What is up? Computer has slowed down considerably, everytime an exe file opens i get a popup that says "bad image'. think it's time to move my files to an external HD and reboot XP? Is that such a big deal?

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IMO, I would first give it a good cleaning. In this I mean run some scans to detect and remove any malware. Spyware can slow a system down 500%.....
Have one of our security analyst take a look at some logs for you.

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If you dont want to waste the time then wipe it, its your call. And its no big deal, at least for me its not