Simple question on hourglass

Hello:

I have a friend that has a blinking hourglass beside the cursor that does not go away. This person is learning computers and is stuck on this simple error. I think that there is something running in his system that is giving this error. Suggestions?????

System specs:

Win ME
382MB Ram
Pentium III


I am also giving them recommendations to visit this site for assistance and to download AVAST, instead of AVG.

Thanks

 

It could really be anything.

For starters, WinME is probably the buggiest of all Windows versions and a recipe for problems for someone new to computers. Anyway,

What size Hard Drive is it and how much free space is there?

What programs are installed and what is running in the background?

When does this happen, all the time or on certain applications? etc

 

Hi. Thanks. I just typed a huge reply only to be told it was an invalid link or some such, and then my message was gone. So, I will post a small message and see what happens. Thanks again and I hope to talk to you soon.
Butchy

 

Hi. Thanks. I just typed a huge reply only to be told it was an invalid link or some such, and then my message was gone. So, I will post a small message and see what happens. Thanks again and I hope to talk to you soon.
Butchy

Hi again, it worked so I will tell my story.
I have more than half my hard drive free, about 10 gb.
I explored my ctrl alt delete options and the problem is related to the following files:
igfxtray
hkcmd
hpcmpmgr
hphmon05

However, I can turn off one of them and the hourglass goes away - sometimes. Sometimes I have to turn off 2 or 3 or all 4 of them.
I also was messing with hpcmpmgr in the startup tab of msconfig on the advice of HP, to solve another problem. I have since returned it to its default.
I also ran AVG, but have since uninstalled it ( to see if that was my problem).
So, I can fix the problem but I don't want to go into ctrl, alt, delete every time I start the computer.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

Butchy

 

This will help all of us geeks.

1. Post a list of everything on startup or running in the background.

2. How did you determine those four (4) processes were the problem?

3. You mentioned AVG and then deletion, what anti-virus do you have installed on the system.

4. What was the other problem concerning "hpcmpmgr in the startup tab of msconfig on the advice of HP"?

5. Welcome to Major Geeks!

Steve

 

igfxtray.exe allows access to the Intel Graphics configuration and diagnostic application. It's not essential to have running at startup.

hkcmd.exe is for Intel multimedia. It's not essential at startup and it's up to you whether to use it or not.

hpcmpmgr.exe is for HP multimedia. Again it's not essential and up to you.

hphmon05.exe is for easy access to Hewlett Packard photosmart flash card reading functions. It's not essential.


Quote : "So, I can fix the problem but I don't want to go into ctrl, alt, delete every time I start the computer"


Unchecking the culprit in msconfig or adjusting the settings in the relevant programs menu should work.

It only needs to be done once.

Also bear in mind that not having a program enabled at startup doesn't stop you from using it or it working. (Unless off course it's a vital file or program)