Intermittent full computer slow motion??

[tshades]

I have a Dell inspiron 600m laptop w/windows xp. I recently had a 500gb hard drive installed and I am running 2gb of ram. When I play large file games every fifteen minutes or so the game will go into slow motion. It will eventually come out of it but I was hoping to stop it from happening. Also, on internet videos and games they will often run slowly and out of sync. I was wondering if this was a graphics/video card issue? Also, when operating bigger programs on the machine things will slow as well. I have just been given a clean bill of health spyware/malware-wise. I have minimized operating processes and have checked system files. I have a cooling pad underneath the computer to help with temperature. It has a built in fan as well. I just can't seem to figure out what would be causing this issue. Any help would be great! Thanks!

[Canuck]

Two things come to mind, 1) Hardware acceleration needs to be changed ( right click on desktop > properties > most often found in either advanced or troubleshooting, depending on maker of graphic card) , and 2) add another gig of RAM. With XP 2 gigs is sufficient but adding large file games may put a strain on the 2 gig. The games should recommend minimal requirements, check those out.

Others may have other suggestions, so stay tuned.

[DonnaB]

Well lookie here!

After viewing your HJT log that you posted in your thread in our Spyware forum I see that you have 2 AV's installed that are displayed under Running processes: as shown below:

Avast:
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast5\AvastSvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast5\avastUI.exe

Ad-Aware:
C:\Program Files\Ad-Aware Antivirus\AdAwareService.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\AD-AWA~1\AdAware.exe
C:\Program Files\Ad-Aware Antivirus\SBAMSvc.exe

They are both running in "real-time" as shown below:


O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [avast5] "C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast5\avastUI.exe" /nogui

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Ad-Aware Antivirus] "C:\Program Files\Ad-Aware Antivirus\AdAwareLauncher" --windows-run
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Ad-Aware Browsing Protection] "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Ad-Aware Browsing Protection\adawarebp.exe"

Not to mention the services running:

O23 - Service: avast! Antivirus - AVAST Software - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast5\AvastSvc.exe

O23 - Service: Ad-Aware Service - Lavasoft Limited - C:\Program Files\Ad-Aware Antivirus\AdAwareService.exe
O23 - Service: Ad-Aware (SBAMSvc) - GFI Software - C:\Program Files\Ad-Aware Antivirus\SBAMSvc.exe

The real-time protection of two antivirus programs may conflict with each other and cause the following:

• False Alarms: When the anti virus software tells you that your PC has a virus when it actually doesn't.
• Conflicts: Your system may lock up due to both products attempting to access the same file at the same time.
• Performance: More that one antivirus will cause your PC to become slow and it may even crash or blue screen.
• Less protection: Two antivirus trying to scan the same file may interfere with the process and allow a malicious file onto the computer without notice to you.

Personally, I would uninstall/remove Ad-Aware Antivirus and keep Avast. Instructions on how to remove the installed AV of your choice below:

To uninstall Ad-Aware Antivirus

If you have trouble uninstalling Ad-Aware AV let me know.

Or, if you want to keep Ad-Aware and ditch Avast:

Avast Uninstall Utility

Make sure to reboot the computer once the uninstall process is complete.

Basic maintenance is a good tactic to keep your computer running smoothly as well:

Forewarning:
If you choose to follow the instructions below for basic maintenance, please pay attention to the dialogue boxes as you download the tools and uncheck any prechecked boxes to prevent from installing things you do not want such as scanners, toolbars and browsers that are advertised with the downloads.

1st: - Download Ccleaner.

Install and use with the default settings.

NOTE:
Ccleaner includes a Registry cleaner, and we advise not to use this or any registry cleaner as there have been reports of them clearing out needed registry entries and messing up PCs. In addition, what they do clean up is so small that little or no advantages are noticed.

Modifying registry keys incorrectly can cause Windows instability, or make Windows unbootable. No registry cleaner is completely safe and the potential is ever present to cause more problems than they claim to fix.

Registry cleaners cannot distinguish between good and bad. If you run a registry cleaner, it will delete all those keys which are obsolete and sitting idle; but in reality, those keys may well be needed by some programs or windows at a later time.

TOUR > CCleaner - After Installation


2nd: - Download TFC (Temporary File Cleaner)

Double-click TFC.exe to run it.

Note: For anyone running on Vista or Win7, right-click on the file and choose Run As Administrator

TFC will close all programs when run, so make sure you have saved all your work before you begin. And don't be alarmed when your desktop disappears, it will reappear upon reboot.

• Click the Start button to begin the cleaning process.
• Depending on how often you clean temp files, execution time should be anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or two.
• Please do not be alarmed when your desktop disappears. It will reappear after reboot.
• Please let TFC run uninterrupted until it is finished.

TFC requires a reboot immediately after running. Be sure to save any unsaved work before running TFC.


3rd: - Disk cleanup which is included in Windows.

Go to > Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup

4th: - Windows Defrag- I personally prefer Auslogics Disk Defrag though you will find Windows defrag is included with Windows.

Go to > Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter

Why Auslogics Disk Defrag?

• It does a more comprehensive job at Defragging
  It will actually show you what it is doing
  At the end of working it will show you how much speed you picked up

I also see a few programs that are running at Start up that could be stopped which will help speed things up a bit. For now, uninstall 1 of the 2 AV's, perform some basic maintenance and try Canuck's solution and let us know if there is any difference.

Once you have completed the above, and if you'd like, please post a fresh HJT log and we can point out which Start ups to stop for better performance.