Resources? App windows, context menus, IE tabs not displaying

After my computer has been running for a day or two, it seems to run out of resources. Application windows don't open, context menus (esp. in ie7) don't display, and IE7 tabs either won't appear or if they do, they are blank.

The laptop is but a month old so shouldn't be in too great a need for defragging. However, I did use the files and settings transfer utility and have had some applications unexpectedly crashing on me once I started rebuilding the new computer.

No clue if these are related, but occasionally I get errors when shutting down about instruction at some hex address trying to reference (and write) the exact same hex address. Sometimes I get errors on shutdown about dr. watson not being able to start as the system is shutting down.

I've gone through the Malware removal guide with little success. My logs are posted over there, along with chaslang's blessing.

Any ideas as to how to go about further diagnosing the problems?

Thanx tons,
Curtis

Any ideas?

 

Too many startup programs are hogging the memory, as Chasling says - stop some of them !- Most programs will run quite normally if you click on the icon.

Turn off Windows 'special effects', right click My Computer, properties, performance settings, and click for best performance for programs.-then advanced,click both program boxes,
In advanced empty the virtual memory(paging file) by clicking on none - shut down and restart and go back and then click on paging file - should be one and a half to twice the amount of installed ram- reset to that.

 

In the majority of programs, you can select not to start with Windows, but it can take time to find the part to do so-
Otherwise ,
Create a system restore point before making changes in here - if you are sure of the name of the program, you can stop it from starting automatically, and change it to manual in services.
Right click My Computer, manage, in the right hand pane click services and applications, services.
In the right co;umn is a list of all services on your computer.
Double click on an item , and it will show you a little frame and the setting might be automatic, - if that is one of your programs, that you do not need to start until you want it to, change it to manual.
Be sure that it is the correct program, and write down any changes you make, so that you can change it back if you need to.
Let us know how you get on.:highfive

 

If you have not already stopped messenger , this is a good time to change it to disabled, as this is a back door many virus/trojan have exploited.-If you click on it it will tell you its not the Windows messenger that is better known.

 

Thanx for the replies!

I've removed all but the following: have Show shadows under mouse pointer, show translucent selection rectangle, smooth edges of screen fonts, use common tasks in folders, use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop, and use visual styles on windows and buttons. These seem reasonable.

Interestingly, I have 2GB RAM installed and my paging file is set at 2046MB. I don't normally bump up against this limit. Anything wrong with leaving it as it is for now?

In looking at my services, I have one that looks suspicious:
Name and description are the same: ##Id_String1.7844F930_1628_4223_B5CC_5BB94B879762##

Any ideas what that could be?

 

One more thing, I'm using Chameleon as a startup manager and applications like ISUSPM, qttask, and a couple of others that have been delayed keep getting added back into the startup mix. How can I prevent this from happening?

Thanx,
Curtis

 

I only offered ways to improve the speed of usage for programs and Windows - it is personal choice from there, if you like it with a few goodies.
If you want to use your ram for faster working, you reduce the virtual memory - but it is a case of trial, and see what works best for yoy - you can try increasing the maximum usage of ram, by lowering the virtual memory as far as 512mb, or, increasing the virtual memory to 3gb, and see what effect it has.
If you stop a program from starting, unless you want it by setting it to manual, as I described, it should not start , unless you start it.Otherwise you will have to see if the program has an option to start with Windows, and unticking it.

 

##Id_String1.7844F930_1628_4223_B5CC_5BB94B879762##
I cannot offer any help with this one, perhaps someone else on majorgeeks will be able to.
Let us know if the alterations helped, and which one's.

 

baklogic, thanx for the advice.

I'm still running into the problems I mentioned before. Here's someone who described the exact problem I'm having at http://www.outpostfirewall.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8639. He eventually traced it to Avast!, but I'm not running that.

If I close some IE tabs, Outlook, or MindManager, I can work for a while longer before the symptoms return.

Right now, IE7 is hogging 4159 GDI resources. Is that normal? Sometimes Outlook will be pegged at around 3k as well. Should this even be an issue in XP?

Curtis

 

Process management page at majorgeeks.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads40.html


A COUPLE THAT MIGHT HELP.

MSConfig is a small and helpful tool. It allows you disable programs which are starting with Windows.

Unfortunately you can only disable items but they remain in the list.

MSConfig Cleanup lets you remove the residue!

http://www.majorgeeks.com/MSConfig_Cleanup_d4642.html


Daphne is a small (system tray) application for killing, controlling and debuging window's processes.

You can kill a process by dragging the mouse over the windows, by right-clicking the process in the main process list, or by typing its name with the "Kill all by name" command.Daphne is a windows software that control, debug and kill processes.

You can set a any window to be always on top, to be transparent, to be enable, et cetera.

The main window displays a list of currently running process with detailed information about:
· CPU usage
· Process ID
· Process name
· Full path (and arguments)
· Priority
· Class (Process / Service)
· Current memory usage
· Peek memory usage
· Current swap usage
· Peek swap usage
· Number of threads

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Daphne_d5371.html


Start up patrol.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Process_Patrol_d4409.html

Any on that page can be useful, but always set a restore point before using a new tool.

There are some good geeks, at majorgeeks who might come on and advise you better, about how much any program should grab off your system, than I can, at the moment. I hope these little freebies can be useful to you.