I hope I'm posting this in the correct forum?

I have the free version of Avast! antivirus, running Windows XP and I have cable internet. I've never had a problem, but now my system is running SLOW, when I check my emails or try and search the net. I've updated Avast!, scan the disk, removed cookies, run Adware, etc. However, nothing seems to increase the speed. When I shut the antivirus down my system runs like it use to.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Download and save a new copy of Avast, then download tune up, then uninstall the existing version of Avast

Click start then all programmes, accessories, system tools to run disc clean up, then also from system tools, run disc defragmenter

Click start then run, type prefetch then press enter, click edit then select all, (all files will highlight), right click any file, click delete, confirm then reboot.

Download, install and run Tune Up 2006 Trial

Run Tune Up disc clean up

Run Tune Up registry clean up

Click Optimize and Improve to run Reg Defrag, the screen will lose colour during the process which can take a few minutes and then needs a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to optimize the computer, select computer with an internet connection from the drop down menu, this also requires a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to accelerate downloads, select the speed just above your actual connection speed, this requires a reboot.

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to run system advisor

Install the new copy of Avast, run a few programmes to check the speed, run a few safe web pages to check this also, then update Avast and see if it slows down