dust out of every nook and cranny.
With a computer of this age it is also quite possible that there are bad connections, specifically on the memory modules. There are some memory tests you can run. Here is an article, albeit antiquated, that I wrote previously on the matter: http://forums.whatth...howtopic=103823 - But, you can probably forego the tests and just reseat the RAM a couple of times while you are inside the case.
Now, leave the cover off of the computer and plug everything back in and turn it on. Inspect the fans in the case and make sure they are all spinning and air is moving. If all looks good, you can carefully put the cover back on. You've finally eliminated the most likely issues you are going to experience with hardware of this age. If you were careful the computer will start back up normally.
If you made it this far, and the computer is still running terrible (likely it will be, if you made it this far) then lets clean a few things up. Listen, I don't like malware any more than the next guy, but there's a point where you cross protection and dive into "feel good." I'm going to state a simple fact - you will never be safe from malware - period. It doesn't matter if you have 1 anti-virus or 10, or nothing at all. Many of these programs are almost obsolete because the massive amount of malware and new tricks people are creating on a daily basis renders them pretty useless. What they do a very good job of is slowing down your 7 year old computer running the notoriously slow Windows Vista operating system with only 2GB of RAM - oh and making all kinds of things not work right. I see anti-malware programs running on your computer that don't even show up in your programs listing. Looking through the list it looks like 3/4 of the running processes on your system are anti-malware programs.
So, take it or leave it but I'm going to provide you a list of programs you need to uninstall from add/remove programs right now and then tell me how your computer runs. Bare in mind that I am going to include most if not all of your anti-virus / anti-malware programs and that you do need to replace a couple of these programs - but, for the purpose of performance testing we're going back to barebones.
Open Add/Remove programs and uninstall the following programs:
- Browser Address Error Redirector
- Fix-It
- HP Customer Participation Program
- HP Update
- MalwareBytes
- Skype Toolbars
- Spybot - Search & Destroy (Please undo all the "immunization" it makes first)
- Trojan Hunter 5.0
- WinPatrol
And finally, AdAware is running on your system but I don't see it in the program listing. So, read and follow the directions here: http://www.lavasofts...hp?showtopic=28
HP has graced you with their bloatware. If you don't have an HP printer - uninstall it ALL. Otherwise, click your start button, type services.msc into the search box and hit ENTER. When the services window opens up, find HP Cue Device Discovery, double-click it and change its startup type to disabled.
If you don't have a Kodak product anymore, please uninstall all the Kodak software - its looking as bad as McAfee.
I suspect McAfee is playing a major role in slowing down your computer. Looks like you went all out on that product and it has happily started 11 processes on your computer to do its job. If you paid for it, I understand. If you want to reinstall it, I understand. But, if you have the original information to the product - flatter me and uninstall it - every bit of it. You can wait until the end if you'd like and see how your computer runs after the above. But, if its still performing the way you describe you're going to have to try it. I've seen this enough to know its a likely culprit.
If these programs ask you to reboot during the uninstall and you have a choice, you can wait to reboot until the end. Then reboot. Let me know how your computer runs then.
You're going to need a basic anti-virus and a nice anti-malware program to scan with every now and then. If your computer is running good and you don't insist on running McAfee here are my suggestions.
Install Microsoft Security Essentials for your anti-virus. Install MalwareBytes anti-malware for your on-demand scanner but DO NOT enable the trial or the realtime protection. Your computer can not handle it. Simply use it periodically to scan your computer for malware and remove whatever it finds.
Lastly, and probably the best virus prevention - update your system! Install all missing windows updates and update your third party products. Java, Flashplayer, and Adobe Reader namely. For faster and more reliable internet browsing install and use Google Chrome.
If there are no hardware issues and you do everything else above there should be no reason your computer does not run phenomenally better because your computer really doesn't look too loaded down with non-sense. The only other potential issue is a hard drive bottle neck due to some driver or cache setting.
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