All of a sudden and seemingly with no reason my computer has decided to be very slow indeed. its like going from broadband to dial up. there have been messages about the virtual memory being low, and i have changed the virtual memory both manualy and by allowing the system to do it, with no change. i have used a page defragmentor recommended in another post, again with no effect. iv deleted some programs and games on the off chance this might have some effect, but no.

the only thing i can see thats different from how it has been is the fact that a freeware ZoneAlarm isnt working like it was. it used to be on all the time, whereas now i get messages saying it is initializing. iv tried to uninstall ZoneAlarm but it says that it cant uninstall True Vector internet monitor because other programs may be using it. it suggests stopping those programs from using it, but i dont know what they are.

any suggestions will be hugely appreciated because this is driving me CRAZY!!!!!!

Have you tried uninstalling ZoneAlarm in safe mode?

well tha got rid of ZoneAlarm (thanks for that) and seems to have restored the original speed. i'll have to wait till tomorrow and see if its still the same. i'll let you know

all seems to be well for now