Extremely Slow System

[F083153WM]

You guys helped me in the past. My son has been on the PC and god only knows where he was, but the PC is running extremely slow now.
I don't know if he picked up some virus, or spams or worms or whatever.
I am running Microsoft XP on a Dell PC.
Where do I start to check out if something got into my PC?
Thanks for your help again!!

[mikeandike22]

if you have mcafee or norton then do a virus scan if not you might want to get a virus protection program. Then scan using ad-aware and spybot S&D to scan fro spyware and delete those files. Now you should also clear your internet temp files and set the browser cache to a lower level by going opening internet explorer goto tools<internet options<delete files then delete cookies then click settings goto amount of diskspace used and lower down to about anywhere from 80-200.
Now if you are not familiar with p2p programs then look in progam files for names like bit torrent, kazaa, emule, edonkey, gnutella, limewire, k-lite, bearshare. I would uninstall these programs becuase your son might be downloading illegal material. Now just look through your son's folders for anything like movies(.avi,.mpg,.wmv,.vob files),
music(.mp3,.wav,.asf,.mp4) and others that you think shouldnt be there.
Now that you have done all that you might want to set an admin password so you can select what your son is able to do on the computer. Then when comes out update to windows xp sp2 which has better security options that are easy to use.

hope this helps and if you need help setting the admin password you have to ask some one else.

[mikeandike22]

www.pcpitstop.com will give you more ideas on how to fix your system by scanning your system

[F083153WM]

I'll try your recommendations when I get home tonight,
Thanks again!!!

[dlh6213]

if you have mcafee or norton then do a virus scan if not you might want to get a virus protection program. Then scan using ad-aware and spybot S&D to scan fro spyware and delete those files. Now you should also clear your internet temp files and set the browser cache to a lower level by going opening internet explorer goto tools<internet options<delete files then delete cookies then click settings goto amount of diskspace used and lower down to about anywhere from 80-200.
Now if you are not familiar with p2p programs then look in progam files for names like bit torrent, kazaa, emule, edonkey, gnutella, limewire, k-lite, bearshare. I would uninstall these programs becuase your son might be downloading illegal material. Now just look through your son's folders for anything like movies(.avi,.mpg,.wmv,.vob files),
music(.mp3,.wav,.asf,.mp4) and others that you think shouldnt be there.
Now that you have done all that you might want to set an admin password so you can select what your son is able to do on the computer. Then when comes out update to windows xp sp2 which has better security options that are easy to use.

hope this helps and if you need help setting the admin password you have to ask some one else.

One more program to look for is imesh.

[caperjack]

Get The latest Version of Hijackthis 1.98.1

Download 'Hijack This!'.HERE

Unzip (extract) it to a folder of its own.Like c:\HJT\hijackthis.exe ,

Then Doubleclick HijackThis.exe (in the new folder), and hit "Scan".
When the scan is finished, the "Scan" button will change into a "Save

Log" button.
Press that, then Ctrl-A to Select All, and copy its contents here. for

hijackthis,most of what it lists will be harmless or even essential,

don't fix anything yet.

Reboot and post a new log