I know that in addition to the spyware, which leaves behind many, many fragmented files when it is removed, sometimes the basic disk format becomes "tired" and, like you and me, acts weird.

In that case, at least for me, the only thing to do has been to copy the important stuff, reformat the disk, and reload.

A pain in the neck, with the advantage of having starting with just the stuff that's relevant.

I have something called "temporary internet files", which are absolutely huge. 1000 to 1200 images each, some big, most smaller. I've deleted all of them from time to time, and not noticed any difference in performance, and they seem to fill back up almost instantly.

So, I certainly don't know all, or even most, of what's going on with this computer.

Arf