Grrr, possible viruses

[Aethian]

Mom's computer is taking just over 12 minuets to load and even then another 5 before one can do anything on it. When I pull up the system tab there are some HUGE things on there that are taking more memory then what windows xp is.

I have a feeling that her computer is harboring more then one thing but I'm not sure what I can run on it to get it clean. When it's hooked up on my home connection my computer shuts off it's wifi connection, which is annoying. So...some ideas on programs I can do to try and get her computer running at a better level of performance?

[lordlundar]

Got a list of the items? Then we know what you're dealing with.

[crashhelmet]

Boot up in safe mode. If everything loads quick and fine, I'd start with a complete virus scan. If that is clean, start looking at any changes that might've been made recently. New hardware, software, M$ updates, etc.

CH

[Andara Bledin]

My program of choice for checking for illicit program is HiJackThis. It's an amazing little utility, but very powerful, so be careful when using the "fix" button as you can potentially bork your system.

^-.-^

[SteeleDragon78]

i would suggest running hijackthis and getting the log, and then post it here, that would help greatly

[Der Cute]

Check out the msconfig thing too.

start, run window, type in msconfig
go to the right hand tab - startup - this lists all apps that are booted at startup

you may be having 12000003 things ask for mem/juice at one time.

Cutenoob