I'm at a loss here. I've tried spyware scans, virus scans, defragging, CCleaner, I've even reduced my startup items to practically nil.

I can't seem to get rid of this odd visual lag. It takes almost half a second for Firefox to switch between tabs, and when I'm playing videos I close the tab and it remains playing for another 2 seconds instead of simply closing instantly. Other windows (not Firefox windows) take longer than they should to pop open (miliseconds, but visible) and I am completely pissed off by now. I can't seem to find the culprit. I think I'm even considering getting a powerful video card just to get rid of this bullshit problem (if its the solution...).

I'm running Windows Vista on an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 with 8GB of RAM and an nVidia Geforce 8500 GT. This should NOT be happening. I have 1.5TB of space spread out on several partitions on two drives.

This has been steadily getting worse over the past month or two, I've only started to really notice lately. When I first installed it was running quite smoothly, although not PERFECT, but smooth, at least.

I've noticed also that my CPU is always spiking around 10% or 12% from a more common 4% to 6% especially when I have the sidebar open. I don't know why this would happen, even Firefox is always taking up at least 10% CPU. I've killed most visual effects, though not all. But that's not the problem, I'm almost certain. I don't know what to do anymore or what to check.

HELP.

Here's my hijackthis log to start with, if you see anything unusual...

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 9:30:45 PM, on 4/21/2009
Platform: Unknown Windows (WinNT 6.00.1905 SP1)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.6001.18226)

Running processes:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\ObjectDock\ObjectDock.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avgnt.exe
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\rundll32.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\jusched.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Messenger\msnmsgr.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Contacts\wlcomm.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\HijackThis\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch =
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page =
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Int ernet Settings,ProxyOverride = *.local
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar,LinksFolderName =
F2 - REG:system.ini: UserInit=userinit.exe
O2 - BHO: ContributeBHO Class - {074C1DC5-9320-4A9A-947D-C042949C6216} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\/Adobe Contribute CS4/contributeieplugin.dll
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHelperStub - {18DF081C-E8AD-4283-A596-FA578C2EBDC3} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEHelperShim.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {5C255C8A-E604-49b4-9D64-90988571CECB} - (no file)
O2 - BHO: Groove GFS Browser Helper - {72853161-30C5-4D22-B7F9-0BBC1D38A37E} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12\GrooveShellExtensions.dll
O2 - BHO: Windows Live Sign-in Helper - {9030D464-4C02-4ABF-8ECC-5164760863C6} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live\WindowsLiveLogin.dll
O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Conversion Toolbar Helper - {AE7CD045-E861-484f-8273-0445EE161910} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O2 - BHO: Google Toolbar Notifier BHO - {AF69DE43-7D58-4638-B6FA-CE66B5AD205D} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\GoogleToolbarNotifier\5.1.1309.3572\s wg.dll
O2 - BHO: Java(tm) Plug-In 2 SSV Helper - {DBC80044-A445-435b-BC74-9C25C1C588A9} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\jp2ssv.dll
O2 - BHO: SmartSelect - {F4971EE7-DAA0-4053-9964-665D8EE6A077} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Adobe PDF - {47833539-D0C5-4125-9FA8-0819E2EAAC93} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Contribute Toolbar - {517BDDE4-E3A7-4570-B21E-2B52B6139FC7} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\/Adobe Contribute CS4/contributeieplugin.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [avgnt] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avgnt.exe" /min
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [P17RunE] RunDll32 P17RunE.dll,RunDLLEntry
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\jusched.exe"
O4 - Startup: sidebar.exe - Shortcut.lnk = C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe
O4 - Startup: Stardock ObjectDock.lnk = C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\ObjectDock\ObjectDock.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: Append Link Target to Existing PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIEAppendSelLinks.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Append to Existing PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIEAppend.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert Link Target to Adobe PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIECaptureSelLinks.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert to Adobe PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIECapture.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~1\Office12\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: Send to OneNote - {2670000A-7350-4f3c-8081-5663EE0C6C49} - C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~1\Office12\ONBttnIE.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: S&end to OneNote - {2670000A-7350-4f3c-8081-5663EE0C6C49} - C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~1\Office12\ONBttnIE.dll
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~1\Office12\REFIEBAR.DLL
O10 - Unknown file in Winsock LSP: c:\windows\system32\nlaapi.dll
O10 - Unknown file in Winsock LSP: c:\windows\system32\napinsp.dll
O11 - Options group: [INTERNATIONAL] International*
O13 - Gopher Prefix:
O18 - Protocol: livecall - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - C:\PROGRA~2\WI1F86~1\MESSEN~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O18 - Protocol: ms-help - {314111C7-A502-11D2-BBCA-00C04F8EC294} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Help\hxds.dll
O18 - Protocol: msnim - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - C:\PROGRA~2\WI1F86~1\MESSEN~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O18 - Protocol: skype4com - {FFC8B962-9B40-4DFF-9458-1830C7DD7F5D} - C:\PROGRA~2\COMMON~1\Skype\SKYPE4~1.DLL
O18 - Filter hijack: text/xml - {807563E5-5146-11D5-A672-00B0D022E945} - C:\PROGRA~2\COMMON~1\MICROS~1\OFFICE12\MSOXMLMF.DL L
O23 - Service: Adobe Version Cue CS4 - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Adobe Version Cue CS4\Server\bin\VersionCueCS4.exe" -win32service (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\Alg.exe,-112 (ALG) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus Scheduler (AntiVirScheduler) - Avira GmbH - C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\sched.exe
O23 - Service: Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus Guard (AntiVirService) - Avira GmbH - C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avguard.exe
O23 - Service: Bonjour Service - Apple Inc. - C:\Program Files (x86)\Bonjour\mDNSResponder.exe
O23 - Service: @dfsrres.dll,-101 (DFSR) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\DFSR.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: FLEXnet Licensing Service - Acresso Software Inc. - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Macrovision Shared\FLEXnet Publisher\FNPLicensingService.exe
O23 - Service: FLEXnet Licensing Service 64 - Acresso Software Inc. - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Macrovision Shared\FLEXnet Publisher\FNPLicensingService64.exe
O23 - Service: GEST Service for program management. (GEST Service) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files (x86)\GIGABYTE\GEST\GSvr.exe
O23 - Service: @gpapi.dll,-112 (gpsvc) - Unknown owner - %windir%\system32\svchost.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Google Software Updater (gusvc) - Google - C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Common\Google Updater\GoogleUpdaterService.exe
O23 - Service: @keyiso.dll,-100 (KeyIso) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @comres.dll,-2797 (MSDTC) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\msdtc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\System32\netlogon.dll,-102 (Netlogon) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (nvsvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\nvvsvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\psbase.dll,-300 (ProtectedStorage) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\qwave.dll,-1 (QWAVE) - Unknown owner - %windir%\system32\svchost.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Macrium Reflect Image Mounting Service (ReflectService) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files\Macrium\Reflect\ReflectService.exe
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\Locator.exe,-2 (RpcLocator) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\locator.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\samsrv.dll,-1 (SamSs) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\seclogon.dll,-7001 (seclogon) - Unknown owner - %windir%\system32\svchost.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\SLsvc.exe,-101 (slsvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\SLsvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\snmptrap.exe,-3 (SNMPTRAP) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\snmptrap.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\spoolsv.exe,-1 (Spooler) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\ui0detect.exe,-101 (UI0Detect) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\UI0Detect.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: UPS - UPSentry Service (UPSentry_Smart) - Delta - C:\Program Files (x86)\Belkin Bulldog Plus\upsd.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\vds.exe,-100 (vds) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\vds.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\vssvc.exe,-102 (VSS) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\vssvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\wbengine.exe,-104 (wbengine) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\wbengine.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%Systemroot%\system32\wbem\wmiapsrv.exe,-110 (wmiApSrv) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\wbem\WmiApSrv.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe,-101 (WMPNetworkSvc) - Unknown owner - %ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe (file missing)
 

I also had some issues with Firefox the other day, and I vaguely recall hearing of some relatively wide-spread issues with Firefox recently in the Twitter-verse. I'd like to provide more help, but I'm scrambling to finish a paper tonight (why I stopped by the CD forum @ BF in the first place with such pressing issues is beyond me), so perhaps checking out the Mozilla forums will help. My first guess without scouring your logs would be sites running scripts, or some sort of updater or system service(s) running in the background.

Let us know if you learn anything!
 

Read my full post, it's not a firefox issue alone. It's a system wide issue.
 

did you try uninstalling vista and installing xp?
 

Antivirus suites are notorious system-resource hogs. Try disabling it entirely, and rebooting without it running to see if things run smoother.

Also, how long has it been since this system was initially set up?

<3
 

And get rid of my 8GB of RAM? No.
 

Have you tried process-of-elimination by disabling that anti virus, yet?
 

Yes sir.
 

Not sure what good 8GB ram will do you when the Vista kernel sucks up the first 4GB and despite what's left your computer continues to lag.

But seriously, to add value to this thread: I didn't see anything unusual in your HJT report. Sounds like there's a hiccup somewhere in your system though. You might try doing a system restore or whatever they call it now in Vista.
 

Personally, I just switched to Vista and I have had more problems with bugs and glitches than my entire time using XP. I already had a blue screen of death, which never happend on XP.
 

I've had no bugs or problems of any kind before this.
 

Guys enough Vista bashing.

Firstly, the log looks fine. Btw, 8gbs of ram, fuck my computer weeps.

Peng this is all speculation, and frankly, bs; but here goes:

I would suggest you look to see if you're running any indexing service. I'm not sure how it is on Vista, but if it's similar to the windows search they released for XP, it can be extremely annoying sometime. I've found it can spike at odd times and slow shit down.

If you can, just prop up Task Manager while you're using Firefox and sort by CPU usage, see if you can spot a process spiking which might be causing the lag. Something else to try here is to see if you can set Firefox's priority to high and see if you get the same lag.

The only other things I can suggest, since I don't run vista is to check your visual settings -- Still happen if you disable all of the eye candy? Is your graphics card screwy in some manner? (overheating/otherwise) ... dunno! But yeah. I'd start disabling EVERYTHING to track down the issue, whether it's the anti-virus, or whatever. I believe vista has a safe mode, correct? Boot into safe mode and see if you get the same lag. For that matter, boot into another User and see if you get similar lag. If you do, it might indicate a graphics card thing, but don't just assume that's the case - heh, at least not yet.

Anyway that's my contribution. I suppose after this we could scour google for similar issues, but I dislike searching for Vista problems since everyone thinks they're being cute by suggesting you "upgrade" to XP. Though to be fair peng, you could install XP 64bit and retain the ram. Or check out windows 7
 

Pardon? I'll bash Vista if I like Neo. I own two copies and it's a piece of shit.
 

I'm waiting on Windows 7 to actually be released, I'm excited about it.

I'm going to start doing some intensive troubleshooting later with what you suggested...
 

did you buy them as an upgrade, or did you get them on a prebuilt system? The people who have had Vista issue are a minority when compared to those who've had little to no issues. And why didn't you make any threads about it? Free tech support, eh? ;D

Regardless you and the others didn't offer anything to help peng, which is what he was asking for.

Peng I keep wanting to try a dual boot with the W7 Pre-Release just to give it a whirl, from what I understand it even runs fine on older machines (not that mine is THAT old /sob)
 

Yeah I have a 250 gigger around, I'm definitely gonna check it out.
 

One could say the same thing about Vioxx users. We didn't muzzle that minority of victims though, we actually let them say their piece and eventually decided to take action on it, pulling the drug off the market. Which many would argue was for the betterment of society. I suggest that the same may soon be true of Vista.
 

Err. Right.

The thing here is that Vista is actually a decent operating system, and for the most part the problems people had/have with it can be tracked down to OEMs and hardware issues. Vista needs more RAM then usual -- and they tried to do what they did with XP (only 128mb of ram!!!) when really it needs upwards of 2 gigs minimum. Instead they tried pawning off systems with only 512mb of ram and people start seeing performance issues.

Then there was the massive driver nightmare where manufactures like, literally, ignored Vista for years even though they knew it was coming out so people would be in positions of not even having proper drivers to use basic shit like sound cards or nic cards.

I won't deny that Vista is probably a flop, but I get really tired of seeing the same bashing going on from people who, probably, haven't even run the OS for any period of time, or have it running on a system that, in reality, probably shouldn't be running it anyway. Regardless, Vista will obsolete soon with Windows 7 coming out at some point in the near future. Hopefully people will regard Vista like ME and 7 as the next XP.
 

ddd

All I'm saying is, for eight years we had to live with your complaining about Bush; now you're going to have to live with us complaining about Vista.
 

i hate u so much.

srsly.

Just to reiterate, more people use Vista without issues then those who do have problems with it. I sort of equate it to how people bitched about XP before it came into it's own. It just seemed that Vista took too long... plus their marketing sucked ass.
 

I bought two brand new dual core Dell PC's, both installed with Vista. I have 8GB of RAM installed on my personal PC and I have experienced the blue screen of death, the endless and unstoppable IE new page bomb, a complete freeze of the system twice and countless other errors. All of this has happened in the last month, so this is not a driver issue or a SP issue.

I ran the exact same setup on XP and had no problems whatsoever. The ONLY variable is VISTA. So if you want to speculate as to why this would be related to anything else, feel free.
 

is vista upgraded? are all drivers appropriate for the version of vista you've got? has anyone else had access too the computer(s) and/or has anything been installed on it that might causing conflicts?

a blue screen is very generic, if you mentioned the specific error it might help. Consider, also, that many blue screens indicate hardware issues rather then software issues. I've never had an XP Blue Screen because of software issues -- but I have had it happen over a failing hard drive and a ram stick.

You've convinced yourself of the problem already, and believe it to be 100% correct -- how am I supposed to know what really is going on? Honestly I'm not physically there to diagnose the issue. If you're happier with XP, then go with it, I don't particularly care. However the truth is -- aside from your anecdotal evidence -- Vista is a perfectly fine operation system, that many people run without any problems and actually enjoy doing so.
 

I'm not worried about troubleshooting the problem, it's too sporadic. All I'm saying is that the exact same setup on XP was very stable and now that I'm on Vista, I'm getting all sorts of buggy issues, very unstable...on a much faster computer too.

Vista is upgraded to the newest patches and fixes, it was shipped from Dell just 4 weeks ago. And I have auto updates turned on.
 

I bet a cookie that if you reformat and put XP back on, the problem disappears.

I make some pretty good cookies too.
 

My "oh my god I have 8gbs of RAM, sweet!" problem will also disappear and give me back the wonderful 3.5gbs I always wanted. I do a lot of photo editing and graphic design. I upgraded to Vista for the 8GBs and until a while ago it was working just fine.
 

Sounds like driver issues maybe. Might be interesting to boot into safe mode (w/networking, browse the net!) and see if it's still unstable. That or just go down the line of tracking down the problem, disable stuff like the eye candy and see if it still happens.

If you are getting Blue Screens then you need to figure out what the error codes mean, because these could very well be indicative of hardware failure (new system or not -- it happens).

Technically this is just a limitation of Windows (Vista or XP) 32bit. You could move to XP 64bit and retain the full amount of your ram, however from what I understand the 64bit version of Vista is an excellent operating system. Then again when you don't even need support for legacy shit I imagine you can get a lot done. I would personally stick with Vista64 if I had the hardware for it, as I imagine you do apparently (unless, that is, your graphics card is dying heh)

I think many issues with Vista are a result of the 32bit version and people using legacy stuff. Or something like that.