Startup Programs

[Don]

My computer has gotten very slow, so I have gone to Start>Run>msconfig and
looked at the long list of programs and have been able to Google them and
cull out some programs I do not need running in the background; I've also
identified some that I need forInternet Security/Antivirus, etc. However,
there are many programs I can't identify or determine their necessity. I'm
running Windows XP with SP2 on a Dell desktop. Can you tell me what programs
are absolutely necessary for the system to function? Incidentally, I've done
the usual things to speed up the computer with no noticable improvement (disk
defrag, removed temporary internet files, run virus and spyware checks,
removed programs I don't need, etc.)

 

[DL]

Impossible to say without physically examining your system
Unless your PC is riddled with malaware / virus startup apps are 'generally'
not the cause of a slow PC

 

[JS]

For startup programs:
Try Autoruns from the MS Windows SysInternals site:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspx

AutoRuns will show/list all apps/etc. that load/run when you first boot
(Boot Execute tab),
when you logon (Logon tab) and other programs that load (grouped by labeled
tabs) for easy viewing.
It also provides the ability to selectively allows you to stop (use with
care) any program that you don't want to load. You can undo any changes you
have made.
Note: To get additional details on an item in the list you may need to
highlight the item (right click) and use the 'Search Online' option to get
the details, especially useful for the more obscure items in the list.

Another tools to use for slow running PC's:
Using this tool you need to find the specific sub-process or application
that's taking all
the CPU resources that could be slowing down your PC.

To do this try Process Explorer:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/SystemInformation/ProcessExplorer.mspx

Once you have Process Explorer installed and running:
In the taskbar select View and check 'Show Process Tree' and 'Show Lower
Pane' options.
Then expand the process named 'Explorer' (click on the + sign)
In the column on the left named 'CPU', look for any high CPU usage.
Next click on the CPU column to sort the processes by %CPU usage (Highest to
Lowest).
Then click on the process that's using most or all the CPU % the highlight
it,
Now that it's highlighted, right click and from the options listed select:
Search Online
This should display what out there on the web about that process.
You can also double click on any process to open up a more detailed
'Properties' window.

Note: some entries like Explorer and System/Services may need to be expanded
to show the detail,
(sub processes), in this case click on the + located to the left of the
entry.

JS

 

[Gerry]

Don

Open Disk Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and
click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents
Folder and post a copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as it
is more informative.

Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to
Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. Also
select Start, All Programs, accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp,
More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest System
Restore point. Run Disk Defragmenter.

How much RAM memory?

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?

You should be able to gather more information from Task Manager. With
the Processes tab open select View, Select, Columns and check the boxes
before Peak Memory Usage and Virtual Memory size. What are the figures
for the 4 processes using the largest amounts?

Do you leave your computer on 24/7?

Use Autoruns to find any unwanted start ups!
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspx

With Autoruns you can uncheck an item, which disables it from starting,
or you can can right click an item and then delete it. If you uncheck
you can recheck to re-enable the item. It is a much safer approach than
editing the Registry. Another useful feature of the programme is that
you can right click an item and select Search Online to get information
about the item selected.

What are the names of your anti-virus and anti-spyware programmes?

--



Hope this helps.

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

 

[Marty K]

Don

Open Disk Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and
click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents
Folder and post a copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as it
is more informative.

Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to
Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. Also
select Start, All Programs, accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp,
More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest System
Restore point. Run Disk Defragmenter.

How much RAM memory?

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?

You should be able to gather more information from Task Manager. With
the Processes tab open select View, Select, Columns and check the boxes
before Peak Memory Usage and Virtual Memory size. What are the figures
for the 4 processes using the largest amounts?

Do you leave your computer on 24/7?

Use Autoruns to find any unwanted start ups!
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspx

With Autoruns you can uncheck an item, which disables it from starting,
or you can can right click an item and then delete it. If you uncheck
you can recheck to re-enable the item. It is a much safer approach than
editing the Registry. Another useful feature of the programme is that
you can right click an item and select Search Online to get information
about the item selected.

What are the names of your anti-virus and anti-spyware programmes?

To see if it a program hogging the CPU, open the task manager, click
on the processes tab, then the CPU column, this will show the percentage
of CPU time processes are using. Clicking on this column twice will sort
from most to least. You may need to watch this for awhile to get an idea
of overall performance.
You can also look at the performance tab to get a graphical look at cpu
utilization.

PC Magazine has serveral utilities that show system utilization.
DiskAction shows which programs/processes are accessing disk drives.
TopStats shows, CPU, Memory, Disk and network usage. I have used these a
few times to identify errant programs.

Good Luck
Marty

 

[Gerry]

Marty

If you have suggestions to make to Don please direct your posts to Don
not me.


--



Hope this helps.

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

 

[Zaur]

Hi,

Try Process Explorer here:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processexplorer.mspx


This tool will help you to get a better idea about what proccesses are
necessary and which are not.