First off, here are the specs of the machine in question: Dell vostro 1520 laptop, Windows 7 SP1, 1 gb Ram, intel celeron 900 2.2ghz processor, on board gfx.
I'm sorry this is not in the correct category, but I couldn't find general windows 7 issues. I recently performed a format and clean install of Windows 7 on my laptop, as it was running very slowly and seemed to be a bit clogged up. I have done this before
with good effects. I have been told that windows 7 would run slowly anyway, due to my laptop specs, but for the first two years I had it it was a lot faster than it currently is.
Anyhow, having performed the format and fresh installation, I now find that there are two problems. 1: processes running that take up 99-100% CPU and 50-100% memory, running as Svchost. The second is that running windows update leads to a never ending search
for updates, no errors, no updates found, just endlessly searching. As such, I haven't been able to get any updates and am still running a completely unupdated service pack 1 with no security updates etc.
I was told to manually download Windows .net framework 4 and install, it downloaded but then endlessly hung on the installation. Again, no errors, just a progress bar that never moves. At least, I gave up after 5 hours. I have never had these issues before,
but it's infuriating as I cannot seem to do anything to move forward, and restarting the computer or reinstalling the OS again has yielded no results.
I know it's an old laptop, but I just need it to function properly. I'm sure there is some malicious malware, or a root kit, or something that is managing to survive the format, but I don't know how to identify it to get rid of it.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
