Issue Resolved
Hi,
Just spent the day testing the system with a media player, web browser, email client and word processor all on the go at the same time and the system is flying. This is quite amazing as only two days ago I thought we were facing a loosing the battle.
To revise the primary points which cumulatively helped resolve a limping XP Pro system.
System Services:
I restored previously shutdown services as sometimes due to system dependencies applications or other processes to become volatile when services are manually shutdown.
Encryptions Programs:
There were two installed on the system and these were causing conflict with the spyware scanners as there is a online article pointing to where Trend Mico scanner crashed out systems when Folder Lock encryption program was installed.Also the previous threads will show that there were disk errors at one point,this was resolved after the encrption programs were uninstalled.
Firewalls:
Currently using Jetico and seems to be running okay but not as gui friendly as Comodo, PC Tools or Zone Alarm firewalls. Comodo could not detect the pc’s internet connections / adapters and I tried hard to find a resolve on their online forums but to no avail. The ZoneAlarm version that I had installed didn't offer the option to create port rules. PC Tools firewall had a file which was recognised as spyware / malware and their tech team have not came back with a reply to date as per link
http://www.pctools.com/forum/showthread.php?p=169102#post169102
Kerio firewall had files which were coming back as malware suspect also. This is why I removed these two later firewalls but I do think if Comodo was system compatible it is potentially offering the best freeware firewall protection.
PC Pitstop:
A very big shout out to these guys who really have an excellent service, but form what I can see only one scan per day is possible with an individual system. Their test pin pointed system errors and conflicts that were otherwise undetected. The errors identified in red were resolved by installing new system graphic card drivers from the Intel web site.
XP Tools:
The BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) XP option is an excellent debugging tool and simple to setup under the system applet in the control panel. Also using the verifier tool helped to identify corrupt drivers. And also chkdsk and disk defragmenter tools also sorted out major issues.These tools may need to be installed from your XP setup disk, under the support tools file directory.
Uninstalling software which was not in use or where it was showing signs of missing files or potential malware files was also an important step, even though as pkelly has already pointed out that sometimes files get misdiagnosed when they are actually legitimate.Be careful when removing system files or shutdown system services.
Also the online virus and rootkit scanners and application tools like HJT, ComboFix and SmithFraudFix but to mention a few have all combined in achieving this resolve.
This issue has been resolved through perseverance, excellent supervision and advice that was all offered in this Spybot forum via pskelley, who I would like to say a very big thank you to. Take care amigo!
