Suggestions with severe slowdown

Yo,

So I've been running on a windows XP pro installation for about a year, and all of the sudden it just started slowing down tremendously. The funny thing is, according to WinBar, my CPU flutters between 0% and 5% and my available memory is more than 600MB when I'm browsing the net. Yet if I try to open something, it takes years, but the CPU and Memory usage is no more than normal.

At first I thought it might be hardware, then I booted into linux and it was fine.

I don't have a problem re-installing Windows, because I'm a pro at it (I usually do it twice a year on my machine ). :D

Just wondering if anyone can give me some suggestions as to why it is slowing down so much. I'm running Panda Antivirus and Norton Utilities. I have an AMD Athlon 3000 and 1 GB DDR mem.

Need more details? Ask away. I'm trying to write this before I run off to work so I might leave out something important.

Thanks

Hrm... spyware/worm? What have you done already to check for either spyware and/or virus/worms? Have you done scans in Safe-mode or with a bootup disk (some worms can hide themselves from AV)? Hijackthis to detect unusual registry enteries? How much space for page file? What programs are running in background (perhaps too many or one with a memory leak?) What is running in background when you attempt to go to the web?

Right now, my gut says spyware (there are some poorly coded ones out there that can interfer with net access) but shouldn't rule anything out.

Well, it is well-known that Windows is a resource-hungry server software.

This slowdown might be caused by the junk programs that system has left over. Vednors even recommend rebooting Windwos to get rid of thes left overs.

Everytime you face a slowdown try rebooting, and see if there is a difference.

Poosible solutions:

[list=1][*]Improved Technology[*]Increased Memory {RAMs}[*]Additional CPUs[*]User Restrictions[/list=1]

Ok, I booted in to safe mode and ran Spybot and HijackThis. Spybot found only 4 things, nothing serious.

Now, when I start up, Windows says that because of significant hardware changes, I need to re-activate. WTF?

What did you do with Hijackthis? Did you just scan or did you scan and remove? If you removed, what did you remove?

The entries that Hijackthis came up with did not seem unusual. I examined the path to each and could identify what program they were assossiated with (Sun Java, Zend Studio, ...)

If you like I can post the log.

scan for virii. if you didnt make the changes in the registrty then something else did.

Black:

Quote:

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# Increased Memory {RAMs}
# Additional CPUs

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Ahem, it's already a three Gig chip with a Gig of RAM..... How much more do you think he needs to surf the web? :eek:

If you scan it for malware and it's clean try a CHKDSK and a defragment. Maybe a hard drive diagnostic.

Did a defrag (Norton Speed Disk) last night, wasn't too fragged to begin with so I didn't see any change.

I will try a chkdsk tonight, see if it helps.

My biggest "WTF" is comming from Windows, asking me to re-activate. I hate calling them...

And no, I don't think I need to upgrade my hardware (unless it's a HD issue). I do play a lot of games and run a lot of server stuff (Apache, MySQL), but the server stuff I turn off during normal operation.

try rolling back ot the day before the activation thing came up. and are you sure its asking for activation, and not the genuine windows bullshit?