Too many processes?

[Matt]

My computer has been getting slower and slower. I don't install much softer,
just "mainstream" apps like google apps, itunes, acrobat reader, firefox,
realplayer, MS Office, etc. Maybe about 10 - 15 programs in total. Starting
up the computer takes forever (about 3-4 min about loggin in). Even
starting up firefox takes about 30 seconds (used to take about 5-10 seconds).

I've been using Trend Micro PC-Cillin internet security tool, which is
supposed to be pretty good. I don't think this monitors system performance.
I perform virus scans at least once/month, never had any problems.

Of course, my laptop is dell, and came with some pre installed software, but
it was not nearly this slow when I first stared using the computer.

I think I have an inordinate amount of processes running in the background:

http://www.geocities.com/mje1975/processes1.gif
http://www.geocities.com/mje1975/processes2.gif


Looks like I have about 70 processes running after my computer has started
up. Does this look suspicious? I notice that some processes are running
multiple instances of itself.

I've done a defrag analysis, but that looks OK. I have a 70 GB hard drive,
with about 20% still free. I have 1 GB RAM, dual core Intel CPU. This
should be a pretty speedy computer, right?

Is there any help for me, or should I reinstall XP? Any help would be
appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Andrew E.]

If you had a slave hd,most of those applications could be installed on
it,giving
C: alot more headroom & performance.With all that junk,id format & reinstall

 

[Daave]

My computer has been getting slower and slower. I don't install much
softer, just "mainstream" apps like google apps, itunes, acrobat
reader, firefox, realplayer, MS Office, etc. Maybe about 10 - 15
programs in total. Starting up the computer takes forever (about 3-4
min about loggin in). Even starting up firefox takes about 30
seconds (used to take about 5-10 seconds).

I've been using Trend Micro PC-Cillin internet security tool, which is
supposed to be pretty good. I don't think this monitors system
performance. I perform virus scans at least once/month, never had any
problems.

Of course, my laptop is dell, and came with some pre installed
software, but it was not nearly this slow when I first stared using
the computer.

I think I have an inordinate amount of processes running in the
background:

http://www.geocities.com/mje1975/processes1.gif
http://www.geocities.com/mje1975/processes2.gif


Looks like I have about 70 processes running after my computer has
started up. Does this look suspicious? I notice that some processes
are running multiple instances of itself.

I've done a defrag analysis, but that looks OK. I have a 70 GB hard
drive, with about 20% still free. I have 1 GB RAM, dual core Intel
CPU. This should be a pretty speedy computer, right?

Is there any help for me, or should I reinstall XP? Any help would be
appreciated. Thanks.

First of all, to determine whether or not you're relying on your
pagefile (which will surely slow you down), do the following:

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to open Task Manager. Click on the Performance tab.
Look under Commit Charge (K) in the lower left-hand corner. What are the
values for Total, Limit, and Peak?

After a quick peak of your processes, the only thing I noticed was
CLI.exe, which may or may not be a problem. If it's "System Tray access
to ATI's CATALYST CONTROL CENTER," then it's fine (although it's not
necessary). If it's "Microsoft Server Applacations," then it's a worm.
See http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/Cat-C.html

Also, see http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/w32rbotgaq.html

If it's the worm, that may be your problem!

(And all I did was take a quick peak. You may research these on your
own, using links mentioned later.)

Slow PCs are often the result of malware infestation. It's possible that
your TM PC-Cillin may not be catching everything. Do you use other
anti-malware applications? If not, you may want to consider running AVG
(my favorite) or Avast (both free):

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

A number of people have had success identifying malware by using David
Lipman's Multi-AV Scanning Tool:

http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/sicherheit/35905/multi_av_scanning_tool.html

Although the page is in German, the tool is in English.

Also, there are many fans of SUPERAntiSpyware Free:

http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html

Personally, I use Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy to handle
spyware:

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html

If you are convinced you are free of malware, you need to determine if
you have enough RAM for how you use your PC (the first suggestion I
offered -- Total, Limit, and Peak figures -- will give us that
information). If you don't have enough memory, you will find Windows
will start using the pagefile frequently, which slows everything down. I
noticed that Firefox is using tons of memory. Perhaps there's a memory
leak there or one of your plugins is out of whack. Experiment by not
using Firefox. Do you see an improvement? Very often, rebooting can be a
quick, temporary fix for memory leaks. Also, you need to make sure you
clear out your browser's cache periodically.

Regarding unneeded programs/processes wasting resources, that's always a
possibility. I would check this last, though. (And you might find that 1
GB of RAM is plenty so that you won't need to worry about them.) In the
event you would like to research the entries, see:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/

and

http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Last suggestion:

Take out the trash (clear temp files) and defrag the hard drive if you
haven't done so already. There are a few different ways to clear away
temp files from within Windows (Disk Cleanup, for instance). I
personally like Ccleaner, which has a very user-friendly interface:

http://www.ccleaner.com/

Just use the main feature of cleaning temp files. Don't use the Issues
feature (not necessary and it's possible it might mess things up!).

Good luck!

 

[peter]

see you got an Ipod/Itunes and 3 programs starting up to use.
see you use an ATI video card and 5 processes start up...2 of them not
needed
see this http://www.processlibrary.com/directory/files/dlg only you
know if you need it
I see you have both IE and Firefox starting instead of when you need them
I see you use a lot of Google....are you really using those that much???
I would also uncheck pcguide.exe under msconfig .....some say its a nasty
I also see your
wireless....http://www.processlibrary.com/directory/files/dot1xcfg..........are
you???
do you use this program a
lot............http://www.provtech.co.uk/software/screenprint32.asp......?????

any of those processes can be checked by doing a Google search on them and
then you can decide if you want to keep in the startup or only load it when
needed
peter

 

[WaIIy]

I've done a defrag analysis, but that looks OK. I have a 70 GB hard drive,
with about 20% still free. I have 1 GB RAM, dual core Intel CPU. This
should be a pretty speedy computer, right?
Right

Is there any help for me, or should I reinstall XP? Any help would be
appreciated. Thanks.

The others have given good advice. I see Firefox is using four times
what mine does, for some reason.

Get this, take a look and see if you can live without some of the stuff
you have starting up.

http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml

"Startup Control Panel is a nifty control panel applet that allows you
to easily configure which programs run when your computer starts. It's
simple to use and, like all my programs, it's very small and won't
burden your system." - Mike Lin

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

My computer has been getting slower and slower. I don't install much softer,
just "mainstream" apps like google apps, itunes, acrobat reader, firefox,
realplayer, MS Office, etc. Maybe about 10 - 15 programs in total. Starting
up the computer takes forever (about 3-4 min about loggin in).

Don't mix up how long boot time takes with performance in general. My
computer boots very slowly because I choose to start a lot programs
automatically. But general performance is fine.

Even
starting up firefox takes about 30 seconds (used to take about 5-10 seconds).

*That* is the kind of thing you should be concerned with, not how long
it takes to boot. Most people start their computers once a day or even
less frequently. In the overall scheme of things, even a few minutes
to start up isn't very important. Personally I power on my computer
when I get up in the morning, then go get my coffee. When I come back,
it's done booting. I don't know how long it took to boot and I don't
care.

I've been using Trend Micro PC-Cillin internet security tool, which is
supposed to be pretty good. I don't think this monitors system performance.
I perform virus scans at least once/month, never had any problems.

Of course, my laptop is dell, and came with some pre installed software, but
it was not nearly this slow when I first stared using the computer.

I think I have an inordinate amount of processes running in the background:

http://www.geocities.com/mje1975/processes1.gif
http://www.geocities.com/mje1975/processes2.gif


Looks like I have about 70 processes running after my computer has started
up. Does this look suspicious?

No, not at all. In fact, it's fairly normal.

I notice that some processes are running
multiple instances of itself.

SVCHOST, for example? Perfectly normal.

I've done a defrag analysis, but that looks OK. I have a 70 GB hard drive,
with about 20% still free. I have 1 GB RAM, dual core Intel CPU. This
should be a pretty speedy computer, right?

Yes.


Is there any help for me, or should I reinstall XP? Any help would be
appreciated. Thanks.

My view is that reinstalling should never be a substitute for
troubleshooting. It's almost always overkill. Besides, you never find
out what the problem was. As a result, you are likely to repeat the
same behavior that caused the problem in the first place, and quickly
find yourself back in the same situation.

If the computer is getting slower, and haven't made changes on
purpose, one of the most likely problems these days is malware
infestation (most likely spyware, rather than a virus). That's a
potential issue *regardless* of what protection software you use. I
recommend that you begin troubleshooting by going to MVP Malke's
malware removal site at
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware and
following the instructions there.

 

[Gerry]

FYI
http://www.squarefree.com/2006/02/04/memory-leak-progress/


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~