explorer.exe is resource hungry

This problem has been taxing my brain for many a day now!

Hello all, I'm a new poster to these boards, but please bear with me. My life has taken a turn recently, and I'm trying to get good with computers as a possible way of making a living in the future. As such, I have sworn to myself that I will solve this problem out without using a professional, which is why I am here. I'm OK with computers but no expert. I am willing to learn!

A few weeks ago, I noticed that my laptop seemed a bit more sluggish, although I didn't really pay it a whole lot of attention at the time. I've had some more time on my hands recently, and I've been using the computer a lot. I've noticed that one particular process (explorer.exe) seems to be consuming an awful lot of memory. The process boots up at about 20MB, which seems reasonable enough, but the process quickly mushrooms to between 250-420MB, which does seem an awful lot. I have examined the process on different machines, and 20MB seems to be the normal kind of level.

I have googled the hell out of this problem, to no avail. I've tried a number of different things all to no avail. Here are the things that I have done:

-Kill the process and restart it. It stops using memory for a while but very quickly mushrooms to previous levels.

-Uninstall anything that I have installed in the past year.

-Clean the registry with Registry Mechanic. Lots of issues found, but still doesn't solve the problem!

-Tried some software for examining shell extensions, which apparently affect the explorer.exe process. The software was difficult to use, and I couldn't see any new shell extensions that had been installed.

-I have also been to a different site and been led through a number of fixes there. Alas, this has not solved the problem - the process is still sat there taking tons of memory. This method that I tried was in the belief that this was a virus/malware problem; I am now less inclined to believe that that is the issue, but I am still flummoxed. The link to that topic is here:
Explorer.exe is hogging memory - TechSpot OpenBoards

My laptop is still usable at this memory level, but that is not the point. This doesn't appear normal to me and I really want to get to the bottom of why.

Can anybody help?

Gareth

Thanks for the quick reply; the generosity of people on the internet never ceases to amaze me.

I stopped using the registry cleaner as part of the previous thread; it has since been uninstalled.

I have used the disk cleanup facility; it removed a few files but not a massive amount.

I am using McAffee anti-virus; I have uninstalled this and re-installed it a couple of times during the steps taken on the previous thread.

The MBAM software was also run in the previous thread; I don't think it appears to find anything. Anyhow, here is the log file that it generated:

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.51.1.1800
Malwarebytes : Free anti-malware, anti-virus and spyware removal download

Database version: 7467

Windows 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1
Internet Explorer 8.0.7601.17514

14/08/2011 20:58:38
mbam-log-2011-08-14 (20-58-38).txt

Scan type: Quick scan
Objects scanned: 169136
Time elapsed: 7 minute(s), 40 second(s)

Memory Processes Infected: 0
Memory Modules Infected: 0
Registry Keys Infected: 1
Registry Values Infected: 0
Registry Data Items Infected: 0
Folders Infected: 0
Files Infected: 0

Memory Processes Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Memory Modules Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Keys Infected:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Low Rights\ElevationPolicy\{A078F691-9C07-4AF2-BF43-35E79EECF8B7} (Adware.Softomate) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.

Registry Values Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Data Items Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Folders Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Files Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Wow! It's crazy that software you pay for might actually be causing problems! In the interests of sorting this thing, I have uninstalled McAfee and installed MSE. MSE has done a full scan; it has reported no threats. I expected it to provide a log of some sorts, but I can't see one.

I ran the CC Cleaner stuff, and I have attached the necessary files.