Dennis, thanks for a well laid out list of problems. It does help those who feel they can see some or all of your problems.

AVG is by far the most popular free anti virus and I doubt that is your issue. I would not remove that one.

Spyware Doctor I know nothing about. If you have the original CD or the download stored on your computer you could remove it entirely using the Add/Remove and see if that helps at all.

Superantispyware and or Malwarebytes could be alternatives to trying Spybot Search & Destroy. If you use Spybot S&D be sure it is in fact that program and not a sound alike rogue program.

Have you ran any cleaners at all? Not registry cleaners but the Disk cleanup in the Accessories/System Tools folder of XP. Try that and a defrag, it will help modestly.

Do you have Google or Yahoo toolbars and are they allowed to run in the background? The Google Toolbar has either 3 or 4 entries in your Startup and using your resources.

Click Start
click Run
type msconfig
click OK
click the Startup tab

Now check each of these items and decide if they do in fact need to run. Google each entry before deciding to stop one because if you stop the wrong ones the computer may not start again. If you stop any you need to reboot. During the reboot you will get a dire warning, do not be alarmed, place a check mark not to see it again and continue the booting.

504 RAM? Whether that is accurate or not there is not enough RAM for the system and today's application. Particularly if you multi-task on the system.

I would install CCleaner and run it as it comes. Historically it is quite safe as long as it is used with it's default settings. Leave the included Registry tool alone at this time.

Below is a link to a thread on another forum regarding a shut down concern. Members there directed most of their attention to the startup and services. Besides some attentive information, I contributed three links in the thread to sites which provide information on startup and services entries. All the information may be informative for you.

Also, do you do a regular maintenance program including error-checking and defraging?

Do you have anti-spyware applications running in the background? Some have the option but I recommend they be configured for on-demand. My standing recommendation is only AV and firewall running.
DA

Here is a link that might be useful: IBBS Computer Help

At least disable spyware doctor and see if that helps, followed by all the other instructions given,

Since you do Home banking and you are not sure if you have a firewall lets scan for possible malware by following the instructions below:

Please download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware to your desktop. Click here
* Double-click mbam-setup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
* At the end, be sure a checkmark is placed next to Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, then click Finish.
* If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version.
* Once the program has loaded, select Perform full scan, then click Scan.
* When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results.
* Be sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.
 The log is automatically saved by MBAM and can be viewed by clicking the Logs tab in MBAM.
The log can also be found here: C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\Logs\log-date.txt

 Copy and Paste the entire report in your next reply.
Extra Note: If MBAM encounters a file that is difficult to remove, you will be presented with 1 of 2 prompts, click OK to either and let MBAM proceed with the disinfection process, if asked to restart the computer, please do so immediately.

The Click Here in my link has got corrupted not sure what happened but it does not link coerrectly below is the link for Malwarebytes, sorry

Here is a link that might be useful: malwarebytes link

I have the same series laptop which came with 1GB RAM. I upgraded to 2 GB, and even though my machine was not slow, it now is a "screamer". The amount you have is barely enough to run XP and several applications. Adding more RAM is very easy with this model.

My second suggestion is to make sure you have a good firewall, especially if you do online banking or purchases. I use the free version of Zone Alarm.

The other suggestions regarding cleaning out useless files and defragging, I second heartily. And yes, malware CAN slow down your computer. By all means follow the excellent suggestions already given.

this is a very good guide
Help! My computer is slow!

I would definitely agree you could use more RAM and Malwarebytes is the about the best antispyware program there is.

Everyone, thank you for the really good advice. I just uninstalled the Spyware Doctor program and will be paying attention to performance over next few days. Computer rebooted just fine and went thru the uninstall normally, so all is good there. I still have the executable for the SD program should i find out it wasn't causing my problem. I plan to keep AVG anti-virus program. it is still installed.

I've made some notes and printed out the thread here for reference over the next few days as i get time to work on this. I will be doing all of the above as closely as i can, and will post back. it may take a few days.

Grandms, I will definitely buy some more RAM. i should've thot of that much sooner, as we've had this laptop for at least 2 years. I'll do a search online at HP or someplace to find out what kind to buy.

I haven't ever done any disk maintenance at all including defrag. i just have never gotten organized about all that is needed, but i'm putting something in place now thanks to all of your help. more later. dennis

piddlerdad3

You can go to Crucial (see link) and get the memory information that you need.

They will scan your system and make a few suggestions, to fit your needs.

MC

Here is a link that might be useful: CRUCIAL

I have an old back up computer (yes, a laptop) made by Toshiba that is in the same boat as yours, dennis. Disk clean ups help a little so try those once a month or so. If you can add more RAM then try adding the most that you can afford. Someone suggested you can go to 2Gb. My old clunker is also very slow, a problem obviously caused by lack of RAM, new software and an old Intel Chip. It has 256MB of RAM (half as much as you!) so anything I try to do with the latest and greatest version of any software will run very slowly. I can hear the HD working up a storm and always leave the room to do other things while it "does its thing". Toshiba says RAM can only be upgraded to 512MB (so forget 1G or more) so it is not worth the trouble for me on an old backup PC. Specially since the main desktop is a screamer just 2 years old.

Luis

PS - The only 'real' problem I have with my old laptop though is an unsual tendency that I have developed to drinks lots of coffee and sodas while waiting. Ha. Not sure what I am going to do about that! Hee hee hee. Merry Christmas, y'all!

Luis your old toshiba would be a very good candidate to put a distro of linux on, it would run quite a bit faster than windows with that configuration. So if you want to try something new that would be an excellent project if you do not currently use linux and a valuable learning experience. I love linux and use it as my main OS daily. My personal fave is SimplyMepis linux.

A great free tool to know exactly what is in your pc is belarc advisor, get it and run it and you will have all the info you need.
Belarc'