PC slowdown

Could be Spyware, been seeing lots of this. Goto http://spybot.safer-networking.de/ and download Spybot. Make sure you do the Spybot update and scan for spyware. Also Immunize the pc. Also download Highjackthis from www.tomcoyote.org/hjt and see what is running....
Hope this helps

I agree with the spyware assesment in the above answer but prefer to use AD-Aware as the removal tool. http:\\www.lavasoftusa.com

I have seen this when a program or application that was installed overwrote a file. The PC sees this as a none compatible file, the application (DVD) sees it as a missing/corrupted file. You can run the Recovery disk from Dell, or reinstall the applications that are giving you the problems.

if it is not spyware (my first guess would be that it was) then try uninstalling dvd software, and then updating from windowsupdate. reboot and reinstall dvd software. While in winupdate you can grab the newest media player too.

I would suspect the DVD drive....

I had this problem over Christmas with a client PC and swapping out the DVD drive solved the problem.

Besides spyware, there is also a virus that gives similar symptoms.
I doubt the DVD, as it is factory installed, and worked for a while, but it is a Dell.
A somewhat rare one, this could also be the problem in the Disk Cache manager.
This is an easy check. Download
Cacheman
from www.cnet.com
(Cnet is the parent of TechRepublic.)
Check that the Disk Cache is twice the size of the cache installed on the hard disk.
Your hard disk probably has 4 Meg installed, so the setting should be 8 Meg Max, with 2 Meg Min.
About ten percent of the time, this problem also shows up as the virtual memory being declared as a negative number.
You can check the Cache of the hard drive, on the manufacturer's website. It is one of the specifications.
Regards, Chris

If you are using Windows XP and everything worked fine until you installed SP1 then it is probably the DVD drive being incompatable with XP SP1 I've seen quite a few of these and while they are mostly Samsung DVD drives there are a few other brands that give problems. You can either replace the DVD drive or as a first option Flash it and upgrade its BIOS. The makers site will have the Flash program and the means of upgrading the drive.

For the other problem of never being able to perform a Disk Clean Up I'd be looking more at the basic Installation of Windows for a problem here or there is always the good old power supply being insuficent for the requiredments of the computer this is quite a common problem with these prebuilt units. I had a Compaq in a few week ago that HP had mucked around with for weeks and still not got it right but when I fitted an Antec 450 W Power Supply it worked fine but unfortantly it would not fit in the case so I just returned the computer to HP and told them it was the power supply that was insuficent for the needs of the computer and replace it until they got one to work. I do not know what they did but it was definatly a ps problem and as they had already replaced it twice I really couldn't see them managing to get it working correctly either but as it was UG it was their problem not mine and I only told them how to fix it.

I agree with the other answers about checking your system for spyware/malware. My Preference is Spybot-Search and Destroy and another program called BHODemon, which is also available for free (search for "Spybot Search and Destroy" and then for "BHODemon."

Before running the spyware programs do the following (you don't need to scan temporary files):

1. Manually clean out your temporary files and temporary internet files for all users on the computer. (Look for folders called "Temp" and "Temporary internet" in the windows subdirectory for Win 9X or under users in documents and settings in Win2k or XP). If you have never done it, you may have oodles of files that need to be removed.

2. Update your virus protection and do a full virus scan to make sure you don't have a virus.

3. Before you do the next steps, disable automatic virus protection and any other programs that run in the background, such as zonealarm or any other sentry program that runs in the system tray.

4. Perform a scan disk(win 9x, ME) or chkdsk (win2k or XP).

These are steps you should perform on a regular basis just to keep the system clean and running smoothly anyway. They may solve some of your freezing problems.

If the computer is still under warranty, I would call Dell to help you troubleshoot the DVD player.

Also you may want to go to start>run>type in msconfig and uncheck the unnecessary items in the startup tab. That will help with your resources problem. Also you may just want to whack the box. Don't put back on the stuff you don't use.

Another train of thought. Check your Virus Protection. For awhile I had PCs which would not let me do Defrag on them (simular to Disk Clean up in some ways). Found that If I disabled my Virus Protection (shut it down), it would allow me to do the defrag. Also, If you are using Norton Anti-virus or Norton System Works there was a corrupt Update released the week of jan 5th that causes system slowdowns and high processor usages.