After a while (an hour or so) of the computer being on, it has a tendancy to start slowing down. What happens is every few seconds, the computer starts to pause. That means the mouse will stop moving for about 2 seconds then come back then stop then come back, etc. Same story when I am typing. I tried to use Cacheman to free up the cache but it did absolutely nothing. As I am typing this post, there are paused about every 5 seconds that last 2 seconds long. Whenever the computer performs an action (such as if I press a link on a website) the pause can last up to 10 seconds which is extremely irritating. Pop-ups also make the pauses extremely long since the computer is performing an action. Anyone have any idea what might be causing this? So far, I have found the only solution to be is to restart the computer every time the problem comes. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Regards

how old is the computer? do you hear the harddrive starting up whenever it pauses? do you hear a clicking?

scratch how old it is, forgot to look at your cpu info

1st step , run a virus check from 1 of these & then give it a good clean out . Online Virus check ( free ) http://housecall.antivirus.com/ http://www.coledata.com/virusalert.htm http://www.cybertechhelp.com/html/misc/av.php http://www.pandasoftware.es/activescan/activescan-com.asp - From Windows Explorer , Delete all the files ( except the read only file ) in Windows > Applog . Taskmon will rebuild the Applog file . http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q218160 To view Applog , do this . Windows Explorer > View > Folder Options > View , click on Show all files . Click OK . http://www.windows-help.net/windows98/start-17.shtml If you have plenty of memory , disable Taskmon . Start > Run , type in msconfig & press Enter . Click on Startup & untick TaskMonitor . -- Run Scandisk Standard ( do not Tick > Automatically fix errors ) Scandisk log records the errors . http://users.iafrica.com/c/cq/cquirke/scandisk.htm http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;q259161&FR=1 Computer Speed and Performance May Decrease The information in this article applies to: Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition Microsoft Windows 98 Microsoft Windows 95 Streamling startups . http://www.pcforrest.freeserve.co.uk/streamlining_startups.htm http://ww2.whidbey.net/djdenham/Uncheck.htm http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm http://www.3dspotlight.com/tweaks/startup/start4.shtml http://www2.whidbey.net/djdenham/Running_items.htm http://www.djbdesigns.com/wtvzone/startup.html - You can protect your comp from Spyfiles by using these 3 programs together . http://beam.to/spybotsd What does SpyBot-Search & Destroy? SpyBot-S&D searches your hard drive for so-called spy- or adbots; little modules that are responsible for the ads many programs display. But many of these modules also transmit information about your surfing behaviour and more to the net. If SpyBot-S&D finds such modules, it can remove them - or replace them with empty dummies in case their host software won't run with its bot removed. In most cases, the host still runs fine after removing the bot. For a list of 'supported' bots see the feature lists below. The Spybot-S&D interface is so easy, that updates just require replacing a file of about 80k in size. Those updates are distributed by my software mailinglist, over this page and are also available from inside the programs update section. Another feature of Spybot S&D is the removal of usage tracks, which makes it more complicated for unknown spybots to transmit useful data. The list of last visited websites, opened files, started programs, cookies, all that and more can be cleaned. Supported are the three major browsers Internet Explorer, Netscape Communicator and Opera. Last but not least Spybot-S&D contains some routines to find and correct invalid entries into the registry. Red entries indicate spyware problems that should be fixed to avoid security and/or privacy problems. This is the only kind of problem that is preselected to be fixed. Black entries are system internals. If you do not know what they mean, I would suggest to either keep your fingers from it or visit the support forum. Green entries indicate usage tracks. It can do no harm to remove these. I personally only remove the Red entries as the Green entries remove items I use . Make sure you use the SpyBot > Online > Update button regularly . ----- http://www.wilderssecurity.com/spywareblaster.html SpywareBlaster doesn't scan and clean for spyware - it prevents it from ever being installed. How? By setting a "kill bit" for the CLSIDs of spyware ActiveX controls, it prevents the installation of any of them from a webpage. You can run Internet Explorer with Active-X enabled, but you will never even get a "Yes/No" box popped up, asking you to install a spyware Active-X control (Internet Explorer will never download or run it!). All other Active-X controls or plug-ins will work fine. The SpywareBlaster database contains information on these known spyware Active-X controls. Make sure you run the Check For Updates feature frequently to get the latest database! (And make sure you check the new items to protect your system against them!) As a side benefit, setting this "kill bit" will also prevent the spyware Active-X from running, in many cases, if it is already installed on your system.* -------- http://www.wilderssecurity.com/spywareguard.html SpywareGuard provides a real-time protection solution against spyware that is a great addition to SpywareBlaster's protection method. An anti-virus program scans files before you open them and prevents execution if a virus is detected - SpywareGuard does the same thing, but for spyware! And you can easily have an anti-virus program running alongside SpywareGuard. Features Listing: Fast scanning engine Scans exe and cab files - the two most popular file types for distributing spyware Signature-based scanning - for known spyware (list) Heuristic/generic detection capabilities - some spyware programs can be detected even if the code undergoes significant changes Small size - with a small size and small definition sizes, download and updates are quick SG Control Panel - provides easy access to help and integration options SG LiveUpdate - provides an easy updating solution Spyware files are blocked before being opened or run - they are not simply shut down after they are loaded in memory (and after they have performed their tasks) The full path to the spyware executable is provided on the alert screen Once a spyware file is detected and blocked from running, the options are provided to either continue or to delete the spyware file It's a free download http://shellcity.net/cgi-bin/DB_Search/db_search.cgi?setup_file=alphapage.setup.cgi&submit_search=yes&alpha=0-9 http://www.1cleanup.com/ 1CLEANUP..........Clears your computer of Unneeded Files: These may possess any attributes left to be specified by the user. In addition, all zero length files and folders are included automatically. Recent Documents: Recently accessed files which are displayed in Start Menu-> Documents and stored in Windows' Recent folder. Favorites and Bookmarks: All favorites and bookmarks created and stored over time by the user. IE Cache: This includes cookies, history and Temporary Internet Files created by the Internet Explorer. Dead Shortcuts: Shortcuts to files that have been moved to another location or deleted from the computer after the shortcut was created.....(free).....GO THERE! Or , http://www.fsm.nl/ward/ Spider finds hidden Url's that other mean's don't . Cleans > 1 . Hidden Url's . 2 . Temporary Internet Files . 3 . History Files . 4 . Cookies . Click on Spider , not Spider Bite . - Index.dat Delindex works in Win98 and WinME . http://www.burzurq.com/forum/delindex.html The primary purpose of Delindex is to delete Index.dat files which are never resized, and only get bigger. These files contain all your web surfing history since they were (re)created, and large index.dat files can cause performance issues with browsing. Index.dat files cannot be deleted if Explorer is running. The secondary purpose is to delete junk files for reasons of space, privacy, and performance. Delindex is "stand-alone" program and requires no installation and no other files to run. All notes are within the program, so there are no separate ReadMe or Help files.

Might want to consider going here: http://www.lurkhere.com/~nicefiles/ and downloading Hijack This!. It is a good and simple to use program. Unzip it, launch the program, and then press "Config" > "Miscellaneous Tools", and "Generate Startuplist Log". A text file that lists all running processes, the applications that are loaded automatically when you start Windows, and more, is created. Go to Edit > Select All, and copy/post its contents for us to take a gander.

Thanks for all the replies. The first thing I did today was I ran Norton Antivirus with the latest virus definitions. It found no virus. Then I ran Norton WinDoctor which is part of Norton Utilities. It found only 6 errors, none of which are critical at all (just some missing shortcuts). I then ran Windows ScanDisk Standard and it found absolutely no errors. I then ran SpyBot Search & Destroy which I do on a regular basis and it just found some basic spyware files like Alexa. I then backed up the Applog folder and deleted it from the C:\WINDOWS folder. Then I ran disk clean up. My system resources are well above the 70% range which is great. I am really puzzled at this problem. The strange thing is this periodic pauses started to appear after I defragged my heavily fragmented hard drive. Instead of making my computer run more efficiently, I found no changes whatsoever in terms of computer performance and have started to have the periodic pauses. Maybe I shouldn't have defragged it. I ran Hijack This, and here is the information you requested: ---------------- StartupList report, 4/8/03, 9:16:07 PM StartupList version: 1.52 Started from : C:\UNZIPPED\HIJACKTHIS193\HIJACKTHIS.exe Detected: Windows 98 SE (Win9x 4.10.2222A) Detected: Internet Explorer v5.51 SP2 (5.51.4807.2300) * Using default options ================================================== Running processes: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KERNEL32.DLL C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSGSRV32.exe C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MPREXE.exe C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\mmtask.tsk C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WINMODEM.101\wmexe.exe C:\PROGRAM FILES\WILD FILE\GOBACK\GBPOLL.exe C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSTASK.exe C:\WINDOWS\TASKMON.exe C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SYSTRAY.exe C:\WINDOWS\STARTER.exe C:\WINDOWS\GWHOTKEY.exe C:\WINDOWS\TPPALDR.exe C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\STIMON.exe C:\WINDOWS\TPPSTRAY.exe C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\REAL\UPDATE_OB\REALSCHED.exe C:\PROGRAM FILES\NORTON ANTIVIRUS\NAVAPW32.exe C:\PROGRAM FILES\MOTIVE\TUNER\COMMON\MOTMON.exe C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT MONEY\SYSTEM\REMINDER.exe C:\PROGRAM FILES\WILD FILE\GOBACK\GBMENU.exe C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WMIEXE.exe C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\DDHELP.exe C:\PROGRAM FILES\INTERNET EXPLORER\IEXPLORE.exe C:\PROGRAM FILES\INTERNET EXPLORER\IEXPLORE.exe C:\PROGRAM FILES\INTERNET EXPLORER\IEXPLORE.exe C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.exe C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\PSTORES.exe C:\UNZIPPED\HIJACKTHIS193\HIJACKTHIS.exe --------------------- Listing of startup folders: Shell folders Startup: [C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp] GoBack.lnk = C:\Program Files\Wild File\GoBack\GBMenu.exe STARUPDATER.EXE.lnk = C:\PROGRAM FILES\STAR ALLIANCE TIMETABLE\STARUPDATER.exe --------------------- Autorun entries from Registry: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run ScanRegistry = C:\WINDOWS\scanregw.exe /autorun TaskMonitor = C:\WINDOWS\taskmon.exe SystemTray = SysTray.exe EnsoniqMixer = starter.exe LoadPowerProfile = Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme Multi-function Keyboard = GWHotKey.exe TPP Auto Loader = C:\WINDOWS\TPPALDR.exe StillImageMonitor = C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\STIMON.exe TkBellExe = "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe" -osboot 3dfx Tools = rundll32.exe 3dfxCmn.dll,CMNUpdateOnBoot 3dfx Task Manager = "C:\Program Files\3dfx Interactive\3dfx Tools\Apps\3dfxMan.exe" Norton Auto-Protect = C:\PROGRA~1\NORTON~1\NAVAPW32.exe /LOADQUIET StarUpdater = --------------------- Autorun entries from Registry: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices winmodem = WINMODEM.101\wmexe.exe LoadPowerProfile = Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme GoBack Polling Service = C:\Program Files\Wild File\GoBack\GBPoll.exe SchedulingAgent = mstask.exe --------------------- Shell & screensaver key from C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI: Shell=Explorer.exe SCRNSAVE.EXE= drivers=mmsystem.dll power.drv --------------------- C:\WINDOWS\WININIT.BAK listing: (Created 5/4/2003, 22:50:20) [rename] nul=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\~ef7194.tmp nul=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\~ef7194.tmp --------------------- C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT listing: C:\PROGRA~1\NORTON~1\NAVDX.exe /Startup C:\PROGRA~1\WILDFI~1\GOBACK\GB_PROG.exe /i C:1159 SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 H7 P330 T6 SET SBPCI=C:\SBPCI PROMPT $P$G PATH=C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\;C:\CDROM;C:\BRCD\BIN;C:\BRCD\COMMAND LH C:\DVDROM\MSCDEX /D:MSCD000 --------------------- Enumerating Browser Helper Objects: (no name) - C:\PROGRAM FILES\ADOBE\ACROBAT 5.0\READER\ACTIVEX\ACROIEHELPER.OCX - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} --------------------- Enumerating Task Scheduler jobs: Tune-up Application Start.job Scan for Viruses.job --------------------- Enumerating Download Program Files: [Shockwave Flash Object] InProcServer32 = C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MACROMED\FLASH\FLASH.OCX CODEBASE = http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab [Shockwave ActiveX Control] InProcServer32 = C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MACROMED\DIRECTOR\SWDIR.DLL CODEBASE = http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/director/swdir.cab [Update Class] InProcServer32 = C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\IUCTL.DLL CODEBASE = http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/CAB/x86/ansi/iuctl.CAB?37633.6672337963 [{41F17733-B041-4099-A042-B518BB6A408C}] CODEBASE = http://a1540.g.akamai.net/7/1540/52/20021205/qtinstall.info.apple.com/borris/us/win/QuickTimeInstaller.exe [sys Class] InProcServer32 = C:\WINDOWS\DOWNLOADED PROGRAM FILES\PCPITSTOP.DLL CODEBASE = http://www.pcpitstop.com/pcpitstop/PCPitStop.CAB [OPUCatalog Class] InProcServer32 = C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\OPUC.DLL CODEBASE = http://office.microsoft.com/productupdates/content/opuc.cab [iCC Class] InProcServer32 = C:\WINDOWS\DOWNLOADED PROGRAM FILES\PCPCONNCHECK.DLL CODEBASE = http://www.pcpitstop.com/internet/pcpConnCheck.cab [DiskHealth Class] InProcServer32 = C:\WINDOWS\DOWNLOADED PROGRAM FILES\CONFLICT.1\DISKHEALTH.DLL CODEBASE = http://www.pcpitstop.com/pcpitstop/diskhealth.cab [CoGSManager Class] InProcServer32 = C:\WINDOWS\DOWNLOADED PROGRAM FILES\GSMANAGER.DLL CODEBASE = http://gamingzone-dev.ubisoft.com/dev/packages/GSManager.cab [printQuick Browser Add In] InProcServer32 = C:\WINDOWS\DOWNLO~1\PRINTQ~1.DLL CODEBASE = http://www.pqpc.com/plugin/axversion/1000/printQuick.cab [MaxisSimCity4PatcherX Control] InProcServer32 = C:\WINDOWS\DOWNLO~1\MAXISS~1.OCX CODEBASE = http://simcity.ea.com/patch/MaxisSimCity4PatcherX.cab [WTHoster Class] InProcServer32 = C:\WINDOWS\WT\WEBDRIVER\WTHOSTCTL.DLL CODEBASE = http://install.wildtangent.com/bgn/partners/ea/needforspeed/install.cab --------------------- Enumerating ShellServiceObjectDelayLoad items: WebCheck: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WEBCHECK.DLL --------------------- End of report, 6,710 bytes Report generated in 0.282 seconds Command line options: /verbose - to add additional info on each section /complete - to include empty sections and unsuspicious data /full - to include several rarely-important sections /force9x - to include Win9x-only startups even if running on WinNT /forcent - to include WinNT-only startups even if running on Win9x /forceall - to include all Win9x and WinNT startups, regardless of platform /history - to list version history only ---------------- That's everything. Thanks for all the replies. Looking forward to your recommendations. Kind Regards

Anyone????