Computer questions and solutions....thereof...

[blues2cruise]

Just another handy tool I stumbled across "what's running" not only shows you running processes, but interrogates them, telling you the manufacturer and description. This, I find, reallly helped me locate whats important and whats not. Probably only suitable for advanced users, but never hurts for amateurs to take a look and learn something new either.

I too hate having lots of background processes running just on pure principal that I never asked for them, and like my machine running as cleanly and quietly (process wise, not volume) as possible.

If you ever wish to try your hand at MSI packaging applications, having a quiet machine is essential

Asside from just processes it'll also show you ip connections with which ports they're running on too. Handy for diagnosing networking issues

Finally the associated website for the program also has a list of process names and their identities you can make use of Blues

http://www.whatsrunning.net/whatsrunning/main.aspx

I know what you mean about wanting quiet.....
It seems like there is something constantly running in the background. At this precise moment, there is only the green light on and all I can hear is the quiet hum of the fan.....but that won't last long....son that red light will be blinking rapidly and the clickety clickety of what ever is running will start....When that happens the computer slows down.

[blues2cruise]

I found this site after googling the windows processes that can stop running....

I read though it and then took a look through my system and shut down a few things that don't really need to be running.
If I need them I can turn them back on again.

http://www.jasonn.com/turning_off_unnec ... windows_xp

[jonnythan]

I found this site after googling the windows processes that can stop running....

I read though it and then took a look through my system and shut down a few things that don't really need to be running.
If I need them I can turn them back on again.

http://www.jasonn.com/turning_off_unnec ... windows_xp

None of those, save the Indexing service, are going to do anything. Turning off some of them is distinctly harmful.

Going into Services is not the right way to address your problem. At this point I'd really suggest you have someone who really knows their stuff take a look at it, even using Remote Help if necessary.

[blues2cruise]

I found this site after googling the windows processes that can stop running....

I read though it and then took a look through my system and shut down a few things that don't really need to be running.
If I need them I can turn them back on again.

http://www.jasonn.com/turning_off_unnec ... windows_xp

None of those, save the Indexing service, are going to do anything. Turning off some of them is distinctly harmful.

Going into Services is not the right way to address your problem. At this point I'd really suggest you have someone who really knows their stuff take a look at it, even using Remote Help if necessary.

I only turned off things that I am sure I won't need. I can turn them back on if necessary.
I have a friend who could take a look if we can get some simultaneous time...but I would rather not do anything remotely.
For example....the automatic updates.....I can update manually (and yes, I do actually remember to do that) so I stopped the automatic update feature. I don't have a network so I stopped a process that had to do with networking....

So far it's ok.....the computer is running a bit smoother and isn't constantly clicking away in the background like it was...

Thank you very much for your feedback. I truly do appreciate it.

[Nibblet99]

I found this site after googling the windows processes that can stop running....

I read though it and then took a look through my system and shut down a few things that don't really need to be running.
If I need them I can turn them back on again.

http://www.jasonn.com/turning_off_unnec ... windows_xp

None of those, save the Indexing service, are going to do anything. Turning off some of them is distinctly harmful.

Going into Services is not the right way to address your problem. At this point I'd really suggest you have someone who really knows their stuff take a look at it, even using Remote Help if necessary.

I can see your point, But I personally have had a lot of success, not only speeding up systems, but stabilising them a lot, just via editing the services, startup group and registry startup entries.
Startup programmes in the registry can be found at this location in any of the HKEYs

Code: Select all

Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx

Changing the paging file to a 4095mb fixed size file also helps a little (sometimes a lot dependant on the system) and prevents the paging file becoming so fragmented (disk space is so cheap now, why not set it to the max size?)

The Jasonn list is intriguing. I would most likely leave the automatic updates on, but re-configure it via the control panel to only notify of updates, not automatically download or install.

I also hate the windows "malicious software removal tool" Sure wish there was a way to tell windows I don't care about that one now or ever, spybot suits me nicely.

One of the best habits most of us are guilty in failing, (including me) is to set up a bog standard user account and use that instead of always logging in with administrator rights. Doing this prevents rather a lot of spyware/adware installing and as a consequence helps keep your system configuration clean and tidy. (its easier to prevent something installing than try and track down every change its made when removing it)

[JC Viper]

I found this site after googling the windows processes that can stop running....

I read though it and then took a look through my system and shut down a few things that don't really need to be running.
If I need them I can turn them back on again.

http://www.jasonn.com/turning_off_unnec ... windows_xp

None of those, save the Indexing service, are going to do anything. Turning off some of them is distinctly harmful.

Going into Services is not the right way to address your problem. At this point I'd really suggest you have someone who really knows their stuff take a look at it, even using Remote Help if necessary.

I only turned off things that I am sure I won't need. I can turn them back on if necessary.
I have a friend who could take a look if we can get some simultaneous time...but I would rather not do anything remotely.
For example....the automatic updates.....I can update manually (and yes, I do actually remember to do that) so I stopped the automatic update feature. I don't have a network so I stopped a process that had to do with networking....

So far it's ok.....the computer is running a bit smoother and isn't constantly clicking away in the background like it was...

Thank you very much for your feedback. I truly do appreciate it.

No need to disable them, just use the Manual option instead and it'll turn the service back on when needed.

Again here's the popular site for lightening XP: http://www.blackviper.com/

You can also look up "nlite" to also make XP less bloated:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NLite

I use wikipedia just to make sure the links are most likely to be legit.

[ofblong]

I found this site after googling the windows processes that can stop running....

I read though it and then took a look through my system and shut down a few things that don't really need to be running.
If I need them I can turn them back on again.

http://www.jasonn.com/turning_off_unnec ... windows_xp

None of those, save the Indexing service, are going to do anything. Turning off some of them is distinctly harmful.

Going into Services is not the right way to address your problem. At this point I'd really suggest you have someone who really knows their stuff take a look at it, even using Remote Help if necessary.

I am sorry but the only thing new users shouldnt really mess with is the registry. By using services.msc it is a ton easier to fix a problem should one arise because you know what you last did.

With that said I tried upgrading my wifes dell to sp3 yesterday. Friggen screwed up the whole computer. The download and install went great. Then it told me to reboot which I did. What did it do when it loaded back up BSOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. So I thought id go into safe mode and try to "revert" back and friggin BSOD trying to load safe mode. Same thing with safe mode command prompt BSOD. So now I have to get ahold of dell to get a repair disc because my windows xp OEM cd cant find the OS on her dell. I friggen hate dell lol. Course the hard drive on my computer has some issues so I have to load Linux to do anything until I can get my hard drive figured out. Hopefully I wont have to send it back to western digital (its a Raptor drive). Course if I do and I need a new one maybe I will get lucky and they will "upgrade" me to the 150g version .

[blues2cruise]

I found this site after googling the windows processes that can stop running....

I read though it and then took a look through my system and shut down a few things that don't really need to be running.
If I need them I can turn them back on again.

http://www.jasonn.com/turning_off_unnec ... windows_xp

None of those, save the Indexing service, are going to do anything. Turning off some of them is distinctly harmful.

Going into Services is not the right way to address your problem. At this point I'd really suggest you have someone who really knows their stuff take a look at it, even using Remote Help if necessary.

I only turned off things that I am sure I won't need. I can turn them back on if necessary.
I have a friend who could take a look if we can get some simultaneous time...but I would rather not do anything remotely.
For example....the automatic updates.....I can update manually (and yes, I do actually remember to do that) so I stopped the automatic update feature. I don't have a network so I stopped a process that had to do with networking....

So far it's ok.....the computer is running a bit smoother and isn't constantly clicking away in the background like it was...

Thank you very much for your feedback. I truly do appreciate it.

No need to disable them, just use the Manual option instead and it'll turn the service back on when needed.

Again here's the popular site for lightening XP: http://www.blackviper.com/

You can also look up "nlite" to also make XP less bloated:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NLite

I use wikipedia just to make sure the links are most likely to be legit.

Thanks. I had forgotten about blackviper......When I get a chance I will check him out.
I've been too busy lately to deal with the computer. It works..albeit sometimes glitchy.....

The neighbour's 5 year old hasn't been here asmuch playing games on my computer, so maybe that in itself will help. LOL
His parents finally got high speed internet so he can play his online games at home now.

[Wrider]

Well I just got my 'puter back finally. Poor thing wasn't home from last Tuesday til Friday at 4 PM. Motherboard decided it wanted to short!
So now it's back and I'm catching up on posts for the time I missed!
Wrider

[Wrider]

Hey guys I got a question for you tech gurus out there. My mom just got a new computer (first and second problems, basic Dell running Vista).

Her problem is that the computer won't open up any shortcuts that should open in office. For example there's a .ppt powerpoint presentation that just won't open up a new powerpoint window. If you open up the office program, such as powerpoint or word or the like, and find the file, and open it through the program it opens up just fine. But if you try to open the shortcut it won't open up.

Ideas?
Wrider

And to all the US people out there, Happy Memorial Day!