The first thing we do as technicians, is get rid of all the things that are slowing you down by removing third party software. We do this so we can work efficiently on the systems we are working on. We need to work fast, so we have quick fix for these things.
The first thing you want to do is get rid of both Norton, and McAffee. You don't need either. Microsoft has it's own free software that you can use that is rated just as good. We have a ranking systems in the industry that we use for anti malware and anti virus software. Don't base your decisions on online opinions, they are generally uneducated opinions. Use science and fact like the VB100 RAP ratings.
Lot's of companies claim VB100 rating, but they may have got that rating 10 years ago. The RAP rating is how well they've been doing over time. McAfee's RAP rating is 71%, and in downward pattern. Microsoft Security Essentials is 81%, and pretty stable at that level over the pastfew years. Norton wont even submit their software, so that pretty much should tell you something. The best scores are from Coranti which is usually in the high 98%, but it's not free. It's 40$ a year.
Here is what you need to do to tune up your system:
1a. Copy and past this text in to a text document on your desktop. Start Menu/All Programs/Accessories/Notepad Copy and Paste, and save to Desktop.
1b. Run Add Remove Software from Control Panels: Click the Start Menu, and then My Computer, or Computer. When the window opens up Click "Uninstall or change a program" at the top or left side of the window. Once you are in "add remove programs" Find McAffee, and uninstall it. Select, and click uninstall. Also find Norton and uninstall. We will install Microsoft Security Essential instead. Remove anything with Norton, or McAffee in the name. RESTART your machine.
2a. Open up this document again, and continue.
2b. The second thing you can do is remove all start-up applications. Click Start Menu, and type in msconfig in the text search field and hit enter. If in Windows XP click Start Menu, then click Run. Type in msconfig and hit enter. Once in msconfig click the Startup Tab. Uncheck everything in the list. Click Services Tab then click the little radio button at the bottom labeled "Hide all microsoft services." What ever is left in the list is not part of the Opperating System. Uncheck them. Make sure to read each service and application. You dont want to disable hardware like touch pads if they are your only pointing device. If you are not sure what it does leave it on, but try to turn off as much as possible. If you have a brand name device, you can turn off most of the items that are labeled with the brand name like HP, Dell, Asus, Toshiba, and so on. We recommend that you turn these all off anyways. When you are finished click apply/close. RESTART.
Your system should now be clean of anti malware and most of the 3rd party software should not be running at startup. This will give a good working environment.
3. Now that you are in a clean running state lets claen up your Registry to reflect the changes. Download and install CCleaner: http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/download/22dda6757e95bb79884f2e8df41e5a81/
Run CCleaner, and click the Analyze button on the bottom of the screen. This is just to clear out the internet clutter. When it is done click the Registry Tab on the left hand side of the screen. Click "Scan for issues" button at the bottom of the screen. When it is finished scanning click "Fix Selected Issues" button in the bottom right. Choose to save a backup to your "Documents folder just in case. Run a second time to ensure it found everything. Close when finished, and RESTART.
4. Install Microsoft Security Essentials from Microsoft's site here: http://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/mse.aspx After it is done installing run it and grab all the updates, and do a full scan of your system.
You should now be in good shape. If you still experience slow downs you might want to check your memory. Click CTRL-ALT-DELETE, or right click on the task bar and select Task Manager. Click on the Performance Tab in the Task Manager. Note the Total Physical memory, and the amount being used. If it is low, or higher then the amount of physical memory. You are swapping memory to the disk, and this is a huge performance hit. Consider getting more memory. If you are not sure what memory to get just send us a message, with your make, model and OS. We'll direct you to the right memory.