Thank you, Lucky9teen
What kind of virus/spyware/adware programs are you running and have you scanned with then since this happened? Also, do you use a file cleaner like Window Washer or CCleaner?
Try to isolate your connection hardware (nic, hub, router)with a second computer if you have one so you can troubleshoot each to see if that is causing your problem. Just watching the little activity lights could give you a clue if it's hardware related.
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You are running out of memory. 384 mb isn't enough.
Tech Supoprt Ping
Had you installed any software, especially anything like a game, screensaver, or music downloaded from a file-sharing service, around the time the problem started?
There is a tool called HijackThis that is particularly efficient at finding malware, but it needs its results interpreted by someone who knows what to look for. It can be downloaded from this link. If you'd like to see whether you may have something malicious lurking on your system, you can download this tool to your computer, unzip and run it, select "Do a system scan and save a logfile", and FRmail me the contents of the logfile (which will pop up in a Notepad window).
Go to startup tab
what's listed other than AV, firewall, anti spy & Cox ?
Then take the output and post it to any one of dozens of forums or websites populated by folks who can scan through to detect registry entries or Browser Helper Objects (BHOs) that do not belong.
HJT can then be used to delete the offending nasties...if found.
Not enouuuuuugh Raaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmm
FYI....Rebuilding virtual memory is not designed to increase memory, just clear out old fragments that might contain bad data. RAM is not the same as virtual memory.
I am NOT a computer Geek...but do know I had a similar problem because I did NOT have enough memory & I had more than you do.
When I went to a gig of memory, things improved vastly
Did this happen out of nowhere all at once?
If so, can you remember around the first time it happened?
Read what PROCESSES are running in windows task manager and use a healthy computer in a search engine to look up things running you aren't sure of.
Also do a search
*.exe
Limit the date of the search to a day or so before you first started seeing the problem to present.
Look for new exe files that have been created and also look them up on a healthy computer in a search engine.
More than likely you have a virus.
So, you are not using dial up now? If you are using a router, turn the router off for a few minutes or more and reboot your computer.
It doesn't hurt to try a different virus scanner. I would recommend a different online scan but it sounds like your connection isn't very good.
What spyware was removed by Ad-Aware and Spybot? Some of the nastier spyware require extra steps to remove.
Open add/remove programs in your Control Panel and delete unnecessary programs (example: toolbars).
Maybe your computer is trying to download a Windows update causing your internet to slow down?
Some of the suggestions already posted will help you identify the application that is causing the problem.
1) Hitting Ctr-Alt-Del will bring up Task manager and click on the "processes" tab. Sort on memory, descending and see if there is anything using a lot of memory, do the same using the cpu column. If you see anything do a google search on the name listed and see what comes up.
2) If that doesn't solve it download and run "process viewer". It is freeware that will show everything running and what other apps it they are related to. If anything seems suspicious such as "Bargain Buddy" for example, do a google search on it to ensure it is not important and then find a way to get rid of it. I mentioned "bargain buddy" because I had a similar problem and I was able to trace the problem to it. Getting rid of it, however, was a whole other thing. It took two days to figure out how to get rid of it. A file was starting up every time I rebooted that re-spawned it. The next step is how I was able to get rid of it.
3) Download and run "Hijack This". It is freeware and will create a text file listing everything that starts up when you boot your computer. There are many forums where you can post the results and people will help you wade through the list and identify possible culprits. Someone here offered to look through it for you and I could as well.
4) Any anti-spyware program will eliminate a good amount of spyware but not all, that is why it is important to use more than one. And even if it says it removed something, it may not get all of it and it can re-spawn itself.
5) One additional method is to use "selective startup" or MSConfig to disable certain programs, processes, or services at startup to identify the culprit. An explanation can be found here. It requires some understanding of what the items are but is a very useful tool.
Good luck.