Q: i do not know what happened but her computer now runs horribly it is deathly slow to turn on and once the desktop opens it just sits there because it is running so slow, i have tried re-booting, but it doesnt work. could this be mal-ware? and if so how would i get rid of it?
A: Probably not malware since Macs are pretty safe. But just like a PC a lot depends on what's starting up and what wants to continue to run after start up. Run Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor and see which apps/processes, if any, are using a lot of CPU. If you've installed programs you should repair permissions. HD > Apps > Utilities > Disk Utility, then select the drive and click Repair Permissions. This forum gives some more information: http://ask.metafilter.com/54976/Why-is-my-macbook-running-slow Upgrading RAM is always recommended for a speedier computer. And you could run a few products called MacJanitor, OnyX, and MainMenu to help optimize the computer. http://personalpages.tds.net/~brian_hill/macjanitor.html >MacJanitor http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english.html >OnyX http://www.santasw.com/ >MainMenu wwbgd