Computer Running Slow

[4x4mike]

So I was watching the news and they say all hell is going to break loose with a worm or something on April Fools. The news story said to check your anti virus software and run any updates. So I did. I have an anti spam-warm program and anti virus and had them do their things. I also went to the windows site and had it do the check for updates. It found I needed 50 updates so I pushed go and about an hour later it was done. Now a day later it wanted to load service pack 2 so I let it. It took about 1.5 hours.

Now my web surfing is slow. What gives? I'm not computer savey so I haven't checked the blah, blah ,blah nor the whosmawhatchit mother configurer. Basically it's a year and a half computer with Comcast internet and has always been lightning fast, now everything is slow. Firefox and IE are running at dial up speeds. Anything I can check, reset, blah, blah? Thanks.

[CJM]

Its loaded with all kinds of crap thats running in the backround now.

Honestly to properly diagnose it we need to know the specifications of the system, what programs your using and what are running in the background.

[reggie 00]

whats running in the background?

ctrl+Alt+Del
Task manager
Processes
click on the CPU tab to bring everything most used to least up top.

Write down the hogs and if you dont recognize what it is google it.

Ex: iexplore.exe

[4x4mike]

Ahh, yeah. Basically it just running firefox cruising UY. Nothing that I know of is running in the background. I've had 5 windows of firefox open with at least one uploading pictures, itunes playing and checking email and not had a hiccup. I'm trying to upload 26, 1mp pictures right now and it's taken 30 minutes to do 22. Last week it would have taken 2-3 minutes.

[CJM]

So the pooter itself isnt slow just the net?

Could be a driver issue i suppose. Without knowing exactly wtf was installed (and since you said alot of stuff) its hard, could be anything..

Do you use a router? Could need to be reset or the modem itself. Somehow something coulda been altered for your connection too.

[4x4mike]

There are some things running in the background. Some itunes helper thing, a google toolbar, my anti virus stuff.

The internet is slow though. I reset the modem so I'm going to try photobucket again. Maybe I just caught everything at a bad time and it's bogged down. The computer itself is still moving quickly and everything opens fine and fast.

[Lee]

whats running in the background?

ctrl+Alt+Del
Task manager
Processes
click on the CPU tab to bring everything most used to least up top.

Write down the hogs and if you dont recognize what it is google it.

Ex: iexplore.exe

do this and tell us what the top 10 items are (i bet the top 5 will be the only ones that matter tho)

[Good Times]

If your computer is running super fast (i.e. opening/closing applications) then we can limit it to a few areas:

* Windows Internet Setting (firewall or whatever - the updates from Windows Update could have changed a few settings preventing you from surfing the internet at blazing speeds)
* Browser needs to be updated (Firefox has a new version out 3.0.8 - just released last week I believe).
* Cable/DSL modem/router needs to be reset - It happens

Btw, have you tried any other browsers to see if it's the browser or the internet?

If you're worried about spyware n such, try installing this program. I have em on all of my pc's and it's been good for me: Super AntiSpyware. It works and isn't a cpu hog (at the moment). I used to have a few others but have just downsized to this app only.

At any rate, a quick control-alt-delete and looking at your task manager should give us a better indication as to what is going on.