Windows Vista Running Very Slow?

December 10, 2009

Hi, I have Windows Vista Home Basic. Recently Ive had some problems with spyware. Deal Assitant, Virtumonde, Green AV to list a few. With some registry cleaners, multiple spy protection programs, avast/spybot/norton, I basically had everything cleaned up. Now though this is the problem:

On Start Up, Windows Explorer Freezes completely, restarts, then after that…Folders, User Data Folders, my computer folders,etc.. and also Internet Explorer Seems to be alright navgating. But something as simple as a notepad document will not open. Task Manager comesup with error message. Programs and actual files open, but only after minutes of lag time, and again just a few programs/files open may lead to freeze. Ive Checked Registries, Ran Anti-Spyware, and from what i can see everything is clean. I dont know why Im still having a problem. Please Help me with this. Thank You. Also, Note, under safe mode without networking, seems to run alot better. Any help with this will greatly be appreciated.

IS there any totally free registry cleaners out there?

November 30, 2009

I got a link to regcure…it scanned and downloaded for free but wants money to fix errors…any totally frree ones out there? My computer is running/booting so slow and crappy this is frustrating…IF there are NO free registry cleaners please advise me of a good one that is not BS…you know, one that is SAFE to give money too and does its job well
I do use malewarebytes anti-maleware
Avira
Spybot S&D

What should be done before I format my hard drive and reinstall Windows XP Pro?

November 27, 2009

After 2.5 years, my Dell XPS has become too slow. I use all of the spyware (Ewido, AdAware, and Spybot) and virus apps. (E Trust Internet Security Sutie) and have never had a virus. I use CleanUp! and WindowWasher and Registy Mechanic to no avail. I think the registry has simply gotten too huge. It is time to do a clean install of XP Pro.

Cannot start PC–WINDOWS\System32\Config file error!?

November 15, 2009

I cannot start Windows on my PC! I get an error message reading:

"Windows cannot start because "C:\WINDOWS\System32\config." is corrupted or missing. Insert original Setup CD-Rom and press ‘r’ at setup to begin repair."

I have looked at the software that I recieved when I got my computer (it was given to me by my neighbor two years ago), and I cannot find the original Setup CD-ROM, and I can’t get the others to run at all. I have gone to dell’s support website on another computer and tried their suggestions, which did not work. I tried the command-line string, but I can’t input anything. I’ve tried looking on here for solutions, and attempted what I found, but nothing’s worked so far.

Please help, it was working perfectly fine on Thursday evening, but on Friday, this problem began. I do not know what is causing it. To be able to get the best help, here are the details of my operating system:

Manufacturer: Dell
Edition: Windows Media Center Edition
Software Package: Microsoft Office Windows XP 2000
Year Manufactured (guesstimate): 2001
Virus/Malware/Spyware Protection Software: Avast!, Super AntiSpyware, Spybot: Search & Destroy, Ad-Aware.

I need to resolve this quickly, please. Any suggestions you may have will be tried, and are *very* welcome! Thank you very much to anyone who can help me!