J.P.
I second Malware Bytes, avast and spybot search and destroy all are which are free.
My computer is acting up lately. It is extremely slow--I think a turtle could beat it. I have cleaned the cookies and temp files, defragmented it (which takes forever). I even took some stuff off that we have not used in a while. I do not have a ton of pics and videos so that is not it. I mainly use it for logging on for work or internet. Have any of you ever used a legit download or program to check out and clean your computer? I could reformat it but would really prefer not to go that route. And I do not have time to take it to a shop. I am a little wary of those things you could find by googling since some could be spyware related. A friend of mine got seomthing but by the time she finished getting everything, it cost almost $200. I really don't want to go that high.
I second Malware Bytes, avast and spybot search and destroy all are which are free.
I had the same problem at my old house. We had a wireless router and all of a sudden I got slow...slower...then slowest. Turns out our next door neighbor was signed in to our network. Just a thought.
Do you have a Staple's by you? Ours right now is offering a free PC clean up. You just have to call and make an appointment. good luck.
I had this problem. I went to Office Depot & purchased more RAM. You have to read your computer manual, and figure out how to install the hardware, but if you still have a tower like I do, it is not that hard. All I needed was a screwdriver. Computer runs awesome now. Its holding me over untill I decide to upgrade.
I third using Malware Bytes. When our computer started acting up, the Dell "helpline" directed us to get that since it sounded like our computer had been infected by spyware. Sure enough, after the first run of Malware Bytes, it found a TON of stuff that McAfee Security hadn't picked up during regular security scans.
you could download malwarebytes and see if there's any malware on it. or microsoft security essentials, that is what I use and it's free and has bill gates backing it :)
You can always download them and go into safe mode and run a full scan there with microsoft security essentials or malwarebytes.