Why do computers seem to get so slow sometimes, what causes this? mine is being very slow right now.

You may be infected with spyware, which tends to consume resources.

Try http://www.webroot.com for a free scan.

teller said:

Spyware? never heard of it, what is it about exactly?

And don't listen to anyone who tells you to defrag your hard-drive...this does nothing, it's just a placebo that takes hours and wears out your harddrive.

Paisley said:

Spyware are programs installed without your knowledge that transmit information about your habits to advertisers. The peer-to-peer music-sharing services are notorious for installing spyware on your machine, but if you download free games or anything free, watch out.

teller said:

OK, thanks

I just tried the scan. It came up with a windows box with a cross in it.

Can you tell me... what does it say when it scans and there isn't anything?

PS Beware of free downloads. Does that include the spyware?!

Therapy said:

Hi Therapy...nice, uh...avatar ya got there...:LOL:

Webroot will tell you in no uncertain terms how many bits of spyware it finds. It turns up endless cookies, which are not a drain on resources, but if it turns up anything else, clean it off.

Free downloads are notoriously funded by advertisers and contain spyware.

What's really sick is we bought a brand new computer with Spyware pre-installed. Jesus...

teller said:

Liking your avatar also

I have downloaded webroot and when it runs I get a very quick message back which says in a little box titled 'spyaudit' 'range check error' and underneath that, another box saying 'scanning' although it isn't doing anything.

What the?!!

teller said:

Ur kidding me right? Man, that's just...wrong!
Fuckers.
I knew about spyware, but never really bothered checking my computer out - Ive only had it since february. But I clicked on your link, and I got Window Washer - as I'd heard great things about it...
I freed up 33Mbs of space!!! Im totally shocked!
Thanx Teller!

I'm no computer expert, but I use Ad-aware to rid me of my spyware. It's free!

Find it here, if your having trouble with Webroot.

http://www.lavasoft.de/so...e/adaware/

Or, just de-frag your hard-drive.

mcmeekle said:

Ad-aware is ok, but I found that it just doesn't clean it all off as well. But it's free!

Therapy said:

Uh...hmm...sounds broken.

teller said:

Web Washer was SUPER fast - I aint kidding - It really surprised me. Neat little program that I'd most DEFINATELY recommend!
Again, thanx Teller

bananacologne said:

FYI--it was a low-end Compaq!

195.1 MB cleaned!

Someone owned this before me... 195!!!

teller said:

I'll try yours

Although, I'm not really bothered about my surfing habits being tracked, as long as it's not by the wife.

mcmeekle said:

But what if the wife is the one spying on you?

Therapy said:

(mcmeekle furiously clicks on Teller's link)

:evilol:

Mine does that, mostly because i downloaded that fuckin imesh. also it depends on your connection and how busy it is

teller said:

Hey teller, I get the same thing that Therapy was getting with the spy audit scan.

I did the window washer thingy and my computer froze up and I had to reboot. I swear it said 1.5Gb! Then when I rebooted I did the window washer again and it got 60kb, so what's that mean?

Close to 2 gigs of junk on my pc?!?!?!

Thanks for the defrag tip as well. I will never do it again.