Jeanne writes:

<<my computer is still running slowly even though I have
defragged etc.. I am told it could be because I have unsolicited and
unwanted items that are brought onto my computer when I visit or get sent
cards or jokes etc..>>

Yes, all those so-called freebies are a great source of various nasty
infections which can slow performance. Avoid these sites at all costs, also
sites such as free fonts, screensavers, cards, and the like. They're not
all bad, but many are.  The bigger, glossier, and bolder they are, the more
likely they will contain scumware of some sort, of which there are very
many varieties. You won't see or feel a thing until your browsing slows to
a crawl, while they are all sending info about your browsing habits and
perhaps other private data out of your computer, invisibly. This info is
harvested by spammers at best, hackers at worst.

You'll most likely need a good cleanout with AdAware and Spybot at least.
Also get a good Trojan eliminator such as TrojanHunter (but that's not
freeware).

Especially if you are on broadband, you should also have a good firewall
such as Sygate or ZoneAlarm (free). The built-in XP one is better than
nothing---enable it if you have XP. But that one won't stop unwanted info
going out of your computer, as it's only a one-way firewall. ZoneAlarm and
Sygate are 2-way.

There can be many other possible causes of your computer slowing down. The
usual cause is having too many programs running at startup.

Without knowing your OS, we can't help you much more. Try running Msconfig,
click the startup tab, and untick everything you don't really need at startup.

In XP, there are several unnecessary services that can slow performance if
left enabled.

An overfull hard drive is another common cause. Older versions of windows
need at least 300 Mb of free space to operate properly.

An old registry that has never been backed up/restored is another very
common cause in W95/98/ME.

See my web tutorial "computer slow to start" for more detailed advice.

Google for those programs if you want to download them.

Don Penlington




 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html