Programs sometimes don't open?

Ok, yeah, I've used Task Manager, but I'm not sure what any of those processes are. That's what I meant. No, the HD doesn't flash a lot.

I'd get Process Explorer, then add the I/O read write bytes columns. That would give you a good idea of what is doing what.

No worries, were getting near the limit of my knowledge anyway, however I'd suggest you take note of any processes that seem to be taking up a lot of memory and/or CPU. Note their names and when some of the uber geeks get back on you can pass that info onto them.

Good idea, but I think you already hit the nail on the head with pointing out ZA. Specifically, it's OSFirewall functionality is probably causing this issue. So good on you.

Just being thorough.

Process Explorer is more detailed than task manager, that is why I recommended downloading and running that.

And as others mentioned it will likely show it is ZoneAlarm hogging your resources.

I'm going to download and install Live Essentials and Process Explorer. I'll be back. Thanks for the help.

Installed and ran Process Explorer. Here's a screen shot......



I'm not sure how or where to find the I/O read write bytes columns.

I really like avastHome so I'm not sure I want to get rid of it in favor of Microsoft Security Essentials.

You won't regret going to MSE is puts a very small footprint on your machine.