I would run a Symantec Security Check online http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp?productid=symhome&langid=ie&venid=sym
Sometimes it catches things that normal Symantec can't. I just fixed a laptop that had some of the same symptoms so don't give up yet. She had a worm, some virus remnants, and some really agressive spyware keeping me from opening My Computer or the CD drive. Thanks to some fix tools from Symantec I got it up and running again, and it's now at least useable even though I didn't have the time to go through and clean all the spyware.
I also recommend Spybot - Search & Destroy, because it catches lots of things that Ad-Aware can't (and vice versa).
It really sounds like something's running in the background sucking up all of your memory - check your processes list if you can find it, go to Google, and type in the name of each process and figure out what it is. If it's a jumbled mess of letters and numbers that's a good indication that you have a virus or worm.
Reinstalling Windows isn't a good solution if it's a worm or virus. They stay in your hard drive somehow - I can't explain it but I've worked on a lot of computers that have either stayed infected or gotten reinfected in a couple days or less because the cause of the problem wasn't taken care of before the reinstall. Make sure you get any Windows critical updates for it...and make sure you follow Symantec removal directions exactly because if you remove things in the wrong order or leave out steps part of the infection stays. If you had XP I'd be able to help you out a lot more, but since 2000 is somewhat related maybe the above things will help enough to get it running again.
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http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp?productid=symhome&langid=ie&venid=sym
Sometimes it catches things that normal Symantec can't. I just fixed a laptop that had some of the same symptoms so don't give up yet. She had a worm, some virus remnants, and some really agressive spyware keeping me from opening My Computer or the CD drive. Thanks to some fix tools from Symantec I got it up and running again, and it's now at least useable even though I didn't have the time to go through and clean all the spyware.
I also recommend Spybot - Search & Destroy, because it catches lots of things that Ad-Aware can't (and vice versa).
It really sounds like something's running in the background sucking up all of your memory - check your processes list if you can find it, go to Google, and type in the name of each process and figure out what it is. If it's a jumbled mess of letters and numbers that's a good indication that you have a virus or worm.
Reinstalling Windows isn't a good solution if it's a worm or virus. They stay in your hard drive somehow - I can't explain it but I've worked on a lot of computers that have either stayed infected or gotten reinfected in a couple days or less because the cause of the problem wasn't taken care of before the reinstall. Make sure you get any Windows critical updates for it...and make sure you follow Symantec removal directions exactly because if you remove things in the wrong order or leave out steps part of the infection stays. If you had XP I'd be able to help you out a lot more, but since 2000 is somewhat related maybe the above things will help enough to get it running again.