Very slow startup with XP, slow performance

[beckyjc]

This started happening a few days up, but after windows boots up and gets to the desk top it takes a good 10 minutes for it to fully load and become usable, Ive noticed my RAM/CPU getting eaten up more than usual too.

I'm not running a horrendous computer by any means.

    Computer:
      Operating System                                  Microsoft Windows XP Professional
      OS Service Pack                                   Service Pack 3
      DirectX                                           4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
      Computer Name                                     BECKY-9934FB30D
      User Name                                         Becky

    Motherboard:
      CPU Type                                          DualCore AMD Opteron, 2000 MHz (10 x 200)
      Motherboard Name                                  Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe  (3 PCI, 2 PCI-E x1, 2 PCI-E x16, 4 DDR DIMM, Audio, Dual Gigabit LAN, IEEE-1394)
      Motherboard Chipset                               nVIDIA nForce4 SLI, AMD Hammer
      System Memory                                     2048 MB  (PC3200 DDR SDRAM)
      BIOS Type                                         Award (09/29/06)
      Communication Port                                Communications Port (COM1)
      Communication Port                                ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

    Display:
      Video Adapter                                     nVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT PCI-E (Asus EN6600GT)
      3D Accelerator                                    nVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT PCI-E

    Multimedia:
      Audio Adapter                                     nVIDIA MCP04 - Audio Codec Interface

    Partitions:
      C: (NTFS)                                         476929 MB (329472 MB free)

    BIOS Properties:
      Vendor                                            Phoenix Technologies, LTD
      Version                                           ASUS A8N-SLI DELUXE ACPI BIOS Revision 1805
      Release Date                                      09/29/2006
      Size                                              512 KB
      Boot Devices                                      Floppy Disk, Hard Disk, CD-ROM, ATAPI ZIP, LS-120
      Capabilities                                      Flash BIOS, Shadow BIOS, Selectable Boot, EDD, BBS
      Supported Standards                               DMI, APM, ACPI, PnP
      Expansion Capabilities                            PCI, USB

    Processor Properties:
      Manufacturer                                      AMD
      Version                                           Dual Core AMD Opteron(tm) Processor 170
      External Clock                                    200 MHz
      Maximum Clock                                     3700 MHz
      Current Clock                                     2000 MHz
      Type                                              Central Processor
      Voltage                                           1.3 V
      Status                                            Enabled
      Socket Designation                                Socket 939

Worth mentioning, my graphics card failed a while ago and i'd imagine causes quite a bit of slacking from running with interegated graphics.

There are no updates for my BIOS.

I regularly defrag, clean and optimize my system using Advanced Computer Care, I have malwarebytes and microsoft security essentials always running, i regularly scan for virus/spyware/malware with them. I also scanned with spybot, eset online scanner, symantec antivirus, XP tools pro and iobit 360.

I tried bootvis, and removing all unnecessary programs from startup. I only have 7 programmes running from startup (in msconfig), ive turned off unused hardware on my computer, used tweak UI to disable a lot of stuff and have generally optimized it for performance with audio production.

I'm thinking its either too much spring cleaning has damaged my system, or there's something that all of these programmes are missing.

Hijackthis log

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.4
Scan saved at 4:08:31 AM, on 02/04/2011
Platform: Windows XP SP3 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP3 (6.00.2900.5512)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\csrss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
c:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Client\Antimalware\MsMpEng.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Digidesign\Drivers\MMERefresh.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jqs.exe
C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamservice.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\M-Audio\MIDISPORT\AudioDevMon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\SOUNDMAN.EXE
C:\Program Files\Belkin\F5D9050\Belkinwcui.exe
C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamgui.exe
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Client\msseces.exe
C:\Program Files\Winstep\workshelf.exe
C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
C:\Program Files\Taskbar Activate\TaskbarActivate.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\alg.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wscntfy.exe
C:\Program Files\IObit\Advanced SystemCare 3\AWC.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugin-container.exe
C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HiJackThis\HiJackThis.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = 
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch = 
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page = 
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page = 
R3 - URLSearchHook: (no name) - {472734EA-242A-422b-ADF8-83D1E48CC825} - (no file)
O2 - BHO: Increase performance and video formats for your HTML5 <video> - {326E768D-4182-46FD-9C16-1449A49795F4} - C:\Program Files\DivX\DivX Plus Web Player\npdivx32.dll
O2 - BHO: Use the DivX Plus Web Player to watch web videos with less interruptions and smoother playback on supported sites - {593DDEC6-7468-4cdd-90E1-42DADAA222E9} - C:\Program Files\DivX\DivX Plus Web Player\npdivx32.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {5C255C8A-E604-49b4-9D64-90988571CECB} - (no file)
O2 - BHO: Windows Live Sign-in Helper - {9030D464-4C02-4ABF-8ECC-5164760863C6} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live\WindowsLiveLogin.dll
O2 - BHO: Google Toolbar Helper - {AA58ED58-01DD-4d91-8333-CF10577473F7} - C:\Program Files\Google\Google Toolbar\GoogleToolbar_32.dll
O2 - BHO: Google Toolbar Notifier BHO - {AF69DE43-7D58-4638-B6FA-CE66B5AD205D} - C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbarNotifier\5.6.6209.1142\swg.dll
O2 - BHO: Java(tm) Plug-In 2 SSV Helper - {DBC80044-A445-435b-BC74-9C25C1C588A9} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jp2ssv.dll
O2 - BHO: JQSIEStartDetectorImpl - {E7E6F031-17CE-4C07-BC86-EABFE594F69C} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\lib\deploy\jqs\ie\jqs_plugin.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Google Toolbar - {2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F} - C:\Program Files\Google\Google Toolbar\GoogleToolbar_32.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SoundMan] SOUNDMAN.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [F5D9050] C:\Program Files\Belkin\F5D9050\Belkinwcui.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [DigidesignMMERefresh] C:\Program Files\Digidesign\Drivers\MMERefresh.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware] "C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamgui.exe" /starttray
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [MSC] "c:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Client\msseces.exe" -hide -runkey
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Workshelf] C:\Program Files\Winstep\workshelf.exe autostart
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\Run: [CTFMON.EXE] C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTFMON.EXE (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\Run: [CTFMON.EXE] C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTFMON.EXE (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-18\..\Run: [CTFMON.EXE] C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTFMON.EXE (User 'SYSTEM')
O4 - HKUS\.DEFAULT\..\Run: [CTFMON.EXE] C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTFMON.EXE (User 'Default user')
O4 - Startup: Taskbar Activate.lnk = C:\Program Files\Taskbar Activate\TaskbarActivate.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: Google Sidewiki... - res://C:\Program Files\Google\Google Toolbar\Component\GoogleToolbarDynamic_mui_en_D183CA64F05FDD98.dll/cmsidewiki.html
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~3\Office12\REFIEBAR.DLL
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - C:\WINDOWS\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: @xpsp3res.dll,-20001 - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - C:\WINDOWS\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O20 - AppInit_DLLs: ,
O22 - SharedTaskScheduler: Browseui preloader - {438755C2-A8BA-11D1-B96B-00A0C90312E1} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\browseui.dll
O22 - SharedTaskScheduler: Component Categories cache daemon - {8C7461EF-2B13-11d2-BE35-3078302C2030} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\browseui.dll
O22 - SharedTaskScheduler: ObjectDockShellExt - {1984D045-52CF-49cd-DB77-08F378FEA4DB} - C:\Program Files\Stardock\ObjectDockPlus2\ODMenu.dll
O23 - Service: Digidesign MME Refresh Service (DigiRefresh) - Digidesign, A Division of Avid Technology, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Digidesign\Drivers\MMERefresh.exe
O23 - Service: digiSPTIService - Digidesign, A Division of Avid Technology, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Digidesign\Pro Tools\digiSPTIService.exe
O23 - Service: Google Software Updater (gusvc) - Google - C:\Program Files\Google\Common\Google Updater\GoogleUpdaterService.exe
O23 - Service: Java Quick Starter (JavaQuickStarterService) - Sun Microsystems, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jqs.exe
O23 - Service: Process Monitor (LVPrcSrv) - Logitech Inc. - c:\program files\common files\logishrd\lvmvfm\LVPrcSrv.exe
O23 - Service: MBAMService - Malwarebytes Corporation - C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamservice.exe
O23 - Service: MIDISPORT Audio Device Monitor (MIDISPORTAudioDevMon) - M-Audio - C:\Program Files\M-Audio\MIDISPORT\AudioDevMon.exe

--
End of file - 6322 bytes

Any ideas would be appreciated
Thanks
Becky

 

[bazz2004]

Any reason why you can't simply replace the failed graphics card? It's easy and they don't necessarily cost much. Make sure it will fit the required slot and doesn't require any other upgrade like a more powerful PSU. If you want to stick with the onboard graphics there may be some settings you could change in the BIOS.

 

[Steven Pilgrim]

Probably a good idea to replace that old video card with a new one you can also try defragmenting the registry, also if you go to blackviper.com you can find a list of services which you can safely disable on your OS, if that feels try checking your HDD for any damage and replace it if theres any damage hope this helps

 

[beckyjc]

I'm a student, on a student budget. The only money i have goes towards transport costs for getting me to college.

I had to buy a new hard drive the other week to replace the previous one that was failing.

I've been using my computer fine with the failed card for almost 6 months. Other than some white lines on the boot screen and jumpy scrolling it hasnt caused any other problems. I do intend to replace to card as soon as i have some spare change.

I used advanced system care to defrag my registry too.

 

[gbhall]

The most obvious possibility is your video card is increasingly faulty.

Also, I should point out, unless you like to play games or play DVD videos at high resolutions, the cheapest graphics are more than capable of giving you all you need.

You cannot rule out a faulty HDD, even a brand new one. Your problems coincided quite quickly to the new HDD, yes? Check this, any bells ring after the first page? http://www.google.co.uk/products/ca...050CLA362&cid=17148002124327055764&os=reviews

You are right to be concerned about overdoing the spring cleaning. And the security. If it was not a lot of work that you may not have time for, I would suggest a reinstall, or better than that, use GpartEd to create a second partition and install XP again in dual boot, then move everything to the new copy if it proves that you have made the existing OS unstable.

What is this about 'integrated graphics? According to your motherboard site, there are no integrated motherboard graphics, there is a clever PCI setup enabling dual PCI card to 'just work'.

Please come back for advice if you decide to dual-boot (fairly easy) and then eliminate the original copy (can trip you up).

 

[Steven Pilgrim]

You might also want to check your hard drive cable for any damage and replace it if need be, also too your HD cable be starting to become worn out etc depending on how old it is, also don't forget to check the hard drive connectors on your motherboard for any damage etc

 

[beckyjc]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I checked some stuff in my BIOS as it turns out i had the boot order wrong. Setting it to boot from hard disk first shaved off quite a bit of boot time. It still feels a bit slow, running a full band session on ProTools LE 8 takes up like 70% of my CPU.

I'm not totally ruling out hard drive issues, as my last drive that became unusable from bad sectors was only a year old before i gave in with it.

I've checked my hard drive for read times and what not before i reinstalled the OS, it seemed to be in perfect condition.

I'm using a brand new SATA cable with this HDD, but ill have a look inside see if i can spot any broken looking connectors/cables, i clean the inside of my PC quite regulary too.

I'll try pick up a new graphics card and see if that solves my issues, idealy i want something at least to the specs of the one i had previous.
Im not sure on the integrated graphics, i just assumed, it just refuses to install the drivers for the card so I have no idea how its running.

If not i'll set up a partition and reinstall the OS.
Details on how to get rid of the old OS if i do? Could i not just format that partition? I understand id have to set the new partition to primary, but would i have to use a bootloader to boot into the new OS initially so i can rescue my files?

 

[gbhall]

After installing a second partition, the boot loader will automatically have two entries, and unless you set the one you want first, with a zero wait time, you will always get a starting prompt.

Research 'boot.ini' for details. Each partition has it's own line.

Then if you simply format the original partition (but dont remove it) the boot.ini would still point to the correct partition to start. Unfortunately, it will probably also mean that boot.ini is gone anyway and the PC will not boot at all....

Instead, you might delete the partition and use gpartEd etc to enlarge the second partition downwards to use the space. That of course means what is now the second partition, becomes the first, and boot.ini points to the wrong partition - if it is on that partition at all.

in either case, the install CD can repair those problems in seconds by booting off the install media into repair mode and running bootcfg /rebuild Takes seconds, but you just have to know to do it and not panic when the PC wont boot !

One other thing - to install XP at all on a SATA you probably had to set the SATA to IDE emulation mode. It may be the SATA drive would work faster in it's native mode. I can't tell you exactly - you would need to install the SATA drivers for the motherboard, and then enter the bios to set the drive to SATA mode whatever. I think.....your motherboard manual could help.

 

[g4mer]

You can increase startup with BootVis.

 

[bbearren]

You have MBAM and MSE both active. You need to make a choice; only one AV/AM running on any one machine at any one time. They are both trying to do the same things with the same files and quite probably conflicting with each other.

I use MSE fulltime, and run an occaisional scan with MalwareBytes Free Version. That doesn't cause any conflicts.

If you've been using registry cleaners, there's no telling what damage may have been done to your registry.

 

[ravisunny2]

This started happening a few days up, but after windows boots up and gets to the desk top it takes a good 10 minutes for it to fully load and become usable, Ive noticed my RAM/CPU getting eaten up more than usual too.

So whatever is causing the problem, happened a few days ago.

1. Did you install any new hardware / software ?

2. BootVis works only upto XP-SP2.

3. MSE can slow things down, sometimes, but not as much as you have stated.

4. Your virus scans do not necessarily cover all the malware. Might as well go through with the 6/8 Steps in the Virus & Malware forum.

5. Sometimes a CHKDSK /r, can do wonders. (It can take a long time)


Here are some things you could try (if you haven’t already done so)

A. Remove the add-on graphic card, and use only the integrated/onboard video. See if there is a significant improvement.
This should have caught the graphics card, if it is the culprit.

B. Back up your important data to CD/DVD before trying the rest

1. Turn OFF System Restore temporarily (Risky sometimes, but I do it often)

2. Use Wise Registry Cleaner (Fix only the safe ones)

3. Use Ccleaner to wipe MFT and free space.

4. Use MyDefrag to defragment the harddisk.

5. Turn ON the System Restore again.


C. Create a new partition D (for storing you data) using EASEUS Partition Master 8.0.1 (free)

D. Format recommended is NTFS.

E. Move all your Data (docs, pics... non-system related stuff) from C (systems partition) to D (data partition)

F. Repeat Step B.

You can also do a clean install of windows on the System Partition.

During the install, format the entire System Partition, and do not use Quick Format.

Your data on the D (Data Partition) will remain unaffected.

 

[beckyjc]

I think i might just go with the partition -> reinstall option and this time round be more carefull with my system tweaking, the way ravisunny reccomended seems much less hassle.

I mustve disabled icon caching, its booting much faster after rebuilding the icon cache, but im still finding at times my CPU is at 100% when im not really doing much, which is problematic trying to run pro tools sessions.

I havent installed anything major recently, a few RTAS plug ins for pro tools, a driver for my Midi -> USB cable, and some updates.

I didnt really realse MSE and MBAM are doing the same thing, I asked my dad for some advice on a good anti-virus/spyware/malware that wont hog my computer since symantec that i had was way too intensive. Generally when im working with my audio production stuff i disable the interweb and anti-virus stuff anyway.

I dont often defrag the registry, i've done it maybe a few times. since re-installing the OS.

I'll try checking for bad sectors too, im pretty confident my HDD is fine though.

There isnt an integrated card, so i cant remove it, it's just burnt out and running without drivers, apologies, that was my mistake.

I'll have another run through with the programmes you reccomended see if I can solve my issues.

THankyou all very much
I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[beckyjc]

well, i did the CC cleaner to wipe free space, and the registry cleaner, then scheduled a check disk /f...

After a restart it doesnt do anything at all, screen just goes black after the hardware load screen, no cursor, im hoping it might be because i turned GUI mode off and its disk checking without me being able to see.

With my luck my pcs just gone kaput.

The light on the monitor is still green, and the computer appears to be doing something...

 

[ravisunny2]

I sure hope you read the entire post, especially this part:

B. Back up your important data to CD/DVD before trying the rest

 

[gbhall]

chkdsk /r requires a reboot and will not use any of Windows - normally you just get a basic dos-like screen using very basic video. Chances are your faulty video card just wont display that. chkdsk /r can take an hour, or hours....

If worst comes to worse, you can download (say) ubuntu desktop .iso to burn a cd, boot off it, and voila - you can see all your data, copy it to usb, etc etc. Then with data safe, start over.

 

[beckyjc]

booted with ERD Commander and changed the boot.ini file to enable gui mode, also system restored, back working again.

I think chkdsk was running but not displaying.

My important data (Music collection, pro tools sessions, work, movies) wouldnt fit on 50 CDs , so thats not really an option...

I've got a new graphics card on order.

Partitioned my computer to keep the OS and the important stuff seperate.

I'll see if the new card helps, if not i should be able to cleanly install over it.

Thanks again.

 

[gbhall]

OK. having a separate partition for data is good, it means if you lose your OS due to corruption, infection or bad sectors, your data is still safe, and routine imaging of your OS to the other partition is quick because it is not very big. You can be back up and running in 10 minutes.

But it's not as good as a separate drive, because if the HDD fails, both partitions are lost. The ideal solution for that is a sizeable HDD in a USB enclosure. This is a birthday present idea - [http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb...=computers&field-keywords=external+hard+drive. Portable, safe, moves from PC to PC with no re-install whatever....

The 50Gb of data you are talking about, if that is 1000's of small files or it is 90% filling your HDD, then that will slow your PC quite a lot. Especially in that respect, make sure XP indexing service is not wasting cycles trying index the unindexable files.

 

[ravisunny2]

Gbhall is absolutely right.

Note:

1. You have enough space on the harddrive for more partitions. Don’t overload any partition.

2. Download a Duplicate Cleaner and try to weed out the duplicate stuff.

3. Did removing the Video Card, cause any significant improvement ?

4. I would suggest you do a clean install of windows on the System Partition (C).

During the install, format the entire System Partition (C), and do not use Quick Format.

Your data on the D (Data Partition) will remain unaffected.

 

[beckyjc]

I have made partitions for
The OS, Movies/Music, Documents, Recording Sessions and Internet Downloads (I figured this was a good idea keeping downloads seperate from the OS.).

500gb HDD, its no where near full, i just have about 90gb of music, 30 gb of films, 10gb of pro tools sessions, 30gb worth of downloads. No games or nothing (They wouldnt work anyway.. erhhh.). Each partition has at least 50% free space. I have over 300gb spare in total. I meant that the stuff I need to keep wouldnt fit onto CD for backup.

An external hard drive is allready on my christmas list , i'm always terrified i'll lose my data, but my birthdays been this year..

I cleaned duplicates out a while ago, i'll have another look see with Advanced System Care which i think has a duplicate cleaner..

I turned disk indexing off ages ago.

I cant remove the video card, theres no integrated graphics card, so i wouldnt have any where to plug my monitor in

I'll try the clean install after my new Graphics Card arrives if that doesnt help.

I also found that mspeng.exe (something to do with microsoft securitiy essentials.) was still running and hogging a lot of RAM even after disabling MSE, so I had to uninstall that. Will malware bytes give me good enough protection on its own?

 

[ravisunny2]

No!

Mbam is not enough (at least the free version is not).

Try Avast or Avira.

It not an issue that you have an antivirus plus mbam.

I have Avast, Mbam and Spybot. There is no conflict.

Also, you can down load Duplicate Cleaner (Free) from

http://www.digitalvolcano.co.uk/content/duplicate-cleaner

 

[beckyjc]

I have the full version.

MSE was clashing with mbam, this was the reason it was taking so much ram, apparently this is an issue with XP.

I do have spybot too, but i dont tend to run it in real time, the tea timer annoys me, i just apply passive protection.

I'll try avast out though.

I allready have a duplicate cleaner, didnt manage to find much.

 

[ravisunny2]

I turn off Tea Timer, and use Spybot for passive protection, and an occasional scan.

I've had problems with MSE too.

 

[gbhall]

Please do let us know if the new video card solves the problem as expected. It will be useful to know that.

What comes across strongly from your posts is how interested you are in experimenting with your PC and how much you have already learned about software services. This experimentation is - and you have already stated you appreciate the point - a slightly risky thing to do.

However, there is no adequate replacement for experience. I'm just gently trying to warn you that the first and foremost thing to become very expert at, is backup, security and disaster recovery. Knowledge like that will make you an outstandingly useful IT careerist.

 

[Steven Pilgrim]

As far as protection is concerned i would recommend using avast with zone alarm firewall both of which seemed to run fine on a p4 cpu, also as far as backups are concerned you might want to get in the habit of performing double backups( ieL backing up your backup to another device etc).

@ravisunny2: i noticed in your last comment that you said the free version malwarebytes is "not enough" which in my opinion at least isn't true having good security doesn't just mean having a good antvirus etc program you yourself also need to learn how to detect suspicious behavior without the need for an anti virus program, also for your info i have the free version of mbam running on my acer netbook and i hardly ever experience any trouble

 

[bazz2004]

I hope the new graphics card soon arrives and it solves the problems because all this messing around could screw things up completely. Beckyjc make sure that you know exactly what you have to do to install it successfully. Always back up data preferably to a USB stick which is dead easy and quick or to CD. For a student with coursework this is essential. Generally modern computers are reliable and should have few problems in normal usage. Best of luck.