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Computer extremely slow, programs hanging up

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A couple of weeks ago, I noticed my computer having periods of extremely slow/unresponsive behavior.
I tried my usual round of security tool, which I keep up-to-date and run about once a week or so:
Adaware
Spybot
AFT cleaner
Spyware blaster
Spyware guard
Easyclean (though am not very familiar with it- I simply ran through it to see what it came up with and tended to leave it alone)
AVG Virus scan
Trend Micro Online scan

I then ran the following:
Defragment (default Win XP systems tool)
Scandisk (ditto)

After all that, I had only come up with a few tracking cookies, which I deleted, and Trend Micro came back with a hit of a trojan "Hackingtools_bruteforce", which I deleted.

Unfortunately there has been no change in my computer's performance- it hangs up/freezes on several programs on occasion (Word, IE, Firefox, anything using Java to name a few) and also hangs up on shutdown- I've been getting a message saying there's a program named "Dummy" freezing up and have to hit the "End now" button almost every time I shutdown.

I have Windows XP, and my disk space is 74% free, and I have 512 RAM…and before a couple of weeks ago, everything ran fine and speedy. Now even my internet seems to be affected, with surfing slowed to a crawl despite a cable modem.

Any help, ideas would be greatly appreciated,

Val

—————————————————————————————————————————
Here's my AVG Anti Spyware Log (after a scan in Safe Mode didn't find anything):

———————————————————
AVG Anti-Spyware - Scan Report
———————————————————

+ Created at: 11:13:23 PM 11/14/2006

+ Scan result:



:mozilla.130:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookies.txt -> TrackingCookie.Adrevolver : Cleaned.
:mozilla.131:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookies.txt -> TrackingCookie.Adrevolver : Cleaned.
:mozilla.132:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookies.txt -> TrackingCookie.Adrevolver : Cleaned.
:mozilla.133:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookies.txt -> TrackingCookie.Adrevolver : Cleaned.
:mozilla.134:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookies.txt -> TrackingCookie.Adrevolver : Cleaned.
:mozilla.149:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookies.txt -> TrackingCookie.Casalemedia : Cleaned.
:mozilla.76:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookies.txt -> TrackingCookie.Esomniture : Cleaned.
:mozilla.143:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookies.txt -> TrackingCookie.Euroclick : Cleaned.
:mozilla.144:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookies.txt -> TrackingCookie.Euroclick : Cleaned.
:mozilla.145:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookies.txt -> TrackingCookie.Euroclick : Cleaned.
:mozilla.146:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookies.txt -> TrackingCookie.Euroclick : Cleaned.
:mozilla.147:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookies.txt -> TrackingCookie.Euroclick : Cleaned.
:mozilla.111:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookies.txt -> TrackingCookie.Tacoda : Cleaned.
:mozilla.112:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookies.txt -> TrackingCookie.Tacoda : Cleaned.
:mozilla.113:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookies.txt -> TrackingCookie.Tacoda : Cleaned.
:mozilla.125:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookies.txt -> TrackingCookie.Yieldmanager : Cleaned.
:mozilla.126:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookies.txt -> TrackingCookie.Yieldmanager : Cleaned.
:mozilla.23:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookiesnew.txt -> TrackingCookie.Yieldmanager : Cleaned.
:mozilla.24:C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\s1saffgp.default\cookiesnew.txt -> TrackingCookie.Yieldmanager : Cleaned.


::Report end
————————————————————————————————————————–

And here's my Hijack This log:

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 12:05:27 AM, on 11/15/2006
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.5730.0011)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5\guard.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTsvcCDA.EXE
C:\Program Files\Kerio\Personal Firewall 4\kpf4ss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\nvsvc32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Kerio\Personal Firewall 4\kpf4gui.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\BILLPS~1\WINPAT~1\WinPatrol.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\jusched.exe
C:\Program Files\Kerio\Personal Firewall 4\kpf4gui.exe
C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5\avgas.exe
C:\Program Files\The Weather Channel FW\Desktop Weather\DesktopWeather.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\reader_sl.exe
C:\Program Files\SpywareGuard\sgmain.exe
C:\Program Files\SpywareGuard\sgbhp.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\NOTEPAD.EXE
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Desktop\Security\hijackthis\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://www.emachines.com
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL =

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page =

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Reader Link Helper - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program

Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: SpywareGuard Download Protection - {4A368E80-174F-4872-96B5-0B27DDD11DB2} - C:\Program

Files\SpywareGuard\dlprotect.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C:\PROGRA~1\SPYBOT~1\SDHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program

Files\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\ssv.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\System32\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [WinPatrol] "C:\PROGRA~1\BILLPS~1\WINPAT~1\WinPatrol.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [nwiz] nwiz.exe /install
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\jusched.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [!AVG Anti-Spyware] "C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5\avgas.exe"

/minimized
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [DW4] "C:\Program Files\The Weather Channel FW\Desktop

Weather\DesktopWeather.exe"
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MsnMsgr] "C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\MsnMsgr.Exe" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - Startup: SpywareGuard.lnk = C:\Program Files\SpywareGuard\sgmain.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Adobe Reader Speed Launch.lnk = C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat

7.0\Reader\reader_sl.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: &AOL Toolbar search - res://C:\Program Files\AOL

Toolbar\toolbar.dll/SEARCH.HTML
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel -

res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~4\Office10\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program

Files\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} -

C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra button: ICQ Lite - {B863453A-26C3-4e1f-A54D-A2CD196348E9} - C:\Program

Files\ICQLite\ICQLite.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: ICQ Lite - {B863453A-26C3-4e1f-A54D-A2CD196348E9} - C:\Program

Files\ICQLite\ICQLite.exe
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {CD67F990-D8E9-11d2-98FE-00C0F0318AFE} - (no file)
O9 - Extra button: Run IMVU - {d9288080-1baa-4bc4-9cf8-a92d743db949} - C:\Documents and

Settings\Mitch\Start Menu\Programs\IMVU\Run IMVU.lnk (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - %windir%\Network

Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: @xpsp3res.dll,-20001 - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} -

%windir%\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program

Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} -

C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O11 - Options group: [INTERNATIONAL] International*
O14 - IERESET.INF: START_PAGE_URL=http://www.emachines.com
O16 - DPF: {0E5F0222-96B9-11D3-8997-00104BD12D94} (PCPitstop Utility) -

http://pcpitstop.com/pcpitstop/PCPitStop.CAB
O16 - DPF: {39B0684F-D7BF-4743-B050-FDC3F48F7E3B} (FilePlanet Download Control Class) -

http://www.fileplanet.com/fpdlmgr/cabs/FPDC_1_0_0_44.cab
O16 - DPF: {6E32070A-766D-4EE6-879C-DC1FA91D2FC3} (MUWebControl Class) -

http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdat…e.cab?114374872

0843
O16 - DPF: {89D75D39-5531-47BA-9E4F-B346BA9C362C} (CWDL_DownLoadControl Class) -

http://www.callwave.com/include/cab/CWDL_DownLoad.CAB
O16 - DPF: {E7D2588A-7FB5-47DC-8830-832605661009} (Live Collaboration) -

https://livewc01.custhelp.com/7520-b289h-tu…l/java/RntX.cab
O16 - DPF: {FC422DEE-DDA1-4822-B476-1EA8E6E7B6E9} -

http://www.evga.com/Support/SyScan/SyScan.cab
O17 - HKLM\System\CCS\Services\Tcpip\..\{D579C580-5CB6-491F-B1C7-DCFF5D441BEC}: NameServer =

4.2.2.1,4.2.2.2
O18 - Protocol: livecall - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} -

C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O18 - Protocol: msnim - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} -

C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O20 - Winlogon Notify: igfxcui - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\igfxsrvc.dll
O20 - Winlogon Notify: WgaLogon - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WgaLogon.dll
O23 - Service: AVG Anti-Spyware Guard - Anti-Malware Development a.s. - C:\Program

Files\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5\guard.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Update Service (Avg7UpdSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. -

C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
O23 - Service: AVG E-mail Scanner (AVGEMS) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. -

C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
O23 - Service: Creative Service for CDROM Access - Creative Technology Ltd -

C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTsvcCDA.EXE
O23 - Service: InstallDriver Table Manager (IDriverT) - Macrovision Corporation - C:\Program

Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Driver\11\Intel 32\IDriverT.exe
O23 - Service: iPodService - Apple Computer, Inc. - C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
O23 - Service: Kerio Personal Firewall 4 (KPF4) - Kerio Technologies - C:\Program

Files\Kerio\Personal Firewall 4\kpf4ss.exe
O23 - Service: Intel NCS NetService (NetSvc) - Intel® Corporation - c:\Program

Files\Intel\NCS\Sync\NetSvc.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (NVSvc) - NVIDIA Corporation -

C:\WINDOWS\System32\nvsvc32.exe

————————————————————————————————————————-
Update: I've been researching and trying different things on my own, like turning off the speech recognition function from MS Office, disabling the update feature for Sun Java, updating my video card driver (and turning off the update feature for the Nvidia card), and turning off the Adobe speed launcher process.

All of the above suggestions were from PC Pitstop's Full PC Tuneup Test:
http://www.pcpitstop.com/

They didn't really help- PC was still running slow and still hanging up on several programs, and on shutdown.
I got so frustrated that I tried to do a ctrl-alt-delete to shut down the hung up program, and it still took several minutes after that- and I took a look at the processes tab, and noticed that my Desktop Weather program from The Weather Channel seemed to be taking up 98-99%. I rechecked this at different times when my system would slow/lock up and found the same. I figured that maybe that program might be the problem, and that I didn't really need it anyway, so uninstalled it and chased down it's leftovers in the start menu, programs menu, program files, and used Regcleaner to chase down it's leftovers in the registry (and got rid of a couple more from programs I knew were long gone.) I restarted and much to my delight- the problem seems to be solved, comp is running at normal speed, and shutdown no longer takes several minutes nor hangs up on a program. The weather program seemed to be what was slowing my comp and hanging up several programs- though I've had it for months and no problems until just recently, I wonder if it was cracked somehow?

Anyway, I was wondering if it's not too much trouble, if someone wouldn't mind taking a look at my new HJLog and tell me what else I could safely get rid of. I hate having junk on my comp, but the major problem seems to have been fixed, thank goodness.
—————————————————————————————————————————
Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 8:28:39 AM, on 11/18/2006
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.5730.0011)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5\guard.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
C:\Program Files\Kerio\Personal Firewall 4\kpf4ss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Kerio\Personal Firewall 4\kpf4gui.exe
C:\Program Files\Kerio\Personal Firewall 4\kpf4gui.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\PROGRA~1\BILLPS~1\WINPAT~1\WinPatrol.exe
C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5\avgas.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\Program Files\SpywareGuard\sgmain.exe
C:\Program Files\SpywareGuard\sgbhp.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Desktop\Security\hijackthis\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://www.emachines.com
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Reader Link Helper - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: SpywareGuard Download Protection - {4A368E80-174F-4872-96B5-0B27DDD11DB2} - C:\Program Files\SpywareGuard\dlprotect.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C:\PROGRA~1\SPYBOT~1\SDHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\ssv.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [WinPatrol] "C:\PROGRA~1\BILLPS~1\WINPAT~1\WinPatrol.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [!AVG Anti-Spyware] "C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5\avgas.exe" /minimized
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MsnMsgr] "C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\MsnMsgr.Exe" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - Startup: SpywareGuard.lnk = C:\Program Files\SpywareGuard\sgmain.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: &AOL Toolbar search - res://C:\Program Files\AOL Toolbar\toolbar.dll/SEARCH.HTML
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~4\Office10\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra button: ICQ Lite - {B863453A-26C3-4e1f-A54D-A2CD196348E9} - C:\Program Files\ICQLite\ICQLite.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: ICQ Lite - {B863453A-26C3-4e1f-A54D-A2CD196348E9} - C:\Program Files\ICQLite\ICQLite.exe
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {CD67F990-D8E9-11d2-98FE-00C0F0318AFE} - (no file)
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - %windir%\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: @xpsp3res.dll,-20001 - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - %windir%\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O11 - Options group: [INTERNATIONAL] International*
O14 - IERESET.INF: START_PAGE_URL=http://www.emachines.com
O16 - DPF: {39B0684F-D7BF-4743-B050-FDC3F48F7E3B} (FilePlanet Download Control Class) - http://www.fileplanet.com/fpdlmgr/cabs/FPDC_1_0_0_44.cab
O16 - DPF: {6E32070A-766D-4EE6-879C-DC1FA91D2FC3} (MUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdat…b?1143748720843
O16 - DPF: {E7D2588A-7FB5-47DC-8830-832605661009} (Live Collaboration) - https://livewc01.custhelp.com/7520-b289h-tu…l/java/RntX.cab
O16 - DPF: {FC422DEE-DDA1-4822-B476-1EA8E6E7B6E9} - http://www.evga.com/Support/SyScan/SyScan.cab
O17 - HKLM\System\CCS\Services\Tcpip\..\{D579C580-5CB6-491F-B1C7-DCFF5D441BEC}: NameServer = 4.2.2.1,4.2.2.2
O18 - Protocol: livecall - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O18 - Protocol: msnim - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O20 - Winlogon Notify: igfxcui - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\igfxsrvc.dll
O20 - Winlogon Notify: WgaLogon - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WgaLogon.dll
O23 - Service: AVG Anti-Spyware Guard - Anti-Malware Development a.s. - C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5\guard.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Update Service (Avg7UpdSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
O23 - Service: AVG E-mail Scanner (AVGEMS) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
O23 - Service: Creative Service for CDROM Access - Creative Technology Ltd - C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTsvcCDA.EXE
O23 - Service: InstallDriver Table Manager (IDriverT) - Macrovision Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Driver\11\Intel 32\IDriverT.exe
O23 - Service: Kerio Personal Firewall 4 (KPF4) - Kerio Technologies - C:\Program Files\Kerio\Personal Firewall 4\kpf4ss.exe
O23 - Service: Intel NCS NetService (NetSvc) - Intel® Corporation - c:\Program Files\Intel\NCS\Sync\NetSvc.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (NVSvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
—————————————————————————————————————————
Thank you to anyone that replies!

Val
hi Boomcat,

your doing a good job by yourself. soemtimes it takes lots of troubleshooting and trying different things. as you found out some software can be a real resource hog.

as for what else you can do is look in add/remove programs panel and uninstall anything you dont use/need. most commercial/retail computers these days come with loads of garbage already installed. when i bought a laptop first thing i did was reformat the hd. lucky for me i build my own desktops.

look down by the clock if you see alot of icons see what it is then look for options/preferences in the software not to start with windows.

you might try msconfig to check/control what starts with windows, not much really needs to be checked, obviously you want to leave your firewall and antivirus checked, see link

http://netsquirrel.com/msconfig/

shelf life

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