Please Help! My computer has become extremely slow.

[bubagump]

I have a fairly new PC with Comcast cable modem which worked fine till about a week ago.
Suddenly, it has become extremely slow, especially while using internet explorer.
Whenever I click on a link it takes a while to open that link.

Is it possible that it is infected by some kind of virus?
Is it possible that the Lan cable from my router to the PC has gone bad?

I would really appreciate some suggestions.

thanks

 

[biostud]

Virus or/and spyware.

 

[Luthien]

Are you booting up normal speed and does your desktop load at normal speed?

 

[DaveSimmons]

You've Got Spyware!

 

[bubagump]

yes, booting up is at normal speed. The major problem is while websurfing.

Whats the best way to get rid of the spyware?

thanks

 

[johnjkr1]

Do you have a firewall? If not, you might also have a worm. Do you not have antivirus software?

 

[Psych]

There is a huge guide on these boards that is stickied that describes the best ways to get rid of spyware.

 

[bubagump]

I do have zonealarm for whatever its worth.

I think the antivirus definitions expired a while ago.

 

[wkwong]

try spybot 1.3 that just came out. my friend was having a similar problem. oh yea, just get adaware also while your at it. if it's still slow, it might be a virus.

 

[mechBgon]

Get a hardware firewall to form the first line of defense. Linksys BEFSR41 or an equivalent unit from Netgear/D-Link/SMC would be good.

Get Windows patched up at Windows Update. Go back several times until you've gotten all the updates your system needs.

Get some current antivirus software... Grisoft.com has a free version of their AVG antivirus software for personal non-network usage. Use Spybot Search & Destroy to get rid of spyware, which it sounds like your system may have some of. If you click the link in my signature and go to the Resources page, there are some links to these goodies for you.

 

[johnjkr1]

It could easily be the latest worm that is going around if you did not have your machine patched.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: johnjkr1
It could easily be the latest worm that is going around if you did not have your machine patched.

Those worms are a serious threat! To check for the most common worms, there's the free McAfee "Stinger" tool located here and it would be smart to disable System Restore and delete all the SR files before proceeding. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide... :evil:

 

[johnjkr1]

Mechbgon is right, not only are they a threat, they can seriously slow down your pc.

 

[bubagump]

Thank you all for your help.

I downloaded Adaware and that idenfied a bunch of files which I deleted.

I also downloaded spybot seek and destroy which identified quite a few items too. But, when I ask it to clean it, it starts the cleanup process saying that it is creating some kind of backup and then hangs.

I have tried this a few times now and it always hangs at the same position.

Is there anyway to rectify this problem?

I purchased norton antivirus professional today but havent installed it yet.
Would installing this and running a scan be sufficient even if spybot-seek and destroy doesnt work?

 

[mechBgon]

Spyware isn't viruses (usually). Norton might graciously go after a few spywares anyway, so go ahead and put it on there. Did you give SpyBot S&D a fair amount of time before deciding it was hung? Because sometimes it does stall for a while before concluding. Give it a few minutes.

Or just reinstall Windows and beware of what you install from here on out. If it's a family PC, I encourage you to get WindowsXP Professional, and set up a separate Restricted User account that the family must use, on pain of going to bed with no dessert. RU accounts are pretty spyware-proof. Make sure to make a RU account for yourself too, and use it instead of the Administrator account, so that if someone grabs the computer while you've stepped away, they are still not wielding Administrator powers. Log on as Administrator when necessary to install/remove software or do system maintenance.

 

[bubagump]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Spyware isn't viruses (usually). Norton might graciously go after a few spywares anyway, so go ahead and put it on there. Did you give SpyBot S&D a fair amount of time before deciding it was hung? Because sometimes it does stall for a while before concluding. Give it a few minutes.

Or just reinstall Windows and beware of what you install from here on out. If it's a family PC, I encourage you to get WindowsXP Professional, and set up a separate Restricted User account that the family must use, on pain of going to bed with no dessert. RU accounts are pretty spyware-proof. Make sure to make a RU account for yourself too, and use it instead of the Administrator account, so that if someone grabs the computer while you've stepped away, they are still not wielding Administrator powers. Log on as Administrator when necessary to install/remove software or do system maintenance.

thanks.
I did give the spybot a while before it started saying "not responding".

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: bubagump

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Spyware isn't viruses (usually). Norton might graciously go after a few spywares anyway, so go ahead and put it on there. Did you give SpyBot S&D a fair amount of time before deciding it was hung? Because sometimes it does stall for a while before concluding. Give it a few minutes.

Or just reinstall Windows and beware of what you install from here on out. If it's a family PC, I encourage you to get WindowsXP Professional, and set up a separate Restricted User account that the family must use, on pain of going to bed with no dessert. RU accounts are pretty spyware-proof. Make sure to make a RU account for yourself too, and use it instead of the Administrator account, so that if someone grabs the computer while you've stepped away, they are still not wielding Administrator powers. Log on as Administrator when necessary to install/remove software or do system maintenance.

thanks.
I did give the spybot a while before it started saying "not responding".

uhm...not responding..you might need to slave your hd to another to really get at the bugs..anyway
if you aren't running an AV prog..try trendmicro's free online scan here