com lags even though no program is running

dear tom coyoters, i'm running winxp sp2 with 1.5ghz processor on 256 ram on my laptop. currently i'm having some problems with my laptop. everything is laggy and it actually freezes for a second or two every 10 seconds even without any program running. the songs that i play in winamp is also skippy due to this and every program that i run is also skippy. need help on this. thanx in advance

another thing to add is i don't think it is some problem with spyware because that laptop has not been online for some time and eventhough i open windows task manager, it does not show the cpu goin 100% but it is laggy. can't seem to figure out why

Hi ryan_e_87, Is this the same machine that you posted in HJT on March 30? Did you download and run Ewido? It might be a good idea to copy/paste the log of your Ewido scan back over to the HJT Forum for Shelf Life to have a look. I recognize that you've nearly ruled out trojan/virus as the cause of your problem, and your investigation/logic makes sense. Still it would be a good idea to have a trained expert look at that Ewido log. —————- Are you running on battery or the inline power-supply when this problem occurs? How about physically removing your battery pack and firing that lappy back up on power-supply only? Have a look in your StartUp to see what's running from boot. If you identify something you didn't know was there, or shouldn't be, that may narrow down your search. If you need help regarding StartUp list items that you can safely diable, consider: www.blackviper.com www.answersthatwork.com Pacman's StartUp List currently hosted over at Castle Cops. Consider running a Full Test over at PCPitstop.com You'll get a good overview of all your machine's hardware functioning and installed software functioning. Give it a go. You'll have to register and create a password to have access to Full Test, and then you must accept an ActiveX to enable the test to run on your machine. It's safe. When you get your Test Results, copy and post your TechExpress Link, back into this Forum so that we'll have a better idea of how to help you. Best Regards

i thought the reply here might b slow so i asked a friend of mine who happened to b an expert in computers, unlike me, to find out what the course is. he said there are many unnecessary programs that are running in the background, so he cleared things out for me and it is not giving any problems anymore.. anyway thanx for helping.. keep up the good work guys.