May I request some computer advice

[Hawkmoon]

Older machine -- Dell Dimension 4100 desktop, Pentium III 1 GHz CPU, 512 MB RAM, Windows Xp Pro.

The 512 MB of RAM is obviously a bottleneck. Problem is, being an older machine, that's the maximum the motherboard will recognize so I'm stuck with it. For the most part, since I don't do any multitasking to speak of, it has continued to be workable. However, in the last few weeks I've been having problems getting some Web stuff to work. The new-fangled "interactive" weather radar map on www.weather.com no longer loads. I can no longer use Google -- the page stops loading before the "Search" button shows up. (Curiously, I discovered that I can still use www.google.cl ... Chile ... even though the U.S. version doesn't work.)

Considering that at the moment I have nothing running other than a single iteration of Firefox, and a single iteration of Notepad, doing a three finger salute to bring up Task Manager indicates what seems to me like a LOT of stuff using up precious memory. But I have no idea what this stuff is, whether or not I need it, or how to get rid of it permanently if I don't need it.

Here's the list:

taskmgr.exe      User       4,468 K
notepad.exe      User       3,264 K
alg.exe         LOCAL SERVICE    3,588 K
ashWebSv.exe      SYSTEM      62,584 K
ashMaiSv.exe      SYSTEM       3,272 K
spoolsv.exe      SYSTEM       4,992 K
WZQKPICK.EXE      User       2,568 K
ctfmon.exe      User       3,080 K
jusched.exe      User       5,084 K
ashDisp.exe      User       3,440 K
ashServ.exe      SYSTEM      17,532 K
explorer.exe      User      21,896 K
aswUpdSv.exe      SYSTEM         208 K
MDM.EXE         SYSTEM       2,860 K
svchost.exe      LOCAL SERVICE    3,936 K
jqs.exe         SYSTEM       1,396 K
svchost.exe      NETWORK SERVICE    4,056 K
svchost.exe      SYSTEM      25,888 K
svchost.exe      LOCAL SERVICE    3,868 K
svchost.exe      NETWORK SERVICE    4,392 K
svchost.exe      SYSTEM       4,844 K
lsass.exe      SYSTEM       1,184 K
services.exe      SYSTEM       3,472 K
winlogon.exe      SYSTEM         596 K
csrss.exe      SYSTEM       3,920 K
smss.exe      SYSTEM         400 K
firefox.exe      User      62,172 K
System         SYSTEM         220 K
System Idle Process   SYSTEM          16 K

Can anyone advise if there's anything in this list I can deactivate to free up a bit of memory?

TIA

[AJ Dual]

What you probably want to do is go to Start --> Run, and go into MSconfig.

Under there are startup options, and you can Google the names of the software and executables in there, some of them may be drivers or software stuff for digital cameras etc. that you no longer need.

Also look through Add/Remove Programs and clean anything off that you don't want or need. Some of those may have background drivers or processes you don't want.

CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) is a good trusted utility to pare down your registry from orphan entries, clean out all your temp folders etc. as well.

There's other tricks too, tons of articles about paring down or turning off unwanted/unneeded windows services that can boost performance.

[Ben]

Yeah, run crap cleaner.

Also you really don't need winzip running in the system tray. Just run it when you use it. You can also disable script debugging (msm.exe).Here's how:
http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/848/disable-script-debugging-mdmexe-or-machine-debug-manager/

For your interactive web stuff -- make sure you have the latest flash, java, etc if that's what the pages take. Does this happen in both Firefox and IE? You might try an uninstall/reinstall of Firefox.

Also check your paging file size and maybe increase it a bit, or if you have the HD space, knock it up to 4096. Defrag your HD and make sure you have at least 15% free space on the drive.

Otherwise sometimes if a machine has been running the OS for a long time and you've been adding more and more stuff over the years, the best solution (though a pain in the ass) is to wipe the whole thing and reinstall the OS and apps fresh.

[Gewehr98]

Right off the bat, you can kill:

ctfmon.exe - It's a MS Office process that controls Alternative User Input and the Office Language bar. It’s how you can control the computer via speech or a pen tablet, or using the onscreen keyboard inputs for asian languages. Hard to kill without drilling through some settings, but you can do it effectively.  Doesn't suck much memory, but every little bit helps.

You've got at least 3 executables running under the Avast Security Suite.  You might be able to disable everything save for the anti-virus portion of that suite, and free up some resources.  

wzqkpick.exe is the tray bar process for WinZip. You can easily disable that, and let WinZip come into play when dealing with zipped files only.

jusched.exe is the Java Runtime updater.  You can kill that, and update Java manually at a time of your choosing.


I use ToniArts EasyCleaner to toggle startup programs.  It has a Startup menu which targets such programs and allows you to disable them from running at startup.

If you want to free up more resources, switch your XP desktop to "Classic" or Win2K mode, under Control Panel/System/Advanced/Performance/Settings/Adjust For Best Performance.  That'll kill all the bling-bling and animation which hogs the desktop.

You can also toggle off Disk Indexing on your hard drive(s) to kill that little bit of overhead.  

As mentioned earlier, CrapCleaner and Advanced System Care are two utilities which will clean up a good portion of latent garbage.

Let us know how it works for you.  You should be able to get at least some improvement out of the system by doing all of the above.  

[GigaBuist]

This won't be a very popular opinion but you can save yourself some performance headaches just by removing the anti-virus software entirely and just commit to not doing anything stupid online.

Just keeping the system behind a router that's doing NAT, patching it on a regular basis, and not visiting sketchy porn sites will keep you pretty much virus, spyware, and malware free as a home user.

[AZRedhawk44]

This won't be a very popular opinion but you can save yourself some performance headaches just by removing the anti-virus software entirely and just commit to not doing anything stupid online.

Agreed.  I don't run AV at all, haven't for perhaps 15 years.  Only viruses I ever got were from... inappropriate web surfing.  Be smart about the sites you visit and you won't get a virus.

Also:  check your manufacturer and find out the model of your motherboard.  Then go and search for an updated BIOS to that motherboard:  Sometimes the BIOS can be flash-updated and it extends the maximum memory or fixes firmware bugs.  You could then increase your max RAM.

[Jim147]

This won't be a very popular opinion but you can save yourself some performance headaches just by removing the anti-virus software entirely and just commit to not doing anything stupid online.

Just keeping the system behind a router that's doing NAT, patching it on a regular basis, and not visiting sketchy porn sites will keep you pretty much virus, spyware, and malware free as a home user.

As long as you don't have a wife that gets email this might work.

Back to your original problem. I would be looking for that java/firefox issue mentioned earlier. Google in itself can be flaky sometimes. I got away from it as a home page several years ago.

jim

[Physics]

Techsupportforum.com recommends NOT using registry cleaners.  According to them, they are generally more trouble than they are worth.  

That said, I've used a few and haven't had any problems with them.  CCleaner is useful for other things too.  I would just stay away from the registry cleaner portion.  

[Hawkmoon]

I am obviously in over my little head. I finally found STARTUP. There is nothing in it except desktop.ini so what's starting these other things, and how do I disable them?

And I don't have WinZip in the tray bar. I have an icon for it on the desktop ... but nothing in the system tray.

Dang, I miss MS-DOS.

Right off the bat, you can kill:

ctfmon.exe - It's a MS Office process that controls Alternative User Input and the Office Language bar. It’s how you can control the computer via speech or a pen tablet, or using the onscreen keyboard inputs for asian languages. Hard to kill without drilling through some settings, but you can do it effectively.  Doesn't suck much memory, but every little bit helps.

You've got at least 3 executables running under the Avast Security Suite.  You might be able to disable everything save for the anti-virus portion of that suite, and free up some resources. 

wzqkpick.exe is the tray bar process for WinZip. You can easily disable that, and let WinZip come into play when dealing with zipped files only.

jusched.exe is the Java Runtime updater.  You can kill that, and update Java manually at a time of your choosing.


I use ToniArts EasyCleaner to toggle startup programs.  It has a Startup menu which targets such programs and allows you to disable them from running at startup.

If you want to free up more resources, switch your XP desktop to "Classic" or Win2K mode, under Control Panel/System/Advanced/Performance/Settings/Adjust For Best Performance.  That'll kill all the bling-bling and animation which hogs the desktop.

You can also toggle off Disk Indexing on your hard drive(s) to kill that little bit of overhead. 

As mentioned earlier, CrapCleaner and Advanced System Care are two utilities which will clean up a good portion of latent garbage.

Let us know how it works for you.  You should be able to get at least some improvement out of the system by doing all of the above. 

[Ben]

Actually if you have wzqkpick in your processes, then you have winzip in your startup. You may have a faulty install of winzip if you don't see it. You can remove it from startup directly through winzip. Just go to "options/configuration/system and uncheck "include winzip in start menu".

[Hawkmoon]

I downloaded Crap Cleaner and ran it. I allowed it to clear out both cookies and browsing history ... I figure I can reinstitute any sites I want to be remembered on, such as this one. And I used the Tools to disable a couple of the processes G98 mentioned.

Browser seems to run a bit quicker, and Google (the U.S. version) is again functional.

Thank you, gents.

[lee n. field]

Dell Dimension 4100 desktop, Pentium III 1 GHz CPU, 512 MB RAM, Windows Xp Pro.

You're on borrowed time.

XP that's current on it's security updates (SP3 + IE8 + updates) is pokey slow, even on current hardware, in 512MB RAM.  Sure, flash your bios to most current, but I wouldn't expect miracles.

[Gewehr98]

Maybe, maybe not.

You're on borrowed time from the second a computer leaves the showroom floor, honestly.

I see XP sticking around for quite some time. 

Vista didn't impress the intended business clientel, and many of us will probably hold off on Windows 7 until Service Pack 1 is issued.