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what should be running? - 10/6/2008 12:38:38 PM
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applemom
Posts: 32
Joined: 4/28/2005
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My computer is running quite slow. When I check the available space there is 65% available.
When I use the control/alt/delete and the little box comes up then I go to processes there are about 35 things listed.
When i first got the computer there were only about 6-8 things listed there.
Can i close those ....not even sure what to call them.
thanks.
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RE: what should be running? - 10/6/2008 12:41:09 PM
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ta_mosquito
Posts: 11448
Joined: 3/31/2005
From: from MN, now in Ontario :D
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What operating system are you running? (Are you on XP? Vista?)
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Tricia
"There's a fine line between being open-minded and empty-headed." ~Michael Coren
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RE: what should be running? - 10/6/2008 10:55:19 PM
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applemom
Posts: 32
Joined: 4/28/2005
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I am using xp.
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RE: what should be running? - 10/6/2008 11:12:02 PM
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ta_mosquito
Posts: 11448
Joined: 3/31/2005
From: from MN, now in Ontario :D
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I'm not an expert, but here are two web sites I've used.
THIS ONE helps you decipher what's in your startup items, what you can turn off. (You do that by going to Start, Run, then typing in "msconfig".") You can search all items in your startup list to see what is needed and what isn't.
THIS ONE is a similar site, where you can search your processes to see what it is.
Hope these help!
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Tricia
"There's a fine line between being open-minded and empty-headed." ~Michael Coren
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RE: what should be running? - 10/8/2008 3:24:41 PM
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gigigirrl
Posts: 83
Joined: 3/27/2006
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Running slower - for how long -when did i start running slow.
Go to control panel make sure you are in classic view and then choose system. Tell me amount of ram memory.
How many icons in the system tray - lower right corner. On start menu bar.
Are you experiencing any popups.
Is windows updated or is it on automatic update?
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RE: what should be running? - 10/11/2008 12:49:26 PM
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applemom
Posts: 32
Joined: 4/28/2005
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Hi gigi, I have 504mb of ram.
where is the system tray, is the start menu bar the row on the very bottom of hte screen beside the word start?
There are 5 icons visible then if I expand there are 6 more.
On the other side of the screen beside the clock there are 9 icons.
my system is on automatic upgrade.
It has been running sluggish for about two months. I had a computer guy clean it up about a year ago.
I would like to learn how to look after it myself, don't know much yet but can learn.
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RE: what should be running? - 10/12/2008 6:21:18 PM
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hvt
Posts: 62
Joined: 12/22/2007
Status: offline
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Hello applemom,
Here is a link to a computer support forum chock full of helpful, knowledgeable folks who are happy to help us who are less so. The registration is simple and quick. This is a great computer learning site also.
www.majorgeeks.com
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RE: what should be running? - 10/12/2008 6:24:55 PM
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hvt
Posts: 62
Joined: 12/22/2007
Status: offline
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Sorry, that leads to their software site. Try this: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/
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RE: what should be running? - 11/4/2008 12:20:21 AM
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kyl
Posts: 1627
Joined: 5/2/2007
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Go to programs,then accessories,then system tools,then disk cleanup
run the disk cleanup
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Psalm19:14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
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RE: what should be running? - 11/4/2008 7:05:53 AM
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neuronstatic
Posts: 976
Joined: 7/14/2005
From: North Carolina!
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First, make sure you have cleaned up old files. One way to do this is to go to My Computer, select the drive icon, right click, select Properties, then click the Disk Cleanup button. This can work, but I don't like this way because it has to go through calculations for compressing old files, which I never do.
You could also clear the temporary files and internet files yourself.
Another thing to look at is the drive indexing service. This is enabled by default and it is a resource pig. Basically it creates a big list of all your files to speed up the "file search" feature.
If you had the system clean at one point, and you keep adding in lots of files over time, then indexing service is a suspect.
To stop indexing a single drive, go to My Computer, right click the drive, select properties, then make sure the box labeled "Allow indexing service to index..." does not have a check mark in it.
To turn off indexing service entirely, you need to go through Control Panel and get to Administrative Tools to do it. If you are in default XP view, its: Control Panel/Performance and Maintenance/Administrative Tools
If you switched it to classic view, its: Control Panel/Administrative Tools
Once there, select Services and a new window pops up. Find the Indexing Service in the list and right click to stop it, then change its start mode to be Manual instead of Automatic.
I often use this site http://theeldergeek.com/ to help me tune Windows.
But the answer to the question "what should be running?" is Linux of course, not Windows 
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RE: what should be running? - 11/6/2008 10:50:33 AM
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Bettawrekonize
Posts: 1368
Joined: 4/17/2005
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quote:
ORIGINAL: applemom
It has been running sluggish for about two months. I had a computer guy clean it up about a year ago.
I would like to learn how to look after it myself, don't know much yet but can learn.
Well, first of all, before you can determine what should be running, it's nice to know what is running (and what does everything do). If you don't know what you are doing, it's quite easy to break something that you need/want. With that in mind, there is a good program called Spybot search and destroy.
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/
It scans your computer for spyware (you should keep it up to date) and if you hit mode -> advanced mode, click on tools, check everything, then go to system startup it will list some of the stuff that starts with your computer (I think I remember Spybot used to describe every startup item, but I can't find that anymore). Another program that scans for spyware is Lavasoft Ad - aware
http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
Another way to see what's starting with your computer is to go to start - > run and type in msconfig. Under Startup, it will list everything that starts with your computer. Use google to try and determine what anything is and whether or not you want it. Under Msconfig, if you go to services and check "Hide all Microsoft Services" it will list all non - microsoft services. Again, you can use google to try and determine what anything is and whether or not you want it.
Another thing you can do is google "what services to disable"
Here is one website that comes up
http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/1036/windows-xp-list-of-services-to-disable-to-increase-speed/
What you do for this is you click on Start -> Run and type in services.msc . Then, use google to determine what each service does and whether or not you want it (the above link describes some of them too).
This program
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx
Lists all the startup processes with a very brief (almost useless) description of what they are.
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