Internet extremely slow, unless in safe mode with networking....

[GlenJohnson]

I've looked everywhere for a solution for this and I'm stumped. I've got a client who called me up. He has a machine that is less than 6 months old. Running XP home, if he turns his machine on and goes on the INTERNET, it is so slow, you want to put you're foot through it. He told me if you started it up in safe mode, it seemed a bit better. I started it up in safe mode with networking and it just flew. I downloaded Spybot S&D and checked it. Found a bunch of stuff. Re-booted, same problem. Started in safe mode again, went online and checked for viruses, found nothing. Only thing I can find is a registry fix, but I ran it on my laptop and I wasn't that impressed. Anybody else seen this problem? Thanks.

Glen A. Johnson
Johnson Computer Consulting

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[w1nn3r]

To properly troubleshoot this issue you have to identify what the difference between safemode and normal mode is. Safemode by default is a diagnostic mode of windows to allow you to troubleshoot OS related problems so it loads only what's needed to load the OS. This of course can be bypassed by adding stuff in certain spots in the registry as some smitfraud infections have taught me. Moving along, Is it just the internet that's slow in normal mode or is it the whole PC? If it's the whole PC I'd be willing to bet it's a infection you're missing. You can run an online scanner like

http://www.eset.com/onlinescan

which I highly recommend as they dont miss much. If it's just the internet that's slow you might first try disabling any antivirus, antispyware, firewall software you have running. And before you say "We've been running <insert AV/AS/Firewall app> forever so we know the problem isnt that" dont rule anything out as the culprit just because it worked before. If you've disabled your software protection and it's still slow run hijackthis and see if maybe a BHO is getting loaded.

 

[linney]

What Browser are they using? Can you try another one just temporarily? If it is IE7, try it without Add-ons, or resetting it back to Defaults etc.

Bandwidth Throttling?

http://www.google.com/search?q="bandwidth+throttling"+xp&rls=com.microsoft

310353 - How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310353&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

316434 - HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316434&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

310560 - How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310560&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

Winsock Fix.

WinXP Connectivity Issues
faq779-4625

What is the Event Viewer telling you?

What is Task Manager telling you?

 

[GlenJohnson]

Problem is all the time, not just on the web. Machine is only a little over 6 months old, and was built by a guy in the big city. Told the client to take it back to him before we spend a lot of time trying to figure it out. A hand built $600 tower should not be doing this. Thanks, I'll let you know what we figure out. (I would lean toward the virus if it wasn't for the bsod he gets sometimes.) Thanks for the help.

Glen A. Johnson
Johnson Computer Consulting

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http://www.fred08.com/index.aspx

 

[goombawaho]

Try all the following to see if you get any hits of actual things wrong.

Virus Scan (AVG is free)

Spyware Scan (CCleaner/Spybot/AVG are freebies)

Try using Autoruns to really look at all the items trying to start when you PC starts and Process Explorer to look at and kill processes that are running right now. with Autoruns, make sure to let the initial scan finish, then check all the options under OPTIONS and then do a re-scan. This removes Microsoft entries so you can focus on the other items that might be causing a slow down.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx