I was very happy with my cable modem, Win/2000 PC but all of a sudden one day BAM! It's slow as hell. I can barely check my mail, and the internet runs WAY slower. I have downloaded many programs such as Kazza, Adobe, and other various programs but not nearly enough to take up any memory so I ruled that out. I disabled indexing and that didn't seem to work, and I just scanned the system and found that ActiveX seems to be the problem but I'm not even sure where to start to fix it or if that is even the problem. Can someone help me and tell me what is going on?!

HMMM! Kazaa, so we know that you have a lot of spyware on your system that you authorized when you agreed to their license that will slow your system down to a crawl. Go to http://wilders.org/ and get Adaware/Spywareblaster and Spybot. Update Spybot and Adaware and then run their scans. Be advised that you will probably not have Kazaa up and running after all its spyware is removed. How careful are you in scanning the "free" Kazaa files for virus/trojan/worms? There are worms/trojans/viruses that are only available by using Kazaa, which would definitely bring your computer down in speed.

First, let me thank you for the help, it's much appreciated.
Not careful at all, I just download whatever I see...is their any other way to get music for free? It's the only reason I keep Kazza, but if this is the case, yeah, I'll take my computer and buy cd's. Could it be anything else? The word "ActiveX" gets brought up and it showed that my PC had it, so what is that all about?

P.S. I've had Kazza a while BEFORE all of this started happening which is why I'm questioning other reasons.

Kazza is a known means by which the record intustry in the US is "giving away" white noise tracks to find people breeching copyright.

Kazza - if you want it - you would be better off getting Kazzalite. Hase the spyware and other crap taken out.

Or opt for eDonkey or eMule. . .

But what capt has suggested is a good start.

Uninstall your Kazza. Download and install Ad Aware 6. Update it and scan and clean out the muck. Download and install Spybot S&D. Update it and scan again. More muck gone (DO RTFM though! ! ).

Then install the P2P software of your choice!

You should also run a full scan with something like "Stinger" from Mcafee AV. .. I feel you may have something very nasty lurking on your PC . . (Not including Windoze of course! ! !) . . LoL

Good Luck. . .

:o)

ActiveX is a part of Windows. Spywareblaster will protect you from ActiveX hijacks. You can test your ActiveX at PC Pitstop and also check you entire systems performance. They also provide scans for virus, spyware and a host of other things. When you do the performance scan pay special attention to the security settings, and the auto fixes they offer to keep you safe. There is a good on line trojan scan at http://www.pcflank.com/ and you can test your firewall there too. Another site to test your firewall for any open ports is st http://www.grc.com/ and do the "Shields Up" scan for all common ports.

Just reading your post...

If you are going to use Kazaa, then use Kazaa Lite. I just looked online at their web page, www.kazaalite.tk and it's been removed from the dot.tk listings. Jerks.

Anyway, if you want to use a p2p app, I would suggest Shareaza. It's the new(er) program on the block and has tons of features that all the other clients are missing. Multiple searches, unbelievable control over network access, and it allows you to access all the common p2p networks, Gnuetella, Gnuetella2, eDonkey, etc.

I use it, and it works well. You still get the RIAA's crappy tracks occationaly, but not as often as with Kazaa.

Now... as far as your internet connection, have you called your provider? I had a similar problem at one point with AT&T, called them up and found out that they were performing maintanence on one of their switches and were re-routing some of their traffic through a switch halfway across the country. I had slow speeds for about a day and then all was back to normal.

If you're curious, you can check your speed for free at Toast.net. For the most accurate results, run the test using both the text and image. I used the toast.net server and got 2,644Kbps with my Comcast connection. (Upgrading to 3Mbps end of this month :-D)

Hope this helped some.

WOW. I thank all of you for the help...I got adware and actually the problem is FIXED, my computer runs fast again, so I thank you again for the help. With all of the crap I'm going to do now with what said above my PC should be air tight of anything lol. Last I seen Kazza is charging now for it's service, is it the same way with Kazza lite? I might just start buying cd's. It's about music, not money, but it's almost not worth all the hassle of ads and spy/adware crap you get with it. Well, later...thanks once again.

-JD

I think you misunderstand what Kazaa is and how it works.

The Kazaa program is simply a tool that lets you access other Kazaa users' shared files. There is no central server that keeps track of everything. This is why the Kazaa and other gnutella networks are still operating while previously free services like Napster and Audiogalaxy have been shut down, then re-opened as pay services.

As to buying CD's, I agree to some respect. I will buy CDs again when the RIAA stops gouging customers and drops the price to a reasonable level. I will buy CDs again when artists start making quality albums, and not just pawning off a good single that's on a CD filled with crap.

Links of interest (to me at least):

Best Page in the Universe's take on it (some language)

Support it

The fact that the class action against several of the music companies in the US succeeded is testomony to the fact that they have been ripping off customers for years.

It is worse in the UK and Europe.

A CEO of one record company stands up and says that with more and more CD's being produced - this will drives costs down (implying cheaper CD's . ) Last year the same CEO stands up again, saying that CD's are costing more to produce (as a reason the record company is trying to charge more!)
Sorry, he can't have it both ways . . .

So, people have looked for, and found an alternative source for their music. ANd initially Napster supplied it.

What is really bad for the industry generally though is that soometimes HUGE payments are being made to a few "top" artists, and less well known, starters are getting little or nothing.... :o(

Whats making me laugh now is Apple iMusic - charging 99c per track. . . So an album with 10 tracks costs $10.00 and you have no cd, cd case, artwork, nothing. Whos ripping who off now???

Very good ctcnetwork! My sentiments exactly!

That's one interesting thing about Maddox's page. He point out something very good, namely that it cost manufacturers MORE to make a standard cassette tape than a CD, and a CD sells for a lot more than a cassette tape.

CDs are DIRT cheap to make. Like anything it's the setup cost that dings you, but once you get your master done and start stamping the discs, they are pennies to make.

The RIAA and other organizations like it have grown way to big and become very corrupt. They control the record lables, the artists, the distributers, and a good number of US congressmen (I hope you hear this McCain, you dirtbag!).

You're also right about those 'pay-per-track' services. Everyone thinks they're getting a great deal when in reality they are getting ripped off almost more than if they bought a regular CD. At $0.99/track, and say that you want to burn a CD (if you're even allowed to), you have to add in the media, the jewelcase, don't worry about artwork or the little book insert. You've also got to buy a burner and also pay any applicable sales tax on all this stuff.

In the end it's just somebody else looking to make the big money without looking like they are ripping us off. Big surprise that Apple is leading the way...