This has gotten so bad, that I cannot open anything.  I have 1Gb of RAM installed.  When I open my task manager, there are roughly 31 processes running. I opened the Weatherbug, Incredimail, Messenger, and one internet explorer page...360mb or RAM being used.  Except, I cannot open anything else, and something is maxing out my CPU and my process meter stays at 100%  Some of its green, mostly red.  I asked a friend, he asked what ports did I have open, but neglected to tell me why he asked, how to find out...etc.

Ive been having this pc/RAM for 3 yrs, I was able to have all the above listed programs open, multiple ie windows and even PaintShop Pro....and never had this probelm.  I started noticing it when I downloaded and installed Norton Internet Security 2006. Called their tech support was informed that 2006 needed 256mb RAM just to run. Then they said I had a memory leakage problem, contact the manufacturer of my puter.  Did that, they told me that Norton was F.O.S.  It was worse when I had it installed, so I uninstalled it, removed it from my registry keys, installed Trend Micro Systems package...still the same problem.  I have defragged, removed unused installed programs and ran registry mechanic to no avail.  I even compared running processes on my laptop to see if something was using too much.  They are about the same, yet my laptop doesn't have this problem.

Question, could someone be using my computer via an open port for file transfers? Is that why my friend asked me about the ports?  If so I know there is a way you can see if someone is connected to your computer, but I forgot how.  How could I see what ports are open.  I used GRC's port scan and found that 390-1055 ports were wide open.  How can I find out if someone is using my puter (im on roadrunner), and if so, how can I shut it down?  Or is it simply that maybe my processor is going bad?  Cuz if my taskmanager is telling me that I'm using 360 out of 1024mb of RAM, I'm not understanding the problem.

Please someone help me before I toss this box out of the window.

Is the size of the font on that page meant to be that way? Has anyone else noticed that it keeps getting so large it cannot be read? Or is that the point?  Just curious

Wassup to all.  I'm in the middle of extremely new...and....I know a little bit   Glad there are people out there that allow people like us to pick their brains   Hope to learn a lot, and contribute what I can.