Are my problems virus related?

[jammin606]

Apologies for my first post being a problem... you know how it is.

I built a system some months ago which I've never been able to get satisfactory performance from - I get regular lag, slow down and pauses in all applications and games from what appears to be HDD access, but I can't tell whether it's hardware or software related.

The system is:

Gigabye UD3P
Seasonic 650w
Q6600
2GB Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC2-8500 (2.0v 4,4,4,12)
1x Samsung 250Gb SATA (windows drive)
1x Samsung F1 1TB SATA (data drive)
Geforce GTX 260
Asus Xonar D2X
Windows XP Pro SP3 AHCI

I have always run a virus checker, mostly Kaspersky, although more recently NOD32 and nothing has ever been reported (including scanning using a NOD32 boot disk). I have also scanned all drives with Malware bytes, Spybot and a number of online virus checkers, all of which show nothing untoward. I have also just worked through the '8-step Viruses/Spyware/Malware Preliminary Removal Instructions', the results of which I have attached.

The lag I experience is always present, but becomes more noticeable as HDD access increases - trying to do anything whilst defrag is running for example (like open My Computer) takes a rediculous amount of time, for the hardware I'm running.

Can anyone offer any suggestions as to what I should do to track this problem down, is this issue virus related - some kind of boot virus perhaps?

Any help is very gratefully received.

 

[raybay]

No problems with infestations detected.
You may have a setup problem, Windows install errors, or a hard drive error.
I would first begin to rule out possible problems, beginning with downloading and running MemTest86 on each memory module individually for four hours or seven passes, which ever is longer.
Too often, hard drives are damaged by impact to packaging and shipping boxes, and the resulting problems are difficult to detect. I would try another hard drive to see if there is a difference. If there is, I would reinstall everything on your original hard drive after checking the manufacturer's website for their hard drive test scans... which work fairly well and only take 10 minutes or so.
Then if overclocked, I would go back to the basic install that is not overclocked to see if there is a difference. if there is, then I would again overclock, but test more often as you go. The incremental approach works for a lot of users.
Good luck. It appears you have selected your components well.

 

[jammin606]

Thanks for the reassurance, I was really starting to wonder if I had some kind of unknown infection.

I ran memtest for 9 hours (0 errors) and then tried plugging the C drive into a different SATA slot. Since then the machine has been much quicker, but if it slows down again I'll switch out the HDD for a new one.

Thanks again.

 

[HDDC]

You may want to check to see if there is a new bios update for your motherboard.

 

[raybay]

If possible, switch the Samsung to a Seagate (my preference) or a Western Digital Black as your Windows drive. We have seen some speed issues in some older Samsung drives. But your data drive should be ok.