Please help: Latitude getting slower by the day

Weird phenomenon occurring over the past two months or so, my 6400 seems to be getting slower.

Right now, I have two tabs open in Firefox and am listening to a song on iTunes. However, my CPU is jumping from 65%-100% and the words in this post are coming up on the screen about 3 seconds after I type them.

I have 4mb's of RAM, Core Duo/9400 and im on a Cable Modem.

Web pages are coming up slow, when I drag a window to another screen it lags...everything is lagging.

I checked my Task manager and the numbers are all over the place. Some are "SVCHOSTS"; there are over ten of them and some are using 2% of my CPU while other jump between 10 and 20% of my CPU. Between those jumping all over the place and iTunes jumping too, its managing to use up most of my 4mb's.

It has boggled my mind how slow this laptop has been since day one, but its getting worse.

I need some suggestions please.

 

take a screen shot of your task manager with highest cpu usage at the top. Have you tried running a malware scan on your laptop?

try going to the svchost (i know there are probably a lot) that are using the most resources->right click->go to services

this should tell you what services are actually slowing down your computer. You can then disable these services or find out whats giving you issues.

 

How would one run a malware scan?
When I right click on of the SVC's, I dont get a services option.

 

Try closing iTunes first? The reason why I don't use iTunes (besides the reason that I have a Zune, but I had a 3rd Gen iPod) is due to the fact that it uses a large amount of memory, lagging up your system.

At the moment, I have 8 tabs open, two folders, 1 pdf, 1 ppt, and my comp usage is constantly under 10%.

How long have you had your 6400?

 

when you right click you should get something like this, are you using vista and are you using an admin and looking at all user processes?

http://img291.imageshack.us/my.php?image=taskmjrqf6.jpg

err run something like this for malware (do you have your own antivirus/antispyware?)

http://free.avg.com/download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition

 

I need to stick with iTunes, unfortunately. I have had the 6400 since the first week it came out (mid-Sept?)

Got it; One of them highlights a whole bunch of "Network Service" groups, i.e. DNS Client, TermService, Telephony, etc. The other major culprit is "DcomLaunch" which are described as "Plug and Play" and "DCOM Server Process Launcher". And another is "LocalServiceNetworkRestricted"-described as Security Center, TCP/IP Helper, Windows Event Log and Windows Audio.

The weird thing is, when I open the Task Mgr, everything seems to slow down! (although the Task Mgr itself is using 20!)

Last thing-and not sure if this helpr, but over the past month I CONSTANTLY have windows that pop up saying something has stopped working (every day its something different). Also, been getting alot of the "Not responding" things happening in Outlook and IE.

Im thinking I just need a clean install of Vista or, to drop down to XP until 7 comes out.

*When you guys say malware-iive got Symantec Corporate. Is a full disc scan from SYMC ample??

 

Wow, symantec, is this a business machine? Yes run a full disk scan and your definitions are current right?

can you take screenshots of your task manager and also the services it highlights. Its not weird for cpu usage to spike when task manager opens but it should drop down.

 

It is a business machine-but I do not work in house, I consult so I do not have access to inn-house techs, hence my issues.

Why the "wow"? Is Symantec considered solid protection?

I just updated all the definitions and am currently running a full disk scan (which may take 30+ min.)

I dont have any image hosting; how can I attach a screen shot of the task mgr?

Thanks for the help.

 

upload the image to http://imageshack.us/ free and requires no registration

I said wow to symantec because most people with that just go to their company's tech people for help =) Running a full disk scan would be helpful to at least ensure its not just malware screwing you over.

 

4 mb ain't what it used to be... I suggest you upgrade your RAM to at least 2 gb.

Go to the Processes tab, click the "Show processes for all users" button, click the CPU column to sort by CPU, then press ctrl-alt-PrintScreen, paste the screenshot into MS Paint, save it... and post it here.

You could consider a clean install too... Dell gives you the Windows discs.

No need to downgrade to XP... Vista should be fine as long as you have at least 2gb of RAM.

Scan it with everything you got. Also download SAS or MBAM and scan with that too.