AVG bungle or maleware problem?

[KA5LQJ]

In the past several weeks, my Dell with XP Home has become slower and s-l-o-w-e-r to a point it takes nearly 15 minutes to "boot up". If I run it
in SAFE MODE, it's a lot faster. No pop-ups on the screen, just down to
a crawl. I've run AVG to do a full computer check for malware. It comes
back with a lot of programs and 'lines' of computer programs telling me it
could no check the program because it was locked. ?????? Am I doing
something wrong? Do I need a better AV? I'm completely in the dark,
here.

If I had an install disc from M$ it would simply be a case of hard format
the hard drive and put back the "data" in the spreadsheets, then go on.
I never has this problem with DOS 6.22, LOL!

Thanks for any help received,
GOD BLESS,
73,

Don/KA5LQJ

[KJ3N]

AVG is for viruses. Malwarebytes is for malware. You should have both.

If I had an install disc from M$ it would simply be a case of hard format
the hard drive and put back the "data" in the spreadsheets, then go on.

People who simply reach for the install CD and reformat to fix computer problems, are people who don't have a clue. JMO

[KLONDIKEMIKE]

Download and create a AVG Rescue CD. You'll probably need to use a different computer to do this than the one in question. Boot off this new disk and do a complete scan. Come back and tell us what you got. Good luck.

http://www.avg.com/us-en/avg-rescue-cd-download

[OSIRIS]

People who simply reach for the install CD and reformat to fix computer problems, are people who don't have a clue. JMO

Since you seem to have a clue, how come you didn't advise him on how to fix his computer?


KA5LQJ, having a slow computer may be caused by a few things. There could be hardware problems starting to occur. You could just have too much stuff trying to start when the computer is booting or just not have enough machine to run the newer software on it. You may have conflicting software or software that is taking up all your CPU due to something wrong with it. It could even be a virus or other malware causing the issue.

That Dell may have a hidden restore partition which would re-image the computer back to the factory install. This may or may not be the best solution for you, depends on your usage of the machine. To access that partition press CTRL-F11 repeatedly as soon as you see the Dell logo. Keep in mind if you restore your computer using this method all your data will be wiped out.

Whether you decide to restore or to fix the issue I would recommend running the Dell diagnostics software to verify that your hardware is ok. Press F12 when you see the Dell logo after you power on the PC. This should give you a menu that allows you to boot from the hard drive, cdrom, or the diagnotics. Select diagnostics and let it complete a full diagnostic test. If it passes all hardware, make another post here with the results and we can discuss software issues.