Improve Speed and Functionality

I've kind of neglected maintaining my computer over the past year because I have been busy getting a job and studying for the CPA exams. Now that the CPA is over I want to get my computer back up to maximum performance. I haven't the slightest clue where to start so I'm coming here for help. I can tell you some of the problems I've been experiencing and maybe you can tell me where to begin.

-I have problems later on with freezing and running slow if I leave my computer on while I'm at work. I understand how RAM works and having windows open will slow down the computer, but I have had this problem even without having any windows open.
-The computer is a little slow to restart (10 minutes or so)
-I sometimes get an error message that says "application failed to initiate" when I try to open a program.
-Sometimes when I click the restart button on my computer, nothing happens and I have to power off by pressing the button on the front of my computer tower.


Let me know what information I could give you so we can get this clean up process done the right way.

 

System specs would help.(machine model, CPU, RAM amount)
What programs are on the startup list?
When was the last good defrag?

 

What hrlow asked plus operating system, to what upgrade?

How large a HD, how much used?

Plus, present and past anti virus and other security programs?

Internet, broadband or dial-up?

Use THIS to report and, ultimately, manage your auto runs.

 

System Specs - Dell Dimension DIM3000, Intel (R) Celeron (R) CPU 2.66GHz, 512 MB of RAM

Startup List - hkcmd, igfxpers, HPWuSchd2, iTunesHelper, LVCOMSX, smax4pnp, mmtask, issch, ISUSPM, hkcmd, DVDLauncher, DMXLauncher, tfswctrl, Reader_sl, realsched, jusched, PCTAV, RIMAutoUpdate, ctfmon, YahooMessenger, Belkin Wireless Utility, Digital Line Detect, dlbcserv, HP Photosmart Premier Fast Start, Microsoft Office, QuickBooks Update Agent, PMB Media Check Tool. There is also one box that is checked that has a blank space next to it.

Defrag - I'm not sure when the last good defrag was but I'm pretty sure it has been over a year. Is there a way that I can check this?

Operating System - I'm currently running Windows XP Home Edition Version 2002, Service Pack 3

Hard Disk - 144 GB with 48.2 GB free.

I have the windows virus protection, I have used PC Tools Antivirus before as well. I cannot remember any other virus protections that I have used. Is there a way for me to check this as well?

BrandyPeppy, I downloaded that Startup tool, just need to learn how to use it!

Thanks guys, I look forward to your feedback.

 

Okay, with that startup tool you could actually disable everything and still run.

But start with the biggest memory hogs;

hkcmd, igfxpers, HPWuSchd2, iTunesHelper, LVCOMSX, smax4pnp, mmtask, issch, ISUSPM, hkcmd, DVDLauncher, DMXLauncher, tfswctrl, Reader_sl, realsched, jusched, PCTAV, RIMAutoUpdate, ctfmon, YahooMessenger, Belkin Wireless Utility, Digital Line Detect, dlbcserv, HP Photosmart Premier Fast Start, Microsoft Office, QuickBooks Update Agent, PMB Media Check Tool.

Go ahead and disable the highlighted items, then reboot.

Faster? And I am working off a wireless system. I doubt that you need the references Belkin or Digital Wireless connect, but disable the ones I highlighted first, then the others. It is amazing how little needs to be in the autoruns for a computer to be completely functional. 512M RAM is light with XP SP3, but is workable, just takes tweaking.

I'll give you an example, I just did a reformat on an XP system today, and ALL the tabs showed nothing.

Then, what is under the other tabs in this program.

Then I had to install security software, so that did show something.

I am not using XP, so doing this from memory. Right click on My Computer, select properties. Check the various tabs and sub-menus, you will find a choice to adjust for "Let Windows decide"; Adjust for best appearance"; Adjust for best performance"; something like that. With just 512M RAM, choose for "Best Performance".

But, by and large, all that stuff you have running at startup is going to bog the system, little by little. And, all of those functions will still run when called for. The difference, with today's systems, it may take a half-second longer to start.

I assume you are running Microsoft Security Essentials. Go to your control panel, then add/remove programs, and uninstall this and any other reference you find to anti virus, like the aforementioned PC Tools product.

Download cCleaner from HERE

Run both the cleaner and the registry cleaner, make the back up, name it June 16 or whatever you can remember. I have Never needed to use the backup. Clean and repair Everything, run two or three times.

Now download AVG from HERE

But be VERY careful and choose the CUSTOM install, with your system resources, this is a must do.

You will be given a decision tree as to what to install, ONLY leave the top box checked, MAKE sure all the boxes below this are UNCHECKED! If you do it this way, you will have the virus protection without all of the other resources hogging programs, big factor.

I know this post seems a bit fragmented, kind of a hit and miss thing with me.

But clean your machine of all other stuff, minimize/eliminate your startups, clear-up/ install your anti-virus program, the right way.

There are other tweaks for a 512M machine, how is it running?

 

And increase the amount of RAM.

 

There is no question this would be very good advice. Go to www.crucial.com and have it analyze your machine for possible RAM upgrades.

And to defrag, left click on My Computer, right on Drive C, (most likely), then on the Tools tab you should see a reference to defragmentation, have it analyze, then defrag the hard drive.

With 512 RAM, may take over an hour.

 

First, BrandyPeppy, I will go down your list of suggestions one at a time before I move on to the next steps. I used your startup tool program but there were some that I had previously listed and you suggested to uncheck that were not listed anywhere on the startup tool you had me download:

- HPWuSchd2, smax4pnp, issch, tfswctrl, Reader_sl, realsched, PCTAV, RIMAutoUpdate, and dlbcserv were all not listed on the startup tool for me to uncheck. Do you know why?

- Also, there were a few programs listed in the startup tool that were not listed on my original list. Let me know what you think I should do with these:

Adobe Reader Speed Launcher, BlackBerryAutoUpdate, dla, HotKeysCmds, HP Software Update, igfxhkcmd, ISUSScheduler, PCTAVApp, SoundMaxPnP, SunJavaUpdateSched, TkBellExe, Aim6

Let me know what you think! Then I'll move on to the next steps you have listed!

 

Personally don't see anything absolutely essential there.
They can be started as needed by calling up the program that they are a part of.
Most programs install themselves on the startup list when installed on your hard drive. Don't need them there.
How often do you use Adobe Reader? Update your Blackberry (if you have one), Java updates?

 

Those items don't show up because they aren't programs, they're windows processes.

 

Sorry, I use various startup management programs, depending on the system.

Look under the HKLM tab for those processes.

Your list of checked items shouldn't be more than 7 or 8, typically I'll find 20 to 30, thus slowing the computer.

Or you can post the list back here for advice.

 

Here is the list that I could use some advice on:

Adobe Reader Speed Launcher, BlackBerryAutoUpdate, dla, HotKeysCmds, HP Software Update, igfxhkcmd, ISUSScheduler, PCTAVApp, SoundMaxPnP, SunJavaUpdateSched, TkBellExe, Aim6

 

As stated in post #9, none of those are needed on your Startup. They all can be started when you call up the program.

 

I've performed a Defrag, ran the Ccleaner, downloaded the antivirus and let that run, there were 0 threats found out of 500,000 items scanned or so. I disabled most of the startup items also.

It has improved the startup time, but there are still times where my computer will bomb out when i'm on the internet. I'm considering the upgrade for RAM but I don't want to spend the money on that if there is something else causing my computer problems still afterwards. Let me know if there is anything else you think i could do.

Also, how often should i Defrag and run Ccleaner from now on? I have the antivirus set up to run once a week.

Since I turned off the Adobe reader for startup I haven't been able to view PDF files either. I don't know how to get this to work, do you have any insight on that?

 

I like the Foxit Reader over Adobes version.
RAM at only 512MB will cause problem s while surfing if you have multiple pages open at one time.Check it out through Device Manager.

 

Sorry. Meant Task Manager.

 

What exactly am I supposed to be looking for in Task Manager? And what is better about FoxIt Reader? Does it work if it's not started up at startup?

 

Call up Task Manager.Go to Processes. Click on the word Memory at the top of the column.
You can then see how much RAM is being used by the different running processes.
Also at the bottom, you can see how much of your total (%) RAM is used at that time.
Foxit Reader does not need to start on startup. Will work just fine when needed and called for. Very well-behaved.

 

My RAM added up to about 260K being used, not sure what that means really. The commit charge at the bottom was 668M/1246M, not sure what that means either. CPU usage is bouncing all over the place, but consistently within the 15-27% range. 44 processes running but I only have FireFox running right now.

What are your suggestions?

 

I didn't see a reply to my last post so I'm just checking to see if this thread is dead or not.

Also, within the past couple of days i've started to experience a new problem. When I call up Mozilla, even after a reboot, it takes about 10 minutes to fully open up. Then this error message pops up:

A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, or you can continue to see if the script will complete.

So far, after i navigate away from my home page it seems pretty normal. It's still not as fast as moving between web pages as other computers, and I'm wondering why. Do you think the RAM upgrade would do the trick or do you think I could have other problems. I run the virus scan at least 1 time a week, a few days ago it found 1 virus and that was the only one it's ever found and it got rid of it. I also run the Ccleaner and i've defragged a couple of times too. Do you have any other suggestions? I barely have any startup programs and i have 49 free GB out of 145 on my hard drive. I was down to 38 GB but deleted some things I didn't need, and plan on deleting a lot more within the next couple of weeks.

Let me know your suggestions.

 

See the 1st image attachment for a screen shot of this dialog.

System Properties -> Advanced tab -> Performance frame -> Settings button

2nd image attachment:

Performance Options -> Visual Effects tab -> Custom radio button ON

My suggestions which I'll explain:
Check ONLY these 3 - ALL others should be empty / Not Checked

• Show shadows under mouse pointer - not needed but much less stark looking
• Smooth edges of screen fonts - needed for ClearType - more info to follow
• Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop - prevents ugly background for icons

ClearType is not necessary but it provides a substantial improvement in the sharpness and
clarity of screen fonts. The additional system resources used to implement this should be
minimal, if any.

3rd image attachment:

Control Panle -> Display -> Display Properties -> Appearance tab -> Effects button

4th image attachment: Effects

check the box for "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts:"
select ClearType in the drop down list box.

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I did not see any mention of which version of Firefox you are using.
I suggest that you downlaod the latest version of Firefox

Also, in the Firefox browser, go to Tools -> Add-ons and make a list of the add-ons you
have installed for later reference.
It might be a good idea for to post that list.
Too many plugins can bog down the browser a bit.

My suggestion is to Uninstall the current version of Firefox (Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs),
ReBoot and then do a fresh install of the latest version.
Not sure, but it makes sense that the Uninstall will remove all Add-ons as well.
Required Add-ons can be added anew after the reinstall.

Later, if needed, you can adjust the Firefox Memory Cache settings.

When you have time and the inclination, you can read this recent thread about
Disk Defragmenters

Hope this helps.

P.S.
I was working on this post before I saw the previous post by plodr.

 

You mention you still have 44 running processes. That's a bunch. With my browser open I only have 30. And you really should add some memory. For computers as old as yours it's pretty inexpensive and will make a huge difference.

Others have mentioned Foxit Reader. It is free and uses far fewer resources than Acrobat. It also has more features.

 

Here is the list of add-ons:

-AIM Toolbar 5.21.1.1
-Coupon Manager 5.0.0.4
-Java Quick Starter 1.0
-Microsoft.NET Framework Assistant 1.2.1
-Move Media Player 1.0.0.071101000055
-RealPlayer Browser Record Plugin 1.0 (This one is kind of faded out and there is an exclamation symbol in a red box next to it)
-Yahoo! Toolbar 2.1.3.20100310105313

Let me know if there is anything I should do with these.

 

My homepage is www.chicagocubs.com. I actually haven't experienced this script problem in awhile so I'm not sure what I might have done to fix it. It wasn't just that site that it was happnening with.

I feel like all that I have done has helped a lot, but it's not enough. There will be times where i have an okay time of browing but others where the page will look frozen for a few minutes and fiiiinally go to where i want it to. I'm thinking about increasing the RAM but i'm not sure if it's worth it since the computer is now over 5 years old. If it's nothing else I would get the RAM but if I need a new computer i'd rather save the money. Let me know your suggestions.

 

I haven't heard anything from anybody about this. If no one has any other suggestions I think I will just go with the upgrade and add some RAM. Let me know if you guys see anything else I can do before going to that step. Thanks for all of your help.

 

disable unneeded ,unused or useless items from the service menu with this guide from BlackViper.com, Windows XP x86 (32-bit) Service Pack 3 Service Configurations http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm , and he also has a automatic zip file version that will "safe"disable services for you instead of doing it manually line by line
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/registry.htm
and this little App. really keeps the mem usage at a minimum functional level
http://majorgeeks.com/CleanMem_d5993.html