[quote=petrw1;148582]My daughters PC is running VERY SLOWLY lately. Even opening the Control Panel takes a minute but once I am in it the performance is acceptable.

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2. Spam scan found 201 critical modules including 6 at rank 10 (so says Ad-Aware from Lavasoft) ... BAD[/quote]I know that Ad-Aware flags cookies as "critical". How many non-cookies (i.e., executable stuff) are in that 201 total? _That_'s where _I_'d look for the slowdown cause!

[quote]however trying to delete them causes Ad-Aware to crash ... very BAD.[/quote]Try deleting only the flagged cookies, and see what's left.

[quote]I will get a friends boot CD with resident Spyware and Virus cleaners for that. Until then I won't know how much this impacts the PC.[/quote]I'm usually pretty careful, and rarely get malware infection, but recently during a short goofup while trying to install a new version of (a major brand name) malware/firewall protection, I saw unusually-busy connection activity whenever I was logged on. Once I had the new version properly running, it quickly found three separate infections. When I turn on all alarms, it notifies me about every 10-15 minutes that it has blocked a port scan from the outside (its log says about every 1-2 minutes!).

... which is all to say: Run that spyware/virus cleaner ASAP when you get it, and set up some continuous protection.

I had some pretty nasty, almost-impossible-to-eliminate spyware that I finally managed to get rid of, using an application called ComboFix (just Google it). It's apparently pretty decent at really getting down into the registry and cleaning junk out key-by-key. You might try that, as between the slowdown and the high temperatures, your system is likely struggling under a crapload of malware. Prime95 is actually a very good indicator of how healthy your system is; I knew I had a severe virus/malware problem one time only because Prime95 was taking 30x longer than normal per iteration!

I don't understand why someone, somewhere hasn't really put the legal hammer down on these spyware and adware purveyors. If these people caused malfunction and failure of any other device of a similar cost to a computer, they'd almost certainly be in jail. So why is it OK to screw someone's computer?

[quote=NBtarheel_33;148719]ComboFix (just Google it). It's apparently pretty decent at really getting down into the registry and cleaning junk out key-by-key.[/quote]I MetaCrawlered :-) it, and found several caution warnings about using ComboFix's full power. I suggest consulting such warnings before use.

[quote]It's apparently pretty decent at really getting down into the registry and cleaning junk out key-by-key. You might try that,[/quote]No one should lightly embark upon messing with the Windows Registry. A novice may easily render his/her system unusable.

Edit: Here's an example warning. [U]Read all of it.[/U]:

[quote]There are several excellent reasons for this Disclaimer shown when you start the program:

[IMG]http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/en/disclaimer.jpg[/IMG]

Some that I have observed:

• About 1 in 100 times the computer will not longer be able to boot after running Combofix. This requires experienced hands to restore the system to bootability.

• There are several malware infections that "target" Combofix. Experienced Helpers are aware of these infections, and take steps to remove them prior to the use of Combofix. If you do not, various things can happen depending on the infection -- from Combofix being unable to run, to the deletion of the folder C:\Windows\System32, requiring a clean install to repair.

• Combofix makes some rather significant changes to the internals of XP and Vista in order to work. It has to be removed with special instructions to fully and safely revert these changes. Experienced Helpers are aware of how to accomplish the uninstallation of Combofix.

• The real power of Combofix comes not as a general purposed malware remover. It is rather modest in that capacity. Combofix is powerful because it provides to the experienced Helper a convenient and powerful front-end to Scripts. It is because of its scripting strengths, and its unique reporting capabilities, that you see Combofix often recommended. But not because of its abilities as a general malware scanner.

• Many malware removal experts will not respond to a request for help if they see that Combofix was run by the end-user without supervision. You might find after running Combofix that your system problems are worse, and nobody is willing to help you.

There are several general purpose anti-malware utilities where the Author(s) intended the application for general use by end-users without Supervision. Combofix is not one of them, and you would be advised to honor that position taken by its Author.[/quote]

Elsewhere, I found a warning that if the proper preliminary steps are not followed before using ComboFix, one result could be the erasure of your hard disk. (How? There is malware that specifically targets ComboFix. If such malware is not removed first, it can hijack ComboFix to do ... dastardly things.)

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[quote]I don't understand why someone, somewhere hasn't really put the legal hammer down on these spyware and adware purveyors.[/quote]There have been cases - fines and jail. But most spammers take care to operate from outside the jurisdiction of the U.S.

[quote]If these people caused malfunction and failure of any other device of a similar cost to a computer, they'd almost certainly be in jail. So why is it OK to screw someone's computer?[/quote]It's not OK. But you have to find them first, and then try them within the applicable jurisdiction, some of which are _very_ lenient.