XP Home upgrade/Internet Explorer problems

[Nancy S.]

Upgraded our laptop from 98se to XP Home. Starting the
computer was fine until about a week ago when it began to
slow down. Now it takes upwards of 5 minutes from
turning on to getting the log on screen. I would like
some help in finding out why this has happened.

We've also had problems with the Internet Explorer: when
we sign on we can receive about 2-3 pages at our normal
speed - but the following couple of pages will load
slowly and soon after we will receive a white screen
message of "The page cannot be displayed". We will need
to disconnect and reconnect before we can view anything
else - even backing up a page will not work. I've
checked with our ISP and there are no problems on their
end. Are we just having problems with the modem? We've
been keeping up with our AV programs and have Spybot
installed and used regularly.

Any help with this will be greatly appreciated.

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP]

"Nancy S." > wrote in message

> Upgraded our laptop from 98se to XP Home. Starting the
> computer was fine until about a week ago when it began to
> slow down. Now it takes upwards of 5 minutes from
> turning on to getting the log on screen. I would like
> some help in finding out why this has happened.
>
> We've also had problems with the Internet Explorer: when
> we sign on we can receive about 2-3 pages at our normal
> speed - but the following couple of pages will load
> slowly and soon after we will receive a white screen
> message of "The page cannot be displayed". We will need
> to disconnect and reconnect before we can view anything
> else - even backing up a page will not work. I've
> checked with our ISP and there are no problems on their
> end. Are we just having problems with the modem? We've
> been keeping up with our AV programs and have Spybot
> installed and used regularly.
>
> Any help with this will be greatly appreciated.

First eliminate any scumware.
See
Dealing with Unwanted Malware, Parasites, Toolbars and Search Engines
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

Note that AdAware and SpyBot S & D will each catch some things the other
won't. Also, each needs to be updated with the program's update function
before every use, even when just downloaded. There's also a lot more to do
than just those two programs. CWShredder is also available here:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/regs_edits/cwshredder.zip
**Post your HijackThis log to
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/ or the Spyware forum at
http://forum.aumha.org/ for expert analysis, not here.**
Alternative download pages for Ad-Aware, Spybot, HijackThis and CWShredder
may be found on this page:
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm.

If nothing there helps, please post back to this thread.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

[Shenan Stanley]

Nancy S. wrote:
> Upgraded our laptop from 98se to XP Home. Starting the
> computer was fine until about a week ago when it began to
> slow down. Now it takes upwards of 5 minutes from
> turning on to getting the log on screen. I would like
> some help in finding out why this has happened.
>
> We've also had problems with the Internet Explorer: when
> we sign on we can receive about 2-3 pages at our normal
> speed - but the following couple of pages will load
> slowly and soon after we will receive a white screen
> message of "The page cannot be displayed". We will need
> to disconnect and reconnect before we can view anything
> else - even backing up a page will not work. I've
> checked with our ISP and there are no problems on their
> end. Are we just having problems with the modem? We've
> been keeping up with our AV programs and have Spybot
> installed and used regularly.
>
> Any help with this will be greatly appreciated.

Please Notice that if you use AOL, you should at least upgrade to 9.0 or
greater before doing any of the fixes. I know you can get AOL 9.0 at almost
any convenience store, gas station, super market or other retail outlet in
the world, so this should not be a problem. Also, if you are using AOL 9.0,
you will not be able to perform the first step in this list. You should
look into another solution, such as ZoneAlarm, for a firewall.


Turn on that firewall...
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/home/using/howto/homenet/icf.asp


Make sure you have all the updates (critical) installed from:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
(Scan for updates, Review and Install)


Get rid of the spy/ad/mal-ware..
(Yes - using MORE than one of these..
I recommend at least the first three. Also..
UPDATE the definitions for them before using.)

Spybot Search and Destroy
http://www.safer-networking.net/

Lavasoft AdAware
http://www.lavasoft.de

CWSShredder
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

Hijack This!
http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/

I also like "The Cleaner" and "SpywareBlaster" and "SpywareGuard".
- http://www.moosoft.com/
- http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/

The first is a PAY product, but useable for 30 days - it has found and
eliminated problems in the past the others did not. The latter two are
prevention mechanisms. SpywareBlaster is a FANTASTIC free product, I
suggest getting this after you cleanup and keeping it updated as well.

Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner (Free!)
http://kephyr.sureshot.xaviermedia.net/spywarescanner/

ToolbarCop (Free!)
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/toolbarcop.htm

Browser Security Tests
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/

And Assortment of Others:
http://spywareinfo.com/

ALSO - Be sure to IMMUNIZE after you clean up. SpywareBlaster and Spybot
Search and destroy both have these features - use both!


After you cleanup your PC somewhat of spy/ad/mal-ware, verify your antivirus
software is updated and run a full scan of your computer. If you have no
antivirus software - get one NOW! Grisoft AntiVirus:
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php


Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to about
80 to 120MB (seems to be an optimal size for the normal user)

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section,
do the following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the
"Amount of disk space to use:" to something between 80MB
and 120MB. (Betting it is MUCH larger right now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to
"Delete all offline contents" (the checkbox) and click
OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10 minutes or
more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer
- Re-open Internet Explorer.


Uninstall any software you do not use often/ever. (If you have something
installed but never use it, uninstall it.) If you go through Control
Panel -> Add/Remove Programs and see things you seldom if ever use, it is to
your advantage to remove it.


Also, if you are tired of Web Page Pop-Ups/Unders.. You could try the
Google Toolbar.
http://toolbar.google.com/


Stop loading applications at logon.. run MSCONFIG and look under the startup
tab for things you DON'T want to startup! Search the Internet with Google
to discover what things are safe to remove and what things may even be
malware infecting your computer.


Better control your email and lessen the amount of time you spend dealing
with SPAM:
SpamBayes
http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/
or
Spamihilator.
http://www.spamihilator.com

--
<- Shenan ->
--