A common symptom of a virus is much slower than normal computer
performance. However, there can be other reasons for slow performance, that needs defragmenting, a computer that needs more memory (RAM)
Are you getting unexpected
messages, or are programs starting automatically? Some viruses can cause
damage to Windows or some of your programs.
The results of this damage might include messages appearing unexpectedly,
programs starting or closing automatically, or Windows shutting down suddenly.
Is your modem or hard disk working
overtime? An e‑mail virus works by sending many copies of itself by
e‑mail. One indicator of this is that the activity light on your broadband or
external modem is constantly lit; another is the sound of your computer's hard
disk continually working. These are not always symptoms of a computer virus, but
when combined with other problems, can indicate a virus infection.
what operating system are you running? How long has it been installed? Do you use antivirus? Did you just install the ram, if so was it faster or slower before? How old is your pc? Common reasons for a slow computer are a failing hard drive, Bad RAM modules, Viruses, Or the hardware is just plain worn out.
Ram is sold in differnet sizes which is the most realized factor of ram. but Ram is also sold at different speeds.
If you have 4gb of ram at 800mhz each then 2gb of ram at 1333mhz would still outperform the slower 4 gb. Make sure this is not the problem (would only be if you changed the ram and encountered problems)
Run a memory testing program, there are thousands of free ram test programs for free.
Try different ram sticks.
Backup important files and reinstall windows (this will fix 90% of slow computers)
Try a different hard drive: you will need to install fresh or take an image of drive and put it on new drive. (if you image your drive make a partition on the new drive that is as close to the same size as you can to avoid problems.
Some anti virus software can use up a lot of system resources and noticeably slow down a computer. The newer and faster computers don't suffer from this problem as much, but on an older computer like your's it can be a problem. I've used Avira (free) on older computers without a problem: http://www.avira.com/en/support-download-free-antivirus
I don't usually recommend Microsoft products, but Microsoft Security Essentials is not only a very good product and free, but it runs well on older, slower computers: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/?WT.srch=1
AVG is a good free anti virus also, but it sometimes can slow down a computer a bit. I'm running it on some Netbooks with an Atom 1.6GHz. processor and it does OK. Only way to find out is to try it: http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage
Remember that you should only run _one_ anti virus software at a time, so don't forget to un-install the existing anti virus first.
Also, your may be able to increase your performance with a memory upgrade. If your not sure how much or what kind of memory that you have, download and run this: http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download.html
Scroll down to the SIW Without Installer (English-Only) version. After it's running click on "memory" in the left margin.
There are many reasons causing a PC to slow down performance. The outdated hardware or poor system maintenance is the major reasons. If possible, try to upgrade hardware configuration such as add more RAM, Processor etc.
This is common.. But if your computer is slow or slower then normal then you may have a virus or some type of malware. To remove malware just go to www.cnet.downloads.com and download the following programs:
***CleanUp (removes all temp files)
***Malwarebytes
***Spybot - Search and Destroy
The anti virus is needed for computer to protect from the viruses . The anti virus consumes certain amount of cpu and memory usage.There are anti viruses that consume large amount of memory and CPU . If your system have higher memory and CPU performance you can use any anti virus so that the performance is not downgraded to very much.
If you not having more memory and higher CPU in that case you can use anti virus that can consume less memory and also you can stop services in antivirals which are not necessary
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