System Running Slow

I just cleaned my system after having a bad bout with malware etc. Computer running slower than ususual. Is there any diagnostics I can run to address this and make changes as needed.

 

Thanks for the reply...Juliet(Malware and Virus Removal) gave me a clear bill of health yesterday and AVG showed the same today.

 

Run Task manager (press ctrl+alt+delete) and see if anything is taking an inordinate amount of cpu time.

Run msconfig and disable anything that is unnecessary for typical usage.

Check the drive for errors (chkdsk /r) and run defrag.

Run SFC /SCANNOW from the Run window. Have the XP install CD ready in case it asks.

A nice free hardware tester is HotCPUtester. Run the benchmark test with it to pinpoint any possible trouble area. Save the results for a future benchmark reference.

If still no joy, download and run Dial-A-Fix. Check all options on the first page it presents. Allow time for it to complete. Reboot for effect.

Post back any results or questions.