billy ray

This raises a good point also.... remove any program from the 'Startup"
folder that doesn't actually have to be there. These programs consume
resources that you are already too short of.


"Curtis" <cchandler63@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1169155608.519362.42250@v45g2000cwv.googlegro ups.com...
> personally I would atttempt to figure out the offending application or
> driver before loading _anything_ .
>
> boot the workstation up, bring up task manager, take a look at your
> resources, what is using the most memory, what is the CPU at, you may
> find a service or app is using tons of memory...an example would be AOL
> messenger...if so de-install or kill that process.
>
> It sounds to me if the box is dead slow unless your hard drive is
> spinning endlessly, you probably have your memory or cpu maxed out by
> some process.
>
> If your hard disk is spinning endlessly, you can always remove your
> pagefile then defrag then add it back. if the page file gets fragmented
> especially with low RAM it can slow things down...
>
> good luck
>

Jeff Strickland

"Will Honea" <whonea@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:45afead5$0$509$815e3792@news.qwest.net...
> On Thu, 18 Jan 2007 20:05:50 +0000, Jeff Strickland wrote:
>
>> I suspect (still) that my b-in-law's machine might have a virus. I use
>> the
>> built-in Defrag that comes with Windows, but I haven't a utility that
>> cleans the Registry. I have a strong suspicion that my troubles are in
>> the
>> Registry, but I am not smart enough to know what is a Registry
>> Requirement
>> and what is a Bogus Registry Entry.
>>
>> Do you, or anybody else, know if I can reinstall XP using a different
>> copy
>> of the OS than the one that came installed on the machine?
>
> If you have the install disks - not the recovery disks that came with the
> machine - you are home free.

Those are the disks that did not come over with the computer.




You can use the recovery version (if the OEM
> supplied it) on the machine it shipped with (others if you are clever and
> a bit lucky) but the honest-to-goodness Install Disks from MS will work on
> anything meeting hardware specs.
>
> I have a problem with about all of the anti-virus apps at times.
> I've watched McAfee bring even the fastest machines to their knees. One
> office had all sorts of email traffic and the 2007 version basically
> killed the box during mail retrieval. To see if that is the problem,
> disconnect the machine from the net, do a full scan, then turn the virus
> scanner OFF and see what it's doing.
>

The machine is not on a network, either here at my house or at its own home.
At home, it has a hardwire connection tothe fiber optic system, here at my
house, it connects to the fiber optics via a wireless adaptor.

You may be onto something though. I Uninstalled the McAfee Security Suite,
and removed a couple of legacy entries in the Registry, and the machine
seems to be much improved now.

Jeff Strickland

"Will Honea" <whonea@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:45afead5$0$509$815e3792@news.qwest.net...
> On Thu, 18 Jan 2007 20:05:50 +0000, Jeff Strickland wrote:
>
>> I suspect (still) that my b-in-law's machine might have a virus. I use
>> the
>> built-in Defrag that comes with Windows, but I haven't a utility that
>> cleans the Registry. I have a strong suspicion that my troubles are in
>> the
>> Registry, but I am not smart enough to know what is a Registry
>> Requirement
>> and what is a Bogus Registry Entry.
>>
>> Do you, or anybody else, know if I can reinstall XP using a different
>> copy
>> of the OS than the one that came installed on the machine?
>
> If you have the install disks - not the recovery disks that came with the
> machine - you are home free.

Those are the disks that did not come over with the computer.




You can use the recovery version (if the OEM
> supplied it) on the machine it shipped with (others if you are clever and
> a bit lucky) but the honest-to-goodness Install Disks from MS will work on
> anything meeting hardware specs.
>
> I have a problem with about all of the anti-virus apps at times.
> I've watched McAfee bring even the fastest machines to their knees. One
> office had all sorts of email traffic and the 2007 version basically
> killed the box during mail retrieval. To see if that is the problem,
> disconnect the machine from the net, do a full scan, then turn the virus
> scanner OFF and see what it's doing.
>

The machine is not on a network, either here at my house or at its own home.
At home, it has a hardwire connection tothe fiber optic system, here at my
house, it connects to the fiber optics via a wireless adaptor.

You may be onto something though. I Uninstalled the McAfee Security Suite,
and removed a couple of legacy entries in the Registry, and the machine
seems to be much improved now.

Jeff Strickland

"Will Honea" <whonea@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:45afead5$0$509$815e3792@news.qwest.net...
> On Thu, 18 Jan 2007 20:05:50 +0000, Jeff Strickland wrote:
>
>> I suspect (still) that my b-in-law's machine might have a virus. I use
>> the
>> built-in Defrag that comes with Windows, but I haven't a utility that
>> cleans the Registry. I have a strong suspicion that my troubles are in
>> the
>> Registry, but I am not smart enough to know what is a Registry
>> Requirement
>> and what is a Bogus Registry Entry.
>>
>> Do you, or anybody else, know if I can reinstall XP using a different
>> copy
>> of the OS than the one that came installed on the machine?
>
> If you have the install disks - not the recovery disks that came with the
> machine - you are home free.

Those are the disks that did not come over with the computer.




You can use the recovery version (if the OEM
> supplied it) on the machine it shipped with (others if you are clever and
> a bit lucky) but the honest-to-goodness Install Disks from MS will work on
> anything meeting hardware specs.
>
> I have a problem with about all of the anti-virus apps at times.
> I've watched McAfee bring even the fastest machines to their knees. One
> office had all sorts of email traffic and the 2007 version basically
> killed the box during mail retrieval. To see if that is the problem,
> disconnect the machine from the net, do a full scan, then turn the virus
> scanner OFF and see what it's doing.
>

The machine is not on a network, either here at my house or at its own home.
At home, it has a hardwire connection tothe fiber optic system, here at my
house, it connects to the fiber optics via a wireless adaptor.

You may be onto something though. I Uninstalled the McAfee Security Suite,
and removed a couple of legacy entries in the Registry, and the machine
seems to be much improved now.

Jeff Strickland

"Will Honea" <whonea@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:45afead5$0$509$815e3792@news.qwest.net...
> On Thu, 18 Jan 2007 20:05:50 +0000, Jeff Strickland wrote:
>
>> I suspect (still) that my b-in-law's machine might have a virus. I use
>> the
>> built-in Defrag that comes with Windows, but I haven't a utility that
>> cleans the Registry. I have a strong suspicion that my troubles are in
>> the
>> Registry, but I am not smart enough to know what is a Registry
>> Requirement
>> and what is a Bogus Registry Entry.
>>
>> Do you, or anybody else, know if I can reinstall XP using a different
>> copy
>> of the OS than the one that came installed on the machine?
>
> If you have the install disks - not the recovery disks that came with the
> machine - you are home free.

Those are the disks that did not come over with the computer.




You can use the recovery version (if the OEM
> supplied it) on the machine it shipped with (others if you are clever and
> a bit lucky) but the honest-to-goodness Install Disks from MS will work on
> anything meeting hardware specs.
>
> I have a problem with about all of the anti-virus apps at times.
> I've watched McAfee bring even the fastest machines to their knees. One
> office had all sorts of email traffic and the 2007 version basically
> killed the box during mail retrieval. To see if that is the problem,
> disconnect the machine from the net, do a full scan, then turn the virus
> scanner OFF and see what it's doing.
>

The machine is not on a network, either here at my house or at its own home.
At home, it has a hardwire connection tothe fiber optic system, here at my
house, it connects to the fiber optics via a wireless adaptor.

You may be onto something though. I Uninstalled the McAfee Security Suite,
and removed a couple of legacy entries in the Registry, and the machine
seems to be much improved now.

Dave Milne

OpenOffice is pretty good and free as well.

Dave Milne, Scotland
'91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ

"billy ray" <billy_ray@SPAMfuse.net> wrote in message
news:41a20$45aff3f0$422afc51$20823@FUSE.NET...
> Unless your needs are unusual all you need out of Office is Word, Excel,
> and PowerPoint and my main use of Excel and PowerPoint is the stuff people
> send me for laughs or to review.
>
>
> "Jeff Strickland" <crwlr@verizon.net> wrote in message
> news:6wRrh.9554$Wz.6650@trndny06...
> >
> > "Earle Horton" <earle@vascongado.usa> wrote in message
> > news:45afe29c$0$7873$a82e2bb9@reader.athenanews.co m...
> >> This step is just to make sure he is not using weird shareware or PD
> >> stuff.
> >> It doesn't seem to be the issue in this case, but you never know.
> >>
> >> Earle
> >
> >
> > I don't think the shareware is an issue. Everything I can find seems to
be
> > valid. That is, the machine has the assrotment of Office programs, the
> > software to support hardware devices, that sort of thing.
> >
> > Since I cleaned Acrobat Reader 3.0 (a long ago deleted program),
> > SpyBeGone, and the McAfee Security Suite, the machine is much faster.
> > That's M-U-C-H faster.
> >
> > The Task Manager was reporting CPU Usage at 100%, but now is hovering in
a
> > range of about 5% to 30%, and seems to spend most of the time at about
> > 20%. And, it's actively Defragging at this time.
> >
> >
>
>

Dave Milne

OpenOffice is pretty good and free as well.

Dave Milne, Scotland
'91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ

"billy ray" <billy_ray@SPAMfuse.net> wrote in message
news:41a20$45aff3f0$422afc51$20823@FUSE.NET...
> Unless your needs are unusual all you need out of Office is Word, Excel,
> and PowerPoint and my main use of Excel and PowerPoint is the stuff people
> send me for laughs or to review.
>
>
> "Jeff Strickland" <crwlr@verizon.net> wrote in message
> news:6wRrh.9554$Wz.6650@trndny06...
> >
> > "Earle Horton" <earle@vascongado.usa> wrote in message
> > news:45afe29c$0$7873$a82e2bb9@reader.athenanews.co m...
> >> This step is just to make sure he is not using weird shareware or PD
> >> stuff.
> >> It doesn't seem to be the issue in this case, but you never know.
> >>
> >> Earle
> >
> >
> > I don't think the shareware is an issue. Everything I can find seems to
be
> > valid. That is, the machine has the assrotment of Office programs, the
> > software to support hardware devices, that sort of thing.
> >
> > Since I cleaned Acrobat Reader 3.0 (a long ago deleted program),
> > SpyBeGone, and the McAfee Security Suite, the machine is much faster.
> > That's M-U-C-H faster.
> >
> > The Task Manager was reporting CPU Usage at 100%, but now is hovering in
a
> > range of about 5% to 30%, and seems to spend most of the time at about
> > 20%. And, it's actively Defragging at this time.
> >
> >
>
>

Dave Milne

OpenOffice is pretty good and free as well.

Dave Milne, Scotland
'91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ

"billy ray" <billy_ray@SPAMfuse.net> wrote in message
news:41a20$45aff3f0$422afc51$20823@FUSE.NET...
> Unless your needs are unusual all you need out of Office is Word, Excel,
> and PowerPoint and my main use of Excel and PowerPoint is the stuff people
> send me for laughs or to review.
>
>
> "Jeff Strickland" <crwlr@verizon.net> wrote in message
> news:6wRrh.9554$Wz.6650@trndny06...
> >
> > "Earle Horton" <earle@vascongado.usa> wrote in message
> > news:45afe29c$0$7873$a82e2bb9@reader.athenanews.co m...
> >> This step is just to make sure he is not using weird shareware or PD
> >> stuff.
> >> It doesn't seem to be the issue in this case, but you never know.
> >>
> >> Earle
> >
> >
> > I don't think the shareware is an issue. Everything I can find seems to
be
> > valid. That is, the machine has the assrotment of Office programs, the
> > software to support hardware devices, that sort of thing.
> >
> > Since I cleaned Acrobat Reader 3.0 (a long ago deleted program),
> > SpyBeGone, and the McAfee Security Suite, the machine is much faster.
> > That's M-U-C-H faster.
> >
> > The Task Manager was reporting CPU Usage at 100%, but now is hovering in
a
> > range of about 5% to 30%, and seems to spend most of the time at about
> > 20%. And, it's actively Defragging at this time.
> >
> >
>
>

Dave Milne

OpenOffice is pretty good and free as well.

Dave Milne, Scotland
'91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ

"billy ray" <billy_ray@SPAMfuse.net> wrote in message
news:41a20$45aff3f0$422afc51$20823@FUSE.NET...
> Unless your needs are unusual all you need out of Office is Word, Excel,
> and PowerPoint and my main use of Excel and PowerPoint is the stuff people
> send me for laughs or to review.
>
>
> "Jeff Strickland" <crwlr@verizon.net> wrote in message
> news:6wRrh.9554$Wz.6650@trndny06...
> >
> > "Earle Horton" <earle@vascongado.usa> wrote in message
> > news:45afe29c$0$7873$a82e2bb9@reader.athenanews.co m...
> >> This step is just to make sure he is not using weird shareware or PD
> >> stuff.
> >> It doesn't seem to be the issue in this case, but you never know.
> >>
> >> Earle
> >
> >
> > I don't think the shareware is an issue. Everything I can find seems to
be
> > valid. That is, the machine has the assrotment of Office programs, the
> > software to support hardware devices, that sort of thing.
> >
> > Since I cleaned Acrobat Reader 3.0 (a long ago deleted program),
> > SpyBeGone, and the McAfee Security Suite, the machine is much faster.
> > That's M-U-C-H faster.
> >
> > The Task Manager was reporting CPU Usage at 100%, but now is hovering in
a
> > range of about 5% to 30%, and seems to spend most of the time at about
> > 20%. And, it's actively Defragging at this time.
> >
> >
>
>

Jeff Strickland

"Curtis" <cchandler63@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1169155608.519362.42250@v45g2000cwv.googlegro ups.com...
> personally I would atttempt to figure out the offending application or
> driver before loading _anything_ .
>
> boot the workstation up, bring up task manager, take a look at your
> resources, what is using the most memory, what is the CPU at, you may
> find a service or app is using tons of memory...an example would be AOL
> messenger...if so de-install or kill that process.
>
I know how to start the Task Manager and move around inside of it. My
trouble is that I do not know what are valid applications that NEED to run,
and what apps that are running that do not need to be. I went around and
turnd stuff off once, and shut down essential services.


> It sounds to me if the box is dead slow unless your hard drive is
> spinning endlessly, you probably have your memory or cpu maxed out by
> some process.
>
> If your hard disk is spinning endlessly, you can always remove your
> pagefile then defrag then add it back. if the page file gets fragmented
> especially with low RAM it can slow things down...
>

Not the problem at all. The computer runs, it just runs slowly. Task
Manager's Performance window was stuck at close to 100% almost all of the
time.

I NEED TO REPORT
Since I removed some legacy crapola that was in the Registry, and
uninstalled McAfee Security Suite, the machine runs pretty good now.

Talk to me about the Page File some more. I made some changes to the size
(made it larger), but that did not change anything for the better. (The good
news is that it did not change anything for the worse either.)

Should I be trying to manually set the Page File, or should I allow Windows
to make the necessary settings? I have plenty of hard drive space for the
maximum page file, so I do not need to walk the tightrope between storage
space and performance.