Ginny,  Use the restore function of WindowsXP to go back to a time when things worked OK.  Slowing down may indicate that you have adware/spyware on your system and not a conflict at all.  The Netzero no support advice was terrible.  You should download Microsoft's anti-spyware (free) program and run it.  The only thing you may have that causes a conflict is to use the Netzero antispyware program.  Don't use it.  Also turn off the Windows firewall and only use Mcafee's security suite.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply - if I use the XP restore - will I lose other things that have been setup - I use ad-aware for spyware.

 

ginnpr,

System Restore will remove any programs that you have installed since the restore point was created. It will not remove any personal data.

In addition to Ad-aware you should use (as a minimum) Spybot Search and Destroy (available here and Microsoft AntiSpyware (available here). They detect things that Ad-aware misses (and conversely).

Thanks again - do I need both of those spyware programs - or is the Microsoft ok by itself.

 

You should run all three.  I personally use Spysweeper which is the best of all the spy detectors.  It even catches "rootkit" programs.  However, it is not free.