I think I have a handle on what this product (HiJackThis) helps one fix. My main reason is my hard-drive is constantly clicking away. This is an E-Machine T264 model; 2.59 Ghz; 512 Ram; I upgraded the video to a PCI ATI Radeon 9200 series with the hope of being able to trod through a modern game like Doom III; 40 MB HD; Win XP and AVG Anti-Virus, SpyBot; AdAware, ZoneAlarm and the XP Firewall. Here goes - Please let me know how and what to fix:

Logfile of HijackThis v1.98.2
Scan saved at 10:13:40 PM, on 10/28/2004
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP2 (6.00.2900.2180)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\devldr32.exe
C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe
C:\Palm\hotsync.exe
C:\Program Files\GuruNet\GuruNet.exe
C:\Program Files\SpywareGuard\sgmain.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\ATOMIC~1\agtserv.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\AVGANT~1\avgserv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\cisvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Media Manager\airsvcu.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\wanmpsvc.exe
C:\Program Files\RealVNC\WinVNC\WinVNC.exe
C:\Program Files\SpywareGuard\sgbhp.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\cidaemon.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\AVGANT~1\AVGCC32.EXE
C:\PROGRA~1\AVGANT~1\avgw.exe
E:\Back_Up\E-Machine Computer\Anti_Virus Scanners\HiJack\hijackthis.exe
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuauclt.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.knology.net/
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://www.emachines.com
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Window Title = KEN'S ROAD TO THE INTERNET
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {243B17DE-77C7-46BF-B94B-0B5F309A0E64} - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Money\System\mnyside.dll
O2 - BHO: Atomica BHO - {3392BD0A-A851-4AA4-86E0-4651006F9EA8} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Atomica Shared\agtbho.dll
O2 - BHO: SpywareGuard Download Protection - {4A368E80-174F-4872-96B5-0B27DDD11DB2} - C:\Program Files\SpywareGuard\dlprotect.dll
O2 - BHO: Google Desktop Search Capture - {7c1ce531-09e9-4fc5-9803-1c2956615786} - C:\Program Files\Google\Google Desktop Search\GoogleDesktopIE.dll
O2 - BHO: Google Toolbar Helper - {AA58ED58-01DD-4d91-8333-CF10577473F7} - c:\program files\google\googletoolbar1.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {FDD3B846-8D59-4ffb-8758-209B6AD74ACC} - (no file)
O3 - Toolbar: (no name) - {ACB1E670-3217-45C4-A021-6B829A8A27CB} - (no file)
O3 - Toolbar: &Google - {2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F} - c:\program files\google\googletoolbar1.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG_CC] C:\PROGRA~1\AVGANT~1\avgcc32.exe /STARTUP
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Zone Labs Client] "C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe"
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Google Desktop Search] "C:\Program Files\Google\Google Desktop Search\GoogleDesktop.exe" /startup
O4 - Startup: GuruNet.lnk = C:\Program Files\GuruNet\GuruNet.exe
O4 - Startup: SpywareGuard.lnk = C:\Program Files\SpywareGuard\sgmain.exe
O4 - Global Startup: HotSync Manager.lnk = C:\Palm\hotsync.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Google Search - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmsearch.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Backward Links - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmbacklinks.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Cached Snapshot of Page - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmcache.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: GuruNet... - file:C:\Program Files\GuruNet\Html\atiemenu.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: Similar Pages - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmsimilar.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Translate into English - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmtrans.html
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - (no file)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - (no file)
O9 - Extra button: AIM - {AC9E2541-2814-11d5-BC6D-00B0D0A1DE45} - C:\Program Files\aim\aim.exe
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {CD67F990-D8E9-11d2-98FE-00C0F0318AFE} - (no file)
O9 - Extra button: MoneySide - {E023F504-0C5A-4750-A1E7-A9046DEA8A21} - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Money\System\mnyside.dll
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O10 - Unknown file in Winsock LSP: c:\program files\google\google desktop search\googledesktopnetwork1.dll
O10 - Unknown file in Winsock LSP: c:\program files\google\google desktop search\googledesktopnetwork1.dll
O10 - Unknown file in Winsock LSP: c:\program files\google\google desktop search\googledesktopnetwork1.dll
O10 - Unknown file in Winsock LSP: c:\program files\google\google desktop search\googledesktopnetwork1.dll
O12 - Plugin for .spop: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Plugins\NPDocBox.dll
O14 - IERESET.INF: START_PAGE_URL=http://www.emachines.com
O16 - DPF: {3AF4DACE-36ED-42EF-9DFC-ADC34DA30CFF} (PatchInstaller.Installer) - file://D:\content\include\XPPatchInstaller.CAB
O16 - DPF: {4C39376E-FA9D-4349-BACC-D305C1750EF3} (EPUImageControl Class) - http://tools.ebayimg.com/eps/wl/act...ol_v1-0-3-9.cab
O16 - DPF: {8B1BC605-C593-4865-8F5B-05517F0CD0BB} (MSSecurityAdvisorCD Class) - file://D:\Content\include\msSecUcd.cab
O16 - DPF: {90C9629E-CD32-11D3-BBFB-00105A1F0D68} (InstallShield International Setup Player) - http://www.installengine.com/engine/isetup.cab
O16 - DPF: {E06E2E99-0AA1-11D4-ABA6-0060082AA75C} (GpcContainer Class) - https://meetingcenter1.webex.com/cl...bex/ieatgpc.cab
O16 - DPF: {E855A2D4-987E-4F3B-A51C-64D10A7E2479} (EPSImageControl Class) - http://tools.ebayimg.com/eps/active...ol_v1-0-3-0.cab


Thanking you in advance

Ken

Close all browser windows, restart Hijack This and put a checkmark next to the following entries:

O2 - BHO: (no name) - {FDD3B846-8D59-4ffb-8758-209B6AD74ACC} - (no file)
O3 - Toolbar: (no name) - {ACB1E670-3217-45C4-A021-6B829A8A27CB} - (no file)

Click Fix Checked

I can't really fault that log. Disable the XP Firewall, its not needed if you have Zone Alarm, just wasting resources.

You have no reason not to be able to play Doom 3. Your system is well above the System Requirements.

Thanks Owen. I can play Doom , btw, it's just that it is very choppy and slow, if you know what I mean. I have tried closing all other programs running in the background using Windows Task Manager. Unless you have other suggestions, I think the only fix will be a faster cpu.

I will monitor my machine re the Hijack fix and let you know if I am still having the constant hits on my hard drive problem, if that is alright with you,

Ken

What I recommend is trying a few things to improve performance.

First of all download the free version of Sygate from here. Don't install it yet!

Second of all, disconnect from the internet and uninstall Zone Alarm using the correct instructions here or else the uninstallation will leave letftovers.

Thirdly, install Sygate after rebooting if told to do so by Zone Alarm. Once Sygate is installed, reboot and on reboot run Sygate. At the bottom where there is a list of running applications, right click Microsoft Generic Host for Win32 Services and click Block.

Have another go at a game and see how it goes. AVG is a good antivirus program, doesn't hog resources, but Zone Alarm seriously hogs resources.

I will try the above Owen - again thanks a lot.

Ken

Post back and let us know how it went.

Game runs somewhat better. We'll see when I (or if I) ever get to advanced levels.!!

Glad that did it for you. Zone Alarm is a very big resource hog