R
Rocky Baernutz
Subject: SP2 - fixed OE display sluggishness; but, disturbed 'tray
notification area' operations
Last things first:
Things were so easy to remember back in the days of Windows 9x -
remember when the "Tray Notification Area" was simply "systray" and
all ya had to do was kick the case to fix anything? LOL! What next?
Hmmm. Rename "mouse" to "Electronic Furry Little Rodent Graphic User
Interface Manually Operated Handheld Input Device" or "Rat" for short?
Well, I imagine Microsoft has an entire professional department to
address those type important issues.
Back to first things impending:
Ever since the install of basic Windows XP (Pro) on this old ~802 MHz
PIII machine, launching Outlook Express has been like pushing a tennis
ball through the opening in a soda bottle - very sluggish and slow -
and freezing out any other multi-tasking operations until it finished
loading. At the time of the SP1 release, it displayed the same
reticent characteristics. After the installation of the SP2 (from 266
MB network install) OE pops out there, checks and loads like a true
little soldier - and we can complete text files, or search operations,
etc. This is a good thing.
My systray area has become very erratic, however. It is set on the
"hide ... icons" option and has worked fine up until this SP2 era. At
first, I thought it might be simply due to the new Windows security
guard/monitor shield-looking thangy - but it has recently disappeared
from the tray area altogether. (I can still access it from Control
Panel, of course - but since I have all the 3rd party security issues
addressed adequately, I really don't need it - it's just a factor of
corroboration that may be relevant.) Also, the systray area will
revert back to a permanent little area, losing the little
slide-in--slide-out button for some time, at the same time dismissing
certain icons that Task Manager reveals are still in use. I can end
the processes in taskman, and then relaunch them to obtain their
icons, thus tray access to their programs, but this does not seem to
alleviate the problem from occurring again.
I have run complete virus, Trojan, and spyware/adware scans and there
are no unusual network or other connection attempts.
While the OE and the systray issues don't seem necessarily connected
on the surface, the timing is certainly coincidental with the
implementation of SP2. It seems symptomatic of something larger, and
perhaps someone around these here parts has some idea what area in
Windows system files I might examine and/or correct - or even registry
settings which perhaps could be manually returned to their optimal
settings. Perhaps even some nexus between the OE display sluggishness
resolution and the erratic systray display onset? If this can be
traced to a system file or a couple of dll's, perhaps I could CRC
verify, and replace if needed? Or even, obtain and replace the
correct registry key(s)?
Any similar experience or ideas?
notification area' operations
Last things first:
Things were so easy to remember back in the days of Windows 9x -
remember when the "Tray Notification Area" was simply "systray" and
all ya had to do was kick the case to fix anything? LOL! What next?
Hmmm. Rename "mouse" to "Electronic Furry Little Rodent Graphic User
Interface Manually Operated Handheld Input Device" or "Rat" for short?
Well, I imagine Microsoft has an entire professional department to
address those type important issues.
Back to first things impending:
Ever since the install of basic Windows XP (Pro) on this old ~802 MHz
PIII machine, launching Outlook Express has been like pushing a tennis
ball through the opening in a soda bottle - very sluggish and slow -
and freezing out any other multi-tasking operations until it finished
loading. At the time of the SP1 release, it displayed the same
reticent characteristics. After the installation of the SP2 (from 266
MB network install) OE pops out there, checks and loads like a true
little soldier - and we can complete text files, or search operations,
etc. This is a good thing.
My systray area has become very erratic, however. It is set on the
"hide ... icons" option and has worked fine up until this SP2 era. At
first, I thought it might be simply due to the new Windows security
guard/monitor shield-looking thangy - but it has recently disappeared
from the tray area altogether. (I can still access it from Control
Panel, of course - but since I have all the 3rd party security issues
addressed adequately, I really don't need it - it's just a factor of
corroboration that may be relevant.) Also, the systray area will
revert back to a permanent little area, losing the little
slide-in--slide-out button for some time, at the same time dismissing
certain icons that Task Manager reveals are still in use. I can end
the processes in taskman, and then relaunch them to obtain their
icons, thus tray access to their programs, but this does not seem to
alleviate the problem from occurring again.
I have run complete virus, Trojan, and spyware/adware scans and there
are no unusual network or other connection attempts.
While the OE and the systray issues don't seem necessarily connected
on the surface, the timing is certainly coincidental with the
implementation of SP2. It seems symptomatic of something larger, and
perhaps someone around these here parts has some idea what area in
Windows system files I might examine and/or correct - or even registry
settings which perhaps could be manually returned to their optimal
settings. Perhaps even some nexus between the OE display sluggishness
resolution and the erratic systray display onset? If this can be
traced to a system file or a couple of dll's, perhaps I could CRC
verify, and replace if needed? Or even, obtain and replace the
correct registry key(s)?
Any similar experience or ideas?