Internet Explorer 6...So Slow!

[bcsouth]

My operating system is Windows Xp the home version.
It came pre-installed on the computer I bought last year.
I have high speed connection and have had no problems up until last night....when opening anything on my desktop, things run as usual. BUT??? when I click on the Internet Exlporer (version 6) it takes forever to come up and bring up my home page, also outlook express seems to be running slow. If I try and go to any of my favorite sites the same thing happens....its as slow as molasses in January. This seems to have happened all of a sudden. One minute things were great and then soooooo slow!
I checked with my neighbor who is also on the same high speed connection as myself and they are having no problems with there system.
I have always kept up with all the windows updates.
Defragmented on a regular basis.
Disk cleanup regularly.
I did a virus scan and there was nothing there.
I'm thinking there is something wrong with Internet Exlporer???
I'm a novice at all this.
Any idea's???

[dunedin]

Hi,

Since it only happened last night, the first thing I would try is System Restore.

Start / All Programs / Accessories / System Tools / System Restore
Make sure there is a check in "Restore My Computer......" Click "Next"
Look on the calendar for a Bold date before your problem and click it.
Click "Next" and follow instructions. It will take a little while with a reboot and a message at the end to say if successful or not.

If this does not work, post back for more help.You might have got something nasty from Internet, but try this first.

Elaine

[Starman99]

A small word of caution from me about System Restore. I used it a couple of weeks ago to remove Windows Media Player 9. Worked fine but to my utter amazement a bunch of files (not recently installed programs) disappeared. One file in particular, I had three copies on two hard drives and they all disappeared. I had checked them immediately prior to the restore. So, backup anything that is vital!

You did not mention scanning for spyware and adware. Perhaps you forgot to include in the post. It's a must these days. If I get Wurld Media on my pc, the bandwidth on my modem is about zero - I can't browse the internet until I remove it.

[Starman99]

Additional info - you may not know what spyware and adware are. They are small programs that get installed on your pc without your knowledge while surfing. They could put ads on your pc, collect information about you and where you surf, redirect your movements while surfing, hijack online sales commissions and other nasty things. Typically on pcs I have cleaned that have been surfing unprotected, 150-250 items of spyware are detected. The standard removal software used by most people are Spybot and Ad-aware, both free, run both:

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/

http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download
currently maxed out, alternative:
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/spybot.html

[bcsouth]

Thank you for the ideas....
I tried a restore and set the computer back a few days.... the restore worked but system is still soooo very slow.
I downloaded the Adware and Spybot programs and ran both of them..........wow! There was lots of stuff on my system..which is now gone......but still nothing changed.
System is still running sooo very slow!

Any other ideas

[Starman99]

Any other ideas?

Hey I'm a black hole of useless ideas. Next on the list is to delete all Temporary Internet files and cookies. That could be a huge list too - my cookie control software normally runs with a delete list of 400+. You may have some cookies that you want to keep but first the simple route.

Tools/Internet Options/Temporary Internet Files box/Delete Files/check Offline Content/Ok

same Temporary Internet Files box/Delete Cookies

If you are interested in seeing what is there before deletion hit the Settings button then look in the View Files (cookies and temp files). View Objects is usually just things like Java.


Controlling cookies and temp files are a subject in themselves. Here are a few paras from Tweakxp.com:

Quote_________Open Internet Explorer and select Tools - Internet Options - under the General tab in the Temporary Internet files section select the Settings button.

Select "Every visit to the page" and set the amount of disk space to use: to no more than 80MB. Now select the Connections tab and select LAN Settings make sure EVERYTHING there is unchecked and select OK.

Select the Privacy tab and choose Advanced check the box "Override automatic cookie handling" and for First-party Cookies - Accept, Third-party Cookies - Block and check "Always allow session cookies. Now NO MORE SPYWARE COOKIES.

Open Internet Options and under temp internet files - settings select – every visit to page. ______End_Quote

If there are cookies you need to keep, you will have to make them exceptions in Privacy or use third-party cookie managers (which is what I do). Ultimately you have to decide what to keep and what to delete. Keeping the numbers down is an ongoing task.

If you want general lists of tips on XP and IE, other sites worth a visit tweakxp.com, dougknox.com, mvps.org. There are lots more.

[dunedin]

Hi bcsouth

OK. Next two things to do.

1.Check msconfig for somethig crept in.

Start/Run/ msconfig then go to link below.

http://www.sysinfo.org/startupinfo.php

Read the Key at foot of page, then click on “Here” at top. Use the Search box to check all you entries

2. Download HijackThis to its own folder. Get it to "Scan" and then to create its "Log". This log will be long but copy all of it into Notepad, and post it back to be checked. Don`t try to do this yourself.

http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/


Elaine

[Starman99]

Re Hijack This, check the log before posting to ensure there is nothing of a personal nature in it!

As we exhaust the more common problems, communication generally will be coming up. If your ISP has some means of doing a speed test try it. If not try an online test. Here's some examples:

http://bandwidthplace.com/speedtest
http://www.dslreports.com/stest
http://www.cable-modem.net/features/oct99/speed.html

[boojay]

hi there, I'm having the exact same problem. The onset was pretty sudden (i.e. just this morning, working fine yesterday). I'm going to try some of the tips given here and let you know if it works.

P.S. I checked Task Manager and noticed a process called symproxyvc.exe was using 100% system resources. I tried closing it, but then regfilter.exe was bumped up to 100%. After closing that, another was boosted to 100%. No clue what's going on.

[dunedin]

Please both of you run HijackThis in my post above.
This is used on a regular basis on this Forum with no privacy problems.

Elaine

[Starman99]

Hi Dunedin & boojay,

I'm not sure if your mention of privacy refers to my comment to bcsouth about reviewing the log before posting. The log contains info on running processes which could include services you subscribe to that you want to keep private, proprietary company software that would identify where you work and could identify you to your boss etc.

I would suggest that boojay start a new thread in the Security/Anti-Virus forum. It sounds like a certain malware problem and it will get very confusing mixing it with bcsouth's issues. I could find no info on the exe program but boojay, you should run all the antivirus and spy/adware programs you have right away.

[bcsouth]

I'm UP & RUNNING AT FULL SPEED!!

I mentioned to someone at work the problems I was having with my system and the first thing they suggested was to try the system restore....I explained to them that I did do that....they asked how far back I went....I told them that I went back to the morning before everything starting running soooo slow...........
they suggested going back even farther, so I went back a week...and varooooooooooom..... BUT...I never did find out what caused the problem. Will I ever know
Keeping my fingers crossed that everything stays running fine.

Something has happened though since I restore back to a week ago....my Norton Interent security firewall always comes up diabled when I restart my system now??? I have to manualy start it everytime. I go in and check the options...and it shows that there is a check mark in the box * Run at system startup*

Ideas???

[Starman99]

Hi bcsouth,

Glad all is well. No we will never know, unless you want to restore to your bad setting so we can play! Some malware tries to shutdown antivirus programs and firewalls. Since you restored to a clean point, there probably is not correlation but it is a curious coincidence that NIS is not automatically starting. I mentioned way back about Wurld Media. That and others make registry entries and had it still been there those entries would have disappeared with the restore (Wurld Media would have gone in the trash already when you did the scans with Spybot and Ad-aware).

If NIS is not starting up automatically, run msconfig and look in Services and Startup tabs. You may find the checkbox still there, unchecked. NAV starts with Services but I am not sure about the rest of the suite.

[boojay]

hi guys, I tried the system restore to a week prior as well and it worked. Thanks for the advice. I'll keep checking back to see if anyone has any more info on the matter.

[bcsouth]

Thanks for all the help Starman99!

Glad to hear that your up and running at full speed Boojay!

Starman.....I ran MSConfig.........and everything is checked off to run Nortons! Sitll looking for ideas on what could be causing this to happen??

I have another question....Again I am a noivce! This might be a silly question to ask, but then I have been know do ask those types of questions!!
When I did the restore to a week ago....why is the Adware and Spybot still on my system? I thought doing a restore would remove anything that was installed after the restoration date?