Hi any idea were my memory has suddenly gone, I am a bit of a novice so be gentle with me. My memory goes from 52% which is a lot less than I know is available down to about 4%. especially when I am on line, when i move the mouse I keep getting system resources low close other programs. I have tried avg & norton and online trojan checker which all show clear. I run adaware which showed clear then stopped running updates, used Aol spyware with only one spyware showing and I use mcafee firewall. I read your site and downloaded Hijack this and have posted the log file below but apart from a warning that there was a fair few hijacks on it I have no idea what I should delete or if this is the problem. Any advise would be great or before long a computer will fly. thanks in advance for your help.

Logfile of HijackThis v1.98.2
Scan saved at 19:01:23, on 05/11/04
Platform: Windows 98 SE (Win9x 4.10.2222A)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP1 (6.00.2800.1106)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KERNEL32.DLL
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSGSRV32.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SPOOL32.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MPREXE.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSTASK.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\MESSENGER PLUS! 2\MSGPLUS.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\GRISOFT\AVG6\AVGSERV9.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\AOL\ACS\AOLACSD.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\LEXBCES.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\RPCSS.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\LEXPPS.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\mmtask.tsk
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\TASKMON.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SYSTRAY.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\ptsnoop.exe
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SISTRAY.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KHOOKER.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\DDHELP.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\STIMON.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\LOADQM.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\MCAFEE.COM\PERSONAL FIREWALL\MPFTRAY.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\INTERNAT.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\QTTASK.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\GRISOFT\AVG6\AVGCC32.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\GSICON.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\DSLAGENT.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\AOL\ACS\AOLDIAL.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\AOL\AOL SPYWARE PROTECTION\AOLSP SCHEDULER.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\AOL 9.0\AOLTRAY.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\TWAIN_32\600CU\WATCH.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\NORTON ANTIVIRUS\NSCHED32.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\AOL COMPANION\COMPANION.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WMIEXE.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\TAPISRV.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\AOL 9.0\WAOL.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\RNAAPP.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\AOL 9.0\SHELLMON.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\AOL\AOLTPSPD.EXE
C:\MY DOCUMENTS\AOL DOWNLOADS\HIJACKTHIS.EXE

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Bar = http://search.aol.co.uk/
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://www.aol.co.uk/
O1 - Hosts: 88.88.88.88 elite
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.akadns.net
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 google.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.altavista.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 altavista.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.yahoo.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 uk.search.yahoo.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 ca.search.yahoo.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 jp.search.yahoo.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 au.search.yahoo.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 de.search.yahoo.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.yahoo.co.jp
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.lycos.de
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.lycos.ca
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.lycos.jp
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.lycos.co.jp
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 alltheweb.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 web.ask.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 ask.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.ask.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.teoma.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.aol.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.looksmart.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 auto.search.msn.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 ca.search.msn.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 fr.ca.search.msn.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.fr.msn.be
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.fr.msn.ch
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.latam.yupimsn.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.at
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.be
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.ch
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.co.in
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.co.jp
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.co.kr
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.com.br
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.com.hk
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.com.my
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.com.sg
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.com.tw
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.co.za
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.de
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.dk
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.es
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.fi
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.fr
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.it
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.nl
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.no
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.msn.se
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.ninemsn.com.au
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.t1msn.com.mx
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.xtramsn.co.nz
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.yupimsn.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 uk.search.msn.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 search.lycos.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.lycos.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.ca
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 google.ca
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.uk
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.co.uk
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.com.au
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.co.jp
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.jp
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.at
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.be
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.ch
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.de
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.se
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.dk
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.fi
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.fr
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.com.gr
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.com.hk
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.ie
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.co.il
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.it
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.co.kr
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.com.mx
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.nl
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.co.nz
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.pl
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.pt
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.com.ru
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.com.sg
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.co.th
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.com.tr
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 www.google.com.tw
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 go.google.com
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 google.at
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 google.be
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 google.de
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 google.dk
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 google.fi
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 google.fr
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 google.com.hk
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 google.ie
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 google.co.il
O1 - Hosts: 207.44.220.30 google.it
O3 - Toolbar: (no name) - {8E718888-423F-11D2-876E-00A0C9082467} - (no file)
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ScanRegistry] C:\WINDOWS\scanregw.exe /autorun
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TaskMonitor] C:\WINDOWS\taskmon.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SystemTray] SysTray.Exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LoadPowerProfile] Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SiSSWLED] C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\sisswled.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PTSNOOP] ptsnoop.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SiS Tray] C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SISTRAY.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SiS KHooker] C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\khooker.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LexStart] Lexstart.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [StillImageMonitor] C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\STIMON.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LoadQM] loadqm.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [zBrowser Launcher] C:\Program Files\Logitech\iTouch\iTouch.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [MPFExe] C:\PROGRA~1\MCAFEE.COM\PERSON~1\MPFTRAY.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [internat.exe] internat.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\QTTASK.EXE" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG_CC] C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVG6\avgcc32.exe /STARTUP
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CountrySelection] pctptt.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [GSICONEXE] gsicon.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [DSLAGENTEXE] dslagent.exe USB
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [WildTangent CDA] RUNDLL32.exe C:\PROGRA~1\WILDTA~1\APPS\CDA\CDAENG~1.DLL,cdaEngi neMain
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AOLDialer] C:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\ACS\AOLDial.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AOL Spyware Protection] "C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\AOL\AOLSPY~1\AOLSP Scheduler.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [LoadPowerProfile] Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [SchedulingAgent] mstask.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [MessengerPlus2] "C:\Program Files\Messenger Plus! 2\MsgPlus.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [Avgserv9.exe] C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVG6\Avgserv9.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [AolAcsDaemon1] "C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\AOL\ACS\AOLACSD.EXE"
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MessengerPlus2] "C:\Program Files\Messenger Plus! 2\MsgPlus.exe" /WinStart
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [msnmsgr] "C:\PROGRAM FILES\MSN MESSENGER\MSNMSGR.EXE" /background
O4 - Startup: AOL 9.0 Tray Icon.lnk = C:\Program Files\AOL 9.0\aoltray.exe
O4 - Startup: Reboot.exe
O4 - Startup: Microsoft Office.lnk = C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\OSA9.EXE
O4 - Startup: Watch.lnk = C:\WINDOWS\TWAIN_32\600CU\WATCH.exe
O4 - Startup: Norton Program Scheduler.lnk = C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\NSCHED32.EXE
O4 - Startup: Logitech Desktop Messenger.lnk = C:\Program Files\Logitech\Desktop Messenger\8876480\Program\LDMConf.exe
O4 - Startup: AOL Companion.lnk = C:\Program Files\AOL Companion\companion.exe
O9 - Extra button: Real.com - {CD67F990-D8E9-11d2-98FE-00C0F0318AFE} - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\Shdocvw.dll
O14 - IERESET.INF: START_PAGE_URL=http://www.aol.co.uk/
O16 - DPF: {AB29A544-D6B4-4E36-A1F8-D3E34FC7B00A} (WTHoster Class) - http://www.wildtangent.com/install/w.../ea/wtinst.cab
O16 - DPF: {F00F4763-7355-4725-82F7-0DA94A256D46} (IMDownloader Class) - http://www2.incredimail.com/contents...r/imloader.cab
O16 - DPF: {4A3CF76B-EC7A-405D-A67D-8DC6B52AB35B} (QDiagAOLCCUpdateObj Class) - http://aolcc.aolsvc.aol.co.uk/comput...up/qdiagcc.cab
O16 - DPF: {2A32B14F-4D29-4EA3-AC54-E9B19F436CE7} (Scanner Class) - http://www.windowsecurity.com/trojanscan/TDECntrl.CAB
O17 - HKLM\System\CCS\Services\VxD\MSTCP: Domain = aoldsl.net

thanks again

It wouldn't surprise me if upgrading to AOL 9.0 was the cause of your problems! I've seen it many times before.

I would be tempted to run HiJack This again and highlight the following line to be removed:

O4 - Startup: Reboot.exe

It is a legitimate Windows filename but its sole purpose is to reboot your PC quickly and easily - exactly what a virus would often like to do. It is NOT required in order for your Start Menu's Shut Down option to work properly and I've never seen a PC that loaded this program up each time it started. Seems a bit odd. Others may disagree.

How much physical memory (RAM) do you have in this Windows 98 SE computer?

Do you have a Lexmark printer?

Hi Thanks For The Quick Reply, I Will Get Rid Of The Program You Suggested, The Way This Computers Going Nothing Surprises Me What Is Included In Start Up. I Have 6 Teenagers Who Use This So It Takes Some Hammering.

You May Be Right I Have No End Of Problems Since Putting In Aol 9, I Also Installed Easy Gprs For My Sons Phone Camera, It Never Worked And I Uninstalled It.

If I Got This Right I Have 2 X 128 Ram Which I Guess Makes 256 (told U I Was A Novice) I Think Its Also 19 Gb The C Drive Says I Have 13.3 Free And 1.2 Processor.

We Have A Lexmark Z45 Printer Which Possesses A Mind Of Its Own.

Thanks Again For Your Help.
Fishy

Originally Posted by fishy

We Have A Lexmark Z45 Printer Which Possesses A Mind Of Its Own.

Yes, I've heard that before as well, lol

You're right in saying that 2 x 128Mb does mean that you've got 256Mb RAM. That's as much as you'll get Windows 98SE to run properly. Your next upgrade should be a newer operating system (Windows 2000 or Windows XP) that can manage the memory and modern devices such as new printers, phones, etc, more reliably.

Your processor (running at 1.2GHz) and 13Gb of free hard disk space should last you a while as long as all those teenagers don't start downloading loads of music and videos off the Internet

Thanks Again, I Know Your Right About The Upgrade I Just Need To Be Dragged Kicking And Screaming Into It As I Am So Comfortable With 98se. I Have Noticed The Music Files Are Getting Longer, Some Of The Older Teenagers Have Their Own Pc's But Won't Download On Theirs 'as It Messes Them Up' Their Words Not Mine, So They Wreck Mine Instead.!

Could I Be So Bold As To Ask If Anything Else On Hijack This Should Be Dumped, I Noticed The Kids Love Of Msn, Yahoo And Google Are Clearly Present.

Just To Pester You Further Whats Your Take On Registry Checkers, I Have Windows Reg Clean Which I Seem To Have No Problem With But My Friends Recommend Several Subscription Ones, Are They Any Good, I'm A Bit Wary Of These Cure All Programs.

Thanks Again For All Your Help. Regards Tricia

AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH !!!!!!! Just got about half an hour into a really nice thorough response for you and the forum's database server crashed and lost it all

Very briefly (I'm not writing it all out that clearly again!), here's what I was basically trying to say:

I don't see anything else that's necessarily a problem in your log.

You seem to have a lot of IE toolbars. Don't delete the reg keys with HiJack This - try and remove them through Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel first. Might not make a difference but worth a go if your resources problem is mainly when you're on the net.

You've got two or more instant messaging programs. MSN Messenger is fine. Never heard of Messenger Plus! 2 before. Maybe get rid of that in Add/Remove Programs if you don't want it. You've also got some kind of Logitech Messenger - I guess you've got a Logitech keyboard or mouse and it might be needed for that so probably best to leave it.

Before you remove anything do the following quick clean-ups:

Reboot. Check your resources as soon as it finishes loading Windows - note it down so we can refer back to it.

Delete everything in C:\Windows\Temp.

If you have a C:\Temp folder, delete the whole folder.

Go into Control Panel > Internet Options. Click Delete Cookies and Delete Files. Click the Settings button - set the amount of space for Temporary Internet Files down to 2Mb.

Go into your Recycle Bin. If there's nothing you still need, empty the Recycle Bin.

Reboot. Check the free resources again. note it down again.

Run Scandisk from Start Menu > Programs > Accessories > System Tools.

Run Disk Defragmenter from the same place.

Reboot. Check the free resources again. note it down again. Any better? Let us know each of the three values so we can diagnose if and how these instructions made any difference

I don't use any automatic registry cleaners and can't recommend any that I'm familiar with I'm afraid. There are some that other members might recommend. I agree that the 'one program fixes all your problems' kind of programs generally aren't all they're cracked up to be. I've used Norton Utilities many, many years ago but only on a PC that was on it's last legs - these programs often slow down the PC so much that this completely negates the benefits of having them there doing whatever they're supposed to do.

Thanks Djnafey, You Are A Star I Will Try Everything U Suggest And Let U Know How It Goes And Wether I Kill Or Cure It.

Thanks For Your Time And Effort, Sorry Your Database Crashed, It Never Does When You First Start Something, Always Just At The End.

Cheers Tricia

Hi, Tried All The Things You Advise And These Are The Results,
Before Clean Up Etc System Resources Were 49% Free Drive C 13.2gb

After Clean Up System Resources Were 52% Free Drive C 13.4gb

Went To Do Scan Disk And Needed To Close Some Programs. Bit Gobsmacked At How Much Was Running (i Suspect From Start Up) Closed All But Essentials Down And Resources Went Up To 83% Free Drive C 13.5gb Looks Like A Fair Few Programs Are Zapping The System, Would It Be Worth Closing These At Start Up? I'll List Them Below (at The End) If You Have The Time To Advise.

Did Scan Disk & Defrag And System Resources Were 81% Drive C 13.5gb

I Then Started Aol9 And It Went Down To 65% So It Uses Quite A Bit Of Juice To Run, With All The Programs Running It May Be Just Too Much.

On A Few Points You Made, Had A Look In Add/remove And None Of The Ie Toolbars Or Associated Programs Were On It, Also Noticed That Incredimail And A Few Others Show On Hijack It But I Deleted Them From Add/remove Months Ago!! Messenger Plus Is Part Of Msn It A Useles Reminder Of Updates Which My Son Admitted To Downloading, Can't Find It On Add/remove To Delete It. Logitech Is Part Of Our Keyboard, Its Got Internet Link Keys But We Never Use Them, Maybe A More Basic Keyboard Would Do But Don't Suspect It Makes A Big Deal Of Difference.

When I Went To Empty Windows/temp It Has Quite A Few Programs On It, They Have Been There A While And Not Sure If Its Safe To Delete Them, Most Don't Show In Add/remove Either, Not Sure Why They Planted Themselves In Temp Files And Not C/programs Or Aol Downloads Were Things Usually Go. I Noticed Another Wierd Thing That Dr Watson Shows In On The Computer ( Not That I Use It Much)but All Files Are Empty-not Sure Why. List Of Programs In Temp Files And Running Programs Are Listed Below.

Sorry To Be A Pain And Keep Tapping Into Your Wisdom, Your Help Has Been Invaluable And Stopped Me Killing A Computer Or Myself (pref With Alcohol)!!

Programs In Windows/temp These 3 Are Also On Windows/c
Cookies Folder - Only Index File } Apart From This They Are Empty
History Folde - " " " " }
Temp Internet Files - Contains Contents Folder With 4 Files :
41yfo1y7/8dqbo16v/mz85ez6b/zdy1yv81 All These Do Nothing When Opened.
Also
239877up - Wextract.exe ?
Cda Silentinstal ?
Gislnet - Dsl Setup Wizard
Lusetup - Norton Update
Matchcleanup & Mcccleanup - Aol Broadband Checker
Mini - Alcor Micro ?
Mmsetup 20142 Music Match Jukebox ?
Oleaut - Win 32 Cabinet Self Extractor
Setup 9x & Wintdisk - Wextract


Running Programs When Press Ctl/alt/del

Explorer Internat Mpftray
Msn Msgr Aoldial Mp***ent
Avgcc 32 Watch Companion
Aol Sp Schedular Aol Tray Itouch
Gsicon Loadgm Dslagent
Qttask Khooker Stimon
Sistray Sisswled Ptsnoop
Systray Lexpps Avgserv 9
Rnaapp Nsched32 Rundll32


Thanks Again For Your Help, Regards Tricia

THIS IS ANOTHER REALLY LONG SET OF INSTRUCTIONS - PLEASE READ THE WHOLE LOT FIRST AND THEN CARRY OUT EACH INSTRUCTION IN THE ORDER THAT I'VE WRITTEN IT. Thanks

Just been reading up about Incredimail. Quite interesting. Seems that the free version contains adware and possibly spyware and has been reported to slow some people's systems down a lot. I would recommend rebooting, running HiJack This again and selecting the left-over Incredimail entries to be deleted.

Also, do a search on your C: drive (right-click the C: drive in Windows Explorer and select Find from the menu). Get it to find files and folders named *Incredimail*.* and you can safely delete all of these if you have already removed Incredimail through Add/Remove Programs.

All of the items in your C:\Windows\Temp folder can be safely deleted. The reason that there appear to be some programs in there is because, when a program is installed, it writes various temporary files for the installation process into this directory. Once the installation process is finished (or after the next time you reboot), these files are supposed to be automatically deleted. For one reason or another (usually bad programming by the software author), sometimes they just get left behind and will never disappear unless you go into this folder and remove them yourself.

You should also be able to safely remove the Cookies, History and Temprary Internet Files stuff that you said was in a \Windows\C directory. This is not the usual directory for these system folders so they appear to be erroneous duplicate copies - it's not the first time I've seen that.

I wouldn't worry too much about the Internet Explorer toolbars now - I think we've confirmed that AOL 9.0 is the single biggest resources problem on your PC. However, if you're using AOL to dial up to the Internet, then you're stuck with it. The key to fixing the problem will be to make more system resources available when your PC first starts up and loads Windows. You've correctly identified that you do have a load of startup applications launching themselves every time you boot up and getting rid of some of those will help.

Reboot the PC and allow Windows to sit there for a couple of minutes loading up all of those icons in your system tray (the area in the bottom right corner down by the clock). I bet it takes a while on your PC doesn't it?!

Check your free system resources and note it down - we'll call this "Resources Value 4". Judging by what you've said before, it ought to be about 55%.

Right-click each of the system tray icons that aren't for stuff that you know you use, e.g. leave anything for your Lexmark printer, AVG anti-virus or AOL. If it comes up with a little menu that has a Close or Exit option, select it. If there's an option to stop the system tray application loading the next time you start Windows, that will be even better.

One of the icons appears to be for Quicktime. It should be a picture of the letter 'Q'. You can definitely get rid of that. You can also get rid of any that are SiS related. You can also probably get rid of the AOL icon as that's probably just giving you irritating notifications of updates and stuff and doesn't affect the PC's ability to connect to the Internet. Try and keep track of what you're getting rid of.

Reboot. Check the free system resources. We'll call this "Resources Value 5".

Does the system still run OK? Connects to the Internet alright and stuff? Good.

OK, now click on the Start Menu > Programs > Startup folder. Do you see any entries in there for things that we wanted to get rid of? If so, right-click on each one and select Delete. If there's an entry for 'Microsoft Office Startup', you can also Delete that (don't worry, it doesn't stop Microsoft programs from starting up - it's a bit of a red herring).

Empty the Recycle Bin if there's nothing in there that you still want to keep (we've now proven that anything we deleted in this exercise was rubbish).

Reboot your PC again. Let Windows load up everything it needs to and check your free resources again. We'll call this "Resources Value 6".

Let us know how you've got on and, importantly, tell us the Resources Value 4, 5 and 6 so we can diagnose whether that has helped and whether we need to move into the really technical stuff or whether we've done enough !!

I'm hoping we don't have to go really technical though - there's some others in the forum that want some of our time as well, lol

Hello DJNafey,

thanks for the extensive list of 'fix its' with the following results.

the resources were as follows:
resources 4 = 52%
resources 5 = 59%
resources 6 = 64%

which is great all heading in the right direction. Thank you

amazingly most of the programs in ctr/alt/del running are not on the toolbar.

most programs on the toolbar must be closed manually each time as they have no option to stop them running at start up.

only program apart from aol, norton & avg in "program/startup" was office 2000 which I deleted as you suggested.

i haven't emptied recycle bin yet as we have a glitch at restart but I am sure I can sort this, possible its just got in a tiz and hope a scan disk and defrag sorts it.

I see all the programs are listed as running in misconfig/startup, but not sure if it is a bit dodgy altering them from here, I did alter things on a past system but was 100% sure it was ok. I will figure it out anyway as I have taken up far too much of your time and I now have tons more resources which seems to have stopped the low resources error message.

I think the best bet is to respect your wisdom (which I do) and change to a newer windows system and ditch aol 9. I like aol cause its easy for the kids and I can keep control of what they do as two of them have learning difficulties so they need something simple and safe and with 6 kids using it I don't get hefty internet bills, but aol do seem to like to drain your system and use an amazing amount of resources just for one program. I noticed aol 8 uses a lot less resources so I might revert back.

enough of my waffle thank you so much for saving my computer, my sanity and probably the life of the next person who spoke to me while I was trying to fix it.

thanks millions
fishy