Computer slow to react

[Malagabob333]

Recently my computer is slow to react to commands ie when I click the up or down arrows to scroll the page nothing happens sometimes for many seconds.Likewise when I type the letters are slow to appear.Is my computer infected with a virus.I am running AVG free, and scan my whole computer but its not detecting any infection

[Mobius1]

Right-click "My Computer" and select properties. Let us know what Operating System you're running, what processor it says you have and how much RAM it shows you have.

It may be that your PC has a virus, but not necessarily. There are several things that could cause this sluggishness. Make sure you're using AVG9 and have the most up-to-date version. Also, download Malwarebytes, an excellent and very effective free program to rid yourself of potential nasties. You can get it from http://www.malwarebytes.org/ Install, update and do a full scan and see if it picks up anything that AVG has missed.

[Mobius1]

Secondly, you may have a lot of unnecessary background programs running that you didn't even know you had. These can eat up your PCs RAM and reduce it's responsiveness. Click Start > Run > and type "msconfig" in the box and press enter. First, click the Startup tab. Here you will see a list of programs that are set to start when you load Windows. Look at their descriptions. Many of them can be safely disabled by unchecking the box next to them, especially updates programs from the likes of Adobe, Quicktime, Google etc.

Next click the Services tab and tick the box near the bottom that says "Hide all Microsoft Services". Again you will see a list of services that start - many of which you might find you don't need. Once you have made your changes here, choose to exit and restart. If you disable something you later want back, it is simply a case of running MSconfig again and re-checking the box. You can also try http://www.malwarebytes.org/startuplite.php

From the same company that makes Malwarebytes. This will do the above process automatically for known unnecessary startup items, but is nowhere near as comprehensive as doing it yourself.