Hi,

I bought my computer a while back, about last summer. It doesn't have any pop ups or virus crap in it, but it is bogged down with documents/pictures/games etc.. I'm planning on getting and external hdd, moving all my stuff over to that, then reinstalling xp. But for right now, It seems like my pc is always doing things on its own. I will constantly hear the harddrive making noise, and sometimes i can feel the effect of a slowed down machine. Is this because of background real time virus scans or what is going on. I'll send a HJT report if needed. I really don't want my computer doing things without me knowing.
Thanks

Well I do not think that it is your system and since you have more than enough power behind your system quad core, your best bet would be to install ad-aware se personal, and spybot S&D and also what kind of virus scanner are you using?

Jim R

I've got:
Symantec Antivirus
AVG Free
Lavasoft ad-aware
Spybot
CCleaner
Asquared
Malwarebytes anti-malware

If, as it seems, you have two AV's running then I don't think that is a good idea. Apart from the overactivity you could get conflicts.

The anti-malware programs will probably run OK together.

some other bloke...

agreed uninstall one of the antivirus software, symantec is a resource hog, and avg uses little resources, best bet uninstall symantec. Also it is a good idea to have a firewall on your computer also.

Jim R

Right but that's not really the point, I want to know how to figure out what services are running in the background without me having to go through the msconfig services. Is there a program that monitors what's going on internally?

doomhammerr,

You can always install a 3-rd party software to figure out what processes/services are running in the background. But, to keep things simple Try Windows "Task Manager", as,

Right Click on "Task Bar",
Select "Task Manager",
Click on "Processes" Tab on the top.

See whats running on your system.

Technology Bytes Plus
http://learnitfast.blogspot.com

What's a good third party software?

Try this:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/...

However, at the end of the day if you want to keep control on what is running on your machine you will have to do a heck of a lot of donkey work and research yourself. Third party programs only "help" in this process. There is plenty of information around on Services for starters - Google rules.

If you dump one of those AV's you might find it goes a lot quieter just the same.

some other bloke...

When was the last time you defragged your hard drive? I always find an improvement in performance on my computer after being defraging it. Just an idea.