iTunes Slowing the Computer?

[mcdhu]

Can anyone help with this one please?

I am running a fairly capable machine with reasonable protections - details of both below.

Until last week we had iTunes (up to about 2Gb) and my son's mini iPod all working well and the machine working normally and swiftly.

I then received an iPod for my birthday (happy birthday mcdhu) and I proceeded to 'import' all thr family CDs with the intention of hooking it up to speakers etc iTunes now up to about 5Gb.

Somewhere between the importing and synchronising with the pods, the computer has running very slowly - so slowly that first time I saw it, I shut it down and got it up in safe mode to do all the scans etc. I have run the following: disc cleanup, Adaware SE, Ccleaner, NAV full scan, Trend Micro on line scan, Microsoft Anti Spyware all with no effect apart from the usual cleanout of rubbish.

The situation now is still that it will start, but it takes about 5 minutes to get going; programmes will open, but ever so slowly. The internet runs as fast as ever once there. I did wonder if it was to do with perhaps not 'ejecting' the iPods after synching manually, but that does not seem to affect the issue now it has been done. Is something interfering here?

Details of machinery as follows:

Dell Dimension 4600, 3.06Ghz 533FSB, 512MB DDR333 Dual Channel Memory, 80Gb (7200rpm) hard drive (not yet half full), 128Mb NVidia Ge Force FX5200, Win XP Home SP2, AOL9 1 MB BB, MacAfee Firewall, Nav 2006, iTunes 6, mini iPod and Video iPod via USB2.

Any help or advice would be gratefully received, but I am not an expert!

Cheers all,
mcdhu

[Conan the Librarian]

Not a bad spec as you say, but something is bluting up the works somewhere. I know that I have said this on many threads and I am no Microshaft apologist either, but the free MS anti Spyware proggie does much more than it suggests. There is a very good facility for seeing exactly what processes are running and to which program they belong. Something is clogging up your machine as a start up file or program and this would be an effective and easy way of finding out exactly what. I take it that you are already doing this?

One thing I DID notice with your spec. was the online scanning thingybob. If it does what I think it suggests, then it is surely duplicating what Norton AV does and I wouldn't have thought it was going to help one iota. If it were me, that would be item one to disable, in order to narrow down the culprit.

Another thing, but I have never used an iPod and can't see the chance of it happening really - but it does with my PDA (Windoze Mob 5) Norton does cough a bit and try to scan the attached device as well. Does your machine boot cleanly when no ipods are hooked up? My number two attack would be in removing the synch software ( I don't know of any ramifications here with Digital Rights Management for instance - so a quick RTFM might be in order, just to be safe) and then checking performance. (My own MS sync software is a bitch and has caused more aggro than I can believe)


After that, even if the above has not worked, it will have narrowed it down somewhat. Let us know how you go on.


Good Luck!


Conan

[Engineer]

Assuming that you have imported a lot of music onto the HD for use with your new found toy. May be the HD needs defraging

[mcdhu]

Conan, Thanks for your time. I will try the Microsoft Anti Spyware prog. The Trend Micro on line scan should not be corrupted by anything nasty lurking in the machine - I think that's the idea. It is not installed in anyway.
I hangs with nothing plugged in I'm afraid.

Engineer, thanks for your input. Yes, I did indeed defrag - it was a big one but made no difference.

Downroute as we speak, will attack again on Thursday and report back. Anyone else is welcome to comment - please!!

Regards,
mcdhu

[mcdhu]

Just took the bull by the horns and cleared out all progs not used any more, binned the macAfee firewall and activated the Win XP one instead, binned NAV and it now runs at the speed of light. Noticed also that Adaware said there were 44 processes running before all this and now only 23!

I get the feeling it was NAV which seemed to do too much in the background!

Cheers all,
mcdhu

[Conan the Librarian]

Just a thought, but if you binned Norton Anti Virus.... you did replace it with another AV package, didn't you? If not, please don't email me :-)


Conan

[mcdhu]

Good thought Conan! Popped Avast until I can fix this wretched thing. Thing are fairly dire here at EGTB! Start up goes as follows:

Scan disc sort of thing (black and white piano key thingys) progress across the bottom of the screen for about 1 min.

Windows 'running rabbit' thingy for about 4 mins.

Blank screen for 3 mins

Welcome screen briefly.

Desk top but no icons for a min or so.

Icons appear at min 11 - and the green 'activity light is on all this time and for a further 4 mins or so.

Programs are slow to open. Aol B/b is fine and acts normally once opened and connected.

Avast claims that C:\WINDOWS\system32\ActiveScan\imscan.dll has an infection, but tells me that an error ocurred when trying to fix it. It is currently languishing in the 'Chest'. Not sure what to do next.

Any ideas anyone, please!!

Cheers
mcdhu

[Conan the Librarian]

I think idea one, is put Norton back on it for now. Idea two, is put Norton back on it for now. Idea three, is put Norton back on it for now.

I haven't bumped into Avast or whatever - but Imscan looks suspiciously like Instant Messenger Scan, which means that the rest of the machine could be, or is, open to the predations of Vinnie the Virus writer and his many mates.

Go back now to para one and we can think of something from there, but for Gawds sake, get an Anti virus package on there, because everything else will very soon become a tiny problem in comparison


Yours from a distance,

Conan