If I was doing a reinstall of XP I would install XP then ensure the built in XP firewall was turned on before going online(which it isn't by default until SP2) to avoid picking up Blaster virus etc the minute you connect. Then I would go to Windows Update & fully patch everything up to SP2 and all the patches since & keep patching until Microsoft said no more critical patches were available. I would then check for other software patches & hardware updates on the same site & install all hardware updates & select appropriate software updates as you see fit. Then I would check the performance of the machine at that point.
After that I would install one by one other applications and note any degradation in performance as each was installed.
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>ensure the built in XP firewall was turned on before going
>online(which it isn't by default until SP2) to avoid picking up
>Blaster virus etc the minute you connect.
That's why I put Zone Alarm and AVG on before I connected.
ZA was blocking all software except itself, AVG updates and MS updates, so I can't see how I've got a virus.
All the sweeps by AVG and AdAware show a clean PC. Even now.
Simon
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With Zonealarm and a (NAT?) router - the windows firewall wouldn't be an issue.
Might be worth turning the Windows firewall off if you have ZA running (ZA is better anyway as it track outbound traffic wich the XP one doesn't) - running both will only add to the system processing/delays with traffic checked twice.
If you go into task manager, (ctrl - alt - del) is the cpu busy (it shows this as a %), are many processes running, is much memory in use?
Is the harddrive doing a lot of work ? Check the fragmentation - you'd be surprised how much it can be even after an install.
I doubt it's a virus or malware from what you say :-)
Keep us posted!
Rgds,
Graham.
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Simon, I don't think you have a virus.
What I try to do is get a satisfactory Win XP installation fully patched (and activated) in all respects before I start installing third party software such as Zonealarm. That way you can judge if it is SP2 causing the problem or not. For example - my experience with Norton Antivirus 2003 on XP has shown me that Norton needed to know it was on a SP2 setup PC, so when it updated itself it set itself up correctly for SP2 otherwise you could wait 10 minutes for it to boot fully until all its patches were in place. By installing all the third party software & then going to Microsoft to patch XP you may not be getting the software set up correctly - hence the slow down.
If I were you I would format & start again (!!) fully patch from MS, then check the performance so you can rule out SP2 being at fault. I've installed XP with SP2 on 5 PC's ranging from new to 8 years old and SP2 has never caused me a problem. Then install (one by one) only an antivirus product, Microsoft's own free antispyware (which runs in the background) and use XP's own firewall at least until you were happy with the performance of the computer before going back to Zonealarm. The biggest resource hog slowing the PC is almost always going to be the antivirus program running in the background.
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Hi Simon,
I tend to agree with V - Windows Server 2003 SP1 takes the view that you should patch before anything else - until you do or are happy to go against the configuration wizard, the only inbound traffic allowed through the firewall is from Windows update.
It'll be a pain to rebuild, but if you install software one by one (rebooting inbetween) hopefully you can identify the culprit.
Lee
--Lee .. Welcome to Anytown USA
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Why not try an XP Repair? It enables you to retain all your programs, applications, utilities, configuration etc.
You may also have to reinstall SP2 (which has never caused me any problems on mine or several other systems I've installed it on; in the case of my son the figure runs into hundreds) and Windows Updates from August 2004 (when SP2 was released).
To save typing, here's a guide to an XP Repair:
tinyurl.com/62te
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>>which it isn't by default until SP2)>>
The Windows Firewall was launched as part of SP2...:-)
SP2 was originally intended to cover the inadequacies of people who couldn't - or wouldn't - take sensible security precautions with Internet Explorer and Outlook Express hy keeping them updated on a regular basis.
The firewall was part of that security and has to be manually disabled by those who already had firewalls such as ZoneAlarm.
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The Windows Firewall was launched as part of SP2...:-)
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"launched" ????? eh? are you sure?
i believe the statement "which it isn't by default until SP2" to be true. unless stuartli can prove otherwise.
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>>I believe the statement "which it isn't by default until SP2" to be true.>>
Apologies - it was Enabled by default in SP2. But as I've always used ZoneAlarm it's never bothered me.
tinyurl.com/22dt3
It's all due to old age...:-(
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