>Hi,
>
>One other thing to check, have you uninstalled a program lately, some apps like norton AV leave a lot of things behind and impact on performance greatly.
>
>They require removing the leftovers manually. see http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/nav.nsf/docid/2001092114452606
>
>Check what processes are running in task manager to see what is running, just google the one that aren't self explanatory.
>It can be quite suprising what is still running from uninstalled prgs.

Nothing of note on that. Your rootkit idea is scary but may be it. I got a couple of suspects from the program you suggested at sysinternals. BTW, that company has been purchased by MS. That increases their credibility.

Thank you for the answer.

Alex