Hi pete

Sorry for the delay, that looks better now. To improve the speed we can try a few things

Both Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger are available via Start > All Programs, you can fix the following entries to prevent them from starting on start up

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MsnMsgr] "C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\MsnMsgr.Exe" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MSMSGS] "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background




The following entry allows MS Office to open quicker, however it is a known resource hog and users who have disabled it report no difference. Unless you make use of the Office Shortcut Bar outside of the Office program then you can fix it.

O4 - Global Startup: Microsoft Office.lnk = D:\Program Files\microsoft office xp\Office10\OSA.EXE


The next entry speeds up Adobe Reader's load not but is not required. You can fix it.

O4 - Global Startup: Adobe Reader Speed Launch.lnk = D:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\reader_sl.exe


From the following 2 AntiSpyware programs choose 1 for realtime protection and disable the other

Spy Sweeper
AVG AntiSpyware


Your Java is out of date. Older versions have vulnerabilities that malware can use to infect your system. Please follow these steps to remove older version Java components and update.

• Download the latest version of Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 6 Update 5 and save it to your desktop.
• Scroll down to where it says "The Java SE Runtime Environment (JRE) allows end-users to run Java applications."
• Click the "Download" button to the right.
• Read the License Agreement and then check the box that says: "Accept License Agreement". The page will refresh.
• Click on the link to download Windows Offline Installation and save the file to your desktop.
• Close any programs you may have running - especially your web browser.
• Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel, double-click on Add/Remove Programs and remove all older versions of Java.
• Check (highlight) any item with Java Runtime Environment (JRE or J2SE) in the name.
• Click the Remove or Change/Remove button.
• Repeat as many times as necessary to remove each Java versions.
• Reboot your computer once all Java components are removed.
• Then from your desktop double-click on jre-6u5-windows-i586-p.exe to install the newest version.

• After the install is complete, go into the Control Panel (using Classic View) and double-click the Java Icon. (looks like a coffee cup)
  • On the General tab, under Temporary Internet Files, click the Settings button.
  • Next, click on the Delete Files button
  • There are two options in the window to clear the cache - Leave BOTH Checked
    • Applications and Applets
      Trace and Log Files
  • Click OK on Delete Temporary Files Window
    Note: This deletes ALL the Downloaded Applications and Applets from the CACHE.
  • Click OK to leave the Temporary Files Window
  • Click OK to leave the Java Control Panel.

Does that help speed things up a bit?

hi, have done as asked it still is running slow, i fixed the msn messenger as asked but after restart it came back on which i would rather prefer anyhow. i suspect it is the avg virus and spyware programs slowing me down. will the adaware/watch not be sufficient on its own. do i need to uninstall combofix and hjt

No AdAware on it's own would not be enough in this era. AVG AntiSpyware is a good on demand scanner but can slow some systems down considerably. Although I wouldn't normally recommend uninstalling AVG AntiSpyware you do have enough protection onboard to do without it. Try uninstalling AVG AntiSpyware to see if that helps with the speed issue.

To uninstall ComboFix click Start > Run and type ComboFix /u This would also perform some other final cleanup steps including clearing out System Restore points and creating a new clean System Restore point.

Leave HijackThis for a couple of weeks to make sure all is ok then you can uninstall/delete it. HijackThis would not use any system resources.

Sometimes having a large hosts file can slow things down a bit. Open HijackThis and click Open the misc tools section then Open hosts file manager. HijackThis will then display your hosts file in a text area. Just above that you should see a line similar to:

Host file is located at c:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts (11322 lines A)


Let us know how many lines you have in your hosts file as well as letting us know if removing AVG AS has made any difference.

hi, uninstalling avg spyware has made a slight difference but not that much. the number of files is listed as 8017 ra.thanks

click Start > Run and type services.msc

• Scroll down to "DNS Client", Right-click and select: Properties
• Click the drop-down arrow for "Startup type"
• Select: Manual, or Disabled (recommended) click Apply/Ok and restart.

Does that help?

hi, pc running better, any other final technical tips appreciated. would like to end this thread as i feel i have bothered you enough as it is. thanks ever so much. gora pete

your very welcome pete it's no trouble. One last tip to improve speed would be to defragment the hard drive if it needs done. After all the activity we have put it through it probably would be needing it, now that all the changes are made it would be a good time. Other than that remember to keep everything updated including Windows.

Happy surfing