Thanks Dan J.
My computer got worse today. I tried to view a company document for work, and it gave me a pop up window, telling me that I needed to download the most current version of Adobe Reader in order to see the document. So I clicked on the link (my company provided), and upgraded from Adobe Reader (8.something) to the newer Adobe Reader 9. After that, things got worse. Don't know if it's related, but it sure is a coincidence if it isn't.
If I go to a website now and click on something - for example - I was on Ebay today and clicked on a button that said "Click to enlarge picture", my browser locks up. I can't do a thing with that tab anymore. I can open up a new tab, like I just did on this one, and everything works. But that original tab I was on is locked. I can't shut it down or anything. I can't click anywhere on it. The only way for me to make it go away is to close the entire browser and reopen it.
I'm running Symantec Antivirus and Firewall on this computer. A few months ago, it was taking almost an hour to run the Antivirus scan once a week (auto setup for Sundays). Now it takes an hour and a half or more. Last Sunday, it took 93 minutes to conduct the antivirus scan.
My hard drive is 144GB. I have 106GB of free space, meaning I'm only using 38GB of space on my C: drive. So roughly 26% is what I'm using of what is available.
Another problem I have is periodically my computer opens up the top CD drive. I have two - one that is a CD read/write, and one that is a DVD/CD read/write. It's the first one - the CD read/write (D: drive) that just opens up by itself, and stays open. I close it with the button and it reopens. I push it closed by hand, and it reopens. I swear this computer is posessed!
I run my antivirus scans weekly, and it says I don't have any viruses. I also run spyware scans weekly, and my spyware program claims I don't have any spyware right now.
I use Spy Sweeper for my anti-spyware, and had to turn off the constant scan capability as that slowed down my computer to a rediculous crawl.
The folders I was talking about earlier within Windows all start with "$NtUninstallKB(then numbers)$". They all contain different files, but are named pretty much the same with the exception of the numbers. I must have 200 plus of these folders - 15 folders to a row, and about 15 or so rows of them. I also have another 15 rows of 15 files each - text documents labeled KB(and then numbers). Are all of these necessary? I ain't deleting anything, but there are well over 300 icons within Windows that look similar, and I have no clue what they do.
I thought Windows was taking up more space than it is. It still is taking up 7GB, and contains approximately 30,500+ files in 3,200+ folders. Is that right???
I don't know what is taking up that other 31GB of space, as I deleted every picture and movie clip I had on here (after saving them to CD), and ensured I emptied the trash afterwards. I don't see any other big programs on my computer. I don't have any games on this computer at all.
Any help would be very appreciated. I'm very frustrated with this machine. A few weeks back when the AT&T Uverse guy came to do the install, he tested each computer in our house before he left. When he got to mine (Dell XPS 400), he first commented on how nice of a computer it was. After he got on it, he remarked that he was suprised how unbelievably slow it was. I really think I have a problem with something on here.
All the best,
Glenn