Did I just screw up my computer or is it a coincidence...?

that it is running super s-l-o-w, AFTER I put vrus protection on it? My trial virus protection ran out some time ago, and although my pc seemed to be working fine for the most part, I decided to download some free anti virus software. I used Avast, and it prompted me to download a registry cleaner as well, so I did.

Well...... after the registry cleaner scanned and fixed 20 errors, it asked if I wanted to purchase and I opted not to and just put the Avast on. Also I removed some of my un-used programs just to clean up my desk top a bit. Well that was a few days ago, and suddenly my pc seems to have slowed down ALOT. Web pages take forever to load. Also I can't get any videos to play for more than a few seconds. (I watch all my fav shows online at abc.com and mtv.com and such)

Anyway, what could be the problem? Could there be a problem with my internet connection or could it be from one of these AV programs I downloaded or what?

Did I just screw up my computer or is it a coincidence...?suzuki

avast is a very good a/v, that said it does use a fair amount of system resources, if your machine is quite old, i would opt for downloading avira, it is free and good, the only negative with avira is that updates are slooooooooooooooooooooooow. i would guess that you may have some spyware/adware on your system, download adaware and spybot search and destroy, they are both free and very well tested applications. stay away from reg cleaners, as some of them create more problems than they reslove. lastly ensure your old a/v is uninstalled like the first guy said. these applications and avast should get you up and running again in no time. for a firewall i would use either comodo firewall pro or zone alarm basic, they are both free and very good, i would go for comodo as it is more easily configured than zone alarm. hope this helps.