Strange pattern...

[Kaworu]

Hi all, things are really confusing me now!

It would appear that my computer crashes when I try to download anything! This all started this afternoon while Azureus was downloading several torrents (all legal, I don't support piracy as if we don't pay for the stuff it won't ever be made!). After several minutes, my PC had slowed to a snails pace. 2-3 minutes later, the mouse stopped moving. I then restarted the computer.

After the restart, I tried running Azureus again (this time only 1 torrent), only to find the same thing happened.

Third time around, I switched to the Bit Torrent program. The same thing happened. This time however, I opened up Task Manager and closed bittorent.exe. This had no effect. However, I remembered a problem I had once before with Firefox, and closed explorer.exe. This fixed it!

The computer also slows when downloading through Firefox.

I'm at my wit's end to explain this and why closing explorer helps. Anybody got a idea? Anybody know how to stabalise my system?

[Politically Incorrect]

I am surprised you can do much when you shut down explorer that is one service you should leave be and shouldn't have anything to do with Firefox.
I would suggest you find out what is using all your resources, if explorer is doing it then you may want to run a spyware/adware scan.

How many processes does it show running when you open task manager?

[JBaymore]

Even if what you are downloading is legal...... any torrent-type site is VERY suspect as to the potential virus content of ANY files.

[Kaworu]

Actually, I was downloading a few Bricopacks from Crystal XP. I am well aware of the risks of using the Torrent system, but it saves bandwidth for the freeware creators. I only use torrent programs occasionally.

Upon further investigation, the System Idle Procese is using 50-80% of my CPU cycles. I have an average 44 processes.

I use Zone Alarm Pro (updated 3 days ago). A few minutes ago it found and deleted a bad registry entry. Thanks for the help.

I'll just use the regular download links. It's more trouble than it's worth to fix this.

[lhellas54]

Actually, I was downloading a few Bricopacks from Crystal XP. I am well aware of the risks of using the Torrent system, but it saves bandwidth for the freeware creators. I only use torrent programs occasionally.

Upon further investigation, the System Idle Procese is using 50-80% of my CPU cycles. I have an average 44 processes.

I use Zone Alarm Pro (updated 3 days ago). A few minutes ago it found and deleted a bad registry entry. Thanks for the help.

I'll just use the regular download links. It's more trouble than it's worth to fix this.

Zone Alarm destroyed my pc