I have an emachines T6520 computer with Windows XP Media Center edition
Service Pack 3 with 2.40Ghz AMD Athlon 64 processor.128 Kb primary memory
cache 512 Kb secondary memory cache. 896 Megabytes installed memory.
My c drive has 150.17 Gb free.

I'm up-to-date on all of Microsoft hot fixes for Windows.
I use AdAware, Spybot Search and Destroy and Super Anti- Spyware frequently.
I have McAfee Security system and recently ran a complete scan with no
troubles found. Usually when I try to defrag it says not necessary to
defrag, but a couple of days ago I did a defrag and it did not help .
I'm far from being an expert, but from what I've read it seems like I may
have too many programs on Startup and too much stuff running in the back
ground using up memory (or is it system resources?) The big users of memory
(using CAD) are:
iexplore.exe 23,088K
msimn.exe 54,900K
msntask.exe 38,544K
Mcshield.exe 101,124K
explorer.exe 15,348K
AAWService.exe 18,480K
sychost.exe 17,240K
There are 56 processes listed with CPU usages varying from about 47% up to
100%

Looking at the startup tab in msconfig I see about 25 items listed. Some I
can recognize as names of programs, but most have names I don't recognize
(such as atiptaxx, PDVDserv,Zhotkey Etc..) I copied several of the unknowns
into Google searches and, mostly I found vague descriptions and comments
such as "Not dangerous, not necessary, but recommend keeping it unless it is
known to be causing problems" I unchecked about 6 of them and don't notice
any difference in performance.

Finally, my question:
Can anyone suggest a sensible way to approach clearing out unnecessary stuff
in my Startup and Ctl/Alt/Del list of running processes? It would seem that
if I deleted them one-at-a-time, it would take forever and would be hard to
know if taking one out had made a difference. And, does it seem like this is
a good approach to speeding my computer up?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Fred

"bayskater" wrote:

> I have an emachines T6520 computer with Windows XP Media Center edition
> Service Pack 3 with 2.40Ghz AMD Athlon 64 processor.128 Kb primary memory
> cache 512 Kb secondary memory cache. 896 Megabytes installed memory.
> My c drive has 150.17 Gb free.
>
> I'm up-to-date on all of Microsoft hot fixes for Windows.
> I use AdAware, Spybot Search and Destroy and Super Anti- Spyware frequently.
> I have McAfee Security system and recently ran a complete scan with no
> troubles found. Usually when I try to defrag it says not necessary to
> defrag, but a couple of days ago I did a defrag and it did not help .
> I'm far from being an expert, but from what I've read it seems like I may
> have too many programs on Startup and too much stuff running in the back
> ground using up memory (or is it system resources?) The big users of memory
> (using CAD) are:
> iexplore.exe 23,088K
> msimn.exe 54,900K
> msntask.exe 38,544K
> Mcshield.exe 101,124K
> explorer.exe 15,348K
> AAWService.exe 18,480K
> sychost.exe 17,240K
> There are 56 processes listed with CPU usages varying from about 47% up to
> 100%
>
> Looking at the startup tab in msconfig I see about 25 items listed. Some I
> can recognize as names of programs, but most have names I don't recognize
> (such as atiptaxx, PDVDserv,Zhotkey Etc..) I copied several of the unknowns
> into Google searches and, mostly I found vague descriptions and comments
> such as "Not dangerous, not necessary, but recommend keeping it unless it is
> known to be causing problems" I unchecked about 6 of them and don't notice
> any difference in performance.
>
> Finally, my question:
> Can anyone suggest a sensible way to approach clearing out unnecessary stuff
> in my Startup and Ctl/Alt/Del list of running processes? It would seem that
> if I deleted them one-at-a-time, it would take forever and would be hard to
> know if taking one out had made a difference. And, does it seem like this is
> a good approach to speeding my computer up?
>
> Thanks for any advice you can offer.
>
> Fred

Hi Fred,
Are you sure this process spell right sychost.exe 17,240K or is it
svchost.exe?

If you typed it correct then your machine is infected and you need to run a
thorough scan by doing these cleaning steps:

sychost.exe LEOX.B VIRUS
http://www.symantec.com/security_res...436-99&tabid=2

Go through these Cleaning steps:
1... Click start >> Control Panel >> Double Click Network and Internet
Connections >> Double click Internet Options, on the IE Properties window
you will see these Options:
General | Security | Privacy | Content | Connections | Programs
| Advanced .

Click on General Tab (1st Tab on the left) and you will see a Button called
[ Clear History ..] click on it to clear your History caches, then click on
[Delete Files..] to delete Internet Files created over the time, click on [
Delete Cookies...] to delete your cookies left by visiting websites.

Then click on Advanced tab and scroll down to under the Browsing Option:
[&] Browsing
[ ] Enable Third-Party browser extensions (Req Rest) uncheck this box.
= Then try to Disable the Add-Ons on your Browser somehow installed on your
browser, On how to disable the Add-ons follow this:
Click on Programs Tab and then click the Manage Add-Ons Button there Disable
the Non/Not Verified Plug-ins/Add-ons ( you need to Renable them one-by-one
later and see which is the culprit .
How to manage Add-Ons:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/883256
Scan for malware from here:
SuperAntispyware - Free
http://www.superantispyware.com/supe...freevspro.html
Malwarebytes© Corporation - Anti-Malware
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam/program/mbam-setup.exe

Run a scan from here on-line:
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/d...d=ie&venid=sym
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx

Run disk clean up on your C:\ Drive.

HTH
nass
---
http://www.nasstec.co.uk

"nass" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:A20F5C18-A111-4FAE-82E9-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>
> "bayskater" wrote:
>
>> I have an emachines T6520 computer with Windows XP Media Center edition
>> Service Pack 3 with 2.40Ghz AMD Athlon 64 processor.128 Kb primary memory
>> cache 512 Kb secondary memory cache. 896 Megabytes installed memory.
>> My c drive has 150.17 Gb free.
>>
>> I'm up-to-date on all of Microsoft hot fixes for Windows.
>> I use AdAware, Spybot Search and Destroy and Super Anti- Spyware
>> frequently.
>> I have McAfee Security system and recently ran a complete scan with no
>> troubles found. Usually when I try to defrag it says not necessary to
>> defrag, but a couple of days ago I did a defrag and it did not help .
>> I'm far from being an expert, but from what I've read it seems like I may
>> have too many programs on Startup and too much stuff running in the back
>> ground using up memory (or is it system resources?) The big users of
>> memory
>> (using CAD) are:
>> iexplore.exe 23,088K
>> msimn.exe 54,900K
>> msntask.exe 38,544K
>> Mcshield.exe 101,124K
>> explorer.exe 15,348K
>> AAWService.exe 18,480K
>> sychost.exe 17,240K
>> There are 56 processes listed with CPU usages varying from about 47% up
>> to
>> 100%
>>
>> Looking at the startup tab in msconfig I see about 25 items listed. Some
>> I
>> can recognize as names of programs, but most have names I don't recognize
>> (such as atiptaxx, PDVDserv,Zhotkey Etc..) I copied several of the
>> unknowns
>> into Google searches and, mostly I found vague descriptions and comments
>> such as "Not dangerous, not necessary, but recommend keeping it unless it
>> is
>> known to be causing problems" I unchecked about 6 of them and don't
>> notice
>> any difference in performance.
>>
>> Finally, my question:
>> Can anyone suggest a sensible way to approach clearing out unnecessary
>> stuff
>> in my Startup and Ctl/Alt/Del list of running processes? It would seem
>> that
>> if I deleted them one-at-a-time, it would take forever and would be hard
>> to
>> know if taking one out had made a difference. And, does it seem like this
>> is
>> a good approach to speeding my computer up?
>>
>> Thanks for any advice you can offer.
>>
>> Fred
>
> Hi Fred,
> Are you sure this process spell right sychost.exe 17,240K or is it
> svchost.exe?
>
> If you typed it correct then your machine is infected and you need to run
> a
> thorough scan by doing these cleaning steps:
>
> sychost.exe LEOX.B VIRUS
> http://www.symantec.com/security_res...436-99&tabid=2
>
> Go through these Cleaning steps:
> 1... Click start >> Control Panel >> Double Click Network and Internet
> Connections >> Double click Internet Options, on the IE Properties window
> you will see these Options:
> General | Security | Privacy | Content | Connections | Programs
> | Advanced .
>
> Click on General Tab (1st Tab on the left) and you will see a Button
> called
> [ Clear History ..] click on it to clear your History caches, then click
> on
> [Delete Files..] to delete Internet Files created over the time, click on
> [
> Delete Cookies...] to delete your cookies left by visiting websites.
>
> Then click on Advanced tab and scroll down to under the Browsing Option:
> [&] Browsing
> [ ] Enable Third-Party browser extensions (Req Rest) uncheck this box.
> = Then try to Disable the Add-Ons on your Browser somehow installed on
> your
> browser, On how to disable the Add-ons follow this:
> Click on Programs Tab and then click the Manage Add-Ons Button there
> Disable
> the Non/Not Verified Plug-ins/Add-ons ( you need to Renable them
> one-by-one
> later and see which is the culprit .
> How to manage Add-Ons:
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/883256
> Scan for malware from here:
> SuperAntispyware - Free
> http://www.superantispyware.com/supe...freevspro.html
> Malwarebytes© Corporation - Anti-Malware
> http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam/program/mbam-setup.exe
>
> Run a scan from here on-line:
> http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/d...d=ie&venid=sym
> http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
>
> Run disk clean up on your C:\ Drive.
>
> HTH
> nass
> ---
> http://www.nasstec.co.uk

Thanks, nass.

My bad. Taking another look it is svchost.exe and the mem. usage has dropped
to 2,296K. Must get my eyeglasses upgraded.

Fred
>

If your PC is idle, in processes only the system Idle proccess should show
any significant cpu useage
Provided your sys is clean and has sufficient memory (it does) & free space
(it does) 56 processes should not impact on performance.
Any start up shown in your system tray often has an option to disable the
auto start with Win

Try booting your sys into Safe mode and see how it then performs
Using MSUpdate to install drivers, as apposed to Critical Updates only, can
cause various issues.
Personally, even when I'm visiting sites I shouldnt, I dont run malaware
apps more than once a month, and even then they rarely find anything
significant


"bayskater" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:O8nC$(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have an emachines T6520 computer with Windows XP Media Center edition
>Service Pack 3 with 2.40Ghz AMD Athlon 64 processor.128 Kb primary memory
>cache 512 Kb secondary memory cache. 896 Megabytes installed memory.
> My c drive has 150.17 Gb free.
>
> I'm up-to-date on all of Microsoft hot fixes for Windows.
> I use AdAware, Spybot Search and Destroy and Super Anti- Spyware
> frequently. I have McAfee Security system and recently ran a complete scan
> with no troubles found. Usually when I try to defrag it says not necessary
> to defrag, but a couple of days ago I did a defrag and it did not help .
> I'm far from being an expert, but from what I've read it seems like I may
> have too many programs on Startup and too much stuff running in the back
> ground using up memory (or is it system resources?) The big users of
> memory (using CAD) are:
> iexplore.exe 23,088K
> msimn.exe 54,900K
> msntask.exe 38,544K
> Mcshield.exe 101,124K
> explorer.exe 15,348K
> AAWService.exe 18,480K
> sychost.exe 17,240K
> There are 56 processes listed with CPU usages varying from about 47% up to
> 100%
>
> Looking at the startup tab in msconfig I see about 25 items listed. Some I
> can recognize as names of programs, but most have names I don't recognize
> (such as atiptaxx, PDVDserv,Zhotkey Etc..) I copied several of the
> unknowns into Google searches and, mostly I found vague descriptions and
> comments such as "Not dangerous, not necessary, but recommend keeping it
> unless it is known to be causing problems" I unchecked about 6 of them and
> don't notice any difference in performance.
>
> Finally, my question:
> Can anyone suggest a sensible way to approach clearing out unnecessary
> stuff in my Startup and Ctl/Alt/Del list of running processes? It would
> seem that if I deleted them one-at-a-time, it would take forever and would
> be hard to know if taking one out had made a difference. And, does it seem
> like this is a good approach to speeding my computer up?
>
> Thanks for any advice you can offer.
>
> Fred
>

"bayskater" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:O8nC$(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have an emachines T6520 computer with Windows XP Media Center edition
>Service Pack 3 with 2.40Ghz AMD Athlon 64 processor.128 Kb primary memory
>cache 512 Kb secondary memory cache. 896 Megabytes installed memory.
> My c drive has 150.17 Gb free.
>
> I'm up-to-date on all of Microsoft hot fixes for Windows.
> I use AdAware, Spybot Search and Destroy and Super Anti- Spyware
> frequently. I have McAfee Security system and recently ran a complete scan
> with no troubles found. Usually when I try to defrag it says not necessary
> to defrag, but a couple of days ago I did a defrag and it did not help .
> I'm far from being an expert, but from what I've read it seems like I may
> have too many programs on Startup and too much stuff running in the back
> ground using up memory (or is it system resources?) The big users of
> memory (using CAD) are:
> iexplore.exe 23,088K
> msimn.exe 54,900K
> msntask.exe 38,544K
> Mcshield.exe 101,124K
> explorer.exe 15,348K
> AAWService.exe 18,480K
> sychost.exe 17,240K
> There are 56 processes listed with CPU usages varying from about 47% up to
> 100%
>
> Looking at the startup tab in msconfig I see about 25 items listed. Some I
> can recognize as names of programs, but most have names I don't recognize
> (such as atiptaxx, PDVDserv,Zhotkey Etc..) I copied several of the
> unknowns into Google searches and, mostly I found vague descriptions and
> comments such as "Not dangerous, not necessary, but recommend keeping it
> unless it is known to be causing problems" I unchecked about 6 of them and
> don't notice any difference in performance.
>
> Finally, my question:
> Can anyone suggest a sensible way to approach clearing out unnecessary
> stuff in my Startup and Ctl/Alt/Del list of running processes? It would
> seem that if I deleted them one-at-a-time, it would take forever and would
> be hard to know if taking one out had made a difference. And, does it seem
> like this is a good approach to speeding my computer up?
>
> Thanks for any advice you can offer.
>
> Fred
>



If it were my computer, and I wanted to speed it up, I would uninstall
McAfee. I would not substitute Symantec/Norton in its place.

There are many decent antivirus/anti malware programs that are free even.

Avast FREE: http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

AVG FREE: http://www.avg.com/us-en/download?prd=afg

Microsoft Security Essentials:
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

Threatfire: http://www.threatfire.com/

MalwareBytes Anti Malware: http://www.malwarebytes.org/

--

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience & Security

Thanks, DL.
You're right. When my computer is idle, only System Idle Process shows any
CPU usage. (anywhere from 00 to 99). But many of the processes shown show as
using significant memory.

I right-clicked on several of the tray icons and none showed an option to
disable the auto-start, but I guess I could do that in msconfig startup if I
wished.

I tried booting into Safe Mode (first time I've ever done that on XP). Hard
to tell if any improvement in speed as can't even get to my internet home
page in that mode or another commonly used site. The "slowness" I've been
concerned with is the time it takes to go to a website or that it takes for
the links to work at the sites. When I get to a site, there's a delay before
my scroll-wheel begins to work for me.
When I said I use the anti-spyware pgms. "frequently" I meant every 3-4
weeks unless somthing is acting strangely.

A few years ago when reading from these MS forums, I believe someone said
"You should be able to shut down all processes except explorer.exe without
causing any problems" and could do so to troubleshoot problems. Is that
true?
Am I wrong to suspect that some program is gobbling up my memory and hence
slowing my computer down ? . Some of the slowness is evident even when I'm
using the computer off-line.
I've never used "disk cleanup". I've been afraid that it may dump some of my
programs that I haven't used recently, but still want.
Would you recommend me taking that risk?

Thanks, ... Fred


"DL" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> If your PC is idle, in processes only the system Idle proccess should show
> any significant cpu useage
> Provided your sys is clean and has sufficient memory (it does) & free
> space (it does) 56 processes should not impact on performance.
> Any start up shown in your system tray often has an option to disable the
> auto start with Win
>
> Try booting your sys into Safe mode and see how it then performs
> Using MSUpdate to install drivers, as apposed to Critical Updates only,
> can cause various issues.
> Personally, even when I'm visiting sites I shouldnt, I dont run malaware
> apps more than once a month, and even then they rarely find anything
> significant
>
>
> "bayskater" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:O8nC$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>I have an emachines T6520 computer with Windows XP Media Center edition
>>Service Pack 3 with 2.40Ghz AMD Athlon 64 processor.128 Kb primary memory
>>cache 512 Kb secondary memory cache. 896 Megabytes installed memory.
>> My c drive has 150.17 Gb free.
>>
>> I'm up-to-date on all of Microsoft hot fixes for Windows.
>> I use AdAware, Spybot Search and Destroy and Super Anti- Spyware
>> frequently. I have McAfee Security system and recently ran a complete
>> scan with no troubles found. Usually when I try to defrag it says not
>> necessary to defrag, but a couple of days ago I did a defrag and it did
>> not help .
>> I'm far from being an expert, but from what I've read it seems like I may
>> have too many programs on Startup and too much stuff running in the back
>> ground using up memory (or is it system resources?) The big users of
>> memory (using CAD) are:
>> iexplore.exe 23,088K
>> msimn.exe 54,900K
>> msntask.exe 38,544K
>> Mcshield.exe 101,124K
>> explorer.exe 15,348K
>> AAWService.exe 18,480K
>> sychost.exe 17,240K
>> There are 56 processes listed with CPU usages varying from about 47% up
>> to 100%
>>
>> Looking at the startup tab in msconfig I see about 25 items listed. Some
>> I can recognize as names of programs, but most have names I don't
>> recognize (such as atiptaxx, PDVDserv,Zhotkey Etc..) I copied several of
>> the unknowns into Google searches and, mostly I found vague descriptions
>> and comments such as "Not dangerous, not necessary, but recommend keeping
>> it unless it is known to be causing problems" I unchecked about 6 of them
>> and don't notice any difference in performance.
>>
>> Finally, my question:
>> Can anyone suggest a sensible way to approach clearing out unnecessary
>> stuff in my Startup and Ctl/Alt/Del list of running processes? It would
>> seem that if I deleted them one-at-a-time, it would take forever and
>> would be hard to know if taking one out had made a difference. And, does
>> it seem like this is a good approach to speeding my computer up?
>>
>> Thanks for any advice you can offer.
>>
>> Fred
>>
>
>

Answers in-line!

"bayskater" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thanks, DL.
> You're right. When my computer is idle, only System Idle Process shows any
> CPU usage. (anywhere from 00 to 99). But many of the processes shown show
> as using significant memory.
>
> I right-clicked on several of the tray icons and none showed an option to
> disable the auto-start, but I guess I could do that in msconfig startup if
> I wished.

********************************************
********************************************

You have to go into the program that places the startup icon in the
notification area - usually under options or preferences. Look in each area
to find out how to stop a program from running at Windows Start.

********************************************
********************************************




> I tried booting into Safe Mode (first time I've ever done that on XP).
> Hard to tell if any improvement in speed as can't even get to my internet
> home page in that mode or another commonly used site. The "slowness" I've
> been concerned with is the time it takes to go to a website or that it
> takes for the links to work at the sites. When I get to a site, there's a
> delay before my scroll-wheel begins to work for me.

********************************************
********************************************

Uninstall McAfee and you may just see your surfing speed increase
tremendously.

********************************************
********************************************



> When I said I use the anti-spyware pgms. "frequently" I meant every 3-4
> weeks unless somthing is acting strangely.

********************************************
********************************************

Why every 3-4 weeks? Why not weekly?

********************************************
********************************************




> A few years ago when reading from these MS forums, I believe someone said
> "You should be able to shut down all processes except explorer.exe without
> causing any problems" and could do so to troubleshoot problems. Is that
> true?

********************************************
********************************************

If you don't know what you are shutting down - don't do it! You can do a web
search on every single process that is running to see if the process is
necessary for the O/S to function properly.

********************************************
********************************************



> Am I wrong to suspect that some program is gobbling up my memory and hence
> slowing my computer down ? . Some of the slowness is evident even when I'm
> using the computer off-line.

********************************************
********************************************

That is why you Task Manager. You have to set the columns so you can see the
memory you are interested in. Click on the Process Tab, then View, then
Select Columns. Place a check in what you want to monitor. Then do so!

********************************************
********************************************



> I've never used "disk cleanup". I've been afraid that it may dump some of
> my programs that I haven't used recently, but still want.
> Would you recommend me taking that risk?

********************************************
********************************************

Any automated cleaning tool has to be used along with YOUR judgement! If YOU
don't review what the tool has found, and wants to clean up - YOU live with
the consequences!

********************************************
********************************************


>
> Thanks, ... Fred


Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience/Security

"Richard Urban" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
> "bayskater" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:O8nC$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>I have an emachines T6520 computer with Windows XP Media Center edition
>>Service Pack 3 with 2.40Ghz AMD Athlon 64 processor.128 Kb primary memory
>>cache 512 Kb secondary memory cache. 896 Megabytes installed memory.
>> My c drive has 150.17 Gb free.
>>
>> I'm up-to-date on all of Microsoft hot fixes for Windows.
>> I use AdAware, Spybot Search and Destroy and Super Anti- Spyware
>> frequently. I have McAfee Security system and recently ran a complete
>> scan with no troubles found. Usually when I try to defrag it says not
>> necessary to defrag, but a couple of days ago I did a defrag and it did
>> not help .
>> I'm far from being an expert, but from what I've read it seems like I may
>> have too many programs on Startup and too much stuff running in the back
>> ground using up memory (or is it system resources?) The big users of
>> memory (using CAD) are:
>> iexplore.exe 23,088K
>> msimn.exe 54,900K
>> msntask.exe 38,544K
>> Mcshield.exe 101,124K
>> explorer.exe 15,348K
>> AAWService.exe 18,480K
>> sychost.exe 17,240K
>> There are 56 processes listed with CPU usages varying from about 47% up
>> to 100%
>>
>> Looking at the startup tab in msconfig I see about 25 items listed. Some
>> I can recognize as names of programs, but most have names I don't
>> recognize (such as atiptaxx, PDVDserv,Zhotkey Etc..) I copied several of
>> the unknowns into Google searches and, mostly I found vague descriptions
>> and comments such as "Not dangerous, not necessary, but recommend keeping
>> it unless it is known to be causing problems" I unchecked about 6 of them
>> and don't notice any difference in performance.
>>
>> Finally, my question:
>> Can anyone suggest a sensible way to approach clearing out unnecessary
>> stuff in my Startup and Ctl/Alt/Del list of running processes? It would
>> seem that if I deleted them one-at-a-time, it would take forever and
>> would be hard to know if taking one out had made a difference. And, does
>> it seem like this is a good approach to speeding my computer up?
>>
>> Thanks for any advice you can offer.
>>
>> Fred
>>
>
>
>
> If it were my computer, and I wanted to speed it up, I would uninstall
> McAfee. I would not substitute Symantec/Norton in its place.
>
> There are many decent antivirus/anti malware programs that are free even.
>
> Avast FREE: http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
>
> AVG FREE: http://www.avg.com/us-en/download?prd=afg
>
> Microsoft Security Essentials:
> http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/
>
> Threatfire: http://www.threatfire.com/
>
> MalwareBytes Anti Malware: http://www.malwarebytes.org/
>
> --
>
> Richard Urban
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Desktop Experience & Security

The more I read about computer slowness problems, the more confusing it
gets.
Searching for user comments on the free programs listed above showed all of
them are knocked by at least some of the users.
Lots of advice to Clean my registry and lots more to beware of registry
cleaners.
The McAfee program I'm using is offered free to Comcast customers. I
abandoned Norton/Symantec years ago and would never go back to it.
One site even advised backing up everything and re-installing XP.
Any thoughts on my question about using "disk cleanup" in Windows System
Tools?
How about "end process" for all my running processes?
What pgms do I really NEED in my Startup?
What really NEEDS to be running in the background?
Maybe I should just learn to love my slow computer?

Any experience with Uniblue Registry Booster program?

Thanks, ... Fred

"bayskater" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Richard Urban" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
>> "bayskater" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:O8nC$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>I have an emachines T6520 computer with Windows XP Media Center edition
>>>Service Pack 3 with 2.40Ghz AMD Athlon 64 processor.128 Kb primary memory
>>>cache 512 Kb secondary memory cache. 896 Megabytes installed memory.
>>> My c drive has 150.17 Gb free.
>>>
>>> I'm up-to-date on all of Microsoft hot fixes for Windows.
>>> I use AdAware, Spybot Search and Destroy and Super Anti- Spyware
>>> frequently. I have McAfee Security system and recently ran a complete
>>> scan with no troubles found. Usually when I try to defrag it says not
>>> necessary to defrag, but a couple of days ago I did a defrag and it did
>>> not help .
>>> I'm far from being an expert, but from what I've read it seems like I
>>> may have too many programs on Startup and too much stuff running in the
>>> back ground using up memory (or is it system resources?) The big users
>>> of memory (using CAD) are:
>>> iexplore.exe 23,088K
>>> msimn.exe 54,900K
>>> msntask.exe 38,544K
>>> Mcshield.exe 101,124K
>>> explorer.exe 15,348K
>>> AAWService.exe 18,480K
>>> sychost.exe 17,240K
>>> There are 56 processes listed with CPU usages varying from about 47% up
>>> to 100%
>>>
>>> Looking at the startup tab in msconfig I see about 25 items listed. Some
>>> I can recognize as names of programs, but most have names I don't
>>> recognize (such as atiptaxx, PDVDserv,Zhotkey Etc..) I copied several of
>>> the unknowns into Google searches and, mostly I found vague descriptions
>>> and comments such as "Not dangerous, not necessary, but recommend
>>> keeping it unless it is known to be causing problems" I unchecked about
>>> 6 of them and don't notice any difference in performance.
>>>
>>> Finally, my question:
>>> Can anyone suggest a sensible way to approach clearing out unnecessary
>>> stuff in my Startup and Ctl/Alt/Del list of running processes? It would
>>> seem that if I deleted them one-at-a-time, it would take forever and
>>> would be hard to know if taking one out had made a difference. And, does
>>> it seem like this is a good approach to speeding my computer up?
>>>
>>> Thanks for any advice you can offer.
>>>
>>> Fred
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> If it were my computer, and I wanted to speed it up, I would uninstall
>> McAfee. I would not substitute Symantec/Norton in its place.
>>
>> There are many decent antivirus/anti malware programs that are free even.
>>
>> Avast FREE: http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
>>
>> AVG FREE: http://www.avg.com/us-en/download?prd=afg
>>
>> Microsoft Security Essentials:
>> http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/
>>
>> Threatfire: http://www.threatfire.com/
>>
>> MalwareBytes Anti Malware: http://www.malwarebytes.org/
>>
>> --
>>
>> Richard Urban
>> Microsoft MVP
>> Windows Desktop Experience & Security
>
> The more I read about computer slowness problems, the more confusing it
> gets.
> Searching for user comments on the free programs listed above showed all
> of them are knocked by at least some of the users.
> Lots of advice to Clean my registry and lots more to beware of registry
> cleaners.
> The McAfee program I'm using is offered free to Comcast customers. I
> abandoned Norton/Symantec years ago and would never go back to it.
> One site even advised backing up everything and re-installing XP.
> Any thoughts on my question about using "disk cleanup" in Windows System
> Tools?
> How about "end process" for all my running processes?
> What pgms do I really NEED in my Startup?
> What really NEEDS to be running in the background?
> Maybe I should just learn to love my slow computer?
>
> Any experience with Uniblue Registry Booster program?
>
> Thanks, ... Fred
>
>
>



Please, for your sanity, forget about using any registry tools except for
the tool included with the operating system. It is a manual tool and, if you
don't know or research what you plan to do in the registry - you shouldn't
be in there!

--

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience & Security

"Richard Urban" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> "bayskater" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> "Richard Urban" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> "bayskater" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>> news:O8nC$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>>I have an emachines T6520 computer with Windows XP Media Center edition
>>>>Service Pack 3 with 2.40Ghz AMD Athlon 64 processor.128 Kb primary
>>>>memory cache 512 Kb secondary memory cache. 896 Megabytes installed
>>>>memory.
>>>> My c drive has 150.17 Gb free.
>>>>
>>>> I'm up-to-date on all of Microsoft hot fixes for Windows.
>>>> I use AdAware, Spybot Search and Destroy and Super Anti- Spyware
>>>> frequently. I have McAfee Security system and recently ran a complete
>>>> scan with no troubles found. Usually when I try to defrag it says not
>>>> necessary to defrag, but a couple of days ago I did a defrag and it did
>>>> not help .
>>>> I'm far from being an expert, but from what I've read it seems like I
>>>> may have too many programs on Startup and too much stuff running in the
>>>> back ground using up memory (or is it system resources?) The big users
>>>> of memory (using CAD) are:
>>>> iexplore.exe 23,088K
>>>> msimn.exe 54,900K
>>>> msntask.exe 38,544K
>>>> Mcshield.exe 101,124K
>>>> explorer.exe 15,348K
>>>> AAWService.exe 18,480K
>>>> sychost.exe 17,240K
>>>> There are 56 processes listed with CPU usages varying from about 47% up
>>>> to 100%
>>>>
>>>> Looking at the startup tab in msconfig I see about 25 items listed.
>>>> Some I can recognize as names of programs, but most have names I don't
>>>> recognize (such as atiptaxx, PDVDserv,Zhotkey Etc..) I copied several
>>>> of the unknowns into Google searches and, mostly I found vague
>>>> descriptions and comments such as "Not dangerous, not necessary, but
>>>> recommend keeping it unless it is known to be causing problems" I
>>>> unchecked about 6 of them and don't notice any difference in
>>>> performance.
>>>>
>>>> Finally, my question:
>>>> Can anyone suggest a sensible way to approach clearing out unnecessary
>>>> stuff in my Startup and Ctl/Alt/Del list of running processes? It
>>>> would seem that if I deleted them one-at-a-time, it would take forever
>>>> and would be hard to know if taking one out had made a difference. And,
>>>> does it seem like this is a good approach to speeding my computer up?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for any advice you can offer.
>>>>
>>>> Fred
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> If it were my computer, and I wanted to speed it up, I would uninstall
>>> McAfee. I would not substitute Symantec/Norton in its place.
>>>
>>> There are many decent antivirus/anti malware programs that are free
>>> even.
>>>
>>> Avast FREE: http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
>>>
>>> AVG FREE: http://www.avg.com/us-en/download?prd=afg
>>>
>>> Microsoft Security Essentials:
>>> http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/
>>>
>>> Threatfire: http://www.threatfire.com/
>>>
>>> MalwareBytes Anti Malware: http://www.malwarebytes.org/
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> Richard Urban
>>> Microsoft MVP
>>> Windows Desktop Experience & Security
>>
>> The more I read about computer slowness problems, the more confusing it
>> gets.
>> Searching for user comments on the free programs listed above showed all
>> of them are knocked by at least some of the users.
>> Lots of advice to Clean my registry and lots more to beware of registry
>> cleaners.
>> The McAfee program I'm using is offered free to Comcast customers. I
>> abandoned Norton/Symantec years ago and would never go back to it.
>> One site even advised backing up everything and re-installing XP.
>> Any thoughts on my question about using "disk cleanup" in Windows System
>> Tools?
>> How about "end process" for all my running processes?
>> What pgms do I really NEED in my Startup?
>> What really NEEDS to be running in the background?
>> Maybe I should just learn to love my slow computer?
>>
>> Any experience with Uniblue Registry Booster program?
>>
>> Thanks, ... Fred
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> Please, for your sanity, forget about using any registry tools except for
> the tool included with the operating system. It is a manual tool and, if
> you don't know or research what you plan to do in the registry - you
> shouldn't be in there!
>
> Richard Urban
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Desktop Experience & Security

T hanks, Richard
I can see now that I've opened a can of worms. I'll proceed cautiously and
not ask for advice for any shortcuts.
I'll dump McAfee when I find something to replace it that looks like I can
have confidence in it. Apparently you feel that that's the answer to my
problems. At least I've learned where the notification area is and that
there is such a thing as a registry tool included in the operating system.
(and if I ever come across it NOT to use it).

Fred
>