Slow Computer Response:
Robert
and Comodo with DSL connection. I haven't done anything or added
anything but today when I logged on the computer it was unusually slow
even with only (1) program running. I thought perhaps I might have
picked up a virus or malware so I ran Spybot and it came out clean. I
then checked Microsoft Updates to see if any new updates were there
but it just seemed to hang up and did nothing although the Task
Manager said it was running.
I then started to run AVG and checked to see if were any updates but
it failed each time I tried to update it. I thought maybe they have a
newer version so I deleted it from my Add/Remove program but then I
couldn't download it from the site! The pages took forever and I kept
getting errors on each page which took forever to load.
I realized I was making things worst so I did a System Restore but
when it came back up it gave me a message that the AVG Kernal could
not run although it shows AVG in the Add/Remove programs as well as
the desktop shortcut. Great, so now what am I suppose to do?
The computer still runs as slow as a snail and I can't update AVG or
even re-install it it seems.
I'm now running A-Squared which I should have done in the first
place.
I would appreciate any help or suggstions to return my computer back
to normal. I just don't get it though, when I turned it off yesterday
all was fine and now this. ughhhhh
Robert
db ´¯`·.. ><)))º>` .. .
how well windows
performs when it is
the only program
installed.
it is only after installing
this and that afterwards
that difficulties occur for
various reasons.
my suggestion is to
to do a clean boot
and see if it helps.
if it does not, then
maybe some system
files became corrupted:
http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?mkt=en-US&form=MSHOME&setlang=en-US&q=clean+boot
--
db ·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·..><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>¸.
><)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
.
"Robert" <magi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:5ab11991-3ba0-4b11...@y5g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
Gerry
How much RAM memory?
Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?
What is your CPU processor speed?
Do you leave your computer on 24/7?
Open Disk Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and
click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents
Folder and post a copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as it
is more informative.
--
Hope this helps.
Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert
> Robert
>
> How much RAM memory?
>
> Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
> Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?
>
> What is your CPU processor speed?
>
> Do you leave your computer on 24/7?
>
> Open Disk Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and
> click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents
> Folder and post a copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as it
> is more informative.
>
> --
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Gerry
> ~~~~
> FCA
> Stourport, England
> Enquire, plan and execute
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>
Hello Gerry,
I appreciate you trying to help. I was able to bring my system back to
normal yesterday or so I thought and everything seemed to be fine when
I turned it off, but today when I logged on it had the same exact
problem as it did yesterday e.g. dragging/sluggish and slow response.
I noticed this especially on eBay. In passing, I ran Spybot, A-Squared
and AVG yesterday and they found nothing.
In response to your questions:
How much RAM memory?
256MB of RAM
Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?
Total = 433616 (although the numbers keep changing)
Limit = 631568
Peak = 439012
What is your CPU processor speed? Pentium IV 1.80Ghz (not sure if
this is what you mean)
Do you leave your computer on 24/7? No, I don't, I shut it off after
I'm done using it.
This is the Analyze report from Disk Defragmenter:
Volume (C:)
Volume size = 149 GB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 19.62 GB
Free space = 129 GB
Percent free space = 86 %
Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 15 %
File fragmentation = 30 %
Free space fragmentation = 0 %
File fragmentation
Total files = 179,066
Average file size = 196 KB
Total fragmented files = 9,733
Total excess fragments = 53,095
Average fragments per file = 1.29
Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 384 MB
Total fragments = 1
Folder fragmentation
Total folders = 6,851
Fragmented folders = 218
Excess folder fragments = 1,592
Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 199 MB
MFT record count = 186,283
Percent MFT in use = 91 %
Total MFT fragments = 4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File Size Most fragmented files
557 36 MB \System Volume Information
\_restore{31414675-6CBE-4639-8F67-8C2E395D7683}\RP1232\A0199111.exe
556 36 MB \System Volume Information
\_restore{31414675-6CBE-4639-8F67-8C2E395D7683}\RP1232\A0199985.exe
556 36 MB \System Volume Information
\_restore{31414675-6CBE-4639-8F67-8C2E395D7683}\RP1217\A0195424.rbf
369 23 MB \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE
344 536 MB \Program Files\LucasArts\Star Wars
Jedi Knight Jedi Academy\GameData\base\assets0.pk3
338 1 KB \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM.LOG
333 101 MB \System Volume Information
\_restore{31414675-6CBE-4639-8F67-8C2E395D7683}\RP1237\A0201838.msi
299 19 MB \System Volume Information
\_restore{31414675-6CBE-4639-8F67-8C2E395D7683}\RP1232\A0199978.exe
299 19 MB \System Volume Information
\_restore{31414675-6CBE-4639-8F67-8C2E395D7683}\RP1232\A0199104.exe
299 19 MB \System Volume Information
\_restore{31414675-6CBE-4639-8F67-8C2E395D7683}\RP1217\A0195431.rbf
294 21 MB \Documents and Settings\Robert Donnelly
\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\CPE5QS5Y
\get_video[2]
278 17 MB \System Volume Information
\_restore{31414675-6CBE-4639-8F67-8C2E395D7683}\RP1242\A0204430.exe
244 19 MB \Documents and Settings\Robert Donnelly
\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files
\Content.IE5\2456KZN8\get_video[1]
228 23 MB \System Volume Information
\_restore{31414675-6CBE-4639-8F67-8C2E395D7683}\RP1270\snapshot
\_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
219 30 MB \Documents and Settings\Robert Donnelly
\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\3EZQ366E
\avg75free_516a1225[1].exe
215 14 MB \Documents and Settings\Robert Donnelly
\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\3EZQ366E
\get_video[7]
215 101 MB \System Volume Information
\_restore{31414675-6CBE-4639-8F67-8C2E395D7683}\RP1222\A0196739.msi
196 101 MB \System Volume Information
\_restore{31414675-6CBE-4639-8F67-8C2E395D7683}\RP1223\A0197847.msi
194 101 MB \System Volume Information
\_restore{31414675-6CBE-4639-8F67-8C2E395D7683}\RP1221\A0196735.msi
191 103 MB \System Volume Information
\_restore{31414675-6CBE-4639-8F67-8C2E395D7683}\RP1236\A0201330.msi
183 101 MB \System Volume Information
\_restore{31414675-6CBE-4639-8F67-8C2E395D7683}\RP1235\A0201027.msi
181 13 MB \Documents and Settings\Robert Donnelly
\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\BSEIMF7N
\get_video[5]
169 13 MB \Documents and Settings\Robert Donnelly
\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\L573ECWG
\get_video[4]
162 12 MB \System Volume Information
\_restore{31414675-6CBE-4639-8F67-8C2E395D7683}\RP1240\A0203454.rbf
151 10 MB \Documents and Settings\Robert Donnelly
\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\2AC8KX1X
\milfload[1].wmv
151 11 MB \System Volume Information
\_restore{31414675-6CBE-4639-8F67-8C2E395D7683}\RP1240\A0203475.rbf
147 11 MB \System Volume Information
\_restore{31414675-6CBE-4639-8F67-8C2E395D7683}\RP1258\snapshot
\_REGISTRY_USER_NTUSER_S-1-5-21-1426590395-953129233-1774555873-1007
138 11 MB \Documents and Settings\Robert Donnelly
\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\P6RQ48RN
\get_video[1]
131 8 MB \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
I would appreciate it if you could give me any insight as to what may
be going on and what I can do to bring the system back to where it
was. The odd thing is that some pages load as before like my home page
but others seem to take forever e.g. clicking on an eBay item. This
has never happened before which is why I'm concerned.
Robert
Unknown
Robert
> Try running disk cleanup."Robert" <magine...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:b178eaa4-5a42-4404...@l1g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
I've already done that and it hasn't changed anything. I'm now running
Defrag and hope it will help.
Robert
Daave
> I then started to run AVG and checked to see if were any updates but
> it failed each time I tried to update it. I thought maybe they have a
> newer version so I deleted it from my Add/Remove program but then I
> couldn't download it from the site! The pages took forever and I kept
> getting errors on each page which took forever to load.
>
> I realized I was making things worst so I did a System Restore but
> when it came back up it gave me a message that the AVG Kernal could
> not run although it shows AVG in the Add/Remove programs as well as
> the desktop shortcut. Great, so now what am I suppose to do?
>
> The computer still runs as slow as a snail and I can't update AVG or
> even re-install it it seems.
In order to reinstall AVG, you must uninstall it first.
Have you uninstalled it (that is, *after* the System Restore)? If you
don't have the option, you might have to undo the System Restore.
Once you are sure AVG is uninstalled, then you can reinstall it. Since
there is something wrong with your connectivity, use another PC to
download the installation executable and either burn it onto a disk or
use something like a USB flash drive. Then you should be able to
reinstall it.
Make sure you are using the latest version (7.5):
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/
Or you may want to try Avast Free:
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
An alternative is to boot off something like Ultimate Boot CD for
Windows or Knoppix:
http://www.ubcd4win.com/
http://www.knoppix.net
Unknown
megs.news:cd5f61ab-7286-46c7...@m77g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
Robert
> "Robert" <magine...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
I do have the latest version of AVG and thought I would have to
uninstall it first as well, but I was a little leary of doing so,
given the problems I'm having and thought it would give me a prompt to
uninstall first before installing but it didn't and finished
installing and seems to run fine. It automatically starts up just as
it always does.
I tried getting Avast before AVG but I couldn't find a free version.
I don't have access to another PC to do as you propose.
Robert
Robert
> You will notice a big increase in speed if you upgraded your memory to 512
>
> news:cd5f61ab-7286-46c7...@m77g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
> On Jan 8, 8:25 am, "Unknown" <unkn...@unknown.kom> wrote:
>
> > Try running disk cleanup."Robert" <magine...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>
> >news:b178eaa4-5a42-4404...@l1g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
>
By upgrading my memory your speaking of RAM? So do I just buy an
additional Ram chip? Does it fit into the motherboard and how do I
know where to put it? Should I go to Newegg and are there any brands
I should look for? Price?
Thing is, the computer was working perfectly and ran just fine until a
day or so ago and now this. I don't understand why there should be
such a marked difference in perfomance when there is no virus or
malware detected.
Robert
Robert
>
> - Show quoted text -
This what I've done since the last post:
I've run Spybot, A-Squared, and AVG all of which found nothing.
I've run Disk Cleaner and Defrag (I have CCleaner but there are just
too many choices and don't know which to pick and not to pick)
I've re-booted (turned off completely) the system and it still acts
the same. Hotmail takes over a full minute to load and then didn't
even load the full page yet my MSN home page loads fine as before with
no waiting but just about everything else I try to do just hangs as if
there is a virus or corrupted file.
Thoughts/Comments/
Suggestions?
Robert
Gerry
You need to increase your RAM from 256 mb to at least 512 mb. It is
obvious from the Commit Charges figures that you system is reliant for
some of your activities on the pagefile. Accessing the pagefile is
slower than RAM and this will mean a less responsive computer. I would
also double or even quadruple the maximum for the pagefile from 384 mb
as you have plenty of free disk space.
To advise on adding memory we need to know more about your computer. You
need to get the right type. What isyour computer make and model. How
old is it?
This freeware programme is excellent for getting information about
your computer:Everest Home Edition (freeware)
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html
Tip: To copy select Report, Quick Report, Plain Text, highlight
required text, right click and select copy. However, whilst this is
fine for posting small amounts of information into newsgroup messages
longer reports will irritate other newsgroup subscribers.
In Everest expand Motherboard, Chipset and post the details for each
Memory slot.
Some advice on cCleaner
http://www.ccleaner.com/ccdownload.asp
http://www.ccleaner.com/
With any cleaner you need to proceed with caution. To be safe you
should create a restore point before using cCleaner. cCleaner also
offers backup before removal.
When using cCleaner think twice before checking Autocomplete Form
History under Internet Explorer. You do get a warning but this one has
irritating consequences. You may need to restore your system's
recollection of passwords after use so keep a record off computer so
that they can easily be re-entered.
Leave the Scan for Issues option alone.
A tip for Disk CleanUp. Select Start, All Programs, accessories, System
Tools, Disk CleanUp, More Options, System Restore and remove all but the
latest System Restore point. This facility is not available with
cCleaner.
You should be able to gather more information from Task Manager. With
the Processes tab open select View, Select, Columns and check the boxes
before Peak Memory Usage and Virtual Memory size. What are the figures
for the 6 processes using the largest amounts?
Please post copies of all Error and Warning Reports appearing in
the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for the last boot. No
Information Reports or Duplicates please. Indicate which also appear in
a previous boot.
You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer.
A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.
--
Hope this helps.
Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Daave
Since you have AVG, did you boot off your AVG rescue disk?
The link I gave you *is* to the free version of Avast! Maybe this link
will work better:
http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
Have you tried any online scans? Try:
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
If you still think you have undetected malware, one final suggestion is
to run HijackThis. Download it from:
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/programs.php
and post the log to an appropriate forum, such as:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html
Here's a helpful tutorial:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial42.html
Unknown
type, maximum
for your system etc. etc.news:5a44dd82-1c45-4de5...@m77g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
Robert
> obvious from the Commit Charges figures that you system is reliant for
> some of your activities on the pagefile. Accessing the pagefile is
> slower than RAM and this will mean a less responsive computer. I would
> also double or even quadruple the maximum for the pagefile from 384 mb
> as you have plenty of free disk space.
>
> To advise on adding memory we need to know more about your computer. You
> need to get the right type. What isyour computer make and model. How
> old is it?
>
> This freeware programme is excellent for getting information about
>
> Tip: To copy select Report, Quick Report, Plain Text, highlight
> required text, right click and select copy. However, whilst this is
> fine for posting small amounts of information into newsgroup messages
> longer reports will irritate other newsgroup subscribers.
>
> In Everest expand Motherboard, Chipset and post the details for each
> Memory slot.
>
>
> read more >>- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Hi Gerry,
You sure have given me allot of information, I'm not totally computer
illiterate but at the same time there is much I don't understand so
please bear with me. I do apologize for the previous long response but
I thought that is what you requested?
In response to your suggestion; how do I increase my pagefile?
To advise on adding memory we need to know more about your computer.
You
need to get the right type. What is your computer make and model. How
old is it?
I have a 2002 Dell Dimension 8200 Pentium IV CPU 1.80 Ghz, 1.79Ghz,
256 MB of RAM with Service Pak2. I recently upgraded my hardrive to a
Seagate 160GB Hard Drive, and replaced my old CD-ROM with a LG DVD/RW
Drive.
I downloaded Everest and I don't know if I'm doing this right. I
expanded the Motherboard >Chipset and here are the results for the
Memory Slots:
Dram Slot#1 128MB (PC800 RDRAM)
Dram Slot#2 128MB (PC800 RDRAM)
The 6 figures in Task Manager using the largest amounts are as
follows:
Mem usage Peak
Mem Usage VM Size
iexplore.exe - 31,076k 50,808k 40,452k
iexplore.exe - 25,892k 49,680k 41,596k
WINDWORD.EXE 29,780k 63,504k 49,928k
explorer.exe 8,448k 25,172k 17,052k
Msnmsgr.exe 6,644k
20,516k 14,628k
Svchost 6,756k 17,076k 13,652k
ImageX 3,316k 19,520k 9,948k
These warning and errors occurred on 1-7-2008.
WARNING: Windows saved registry while an application or service was
still using the registry during logoff. The memory used by the user's
registry has not been freed. The registry will be unloaded when it is
no longer in use.
This is often caused by services running as a user account, try
configuring the services to run in either the LocalService or
NetworkService account.
ERROR: (previous error) Fault Bucket 02050800
0000: 42 75 63 6b 65 74 3a 20 Bucket:
0008: 30 32 30 35 30 38 30 30 02050800
0010: 0d 0a ..
ERROR: (previous error) Hanging application ImageX.exe version
1.0.0.1, hang module hungapp,version 0.0.0.0, hang address
0x00000000.
0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat
0008: 69 6f 6e 20 48 61 6e 67 ion Hang
0010: 20 20 49 6d 61 67 65 58 ImageX
ERROR: 2008-01-07 15:47:33,750 D8WPC311 [001496:001508]ERROR 000
AVG7.AM service module run failed: Error 0x80040154
ERROR: Fault Bucket 551330672
0000: 42 75 63 6b 65 74 3a 20 Bucket:
0008: 35 35 31 33 33 30 36 37 55133067
0010: 32 0d 0a 2..
ERROR: (previous error)Hanging application iexplore.exe, version
7.0.6000.16574, hang module hungapp, version 0.0.0.0, hung address
0x00000000 0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat
0008: 69 6f 6e 20 48 61 6e 67 ion Hang
0010: 20 20 69 65 78 70 6c 6f iexplo
Robert
Robert
>
> - Show quoted text -
I appreciate your help and suggestions but I've downloaded so much
that I don't even know what some things on my computer are for
anymore. I use to have Norton and finally got rid of it as it was a
resource hog and caused nothing but problems and there is no way I
will use any of their products again. Since having AVG, Spybot, A-
Squared and Comodo I am very happy with them and they came highly
recommended and I don't think the problem lies there. The computer
just 'seems' like its infected but I don;t actually believe it is. The
system has be great until recently although when I upgraded my hard
drive it wasn't as easy as some make it sound so I might have had an
issue then that is now coming to light even though its been several
weeks. I think perhaps maybe a file was corrupted in some way.
Robert
Robert
> obvious from the Commit Charges figures that you system is reliant for
> some of your activities on the pagefile. Accessing the pagefile is
> slower than RAM and this will mean a less responsive computer. I would
> also double or even quadruple the maximum for the pagefile from 384 mb
> as you have plenty of free disk space.
>
> To advise on adding memory we need to know more about your computer. You
> need to get the right type. What isyour computer make and model. How
> old is it?
>
> This freeware programme is excellent for getting information about
>
> Tip: To copy select Report, Quick Report, Plain Text, highlight
> required text, right click and select copy. However, whilst this is
> fine for posting small amounts of information into newsgroup messages
> longer reports will irritate other newsgroup subscribers.
>
> In Everest expand Motherboard, Chipset and post the details for each
> Memory slot.
>
>
> read more »- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
I don't know why but my reply to you didn't send as usual so you have
to click Read More to see it.
Robert
Robert
> obvious from the Commit Charges figures that you system is reliant for
> some of your activities on the pagefile. Accessing the pagefile is
> slower than RAM and this will mean a less responsive computer. I would
> also double or even quadruple the maximum for the pagefile from 384 mb
> as you have plenty of free disk space.
>
> To advise on adding memory we need to know more about your computer. You
> need to get the right type. What isyour computer make and model. How
> old is it?
>
> This freeware programme is excellent for getting information about
>
> Tip: To copy select Report, Quick Report, Plain Text, highlight
> required text, right click and select copy. However, whilst this is
> fine for posting small amounts of information into newsgroup messages
> longer reports will irritate other newsgroup subscribers.
>
> In Everest expand Motherboard, Chipset and post the details for each
> Memory slot.
>
I just thought that I would make this further observation that in the
morning the computer was slow, dragging and sluggish and now in the
evening it's just as fast as it usually is. Strange.....
Robert
Daave
Since you haven't ruled out malware 100%, for all we know, your PC has
become part of the botnet, spewing forth spam without your knowledge
(and obviously causing slowdowns for you). You may want to reconsider
your decision not to follow my advice above.
I noted elsewhere that you have little memory and your PC (as it is
currently running) needs double the amount. I also noted your PC is old
and the memory will not be affordable:
http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?mfr=Dell&model=Dimension+8200+Series+(400MHz+FSB)
You may as well back up your all data and spring for a new PC. There are
many below $500 (even ones with XP if you would rather not run Vista).
If you'd like to tinker instead with what you currently have (in order
to make the most of your 256 MB of RAM and rely on your pagefile less
than you currently are), then use msconfig to see which
programs/processes your PC automatically loads at startup. Then use
these sites to research what you don't need:
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php#THE_PROGRAMS
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/
This one is good to have bookmarked, too:
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
But, you may as well get a new rig. Good luck.
Gerry
Adding Memory:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim8200/replace.htm#1101964
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim8200/specs.htm#1102365
You should contact Dell in the first instance for additional memory or
as mentioned Crucial if Dell cannot help. The site above is the US site
but you should contact Dell in the country where you are if it is not
the US. You may not find additional memory is expensive. You have 4
memory slots so the maximum you can have is 4 x 512 mb. You need to get
the specific RAM for the machine. i.e. PC800 RDRAM.
Until you have added RAM you should minimise multi-tasking as this will
push the system into using the pagefile. This is why you are getting
applications hanging. If the machine becomes non-responsive the best
thing to do is to leave the machine alone as given time it will usually
resolve itself. Intervention can create new problems.
To increase your pagefile settings select Start, Control Panel, System,
Advanced, Performance Settings, Advanced, Virtual Memory, Change. You
can select System Managed Size (commonly recommended) or Custom Size. If
you select Custom Size set a Minumum and a Maximum of 2,000 mb. When you
have made your selection click on Set, OK and exit. You will need to
restart your computer for the new settings to take effect.
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm
What do you use ImageX for? Research suggests this is a Graphics
converter and therefore may need more memory than text based programmes.
Is there any correlation between it's use and response times.
You have included iexplore- twice in the list of processes! Is this
correct?
Download and install the User Profile Hive Cleanup Service
Download details: User Profile Hive Cleanup Service
http://snipurl.com/5b61
UPHClean v1.5e readme.txt
http://snipurl.com/ko8m
--
Hope this helps.
Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert
>
> http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim8200/specs.htm#1102365
>
> You should contact Dell in the first instance for additional memory or
> as mentioned Crucial if Dell cannot help. The site above is the US site
> but you should contact Dell in the country where you are if it is not
> the US. You may not find additional memory is expensive. You have 4
> memory slots so the maximum you can have is 4 x 512 mb. You need to get
> the specific RAM for the machine. i.e. PC800 RDRAM.
>
> Until you have added RAM you should minimise multi-tasking as this will
> push the system into using the pagefile. This is why you are getting
> applications hanging. If the machine becomes non-responsive the best
> thing to do is to leave the machine alone as given time it will usually
> resolve itself. Intervention can create new problems.
>
> To increase your pagefile settings select Start, Control Panel, System,
> Advanced, Performance Settings, Advanced, Virtual Memory, Change. You
> can select System Managed Size (commonly recommended) or Custom Size. If
> you select Custom Size set a Minumum and a Maximum of 2,000 mb. When you
> have made your selection click on Set, OK and exit. You will need to
>
> What do you use ImageX for? Research suggests this is a Graphics
> converter and therefore may need more memory than text based programmes.
> Is there any correlation between it's use and response times.
>
> You have included iexplore- twice in the list of processes! Is this
> correct?
>
> Download and install the User Profile Hive Cleanup Service
> Download details: User Profile Hive Cleanup Servicehttp://snipurl.com/5b61
>
>
> - Show quoted text -
Hi Gerry,
I'll contact Dell about getting new RAM, I usually only have 1 or 2
browsers open and my Dell Imaging software running and toggle between
them but I didn't think this was too much multi-tasking but what you
say makes sense.
I've increased the size of my pagefile
I did a search on ImageX and it seems to be part of my Dell Imaging
software. I have quite a number of jpg files on my Dell Imagining and
I think I will copy all of those to disc and free up the space.
Yes, you saw (2) iexpore process's because I had two browsers open at
the time. Sorry for the duplication.
I downloaded the Hive cleanup service but after it closed I didn't see
it in new programs added and it didn't put an icon on the desktop.
Robert
Robert
I have a question; I thought by upgrading my hard drive from 40G to
160G that I shouldn't have a problem with all my jpg files but I'm
seeing that my computer 'seems' to run faster when I don't open up my
Dell Imaging software. If I removed all the files and put them on disc
would it make a difference or is it the Dell Imagining software
(ImageX) itself that might be part of slowing it down? I realize by
increasing RAM that it would speed up the system but I'm just curious
about this.
Robert
Gerry
It's the competing claims for RAM that is causing the slow response.
Files sitting on your hard drive have no effect on system performance
unless the file is opened and loaded into memory. I would leave the
files where they are at least until your free disk space goes below 25%
of the size of the disk.
Installing the User Profile Hive Cleanup Service helps speed up the time
the computer takes to shutdown. The programme runs automatically without
user intervention.
Robert
> The link I gave you *is* to the free version of Avast! Maybe this link
> will work better:
>
> http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
>
> Have you tried any online scans? Try:
>
> http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
>
> http://security.symantec.com/
>
> http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
>
I went back and installed and ran Trend Micro, Kaspersky, and Avast.
As I mentioned I use to have Norton products and wasn't happy with
them so I decided not to do that.
Trend Micro found a Http Cookie, which I deleted and then re-ran at
its suggestion and came out clean
Kapersky found Malware Exploit.JS.XMLcore.b, which I deleted
Avast came out clean
I want to thank you for your advice and suggestions. In regards to
'tinkering' or buying another computer I really don't have a choice
since I'm disabled and can't afford a new computer. I'm trying to do
what I can to make this one last a bit longer. I've increased my page
file size and have contacted Dell about additional RAM. I realize that
at some point I will need a new computer but I just have to work with
what I have for the present and hope for the best.
Robert
Robert
I've contacted Dell about getting RAM but I have a question regarding
that. Since I have 256 RAM now, can I buy 4x 512 RAM for a total of
2048 or 4x 256 RAM for a total of 1024? and plug each module into
RIMM1-4?
Robert
Daave
>> The link I gave you *is* to the free version of Avast! Maybe this
>> link will work better:
>>
>> http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
>>
>> Have you tried any online scans? Try:
>>
>> http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
>>
>> http://security.symantec.com/
>>
>> http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
>>
>
>
> I went back and installed and ran Trend Micro, Kaspersky, and Avast.
> As I mentioned I use to have Norton products and wasn't happy with
> them so I decided not to do that.
Sounds thorough!
Just for clarification, I assume you did the following:
- installed and ran Avast
- ran the Trend Micro and Kaspersky *online* scans
(I don't blame you for staying away from Symantec. However, the online
scan is not the same thing.)
> Trend Micro found a Http Cookie, which I deleted and then re-ran at
> its suggestion and came out clean
Sounds good. Tracking cookies won't slow you down, by the way. Some
folks don't like to keep them because of privacy issues.
> Kapersky found Malware Exploit.JS.XMLcore.b, which I deleted
Actually, that sounds serious! I did a brief search and couldn't find a
lot on that exploit. Do you have all the necessary patches post SP2?
> Avast came out clean
Good.
> I want to thank you for your advice and suggestions. In regards to
> 'tinkering' or buying another computer I really don't have a choice
> since I'm disabled and can't afford a new computer. I'm trying to do
> what I can to make this one last a bit longer. I've increased my page
> file size and have contacted Dell about additional RAM. I realize that
> at some point I will need a new computer but I just have to work with
> what I have for the present and hope for the best.
I understand, Robert.
If buying another PC is out of the question, then tinkering is your only
recourse. Your bottleneck (assuming you are 100% malware-free) is a low
amount of RAM. Unfortunately, your PC, I believe, takes a rare and
expensive type of RAM:
http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=DC738DFBA5CA7304
(that link should work better than the last one I posted)
That's $264.99 a pop, and you will need to buy two of them because "your
system requires that you install memory in pairs." That's why I had
suggested purchasing a new PC!
Perhaps there are other RAM sticks available; you'll need to dig deeper,
or perhaps someone else here could post that information.
If you absolutely need to stay with your current setup with the 256 MB
of RAM, you need to be very careful as to what programs you run (there
are probably some running you aren't even aware of and don't even need).
It is possible to run efficiently with that little RAM. But that entails
not multitasking and not using memory-intensive apps such as photo or
video editing.
I will repeat the information from my other post for your convenience:
If you'd like to tinker instead with what you currently have (in order
to make the most of your 256 MB of RAM and rely on your pagefile less
than you currently are), then use msconfig to see which
programs/processes your PC automatically loads at startup. Then use
these sites to research what you don't need:
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php#THE_PROGRAMS
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/
This one is good to have bookmarked, too:
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------
Are you familiar with msconfig? It's easy, if you're not:
Start | Run | msconfig [enter] and look at the Startup tab.
Autoruns is along the same lines, but it is *much* more thorough:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx
I also noted in another post you are running something called ImageX.
Why don't you experiment and quit using it for a while and see if your
performance improves? You should be also be able to configure it to not
run at startup.
Once you're running as lean as possible, try Gerry's method again
(noting the Total, Limit, and Peak values for Commit Charge). If you can
get your Total and Peak numbers as low as 262,144 (not easy!), you'll be
golden.
Robert
>
> Sounds thorough!
>
> Just for clarification, I assume you did the following:
>
> - installed and ran Avast
> - ran the Trend Micro and Kaspersky *online* scans
Yes, I did all of the above.
>
> (I don't blame you for staying away from Symantec. However, the online
> scan is not the same thing.)
I understand this, but Symantec just left a bad taste in my mouth and
I didn;t like how they presented the free version so I backed away
from it. I figure with Spybot, A-Squared, Avast, AVG, Trend Micro,
Kapersky and Comodo that if something indeed gets through it almost
deserves to! *L*
>
> > Trend Micro found a Http Cookie, which I deleted and then re-ran at
> > its suggestion and came out clean
>
> Sounds good. Tracking cookies won't slow you down, by the way. Some
> folks don't like to keep them because of privacy issues.
>
> > Kapersky found Malware Exploit.JS.XMLcore.b, which I deleted
>
> Actually, that sounds serious! I did a brief search and couldn't find a
> lot on that exploit. Do you have all the necessary patches post SP2?
I recently checked yesterday if there were any service patches and it
said that my computer was current and didn't need any.
>
> > Avast came out clean
>
> Good.
>
> > I want to thank you for your advice and suggestions. In regards to
> > 'tinkering' or buying another computer I really don't have a choice
> > since I'm disabled and can't afford a new computer. I'm trying to do
> > what I can to make this one last a bit longer. I've increased my page
> > file size and have contacted Dell about additional RAM. I realize that
> > at some point I will need a new computer but I just have to work with
> > what I have for the present and hope for the best.
>
> I understand, Robert.
>
> If buying another PC is out of the question, then tinkering is your only
> recourse. Your bottleneck (assuming you are 100% malware-free) is a low
> amount of RAM. Unfortunately, your PC, I believe, takes a rare and
> expensive type of RAM:
>
> http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=DC738DFBA5CA7304
>
> (that link should work better than the last one I posted)
>
> That's $264.99 a pop, and you will need to buy two of them because "your
> system requires that you install memory in pairs." That's why I had
> suggested purchasing a new PC!
Yikes! I had no idea they would be that expensive, but why do I need
to buy two? If I already have (1) 256 RAM chip can't I just buy (1)
more to give me 512 RAM? I guess I should have thought ahead at the
time of purchase and increased the RAM size then.
>
> Perhaps there are other RAM sticks available; you'll need to dig deeper,
> or perhaps someone else here could post that information.
Do I absolutely need to buy the sticks from Dell or can I get them
from anywhere? I believe Gerry stated I needed PC800 RDRAM sticks?
>
> If you absolutely need to stay with your current setup with the 256 MB
> of RAM, you need to be very careful as to what programs you run (there
> are probably some running you aren't even aware of and don't even need).
> It is possible to run efficiently with that little RAM. But that entails
> not multitasking and not using memory-intensive apps such as photo or
> video editing.
>
> I will repeat the information from my other post for your convenience:
>
> If you'd like to tinker instead with what you currently have (in order
> to make the most of your 256 MB of RAM and rely on your pagefile less
> than you currently are), then use msconfig to see which
> programs/processes your PC automatically loads at startup. Then use
> these sites to research what you don't need:
>
> http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php#THE_PROGRAMS
>
> http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/
>
> This one is good to have bookmarked, too:
>
> http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
I already have Startup but the thing is I don;t know what I need and
don't need and Startup was just confusing to me. However I will take a
look at the links and see if I can figure them out.
>
> Are you familiar with msconfig? It's easy, if you're not:
>
> Start | Run | msconfig [enter] and look at the Startup tab.
I've heard the term but never done it and it seems you can really mess
your system up if you don;t know what your doing.
>
> Autoruns is along the same lines, but it is *much* more thorough:
>
> http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx
>
> I also noted in another post you are running something called ImageX.
> Why don't you experiment and quit using it for a while and see if your
> performance improves? You should be also be able to configure it to not
> run at startup.
ImageX is part of my Dell Imaging software and I have quite a few jpg
file/folders on there but according to Gerry this shouldn't affect its
performance. As you both pointed out its my RAM that bottlenecking
everything. I still think it's kind of strange that this just started
happening.
>
> Once you're running as lean as possible, try Gerry's method again
> (noting the Total, Limit, and Peak values for Commit Charge). If you can
> get your Total and Peak numbers as low as 262,144 (not easy!), you'll be
> golden.- Hide quoted text -
I would like to lean out my computer very much but I'm afraid of
getting rid of something and messing things up and making things even
worst than they presently are. It's alot like using CCleaner which I
understand is good but you sure can do some harm if you don't know
what your doing so I stay away from using it.
>
> - Show quoted text -
I'll checked the links you gave me and see if I can loose some
programs or come back with some questions.
I would appreciate it if you would take a look at my other post O.T.
Nero DVD/RW Question.
Thanks,
Robert
Gerry
You do not have to buy 4 sticks. You can buy 2 retaining the 2 existing
sticks. You presently have 2 x 128 mb.
If you remove your original memory modules from the computer during a
memory upgrade, keep them separate from any new modules that you may
have, even if the new modules were purchased from Dell. Your original
memory modules must be installed as a pair in either connectors RIMM1
and RIMM 2 or RIMM 3 and RIMM4. Do not pair one original memory module
with one new memory module in connectors RIMM1 and RIMM2 or RIMM3 and
RIMM4. Otherwise, your computer may not start properly.
The only two valid memory configurations are: A pair of matched memory
modules installed in connectors RIMM1 and RIMM2 with continuity modules
installed in connectors RIMM3 and RIMM4 or A pair of matched memory
modules installed in connectors RIMM1 and RIMM2 and another matched pair
installed in connectors RIMM3 and RIMM4
Source:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim8200/replace.htm#1101964
Regarding price I would not be put off by others suggesting it will be
expensive. The price will be what you are asked to pay today not what it
has been in the past. I recommended Dell because they supply replacement
parts for their computers. Crucial are a general supplier of memory who
can often help. Remember this is a part for a 5 year old computer and
eventually Dell will wish to clear their stocks if they have not already
done so.
What loads at StartUp. Instead of using msconfig use Autoruns.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspx
With Autoruns you can uncheck an item, which disables it from starting,
or you can can right click an item and then delete it. If you uncheck
you can recheck to re-enable the item. It is a much safer approach than
editing the Registry. Another useful feature of the programme is that
you can right click an item and select Search Online to get information
about the item selected.
Harlan
I ran all kinds of virus, spyware, adware, detection programs ....NOTHING
found
I reformatted the hard drive and re-installed XP.......STILL slow as
molasses in winter.
Ran the Dell diagnostics from the service cd....... EVERYTHING checked out
ok.
Finally, saw the fan air inlet holes "lightly" covered with dust. Used my
shop vac to suck the dust out....... and THAT WAS MY PROBLEM all along......
seems the processor was running hot and slowing itself down???????
Robert
When I upgraded my hard drive and DVD/RW drive I thoroughly cleaned
the inside and outside of my computer so that isn't the problem, but
thank you for the input.
Robert
Robert
> Robert
>
> You do not have to buy 4 sticks. You can buy 2 retaining the 2 existing
> sticks. You presently have 2 x 128 mb.
>
> If you remove your original memory modules from the computer during a
> memory upgrade, keep them separate from any new modules that you may
> have, even if the new modules were purchased from Dell. Your original
> memory modules must be installed as a pair in either connectors RIMM1
> and RIMM 2 or RIMM 3 and RIMM4. Do not pair one original memory module
> with one new memory module in connectors RIMM1 and RIMM2 or RIMM3 and
> RIMM4. Otherwise, your computer may not start properly.
> The only two valid memory configurations are: A pair of matched memory
> modules installed in connectors RIMM1 and RIMM2 with continuity modules
> installed in connectors RIMM3 and RIMM4 or A pair of matched memory
> modules installed in connectors RIMM1 and RIMM2 and another matched pair
> installed in connectors RIMM3 and RIMM4
>
> Regarding price I would not be put off by others suggesting it will be
> expensive. The price will be what you are asked to pay today not what it
> has been in the past. I recommended Dell because they supply replacement
> parts for their computers. Crucial are a general supplier of memory who
> can often help. Remember this is a part for a 5 year old computer and
> eventually Dell will wish to clear their stocks if they have not already
> done so.
>
>
> With Autoruns you can uncheck an item, which disables it from starting,
> or you can can right click an item and then delete it. If you uncheck
> you can recheck to re-enable the item. It is a much safer approach than
> editing the Registry. Another useful feature of the programme is that
> you can right click an item and select Search Online to get information
> about the item selected.
>
> --
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Gerry
> ~~~~
> FCA
> Stourport, England
> Enquire, plan and execute
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello Gerry,
Yes I understand the concept of having continous memory modules side
by side e,g, Rimm1&2 and having continuity modules in Rimm 3&4 and to
keep the originals seprate if I remove them but if I already have (2)
128 modules I shouldn't need to remove them but only remove the (2)
continuity modules and replace them with (2) 128 modules. Is this
correct? I just hope that given the age of my computer that I can find
some memory sticks.
I went into Autorun and before I uncheck anything this is my list:
Language Shortcut,Language Application (Cyberlink)
iTunesHelper Module (I don't use MP3 or download any music)
LGODDFU (LG DVD/RW drive updates, tried updating once to digitally
sign my drive but no updates available)
Acronis Scheduler Helper (backups?)
Mmtask TODO: (Music Match jukebox, I use Windows Media player)
Money StartUp (never use this)
Quicktime (never use this)
RemoteControl-Power DVDRC Service
SunJavaUpdate Java(tm) Platform SE binary
MoneyAgent Microsoft Money Express Microsoft (never use this)
Display Pannin File not found :deskpan.dll
HKCR\CLSID\{42071714-76d4-11d1-8b24-00a0c9068ff3}
iTunes iTunes Mini Player DLL (I don't use iTunes for anything I
don't think, I don't use a MP3 player and don't download music)
AcroEHIprObj AcroHelper Module (seems to be a part of Adobe
Acrobat which I don't think I ever use)
AcrSch2Svc Provide task scheduling for Acronis applications
ewido security ewido control ewido networks
(apparently this is another malware removal tool I downloaded but
never use)
basic2 NTRksample driver Conexant Systems c:\windows
\system32\drive...
System32\DRIVERS\basic2.sys
Changer file not found (not sure what this
does)
dac2w2k Mylex Disk Array Controller Mylex Corporation (not
sure what this is)
dac960nt Mylex Disk Array Controller Mylex Corporation
(not sure what this is)
DM9102 NDIS 5.0 driver CNet Teachnology Inc
Fallback Fallback driver Conexant Systems
GEARAspiWDM CDRom Class Filter Driver Gear Software
giveio
Gpc Generic Pack Classifier
hHpt3xx HPT3xx Minipoint Driver
hsf_msft file not found :System 32\D
System32\DRIVERS\HSF_MSFT.sys
MxlW2k Music Match Access Layer (I don't think I use music
match I use Window's media Player)
Speaker phone (In don't use this unless of course its referring to
speakers which I do use)
Speedfan
symlcbrd Symantec (it seems I keep running into Symantec
even though I've deleted and uninstalled it)
Thoughts/
Suggestions,
Robert
Gerry
You can add a pair of 128 mb, 256 mb sticks or 512 mb sticks. Get the
largest pair you can afford.
If you were using Adobe Acrobat Reader for reading pdf files replace it
with Foxit. unless you edit pdf files.
Foxit Reader (freeware) a more satisfactory programme:
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php
Don't forget with Autoruns you can just disable startups. I am not
conviced disabling startup will make a great deal of difference. If you
can add more memory it could probably be unecessary. If you have
programmes you no longer need remember you can uninstall through Add/
Remove Programmes.
--
Hope this helps.
Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Daave
>> If buying another PC is out of the question, then tinkering is your
>> only recourse. Your bottleneck (assuming you are 100% malware-free)
>> is a low amount of RAM. Unfortunately, your PC, I believe, takes a
>> rare and expensive type of RAM:
>>
>> http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=DC738DFBA5CA7304
>>
>> (that link should work better than the last one I posted)
>>
>> That's $264.99 a pop, and you will need to buy two of them because
>> "your system requires that you install memory in pairs." That's why
>> I had suggested purchasing a new PC!
Robert wrote:
> Yikes! I had no idea they would be that expensive, but why do I need
> to buy two? If I already have (1) 256 RAM chip can't I just buy (1)
> more to give me 512 RAM? I guess I should have thought ahead at the
> time of purchase and increased the RAM size then.
Your motherboard only accepts matching pairs.
And according to your Everest report in another post, you currently have
two sticks of 128MB PC800 RDRAM. So, basically, your choices are to get
two more (if you can find them) for Slots 3 and 4 (for a total of 512
MB), get two sticks of 256MB PC800 RDRAM, or two sticks of 512MB PC800
RDRAM. Sure, you *could* remove your current two sticks and get *four*
sticks of the 512MB RAM, but it's probably overkill and the cost would
be more than a new PC! Actually, what I had found (see the link above)
would cost you more than a new PC!
>> Perhaps there are other RAM sticks available; you'll need to dig
>> deeper, or perhaps someone else here could post that information.
>
> Do I absolutely need to buy the sticks from Dell or can I get them
> from anywhere? I believe Gerry stated I needed PC800 RDRAM sticks?
Gerry was correct. But you don't need to buy them from Dell. The link I
gave is to crucial.com. I had also looked at kingston.com but came up
empty-handed. However, you may want to look at memoryx.net:
http://www.memoryx.net/deldim82ser.html
I just turned them up in a Google search, so I know nothing about them.
Also, I wasn't sure how fast your FSB is, so I chose 400 MHz. A bit more
affordable than the other one!
Finally, you may want to communicate with other Dell owners:
>> I also noted in another post you are running something called ImageX.
>> Why don't you experiment and quit using it for a while and see if
>> your performance improves? You should be also be able to configure
>> it to not run at startup.
>
> ImageX is part of my Dell Imaging software and I have quite a few jpg
> file/folders on there but according to Gerry this shouldn't affect its
> performance. As you both pointed out its my RAM that bottlenecking
> everything. I still think it's kind of strange that this just started
> happening.
Gerry said that the amount of *data* (including .jpg files) on your hard
drive won't slow you down. (But you should always have at least 20% of
your hard drive free, as a rule). However, if ImageX isn't essential,
you certainly don't need to use it. I'm not familiar with this program;
what do you do with it? Whatever it is, I imagine you might be happier
with Irfanview, which is free:
>> Once you're running as lean as possible, try Gerry's method again
>> (noting the Total, Limit, and Peak values for Commit Charge). If you
>> can get your Total and Peak numbers as low as 262,144 (not easy!),
>> you'll be golden.- Hide quoted text -
>
> I would like to lean out my computer very much but I'm afraid of
> getting rid of something and messing things up and making things even
> worst than they presently are. It's alot like using CCleaner which I
> understand is good but you sure can do some harm if you don't know
> what your doing so I stay away from using it.
Ccleaner is good for deleting different types of temp files, and you
should certainly use it. However, you are wise to avoid the
"Issues"/registry cleaning function. But that's not what I was referring
to. I was talking about configuring your PC not to automatically run
unneeded programs and processes, especially since you hardly have any
RAM. There shouldn't be any harm at all in disabling startup items (you
can always re-enable them). Then again, you should always be making
backups anyway *just in case*.
Robert
>
> Your motherboard only accepts matching pairs.
>
> And according to your Everest report in another post, you currently have
> two sticks of 128MB PC800 RDRAM. So, basically, your choices are to get
> two more (if you can find them) for Slots 3 and 4 (for a total of 512
> MB), get two sticks of 256MB PC800 RDRAM, or two sticks of 512MB PC800
> RDRAM. Sure, you *could* remove your current two sticks and get *four*
> sticks of the 512MB RAM, but it's probably overkill and the cost would
> be more than a new PC! Actually, what I had found (see the link above)
> would cost you more than a new PC!
>
> >> Perhaps there are other RAM sticks available; you'll need to dig
> >> deeper, or perhaps someone else here could post that information.
I still haven't heard back from Dell so I guess I will have to try and
see if I can find these sticks on my own.
>
> > Do I absolutely need to buy the sticks from Dell or can I get them
> > from anywhere? I believe Gerry stated I needed PC800 RDRAM sticks?
>
> Gerry was correct. But you don't need to buy them from Dell. The link I
> gave is to crucial.com. I had also looked at kingston.com but came up
> empty-handed. However, you may want to look at memoryx.net:
>
> http://www.memoryx.net/deldim82ser.html
>
> I just turned them up in a Google search, so I know nothing about them.
> Also, I wasn't sure how fast your FSB is, so I chose 400 MHz. A bit more
> affordable than the other one!
I have no idea what FSB is or what your referring to.
>
> Finally, you may want to communicate with other Dell owners:
>
> http://www.dellcommunity.com/
I think from what you and Gerry have said the problem isn't buying the
matched pair but finding them for my computer.
>
> >> I also noted in another post you are running something called ImageX.
> >> Why don't you experiment and quit using it for a while and see if
> >> your performance improves? You should be also be able to configure
> >> it to not run at startup.
>
> > ImageX is part of my Dell Imaging software and I have quite a few jpg
> > file/folders on there but according to Gerry this shouldn't affect its
> > performance. As you both pointed out its my RAM that bottlenecking
> > everything. I still think it's kind of strange that this just started
> > happening.
>
> Gerry said that the amount of *data* (including .jpg files) on your hard
> drive won't slow you down. (But you should always have at least 20% of
> your hard drive free, as a rule). However, if ImageX isn't essential,
> you certainly don't need to use it. I'm not familiar with this program;
> what do you do with it? Whatever it is, I imagine you might be happier
> with Irfanview, which is free:
ImageX is Dell's Imaging software program and I'm very happy with it
and use it quite a bit to store my jpg files, and offers many features
to enhance the images. It's a program I would rather keep than loose.
However I am transferring all the jpg's to disc more as a backup
precaution than anything else, but I may just delete those files off
the hard drive once done and free up more space.
As far as disk space I have 127GB out of 148GB free so that isn't too
bad.
>
> http://www.irfanview.com/
>
> >> Once you're running as lean as possible, try Gerry's method again
> >> (noting the Total, Limit, and Peak values for Commit Charge). If you
> >> can get your Total and Peak numbers as low as 262,144 (not easy!),
> >> you'll be golden.- Hide quoted text -
>
> > I would like to lean out my computer very much but I'm afraid of
> > getting rid of something and messing things up and making things even
> > worst than they presently are. It's alot like using CCleaner which I
> > understand is good but you sure can do some harm if you don't know
> > what your doing so I stay away from using it.
>
> Ccleaner is good for deleting different types of temp files, and you
> should certainly use it. However, you are wise to avoid the
> "Issues"/registry cleaning function. But that's not what I was referring
> to. I was talking about configuring your PC not to automatically run
> unneeded programs and processes, especially since you hardly have any
> RAM. There shouldn't be any harm at all in disabling startup items (you
> can always re-enable them). Then again, you should always be making
> backups anyway *just in case*.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
I have run Ccleaner once with only a few of the items checked but I
was so leary of it and the damage it may cause I've refrained from
using a second time but I may give it another try.
As far as making back-ups as opposed to System Restore points I was
planning on getting an external hard drive after I upgraded my
internal hard drive when all this happened. Being on a fixed and very
limited income doesn't help matters either. I suppose I could use my
DVD/RW drive for backups but that would only be data and not a true
System Image like Casper or Norton Ghost, correct?
Robert
Daave
> I have no idea what FSB is or what your referring to.
Front Side Bus. For more info, see:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-front-side-bus.htm
Your PC seems to be the older of the two mentioned here:
http://www.lyberty.com/tech/sysspecs/dell_8200.html
Scroll down to Memory. (I'm glad I found this page!) The RAM that
shipped with the PC is non-ECC (different from the other links I gave
you!).
For memory choices, see:
http://www.memoryx.net/dimension.html
Lots of choices!
But there are only two for Dimension 8200 (400MHz FSB):
ECC:
http://www.memoryx.net/deldim82ser.html
And non-ECC:
http://www.memoryx.net/dimension8200.html
I would definitely post to the Dell forum first to determine which would
be better for you. I'm a bit confused; since you have PC800, it looks
like the ECC is the way to go (at least on the memoryx web site). But it
seems that the non-ECC is what shipped with it originally. So ask an
expert!
UPDATE:
Quote from ebay auction: "I recently purchased this RAM for my Dell
Dimension 8200, but my Dell requires Non-ECC RAM. The RAM was never
installed, I found the mistake too late "
Hmmm. Looks like non-ECC, then. So........
SimpleTech STD2552/256 256MB PC800 Non-ECC RDRAM 184pin RIMM
http://www.amazon.com/SimpleTech-STD2552-256-Non-ECC-184pin/dp/B00006HUGP
That should be the one! (But, again, I'd research it more, first...)
$140 + shipping
If you can't afford that just yet, you may find you may not need more
RAM after all if you're able to run very lean as I mentioned earlier
(not easy, but still possible). Those Web sites I mentioned have a
wealth of information.
> As far as making back-ups as opposed to System Restore points I was
> planning on getting an external hard drive after I upgraded my
> internal hard drive when all this happened. Being on a fixed and very
> limited income doesn't help matters either. I suppose I could use my
> DVD/RW drive for backups but that would only be data and not a true
> System Image like Casper or Norton Ghost, correct?
Although imaging to an external hard drive is a more pleasant
experience, you should be able to image your hard drive to a series of
CDs or DVDs with the proper software. I've never used Casper or Ghost,
but I'd like to think the answer is yes. I personally like Acronis True
Image. So, you may use your DVD/RW drive for both data and imaging your
entire drive.
Robert
>
> That should be the one! (But, again, I'd research it more, first...)
>
> $140 + shipping
>
> If you can't afford that just yet, you may find you may not need more
> RAM after all if you're able to run very lean as I mentioned earlier
> (not easy, but still possible). Those Web sites I mentioned have a
> wealth of information.
>
> > As far as making back-ups as opposed to System Restore points I was
> > planning on getting an external hard drive after I upgraded my
> > internal hard drive when all this happened. Being on a fixed and very
> > limited income doesn't help matters either. I suppose I could use my
> > DVD/RW drive for backups but that would only be data and not a true
> > System Image like Casper or Norton Ghost, correct?
>
> Although imaging to an external hard drive is a more pleasant
> experience, you should be able to image your hard drive to a series of
> CDs or DVDs with the proper software. I've never used Casper or Ghost,
> but I'd like to think the answer is yes. I personally like Acronis True
> Image. So, you may use your DVD/RW drive for both data and imaging your
> entire drive.
Thank you so much for all the effort for researching the memory for me
as I would have no idea what to look for! I appreciate it very much! I
should be able to afford the sticks with my next check (hopefully).
I did delete a few programs such as iTunes and Microsoft Money 2002
both of which I never use. I also checked several of the startup
programs(Outlook, Symantec(I can't believe I still have pieces of that
on my system after I removed it) and some that said 'file not found'
The weird thing was after I did so and had to restart the computer it
came up saying new hardware found namely my DVD/RW drive! So I went
into the add/remove program and deleted all the programs associated
with it and then loaded them back on my system. I didn't get any
digitally not signed errors this time but it still says CD-ROM; I
guess it really doesn't matter because I've already burned some disc's
so it seems fine.
One last question if I may, aside from getting the sticks and an
external memory is there anything else I can do to upgrade the
computer to make it last longer, or improve its performance? In
regards to the external hard drive I was going to buy a case and get
another Seagate 160GB hard drive and put it together along with a PCI
card to upgrade me from SB1 to SB2, and use Casper IV or Acronis does
this sound correct or is there a better way?
Many thanks to you and Gerry for all your good help and advise.
Robert
Robert
>
> - Show quoted text -
I just realized that those sticks are going to be gone by the time I
recieve my check at the end of the month. So do I just put in a search
for
SimpleTech STD2552/256 256MB PC800 Non-ECC RDRAM 184pin RIMM
on Google, Amazon or Dogpile?
Robert
Daave
> I did delete a few programs such as iTunes and Microsoft Money 2002
> both of which I never use. I also checked several of the startup
> programs(Outlook, Symantec(I can't believe I still have pieces of that
> on my system after I removed it) and some that said 'file not found'
Symantec and McAfee are notorious for sticking around! This page may be
helpful for you:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/sharedtech.nsf/docid/2005092709200113?Open&src=symsug_us
> One last question if I may, aside from getting the sticks and an
> external memory is there anything else I can do to upgrade the
> computer to make it last longer, or improve its performance?
1. Keep it clean on the inside; blow out dust bunnies with a can of
compressed air.
2. Turn off indexing:
Double-click My Computer
Right-click on your hard drive icon, select Properties
Uncheck "Allow indexing service....
Click Apply button for C and subfolders
Click OK button.
3. Either turn off the eye candy or keep it and tweak it. See:
http://www.terryscomputertips.com/computers/speeding-up-windows-xp-fine-tuning-visual-effects.php
4. Run with the absolute minimum of startup programs. Definitely don't
run Quick Time or Adobe startup programs (and this doesn't mean
uninstalling them).
5. Regularly clear out your temp files with either Disk Cleanup or
Ccleaner.
6. Practice "safe hex" and don't get malware. :-) If you do, remove it!
7. Refrain from multi-tasking.
8. Periodically reboot to prevent memory leakage.
There may be other tips, but that's all I can think of for now. Whatever
you do, don't run registry cleaners; they won't increase your speed and
*could* cause problems.
> In regards to the external hard drive I was going to buy a case and
get
> another Seagate 160GB hard drive and put it together along with a PCI
> card to upgrade me from SB1 to SB2, and use Casper IV or Acronis does
> this sound correct or is there a better way?
What are SB1 and SB2? What kind of PCI card? Sorry, not following you
here. Acronis is very good for both imagining and cloning. Although it
won't speed up performance, it can get you out of a jam and is mush
easier than reinstalling XP from scratch, downloading and installing all
the updates, reinstalling all the latest drivers, reinstalling all your
apps and configuring them to your satisfaction, etc.
> Many thanks to you and Gerry for all your good help and advise.
You're welcome.
Daave
> UPDATE:
>
> Quote from ebay auction: "I recently purchased this RAM for my Dell
> Dimension 8200, but my Dell requires Non-ECC RAM. The RAM was never
> installed, I found the mistake too late "
>
>
>
> Hmmm. Looks like non-ECC, then. So........
>
> SimpleTech STD2552/256 256MB PC800 Non-ECC RDRAM 184pin RIMM
>
>
http://www.amazon.com/SimpleTech-STD2552-256-Non-ECC-184pin/dp/B00006HUGP
>
> That should be the one! (But, again, I'd research it more, first...)
>
> $140 + shipping
Also, can't hurt to search on eBay.
Home> Buy> Computers & Networking> Desktop & Laptop Components> Memory
for Desktop PC> RDRAM> Search Results for 'pc800 2x256mb non-ecc'
Good deals here. Make sure you pick a seller with a high rating! And I
still would post to one of the Dell forums first just to make absolutely
sure.
And you should also be able to leave your current RAM in for a total of
768 MB RAM.
Robert
> Robert wrote:
> > I did delete a few programs such as iTunes and Microsoft Money 2002
> > both of which I never use. I also checked several of the startup
> > programs(Outlook, Symantec(I can't believe I still have pieces of that
> > on my system after I removed it) and some that said 'file not found'
>
> Symantec and McAfee are notorious for sticking around! This page may be
> helpful for you:
>
>
> > One last question if I may, aside from getting the sticks and an
> > external memory is there anything else I can do to upgrade the
> > computer to make it last longer, or improve its performance?
>
> 1. Keep it clean on the inside; blow out dust bunnies with a can of
> compressed air.
>
> 2. Turn off indexing:
> Double-click My Computer
> Right-click on your hard drive icon, select Properties
> Uncheck "Allow indexing service....
> Click Apply button for C and subfolders
> Click OK button.
>
>
> 4. Run with the absolute minimum of startup programs. Definitely don't
> run Quick Time or Adobe startup programs (and this doesn't mean
> uninstalling them).
>
> 5. Regularly clear out your temp files with either Disk Cleanup or
> Ccleaner.
>
> 6. Practice "safe hex" and don't get malware. :-) If you do, remove it!
>
> 7. Refrain from multi-tasking.
>
> 8. Periodically reboot to prevent memory leakage.
>
> There may be other tips, but that's all I can think of for now. Whatever
> you do, don't run registry cleaners; they won't increase your speed and
> *could* cause problems.
>
>
>
> > In regards to the external hard drive I was going to buy a case and
> get
> > another Seagate 160GB hard drive and put it together along with a PCI
> > card to upgrade me from SB1 to SB2, and use Casper IV or Acronis does
> > this sound correct or is there a better way?
>
> What are SB1 and SB2? What kind of PCI card? Sorry, not following you
> here. Acronis is very good for both imagining and cloning. Although it
> won't speed up performance, it can get you out of a jam and is mush
> easier than reinstalling XP from scratch, downloading and installing all
> the updates, reinstalling all the latest drivers, reinstalling all your
> apps and configuring them to your satisfaction, etc.
>
> > Many thanks to you and Gerry for all your good help and advise.
>
> You're welcome.
Hi Daave,
I made the changes as you suggested and went to the link you gave and
implemented those changes. In regards to the external hard drive I'm
sorry, I meant upgrading from USB1 to USB2 so that I have a faster
transfer rate and buying a Airnet/ Azio 4+1 Ports High-Speed USB 2.0
PCI Card, Model: AUD041 so that it will accept the USB2 connection. I
have heard of Acronis and used a version of it to clone my hard drive
when upgraded. I've also heard of Casper IV, both are supposed to be
good.
Robert
Robert
> Daave wrote:
> > UPDATE:
>
> > Quote from ebay auction: "I recently purchased this RAM for my Dell
> > Dimension 8200, but my Dell requires Non-ECC RAM. The RAM was never
> > installed, I found the mistake too late "
>
> > Hmmm. Looks like non-ECC, then. So........
>
> > SimpleTech STD2552/256 256MB PC800 Non-ECC RDRAM 184pin RIMM
>
>
>
>
> > That should be the one! (But, again, I'd research it more, first...)
>
> > $140 + shipping
>
> Also, can't hurt to search on eBay.
>
> Home> Buy> Computers & Networking> Desktop & Laptop Components> Memory
> for Desktop PC> RDRAM> Search Results for 'pc800 2x256mb non-ecc'
>
>
> Good deals here. Make sure you pick a seller with a high rating! And I
> still would post to one of the Dell forums first just to make absolutely
> sure.
>
> And you should also be able to leave your current RAM in for a total of
> 768 MB RAM.
I'm familar with eBay so that shouldn't be a problem and will check
there when the time comes to buy and will look around in the meantime.
Again, thank you for all the help.
Robert
Robert
I had a thought and was going to buy the RAm you found on Amazon but
now it shows only the used one for sale. Do you think it's a good
idea to buy used RAM?
Robert
Robert
>
> That should be the one! (But, again, I'd research it more, first...)
>
> $140 + shipping
>
> If you can't afford that just yet, you may find you may not need more
> RAM after all if you're able to run very lean as I mentioned earlier
> (not easy, but still possible). Those Web sites I mentioned have a
> wealth of information.
>
> > As far as making back-ups as opposed to System Restore points I was
> > planning on getting an external hard drive after I upgraded my
> > internal hard drive when all this happened. Being on a fixed and very
> > limited income doesn't help matters either. I suppose I could use my
> > DVD/RW drive for backups but that would only be data and not a true
> > System Image like Casper or Norton Ghost, correct?
>
> Although imaging to an external hard drive is a more pleasant
> experience, you should be able to image your hard drive to a series of
> CDs or DVDs with the proper software. I've never used Casper or Ghost,
> but I'd like to think the answer is yes. I personally like Acronis True
> Image. So, you may use your DVD/RW drive for both data and imaging your
> entire drive.
Just to let you know, I clicked on the non-ECC link above and started
to do their test of my system to see which RAM I did indeed need and
my Comodo fired up with a Malware alert!
I also registered with the Dell Community and so far they came back
with the same thing you intially did Crucial at $265.00 a stick!@! Oh
man, I hope I can fins some allot cheaper than that! I've done
everything you and Gerry suggested but I would still like to upgrade
before I can't. One this is for sure, if and when I do get another
computer I'm going to make sure it has plenty of RAM!@! I thought by
upgrading my hard drive I was making my computer run faster. Just
shows you how little I know.
Robert
Daave
I think it's fine as long as it's relatively inexpensive and from a
reputable dealer.
Daave
> Just to let you know, I clicked on the non-ECC link above and started
> to do their test of my system to see which RAM I did indeed need and
> my Comodo fired up with a Malware alert!
> I also registered with the Dell Community and so far they came back
> with the same thing you intially did Crucial at $265.00 a stick!@! Oh
> man, I hope I can fins some allot cheaper than that! I've done
> everything you and Gerry suggested but I would still like to upgrade
> before I can't. One this is for sure, if and when I do get another
> computer I'm going to make sure it has plenty of RAM!@! I thought by
> upgrading my hard drive I was making my computer run faster. Just
> shows you how little I know.
Comodo is a firewall. Does it detect malware, too? What was the message?
FWIW, I got a Security Alert from IE (I'm currently on my 98 SE rig w/
IE 6): "The security certificate was issued by a company you have chosen
not to trust." Upon viewing the certificate, I found it was issued to
www.sightmaxondemand.com by Go Daddy Secure Certificate Authority. I
wonder if that was something SpywareBlaster did...
I would try an eBay seller who has a lot of transactions and a high
rating, preferably a Power Seller. Item number: 300188450775 is only
$46.99 plus $8.00 shipping (in U.S.) for 2 256MB sticks. And freshcells
is a Power Seller.
A bigger hard drive will give you more space for data, but that's it.
:-)
Speed is a result of the processor and not relying on the pagefile.
Robert
wrote:
> Robert wrote:
> > Just to let you know, I clicked on the non-ECC link above and started
> > to do their test of my system to see which RAM I did indeed need and
> > my Comodo fired up with a Malware alert!
> > I also registered with the Dell Community and so far they came back
> > with the same thing you intially did Crucial at $265.00 a stick!@! Oh
> > man, I hope I can fins some allot cheaper than that! I've done
> > everything you and Gerry suggested but I would still like to upgrade
> > before I can't. One this is for sure, if and when I do get another
> > computer I'm going to make sure it has plenty of RAM!@! I thought by
> > upgrading my hard drive I was making my computer run faster. Just
> > shows you how little I know.
>
> Comodo is a firewall. Does it detect malware, too? What was the message?
>
> FWIW, I got a Security Alert from IE (I'm currently on my 98 SE rig w/
> IE 6): "The security certificate was issued by a company you have chosen
> wonder if that was something SpywareBlaster did...
>
> I would try an eBay seller who has a lot of transactions and a high
> rating, preferably a Power Seller. Item number: 300188450775 is only
> $46.99 plus $8.00 shipping (in U.S.) for 2 256MB sticks. And freshcells
> is a Power Seller.
>
> A bigger hard drive will give you more space for data, but that's it.
> :-)
>
> Speed is a result of the processor and not relying on the pagefile.
Comodo is a firewall, but whenever I add anything new like when I
started to download and run the test Comodo it gives a pop-up menu
requesting if I want to do this and in this case it seemed to know
that this was a possible malware as it came up all red which it's
never done before.
I've been talking to a guy on the Dell site and although he says when
you buy from Crucial you have peace of mind as they stand behind their
products, but for the kind of money they are asking they better!
He gave me this alternative link for RAM sticks:
http://www.starmicro.net/detail.aspx?ID=679
Have you ever heard of them? He says he's bought from them before and
there were no issues.
So will I be ok with 512 ? If so, and this is what I need I'm going to
order them as they are the cheapest I've seen.
Robert
Gerry
Specifications are a matter of balance. Your installed memory does seem
out of kilter with the rest of the machine. The real problem comes when
the processor speed is the bottleneck because that means a new
motherboard and effectively a new computer. Whenever you buy a new
computer you need to ask about upgrade capability.
--
Hope this helps.
Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gerry
I appreciate cost is an issue but adding 2 x 128 mb will not represent
value for money. When you need to upgrade again it will be dead money.
You should try to afford 2 x 256 mb.
I cannot comment on the source as I know nothing about it.
--
Hope this helps.
Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert wrote:
Daave
"Gerry" <ge...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:uT4QZVSV...@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Robert
>
> I appreciate cost is an issue but adding 2 x 128 mb will not represent
> value for money. When you need to upgrade again it will be dead money.
> You should try to afford 2 x 256 mb.
Agreed. See:
http://www.starmicro.net/detail.aspx?ID=401
2 x $38 = $76.
The extra $26 is buying you twice the memory.
> I cannot comment on the source as I know nothing about it.
It's the first I heard of them, too. Ask around. Search the Web for any
complaints.
Robert
I will check and see what I can find but at this point it seems this
is my only option versus Crucial . If I do buy, I think I can afford
to buy 4x256 giving me 1024MB.
If so, then this should fix my problems, correct?
Robert
Gerry
I think so but hedge your bet by buying 2 x 256 mb. If that works buy
another 2 x 256 mb.
--
Hope this helps.
Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert
>
> - Show quoted text -
I did a little reserach on Starmicro and this is what I found:
http://www.pricewatch.com/public/feedback.aspx?q=3055&i=2
What do you think?
Robert
Robert
>
> I think so but hedge your bet by buying 2 x 256 mb. If that works buy
> another 2 x 256 mb.
>
> --
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Gerry
> ~~~~
> FCA
> Stourport, England
> Enquire, plan and execute
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
It sounds like good advice instead of putting all my eggs into one
basket so to speck. Also it says "Kit means you have to buy 2Qty"
http://www.starmicro.net/detail.aspx?ID=401
since I'm don't see the word kit I'm assuming that for Qty I need to
buy (2), correct? Sorry for all the questions but this is new to me.
Robert
Daave
"Robert" <magi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:be70a807-6283-42cb...@l1g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
> I will check and see what I can find but at this point it seems this
> is my only option versus Crucial . If I do buy, I think I can afford
> to buy 4x256 giving me 1024MB.
>
> If so, then this should fix my problems, correct?
Very possible, but not a slam dunk.
You probably got rid of all your malware, but it's possible you may
still have some undetected. Bottom line: Assuming you are truly
malware-free*, your biggest problem is probably not having enough
memory, so adding memory should improve your system's performance.
* If you suspect you may still have undetected malware, I will again
suggest you run HijackThis. Download it from:
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/programs.php
and post the log to an appropriate forum, such as:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html
Here's a helpful tutorial:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial42.html
In case you haven't tried Process Explorer, you should; it's good at
identifying resource/memory hogs:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx
Finally, Clean Boot Troubleshooting is always a thorough diagnostic:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316434
Robert
>
> Very possible, but not a slam dunk.
>
> You probably got rid of all your malware, but it's possible you may
> still have some undetected. Bottom line: Assuming you are truly
> malware-free*, your biggest problem is probably not having enough
> memory, so adding memory should improve your system's performance.
>
> * If you suspect you may still have undetected malware, I will again
> suggest you run HijackThis. Download it from:
>
> http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/programs.php
>
> and post the log to an appropriate forum, such as:
>
> http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html
>
> Here's a helpful tutorial:
>
> http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial42.html
>
> In case you haven't tried Process Explorer, you should; it's good at
> identifying resource/memory hogs:
>
> http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx
>
> Finally, Clean Boot Troubleshooting is always a thorough diagnostic:
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316434
I actually don't think I have any malware though Trend Micro found the
Http Cookie, which I deleted and then re-ran at its suggestion and
came out clean and Kapersky found the Malware Exploit.JS.XMLcore.b,
which I deleted
I now have AVG, Spybot, A-Squared, Kapersky, Trend Micro and Comodo on
my system and would think I should be protected.
I thought I did the Hijack before and posted it in one of my replies?
However I ran it again and this time posted it to Bleeping Computer.
I saved the Bleeping Computer Tutorial the first time you gave it to
me.
I ran Process Explorer but really don't know what I'm looking for. In
any event here are some results:
CPU Usage 3.08% - 8.90% (keeps changing)
Commit Charge 18.16% 404.7MB
Processes 47 I.O.
36.1Kb
Commit Charge:
Current 414,400
Limit 2,286,352
Peak 439,484
I think I ran something similar before, Everest? By the way I noticed
I have Speed fan, is that just to monitor the internal feather fan and
do I need it? Or can I delete it?
Clean Boot seems a bit advanced as it talks about going into msconfig
and changing the registry, and I'm VERY leary of doing this one so I
backed out of it.
Seems very complicated and at the beginning it says you must know how
to recover from msconfig, oh great! Do I really need to do this?
At this point I've done everything you and Gerry have advised with
only a couple of exceptions such as Clean Boot. Unless you have
further recommendations or suggestions I'll call StarMicro to make
sure they have the RAM in stock and if so place an order for (2)
sticks of 256 RAM following Gerry's advise. If they work, then I will
place an order for two more.
Robert
Robert
> > > If so, then this should fix my problems, correct?
>
> > Very possible, but not a slam dunk.
>
> > You probably got rid of all your malware, but it's possible you may
> > still have some undetected. Bottom line: Assuming you are truly
> > malware-free*, your biggest problem is probably not having enough
> > memory, so adding memory should improve your system's performance.
>
> > * If you suspect you may still have undetected malware, I will again
> > suggest you run HijackThis. Download it from:
>
> >http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/programs.php
>
> > and post the log to an appropriate forum, such as:
>
> >http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html
>
> > Here's a helpful tutorial:
>
> >http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial42.html
>
> > In case you haven't tried Process Explorer, you should; it's good at
> > identifying resource/memory hogs:
>
> >http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx
>
> > Finally, Clean Boot Troubleshooting is always a thorough diagnostic:
>
> >http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316434
>
> I actually don't think I have any malware though Trend Micro found the
> Http Cookie, which I deleted and then re-ran at its suggestion and
> came out clean and Kapersky found the Malware Exploit.JS.XMLcore.b,
> which I deleted
>
> my system and would think I should be protected.
>
and Avast!
Robert
Robert
>
> Clean Boot seems a bit advanced as it talks about going into msconfig
> and changing the registry, and I'm VERY leary of doing this one so I
> backed out of it.
> Seems very complicated and at the beginning it says you must know how
> to recover from msconfig, oh great! Do I really need to do this?
>
I did go into Autoruns versus msconfig and checked a number of
applications. I understand that Clean Boot is something different
altogether and goes through a step by step process but it seemed very
'iffy' to me and could cause more problems.
Robert
Daave
> I actually don't think I have any malware though Trend Micro found the
> Http Cookie, which I deleted and then re-ran at its suggestion and
> came out clean and Kapersky found the Malware Exploit.JS.XMLcore.b,
> which I deleted
>
> I now have AVG, Spybot, A-Squared, Kapersky, Trend Micro and Comodo on
> my system and would think I should be protected.
Chances are you don't have malware. But since you *did* have malware at
one point (the XML exploit), I was concerned there might be other
undetected infections.
How are Kaspersky and Trend Micro configured? You should not have them
running at the same time! (That is, if they both are monitoring/scanning
your system at the same time, you will have problems.)
> I thought I did the Hijack before and posted it in one of my replies?
> However I ran it again and this time posted it to Bleeping Computer.
I haven't seen your log. What is your handle on Bleeping Computer?
> I ran Process Explorer but really don't know what I'm looking for. In
> any event here are some results:
If you have any resource/memory hogs, you will be able to quickly tell
what they are with Process Explorer. It's similar to Task Manager, but
it provides more information, including the full paths of your running
processes.
> CPU Usage 3.08% - 8.90% (keeps changing)
> Commit Charge 18.16% 404.7MB
> Processes 47 I.O.
> 36.1Kb
>
> Commit Charge:
> Current 414,400
> Limit 2,286,352
> Peak 439,484
>
> I think I ran something similar before, Everest? By the way I noticed
> I have Speed fan, is that just to monitor the internal feather fan and
> do I need it? Or can I delete it?
You saw these figures previously with Task Manager (Performance tab).
You don't need SpeedFan. You may as well uninstall it since Everest can
give you the same information.
> Clean Boot seems a bit advanced as it talks about going into msconfig
> and changing the registry, and I'm VERY leary of doing this one so I
> backed out of it.
If you image your hard drive and things go wrong, you can always put
that image back and you'll be fine.
> Seems very complicated and at the beginning it says you must know how
> to recover from msconfig, oh great! Do I really need to do this?
Not necessarily. Chances are all you need to do is put in more memory.
But if you ever want to pinpoint any particular problems (such as a
particular problem spinning its wheels), clean boot troubleshooting is a
sure thing.
> At this point I've done everything you and Gerry have advised with
> only a couple of exceptions such as Clean Boot. Unless you have
> further recommendations or suggestions I'll call StarMicro to make
> sure they have the RAM in stock and if so place an order for (2)
> sticks of 256 RAM following Gerry's advise. If they work, then I will
> place an order for two more.
That's good advice. You already have 256 MB. Installing another 512 MB
will bring you up to 768 MB, which should be more than enough,
considering your Current and Peak Commit Charge figures.
Robert
> "Robert" <magine...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
Hello Daave,
Chances are you don't have malware. But since you *did* have malware
at
one point (the XML exploit), I was concerned there might be other
undetected infections.
I understand
How are Kaspersky and Trend Micro configured? You should not have
them
running at the same time! (That is, if they both are monitoring/
scanning
your system at the same time, you will have problems.)
I never run any of my scans simultaneously but one at a time. I
realize I don't have Trend Micro, I just did their free online scan.
As far as my Kapersky settings, here they are(I think):
Run Mode - manually
FTP Passive mode - yes
Connection timeout - 60 seconds
User proxy server - Automatically detect the proxy server settings
(exclude local addresses)
Rescan Quarantine - yes
Region - Autodetection
Update Application rules - yes
> I thought I did the Hijack before and posted it in one of my replies?
> However I ran it again and this time posted it to Bleeping Computer.
I haven't seen your log. What is your handle on Bleeping Computer?
My handle is Navyguy, I apparently posted it in the wrong forum and
didn't do it right as it was moved by a moderator.
> I ran Process Explorer but really don't know what I'm looking for. In
> any event here are some results:
If you have any resource/memory hogs, you will be able to quickly
tell
what they are with Process Explorer. It's similar to Task Manager,
but
it provides more information, including the full paths of your
running
processes.
I suppose my biggest memory hog is my ImageX program(Dell Imagining)
which you and Gerry asked about but it's a program I use quite allot
and I like it very much. However I have been moving the bulk of my jpg
and other files to disk; while I understand this isn't going to make
my computer run faster it should help speed up my scans since those
files are no longer there.
You saw these figures previously with Task Manager (Performance tab).
You don't need SpeedFan. You may as well uninstall it since Everest
can
give you the same information.
I uninstalled Speed Fan
Clean Boot seems a bit advanced as it talks about going into
msconfig
and changing the registry, and I'm VERY leary of doing this one so I
backed out of it.
If you image your hard drive and things go wrong, you can always put
that image back and you'll be fine.
How do I image my hard drive?
Seems very complicated and at the beginning it says you must know how
to recover from msconfig, oh great! Do I really need to do this?
Not necessarily. Chances are all you need to do is put in more
memory.
But if you ever want to pinpoint any particular problems (such as a
particular problem spinning its wheels), clean boot troubleshooting is
a
sure thing.
I'll give it a try if you tell me how to image my hard drive. (It kind
of sounds like cloning my drive to a external backup) I do have System
Restore but I assume what your talking about is a true imagin of my
operating system.
> At this point I've done everything you and Gerry have advised with
> only a couple of exceptions such as Clean Boot. Unless you have
> further recommendations or suggestions I'll call StarMicro to make
> sure they have the RAM in stock and if so place an order for (2)
> sticks of 256 RAM following Gerry's advise. If they work, then I will
> place an order for two more.
I called StarMicro to make sure they had the parts in stock and also
because most of the positive reviews on Pricewatch called beforehand.
So I will be placing the order soon.
That's good advice. You already have 256 MB. Installing another 512
MB
will bring you up to 768 MB, which should be more than enough,
considering your Current and Peak Commit Charge figures.
Thanks again for all your great advice, I appreciate it.
Robert
Robert
I forgot to add that I scanned my computer recently with Kapersky and
it came out clean. Planning to run Spybot, AVG and A-Squared later and
will report if they find anything.
Robert
Daave
> My handle is Navyguy, I apparently posted it in the wrong forum and
> didn't do it right as it was moved by a moderator.
I assume this is yours:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic125517.html
If so, it looks like you still have malware:
O3 - Toolbar: (no name) - {a2595f37-48d0-46a1-9b51-478591a97764} - (no
file)
See:
http://www.castlecops.com/tk30341-Protection_Bar.html
You should post again to HijackThis Logs and Malware Removal forum:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html
Tell them you suspect:
"ProtectionBar, rogue 'security software', related to the notorious
PS_Guard/SpywareQuake/WinAntivirus foistware and detected as a variant
of the FakeAle aka Zlob or Puper trojan."
Please confirm if that is your post. If so, there are other things I
noticed that you should fix. But it would actually be best to follow the
advice of the experts from that particular forum.
> I suppose my biggest memory hog is my ImageX program(Dell Imagining)
> which you and Gerry asked about but it's a program I use quite allot
> and I like it very much.
I didn't see it in that log. Have you temporarily disabled it?
> However I have been moving the bulk of my jpg
> and other files to disk; while I understand this isn't going to make
> my computer run faster it should help speed up my scans since those
> files are no longer there.
I'm not sure that would speed anything up at all (unless there is some
sort of cache issue with that program).
> How do I image my hard drive?
With an imaging program such as Acronis True Image.
> I'll give it a try if you tell me how to image my hard drive. (It kind
> of sounds like cloning my drive to a external backup) I do have System
> Restore but I assume what your talking about is a true imagin of my
> operating system.
It's similar to cloning. This should help:
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/msg/b69de2dfca9b7779
Although it's always a good idea to periodically image your disk, it's
quite possible you'll never need to restore that image. Think of it as
insurance. And chances are System Restore will work, so just make sure
you have restore points.
Robert
wrote:
> "Robert" <magine...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:90cea1ee-e996-4c6e...@s13g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
>
> > My handle is Navyguy, I apparently posted it in the wrong forum and
> > didn't do it right as it was moved by a moderator.
>
> I assume this is yours:
>
> http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic125517.html
>
> If so, it looks like you still have malware:
>
> O3 - Toolbar: (no name) - {a2595f37-48d0-46a1-9b51-478591a97764} - (no
> file)
>
> See:
>
> http://www.castlecops.com/tk30341-Protection_Bar.html
>
> You should post again to HijackThis Logs and Malware Removal forum:
>
> http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html
>
> Tell them you suspect:
>
> "ProtectionBar, rogue 'security software', related to the notorious
> PS_Guard/SpywareQuake/WinAntivirus foistware and detected as a variant
> of the FakeAle aka Zlob or Puper trojan."
>
> Please confirm if that is your post. If so, there are other things I
> noticed that you should fix. But it would actually be best to follow the
> advice of the experts from that particular forum.
Yes, that is my post. To be honest, I found posting on bleeping
computer to be a bit confusing and as you see I did it wrong the first
time around. I had no idea it would get this involved since I thought
the anti-virus/malware/firewall programs I have should catch these.
>
> > I suppose my biggest memory hog is my ImageX program(Dell Imagining)
> > which you and Gerry asked about but it's a program I use quite allot
> > and I like it very much.
>
> I didn't see it in that log. Have you temporarily disabled it?
No, I haven't disabled it but perhaps I'm speaking of apples and
oranges on my part.
>
> > However I have been moving the bulk of my jpg
> > and other files to disk; while I understand this isn't going to make
> > my computer run faster it should help speed up my scans since those
> > files are no longer there.
>
> I'm not sure that would speed anything up at all (unless there is some
> sort of cache issue with that program).
I guess I don't understand how computers work very well. I thought
since it had to scan say for example 60 jpg folders and now there is
only 1 I thought it would decrease the amount of scan time?
>
> > How do I image my hard drive?
>
> With an imaging program such as Acronis True Image.
>
> > I'll give it a try if you tell me how to image my hard drive. (It kind
> > of sounds like cloning my drive to a external backup) I do have System
> > Restore but I assume what your talking about is a true imagin of my
> > operating system.
>
> It's similar to cloning. This should help:
>
> http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/msg...
>
> Although it's always a good idea to periodically image your disk, it's
> quite possible you'll never need to restore that image. Think of it as
> insurance. And chances are System Restore will work, so just make sure
> you have restore points.
I will check over once again what you've given me and give it all a
try. I also ordered (2) 256MB sticks from StarMicro today and just
hope they arrive and all goes well(fingers crossed). As I said, I
called them to make sure they had them in stock so that shouldn't be
an issue.
Robert
Robert
>
>
> - Show quoted text -
I posted my Hikack log once again to BleepingComputer with your
suggestions and just hope I did it right this time and get some
replies.
I ran Spybot, A-squared, Avast, and AVG and all came up with nothing.
Robert
Robert
>
> Please confirm if that is your post. If so, there are other things I
> noticed that you should fix. But it would actually be best to follow the
> advice of the experts from that particular forum.
>
What other things did you notice that I should fix?
Robert
Robert
>
> > How do I image my hard drive?
>
> With an imaging program such as Acronis True Image.
>
> > I'll give it a try if you tell me how to image my hard drive. (It kind
> > of sounds like cloning my drive to a external backup) I do have System
> > Restore but I assume what your talking about is a true imagin of my
> > operating system.
>
> It's similar to cloning. This should help:
>
>
> Although it's always a good idea to periodically image your disk, it's
> quite possible you'll never need to restore that image. Think of it as
> insurance. And chances are System Restore will work, so just make sure
> you have restore points.
It seems before I attempt to do a Clean Boot I need to purchase
Acronis so that I can image my hard drive, correct? If so, I have to
wait till my next check,...
Robert
Daave
First, I noticed you have an Adobe (Acrobat?) ActiveX Control:
AcroIEHelper.ocx, which is an unnecessary waste of memory. It's possible
to configure Adobe Reader to run less obtrusively:
http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/asa/archives/007183.html
But, you may be happier just uninstalling Adobe Reader completely and
going with the much leaner Foxit PDF reader:
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php
Also, I would stay away from all toolbars; there seem to be *three* on
your system (Yahoo, MSN Search, and Google)! I'd uninstall them all.
If you don't use MSN Messenger, you should uninstall it.
There are tons of entries for Logitech Desktop Messenger. If you don't
use it, uninstall it.
There are entries for AVG, Avast, and Kaspersky. Are you using them all?
Are you sure there are no conflicts? I also noticed an entry for
Symantec; what is that to?
Daave
> It seems before I attempt to do a Clean Boot I need to purchase
> Acronis so that I can image my hard drive, correct? If so, I have to
> wait till my next check,...
Not necessarily. I would just make sure you back up your data (which you
should do regularly, anyway) and have a valid restore point in System
Restore (ditto).
If you want a free imaging program, you can try DriveImage XML:
http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm
But Acronis does seem to be the overwhelming favorite! YMMV.
Daave
> On Jan 15, 11:10 am, "Daave" <dcwashNOS...@myrealboxXYZ.invalid>
> wrote:
>> "Robert" <magine...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>> I suppose my biggest memory hog is my ImageX program(Dell Imagining)
>>> which you and Gerry asked about but it's a program I use quite allot
>>> and I like it very much.
>>
>> I didn't see it in that log. Have you temporarily disabled it?
>
> No, I haven't disabled it but perhaps I'm speaking of apples and
> oranges on my part.
I'm not so sure ImageX ("Image Expert," I believe) is a memory hog, but
I do recall a mention of it in one of your error reports. I know nothing
of this program. I suggest if you want to continue using it and if you
experience further issues with it, post these concerns in a Dell forum.
>>> However I have been moving the bulk of my jpg
>>> and other files to disk; while I understand this isn't going to make
>>> my computer run faster it should help speed up my scans since those
>>> files are no longer there.
>>
>> I'm not sure that would speed anything up at all (unless there is
>> some sort of cache issue with that program).
>
> I guess I don't understand how computers work very well. I thought
> since it had to scan say for example 60 jpg folders and now there is
> only 1 I thought it would decrease the amount of scan time?
Again, I don't know how that program works. And I'm not sure what you
mean by the term "scanning." To me, scanning is what antivirus apps.,
etc. do. Best to ask in a forum with people who run this program. But I
suppose you could easily measure whether or not there is a decreased
"amount of scan time" with a stopwatch. :-)
Robert
>
> First, I noticed you have an Adobe (Acrobat?) ActiveX Control:
> AcroIEHelper.ocx, which is an unnecessary waste of memory. It's possible
> to configure Adobe Reader to run less obtrusively:
>
> http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/asa/archives/007183.html
>
> But, you may be happier just uninstalling Adobe Reader completely and
> going with the much leaner Foxit PDF reader:
>
> http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php
I removed Adobe, as I never use it. The only reason I had it was that
it came with the software (internal manual) when I upgraded my CD
player to DVD/RW player.
>
> Also, I would stay away from all toolbars; there seem to be *three* on
> your system (Yahoo, MSN Search, and Google)! I'd uninstall them all.
Regarding toolbars, I show that my menu bar and status bar are checked
and that my toolbars are locked. What I see is my taskbar at the
bottom, and then at the top I believe is the menu bar with file edit
view etc, then below that is status bar with my favorites, home,
print, etc. I don't see a google toolbar although when I started to
remove it, it said that I use it frequently, so I backed out of it and
I do go onto Google allot. I did delete the Yahoo toolbar however.
>
> If you don't use MSN Messenger, you should uninstall it.
I don't use MSN per se very much but I like the icon that lets me know
when there is mail and my computer and Hotmail 'seem' to run better
with it than without it. I know that doesn't make sense.
>
> There are tons of entries for Logitech Desktop Messenger. If you don't
> use it, uninstall it.
Logitech is for my wireless mouse.
>
> There are entries for AVG, Avast, and Kaspersky. Are you using them all?
> Are you sure there are no conflicts? I also noticed an entry for
> Symantec; what is that to?
After I removed Norton(Symantec) Anti-virus and firewall off my system
I asked about some good replacement programs and ended up with Spybot,
AVG, A-Squared and Comodo, and thought I was well protected. I added
Avast and Kapersky at your suggestion when we were searching for
possible problems. Yes, I am using them all but run them separately
and certainly not on a daily basis otherwise it's all I would be
doing. No, I'm not sure there are no conflicts. Should I just delete
Avast and Kapersky?
I'm suprised that I still have Symantec on my system as I thought I
had thoroughly removed it.
Robert
Robert
I think before running a Clean Boot the malware issue needs to be
resolved first. As yet I haven't heard anything from BleepingComputer.
Robert
Robert
> Robert wrote:
> > On Jan 15, 11:10 am, "Daave" <dcwashNOS...@myrealboxXYZ.invalid>
> > wrote:
> >> "Robert" <magine...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> >>> I suppose my biggest memory hog is my ImageX program(Dell Imagining)
> >>> which you and Gerry asked about but it's a program I use quite allot
> >>> and I like it very much.
>
> >> I didn't see it in that log. Have you temporarily disabled it?
>
> > No, I haven't disabled it but perhaps I'm speaking of apples and
> > oranges on my part.
>
> I'm not so sure ImageX ("Image Expert," I believe) is a memory hog, but
> I do recall a mention of it in one of your error reports. I know nothing
> of this program. I suggest if you want to continue using it and if you
> experience further issues with it, post these concerns in a Dell forum.
I guess I'm not understanding. I realize ImageX is a memory hog after
all it is a Dell Imaging System but I'm not having problems with it.
It's a place where I store all my images in multiple folders and I'm
able to crop, and manipulate the images with color and special effects
and do all sorts of things.
> Again, I don't know how that program works. And I'm not sure what you
> mean by the term "scanning." To me, scanning is what antivirus apps.,
> etc. do. Best to ask in a forum with people who run this program. But I
> suppose you could easily measure whether or not there is a decreased
> "amount of scan time" with a stopwatch. :-)
What I mean by the term scanning is exactly what you thought,.. AVG,
Spybot, etc. Do noit all of these programs scan each file looking for
virus's and malware and if there are less files to look at doesn't
that make the scan go faster?
As far as forums,.... my malware problem has been viewed 15 times on
BleepingComputer and not one response!
Robert
Robert
> There are entries for AVG, Avast, and Kaspersky. Are you using them all?
> Are you sure there are no conflicts? I also noticed an entry for
> Symantec; what is that to?
I would like to remove all Symantec products from my computer once and
for all, suggestions?
Also, if I don't need AVG, Avast, and Kapersky then what would you
recommend I keep?
Robert
Robert
I did a search for 'Symantec' in all files and folders on the C: drive
and seems like it's finally, hopefully off my computer.
Robert
Gerry
None of the issues Daave has raised relate to malware save for
O3 - Toolbar: (no name) - {a2595f37-48d0-46a1-9b51-478591a97764} - (no
file)
This clearly represents a problem:
http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=a2595f37-48d0-46a1-9b51-478591a97764&scope=&first=11&FORM=PORE
Unfortunately when one Trojan gains entry it can hold the door open and
invite friends in.
Al the other points I think relate to whether you have extra software
which may best off a system with limited "resources", which given you
only have 256 mb RAM is how I would classify your computer. The extra
RAM will make a lot of difference.
You do not have to be so defensive over Adobe. It is pushed at new users
from every direction. It is useful to those who like to edit pdf files
but most users like just to read and print. Foxit has a much smaller
footprint than Adobe and anyone wanting speedier performance will
appreciate this, whether they have limited or abundant "resources. The
switch to Foxit is driven by users exchanging experiences and not by
marketting, where Adobe has all the cards.
Removing all traces of Symantec has for many years been a problem. The
most experienced users can have difficulties. You just have to remove
what you find taking care not to damage the Registry when doing so. If
in doubt leave it alone as it is unlikely to have a noticeable impact on
performance. If you remove orphaned start ups using Autoruns you can
forget about any other traces.
Messenger can be problematic to remove. Although frequently unused it's
removal can have unwanted side effects. Just stop it from loading on
start up.
You will not get a speedy response from Bleeping Computer. You may have
to wait a few days, perhaps a week, before they offer initial advice.
Bleeping Computer will probably volunteer some advice when the present
infestation is removed on how to improve your security arrangements .
FWIW I also see their administration as a little over the top.
I am not sure what anti-spyware programme you are relying on for real
time protection. Some programmes only provide for ad hoc scanning. If
you do not have real time protection this may explain your infestation.
--
Hope this helps.
Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Daave
>> Also, I would stay away from all toolbars; there seem to be *three*
>> on
>> your system (Yahoo, MSN Search, and Google)! I'd uninstall them all.
>
> Regarding toolbars, I show that my menu bar and status bar are checked
> and that my toolbars are locked. What I see is my taskbar at the
> bottom, and then at the top I believe is the menu bar with file edit
> view etc, then below that is status bar with my favorites, home,
> print, etc. I don't see a google toolbar although when I started to
> remove it, it said that I use it frequently, so I backed out of it and
> I do go onto Google allot. I did delete the Yahoo toolbar however.
When you say your "toolbars are locked," what do you mean? It sounds
like you're talking about your IE toolbar. I'm talking about add-on
software which could possibly slow you down. Personally, I don't think
it's necessary to use any such add-on toolbars. My home page is Google.
If you prefer another home page, Google is easy enough to bookmark. Just
a suggestion.... Also, you didn't mention your MSN Search toolbar. If
you want an add-on browser toolbar, one should be enough.
>> If you don't use MSN Messenger, you should uninstall it.
>
> I don't use MSN per se very much but I like the icon that lets me know
> when there is mail and my computer and Hotmail 'seem' to run better
> with it than without it. I know that doesn't make sense.
Since you use MSN Messenger (albeit not that often), don't uninstall it
then. But you can configure it so it doesn't always run at startup,
eating up resources. And whenever you *do* need it, you can still run
it.
>> There are tons of entries for Logitech Desktop Messenger. If you
>> don't
>> use it, uninstall it.
>
> Logitech is for my wireless mouse.
Yes, but do you need to run the Logitech Desktop Messenger? See:
http://www.windowsstartup.com/wso/detail.php?id=1482
"Automatically checks for software upgrades AND new products, services
and special offerings from Logitech"
This isn't necessary. I would disable it; your mouse will still work
fine.
>> There are entries for AVG, Avast, and Kaspersky. Are you using them
>> all?
>> Are you sure there are no conflicts? I also noticed an entry for
>> Symantec; what is that to?
>
> After I removed Norton(Symantec) Anti-virus and firewall off my system
> I asked about some good replacement programs and ended up with Spybot,
> AVG, A-Squared and Comodo, and thought I was well protected. I added
> Avast and Kapersky at your suggestion when we were searching for
> possible problems. Yes, I am using them all but run them separately
> and certainly not on a daily basis otherwise it's all I would be
> doing. No, I'm not sure there are no conflicts. Should I just delete
> Avast and Kapersky?
Is Kaspersky just a trial? If not, that means you paid for it, and since
it's one of the highest-rated AV apps, keep it! (BTW, I don't recall
recommending Kaspersky in this thread. Their online scan, yes, but not
the application.)
No need to uninstall any apps necessarily. Just make sure you're not
running them at the same time (and this includes real-time scanning).
You need to get into the preferences and configure settings there.
Another way is Autoruns, but I would only use that if you can't do it
any other way.
> I'm suprised that I still have Symantec on my system as I thought I
> had thoroughly removed it.
Symantec is notorious for this behavior. Have a look at:
http://basconotw.mvps.org/SymRem.htm
Robert
> Robert
>
> None of the issues Daave has raised relate to malware save for
> O3 - Toolbar: (no name) - {a2595f37-48d0-46a1-9b51-478591a97764} - (no
> file)
>
>
> Unfortunately when one Trojan gains entry it can hold the door open and
> invite friends in.
>
> Al the other points I think relate to whether you have extra software
> which may best off a system with limited "resources", which given you
> only have 256 mb RAM is how I would classify your computer. The extra
> RAM will make a lot of difference.
>
> You do not have to be so defensive over Adobe. It is pushed at new users
> from every direction. It is useful to those who like to edit pdf files
> but most users like just to read and print. Foxit has a much smaller
> footprint than Adobe and anyone wanting speedier performance will
> appreciate this, whether they have limited or abundant "resources. The
> switch to Foxit is driven by users exchanging experiences and not by
> marketting, where Adobe has all the cards.
>
> Removing all traces of Symantec has for many years been a problem. The
> most experienced users can have difficulties. You just have to remove
> what you find taking care not to damage the Registry when doing so. If
> in doubt leave it alone as it is unlikely to have a noticeable impact on
> performance. If you remove orphaned start ups using Autoruns you can
> forget about any other traces.
I did check this on Autoruns but still I would like to remove any
traces of Symantec from my computer as from my own experience it
causes nothing but problems. I did a search for 'Symantec' under files
and folders under C: and then deleted them one by one and then emptied
the Recycle bin. Oddly, today I had two emails stating that my
Symantec firewall was automatically renewed! I checked the Add/Remove
program and thankfully it wasn't there and junked the emails. Odd
>
> Messenger can be problematic to remove. Although frequently unused it's
> removal can have unwanted side effects. Just stop it from loading on
> start up.
>
> You will not get a speedy response from Bleeping Computer. You may have
> to wait a few days, perhaps a week, before they offer initial advice.
> Bleeping Computer will probably volunteer some advice when the present
> infestation is removed on how to improve your security arrangements .
> FWIW I also see their administration as a little over the top.
>
> I am not sure what anti-spyware programme you are relying on for real
> time protection. Some programmes only provide for ad hoc scanning. If
> you do not have real time protection this may explain your infestation.
I thought all the anti-virus programs were real time. As I said I now
have AVG, Avast, Kapersky along with Spybot, A-Squared, and Comodo.
After I 'removed' Symantec I asked for suggestions for a replacement
and thought I was well protected. If you have any recommendations for
a real time Anti-virus or to change what I have I would appreciate
it.
Robert
>
> --
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Gerry
> ~~~~
> FCA
> Stourport, England
> Enquire, plan and execute
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>
> Robert wrote:
> > On Jan 15, 4:24 pm, "Daave" <dcwashNOS...@myrealboxXYZ.invalid> wrote:
> >> Robert wrote:
> >>> It seems before I attempt to do a Clean Boot I need to purchase
> >>> Acronis so that I can image my hard drive, correct? If so, I have to
> >>> wait till my next check,...
>
> >> Not necessarily. I would just make sure you back up your data (which
> >> you should do regularly, anyway) and have a valid restore point in
> >> System Restore (ditto).
>
> >> If you want a free imaging program, you can try DriveImage XML:
>
> >>http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm
>
> >> But Acronis does seem to be the overwhelming favorite! YMMV.
>
> > I think before running a Clean Boot the malware issue needs to be
> > resolved first. As yet I haven't heard anything from BleepingComputer.
>
Robert
> When you say your "toolbars are locked," what do you mean?
I right clicked on the IE toolbar and gave you what it showed. I guess
I downloaded these other toolbars at some point but don't see them on
my screen.
>
> >> If you don't use MSN Messenger, you should uninstall it.
>
I've uninstalled Google and Yahoo toolbars and went into Autoruns and
unchecked MSNMessenger so it won't start-up.
> >> There are tons of entries for Logitech Desktop Messenger. If you
> >> don't use it, uninstall it.>
I've uninstalled the Desktop Messenger
> >> There are entries for AVG, Avast, and Kaspersky. Are you using them
> >> all?
>
> Is Kaspersky just a trial? If not, that means you paid for it, and since
> it's one of the highest-rated AV apps, keep it! (BTW, I don't recall
> recommending Kaspersky in this thread. Their online scan, yes, but not
> the application.)
I apoligize, your quite correct regarding Kapersky, its their online
trial version. I think from what your saying I need to have one good
real-time application running in real time that won't conflict with
the other applications. I think Avast is also a online trail version.
I choose AVG because it was free and came highly recommended.
I would prefer to have only (1) anti-virus running as it's time
consuming even with what I originally had. So I will try and configure
AVG to run in real time although I'm not sure if it will conflict with
Avast and Kapersky?
>
> No need to uninstall any apps necessarily. Just make sure you're not
> running them at the same time (and this includes real-time scanning).
> You need to get into the preferences and configure settings there.
> Another way is Autoruns, but I would only use that if you can't do it
> any other way.
>
> Symantec is notorious for this behavior. Have a look at:
>
> http://basconotw.mvps.org/SymRem.htm
As I noted in my reply to Gerry, I think I finally have removed all of
Symantec products(I hope), and checked autoruns and it isn't there.
However, what is strange is that I recieved (2) emails stating that my
Symantec firewall is automatically renewed. I junk filed both messages
and checked to see if indeed I have any Symantec products in the Add/
Remove program.
I suppose at this point its a matter of waiting for the (2) sticks of
256 RAM which I hope arrive, and resolving the malware issue.
Any other suggestions or recommendations?
Robert
Gerry
Anti-virus and anti-virus programmes are not the same. I was asking
about anti-spyware programmes. You can find composites that cover both
aspects.
With regard to anti-spyware programmes you will find that some have free
versions not providing real time protection with corresponding paid
versions providing real time protection. You need to know exactly what
you have installed.
Robert
> Robert
>
> Anti-virus and anti-virus programmes are not the same. I was asking
> about anti-spyware programmes. You can find composites that cover both
> aspects.
>
> With regard to anti-spyware programmes you will find that some have free
> versions not providing real time protection with corresponding paid
> versions providing real time protection. You need to know exactly what
> you have installed.
>
> --
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Gerry
> ~~~~
> FCA
> Stourport, England
> Enquire, plan and execute
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>
You have to bear with me, as I'm not as computer literate as you and
Daave. For example I thought these were the same: Anti-virus and anti-
virus programmes.
This is what I think I have; a free version of AVG, Spybot, A-Squared
and Comodo anda free trial version of Avast and Kapersky. If I'm not
getting this or other things right please explain them to me so that
were talking on the same page.
Understand that I'm on a rather limited fixed income and this is why I
went with these free versions but if you and Daave could recommend a
good virus protection program such as Kapersky that would protect my
system better then I suppose I can pay for it although if I can get
around having to pay for it I would rather do that.
Robert
Robert
>
> Anti-virus and anti-virus programmes are not the same. I was asking
> about anti-spyware programmes. You can find composites that cover both
> aspects.
>
> With regard to anti-spyware programmes you will find that some have free
> versions not providing real time protection with corresponding paid
> versions providing real time protection. You need to know exactly what
> you have installed.
>
> --
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Gerry
> ~~~~
> FCA
> Stourport, England
> Enquire, plan and execute
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>
I went into the settings of Avast, Kapersky and AVG and didn't see
anything to make them run in real time. Perhaps its because they are
free and free trial versions?
I understand what you mean that some programs offer protection from
virus's and spyware, hackers etc such as upgrading my AVG or buying
Kapersky.
Although you mention that I wouldn't hear from Bleeping computer for
awhile it's been viewed 21 times with no responses. Perhaps they are
just analyzing the problem?
I think after I get the (2) sticks installed and the malware problem
resolved I'll do a Clean Boot as Daave suggested just to make sure
everything is ok. What do you think?
Robert
Colin Barnhorst
Unless you have turned them off they just run.
"Robert" <magi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:aed5c941-a894-49dd...@d4g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
Gerry
AVG 7.5 offer a free Anti-Virus programme , which I think you have and
there is a free Anti-Spyware programme, which I suspect you do not have.
The free Anti-Spyware programme does not include real time protection
http://www.grisoft.com/doc/21/us/crp/0
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/download-free-anti-spyware/us/frt/0
Avast provide a free anti-virus programme.
http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
Kaspersky offer anti-virus and internet security programme but neither
is on a freeware basis.
A-Squared offer a freeware anti-malware scanner but this does not
include real time protection.
Commodo offer a free firewall.
Spybot S & D provide a freeware anti-spyware scanner, which does not
include real time protection.
Microsoft offer Windows Defender a freeware anti-spyware programme,
which includes real time protection.
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
I suggest you consider changing to:
AVG 7.5 Free Anti-Virus ( or Avast 4 Home Edition ).
Windows Defender for spyware protection.
Spybot S & D as a support scanner.
Windows Firewall to replace Commodo.
Install a Host file:
http://www.accs-net.com/hosts/index.html
--
Hope this helps.
Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Daave
> On Jan 16, 2:46 pm, "Gerry" <ge...@nospam.com> wrote:
>> Robert
>>
>> Anti-virus and anti-virus programmes are not the same. I was asking
>> about anti-spyware programmes.
[snip]
> You have to bear with me, as I'm not as computer literate as you and
> Daave. For example I thought these were the same: Anti-virus and anti-
> virus programmes.
Robert, Gerry meant to say:
"Anti-spyware programmes and anti-virus programmes are not the same. I
Gerry
Viewed 21 times means probably 20 other users and guests having a nose.
Only Bleeping Computer helpers can post and they are days behind. Look
at the older logs posted and you will see you have to go some way before
you find posts.
On Clean booting I would wait and see how things look when you have your
extra RAM installed and malware removed.
--
Hope this helps.
Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gerry
AVG 7.5 Free Anti-Virus does have a Resident Shield. However, the
concern is to gain real time anti-spyware protection. The AVG Free
Anti-Spyware does not offer real time protection:
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/download-free-anti-spyware/us/frt/0
The latest Avast offering does have a web shield. I had thought of Avast
as an anti-virus programme but it does seem to go beyond that function:
http://www.avast.com/eng/whats_new_in_avastve.html
--
Regards.
Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert
Ah,. now I understand
Robert
>
> - Show quoted text -
Agreed
Robert
Robert
> there is a free Anti-Spyware programme, which I suspect you do not have.
>
> Avast provide a free anti-virus programme.http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
>
> Kaspersky offer anti-virus and internet security programme but neither
> is on a freeware basis.
>
> A-Squared offer a freeware anti-malware scanner but this does not
> include real time protection.
>
> Commodo offer a free firewall.
>
> Spybot S & D provide a freeware anti-spyware scanner, which does not
> include real time protection.
>
> Microsoft offer Windows Defender a freeware anti-spyware programme,
>
> I suggest you consider changing to:
>
> AVG 7.5 Free Anti-Virus ( or Avast 4 Home Edition ).
>
> Windows Defender for spyware protection.
>
> Spybot S & D as a support scanner.
>
> Windows Firewall to replace Commodo.
>
> Install a Host file:http://www.accs-net.com/hosts/index.html
>
> --
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Gerry
> ~~~~
> FCA
> Stourport, England
> Enquire, plan and execute
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello Gerry,
I have AVG 7.5
Downloaded Windows Defender
I have Spybot
Windows Firewall is already checked (although from what I've read it
wasn't really effective till Vista)
downloaded DNSKong
Would you suggest I remove the following? Avast, Kapersky free trial
versions, Everest, Hijackthis, HD-Tune, Java(6 update 3),
PRO200WL,Shockwave, Spywareblaster v 3.5.1, Hive Cleanup, Quicktime?
I fully realize the issue lies with only 256MB of RAM but I'm just
trying to lean out my computer of programs I don't really need.
Robert
Robert
> On Jan 16, 4:49 pm, "Gerry" <ge...@nospam.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Robert
>
> > AVG 7.5 offer a free Anti-Virus programme , which I think you have and
> > there is a free Anti-Spyware programme, which I suspect you do not have.
>
> - Show quoted text -
Boy, this post is getting really long, but then again it may serve
others with similar problems and both of you have given me valuable
links that others may use.
The host file seems a bit confusing, not to understand, but to
implement and it seems I need to download a host file not just
DNSKong, but an actual host file, yet they all seem to be zipped and
would I not need another program to unzip them?
Robert
Robert
In passing, I spent 30 minutes on the phone(waiting/ talking) to a
representative from Symantec to reverse and delete the automatic
subscription of Norton Anti-Virus and Firewall they charged to my
account. I can't believe how difficult they make to get rid of their
products. Hopefully this will be the last time I ever have to deal
with them!
Robert
Daave
> Windows Firewall is already checked
Do you mean you have been running *both* the Windows and Comodo
firewalls simultaneously? If so, I'm sure that can cause problems.
Daave
> Would you suggest I remove the following? Avast, Kapersky free trial
> versions, Everest, Hijackthis, HD-Tune, Java(6 update 3),
> PRO200WL,Shockwave, Spywareblaster v 3.5.1, Hive Cleanup, Quicktime?
>
> I fully realize the issue lies with only 256MB of RAM but I'm just
> trying to lean out my computer of programs I don't really need.
Robert, the key is not uninstalling as many programs as possible, but
rather to uninstall programs that are running in the background that you
have absolutely no use for (or at least to configure them not to run
automatically at startup if there is a use for them... remember you can
always manually start any program *when you wish*). If a program you
once installed isn't running, then it won't be requiring any memory. If
you think you may need to run it again eventually, there's no waste of
memory if you choose not to uninstall it.
As I mentioned in another post, you can easily see which programs load
at startup by running msconfig (Start | Run | msconfig). Autoruns gives
you the same information and a *whole* lot more info, but for this
purpose, msconfig will do the trick. Then use these sites to research
what you don't need (and for recommendations on how to disable them from
running at startup):
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php#THE_PROGRAMS
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/
This one is good to have bookmarked, too:
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
I'm not sure how your QuickTime is configured, but if you have the
QuickTime icon in your System Tray, you can address that issue by
following the instructions at:
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist_q.htm
Scroll down to Qttask.
Robert
Yes, I was running both but have uninstalled Comodo, and all the
toolbars are now uninstalled.
Robert
Robert
> Robert wrote:
> > Would you suggest I remove the following? Avast, Kapersky free trial
> > versions, Everest, Hijackthis, HD-Tune, Java(6 update 3),
> > PRO200WL,Shockwave, Spywareblaster v 3.5.1, Hive Cleanup, Quicktime?
>
> > I fully realize the issue lies with only 256MB of RAM but I'm just
> > trying to lean out my computer of programs I don't really need.
>
> Robert, the key is not uninstalling as many programs as possible, but
> rather to uninstall programs that are running in the background that you
> have absolutely no use for (or at least to configure them not to run
> automatically at startup if there is a use for them... remember you can
> always manually start any program *when you wish*). If a program you
> once installed isn't running, then it won't be requiring any memory. If
> you think you may need to run it again eventually, there's no waste of
> memory if you choose not to uninstall it.
>
I'm sorry if I wasn't clear, I'm not trying to randomly uninstall as
many programs as possible but am trying to do as you suggest. I just
don't know what some of these programs do, such as Shockwave and
Spyblaster. I have gone into Autorun and checked those programs I
didn't want to run at Start-up e.g. MoneyAgent, Microsoft Outlook, and
files not found.
I called to check the status of my order of RAM sticks and they said
they'll arrive tomorrow, so hopefully I will be adding (2) sticks
tomorrow sometime.
I ran A-squared last night and it found the virus and I deleted it,
then ran it a second time but it showed up again. So I guess I have to
wait for the experts on Bleeping Computer to advise me.
Robert
Daave
> On Jan 16, 7:56 pm, "Daave" <dcwashNOS...@myrealboxXYZ.invalid> wrote:
>> Robert wrote:
>>> Would you suggest I remove the following? Avast, Kapersky free trial
>>> versions, Everest, Hijackthis, HD-Tune, Java(6 update 3),
>>> PRO200WL,Shockwave, Spywareblaster v 3.5.1, Hive Cleanup, Quicktime?
>>
>>> I fully realize the issue lies with only 256MB of RAM but I'm just
>>> trying to lean out my computer of programs I don't really need.
>>
>> Robert, the key is not uninstalling as many programs as possible, but
>> rather to uninstall programs that are running in the background that
>> you have absolutely no use for (or at least to configure them not to
>> run automatically at startup if there is a use for them... remember
>> you can always manually start any program *when you wish*). If a
>> program you once installed isn't running, then it won't be requiring
>> any memory. If you think you may need to run it again eventually,
>> there's no waste of memory if you choose not to uninstall it.
> I'm sorry if I wasn't clear, I'm not trying to randomly uninstall as
> many programs as possible but am trying to do as you suggest. I just
> don't know what some of these programs do, such as Shockwave and
> Spyblaster. I have gone into Autorun and checked those programs I
> didn't want to run at Start-up e.g. MoneyAgent, Microsoft Outlook, and
> files not found.
You asked what I think you should remove. My point is that there is no
need to remove *anything* as long as it isn't running. Now if you're
just interested in doing some spring cleaning, you will have to be the
one who decides what you want to uninstall. Use Google to find out about
these programs. For instance, you will see that Shockwave is a plug-in
used for certain Web content. I don't know what Spyblaster is, but
SpywareBlaster is useful in preventing spyware by using Internet
Explorer's restricted sites and blocking a large number of potentially
harmful ActiveX controls (and some tracking cookies as well). If you hav
e it, it's important to keep it updated.
> I ran A-squared last night and it found the virus and I deleted it,
> then ran it a second time but it showed up again. So I guess I have to
> wait for the experts on Bleeping Computer to advise me.
What's the name of the virus?
If you can identify it, there should be specific removal steps.
Robert
>
> - Show quoted text -
I'm sorry, I didn't think to write the name of the virus down, my
fault. I'll run A-Squared again and get it.
I checked out the sites you gave and I went into msconfig and have to
tell you I was rather leary of doing so and clicked ok to the item
that was already checked (I think it said all startup items) and then
it came back with a message that I have to restart my computer for
changes to take effect! That really had me sweating! I'm not at all
comfortable going into msconfig or what I'm suppose to do once I'm
in.
Robert
Gerry
You only need to remove programmes that you do not intend to use.
You will need HiJackThis as Bleeping Computer will want another log in
due course.
Everest and HD Tune are useful utilities and only load on demand.
PRO200WL is to do with your network adapter. Unless it relates to a
previous network card it should not be uninstalled.
UPH Hive CleanUp is needed to help ensure your computer closes down
efficiently and should not be uninstalled.
Spywareblaster is another anti-spyware programme I did not realise you
had. I would say surplus to requirements.
Shockwave is games software. You must decide whether you value what it
provides.
http://www.shockwave.com/home.jsp
Quicktime is an Apple product for playing music. You must decide whether
you value what it provides.
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/
--
Hope this helps.
Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gerry
To extract files from a zipped compressed folder
Open My Computer, and then locate the compressed folder.
Do one of the following:
To extract a single file or folder, double-click the compressed folder
to open it. Then, drag the file or folder from the compressed folder to
a new location.
To extract all files or folders, right-click the compressed folder, and
then click Extract All. In the Compressed (zipped) Folders Extraction
Wizard, specify where you want to store the extracted files.
Notes
To open My Computer, click Start, and then click My Computer.
You can identify compressed folders by the zipper on the folder icon.
If the file is protected with a password, you must provide the password
before the file can be extracted to the folder you specify.
When you extract a file, a compressed version remains in the compressed
folder. To delete the compressed version, right-click the file, and then
click Delete.
When you extract a file from a compressed folder that is password
protected, the extracted file is no longer protected.
Source : Windows XP Help and Support.
--
Hope this helps.
Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gerry
Use Autoruns rather than msconfig. Disable first to test impact and
remove only after a few days testing. It's a safer approach.
First thing you must do with any infestation is to write down the name
of the malware. You can then read up about it.
Same applies with error messages make sure you have the exact text of
the message or ensure you know where a copy of the error report is.
--
Hope this helps.
Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken Blake, MVP
<dcwash...@myrealboxXYZ.invalid> wrote:
> Robert wrote:
> > Would you suggest I remove the following? Avast, Kapersky free trial
> > versions, Everest, Hijackthis, HD-Tune, Java(6 update 3),
> > PRO200WL,Shockwave, Spywareblaster v 3.5.1, Hive Cleanup, Quicktime?
> >
> > I fully realize the issue lies with only 256MB of RAM but I'm just
> > trying to lean out my computer of programs I don't really need.
>
> Robert, the key is not uninstalling as many programs as possible, but
> rather to uninstall programs that are running in the background that you
> have absolutely no use for (or at least to configure them not to run
> automatically at startup if there is a use for them... remember you can
> always manually start any program *when you wish*).
Very well said.
> If a program you
> once installed isn't running, then it won't be requiring any memory.
I wanted to add a comment here, though. Strange as it sounds, even a
program that is *is* running may not require any (real) memory. That's
because Windows very quickly pages out any memory used by a running
program if that program isn't actively doing anything. So it will be
using virtual memory, but no real memory.
The penalty you pay for using virtual memory in the page file is when
that memory has to constantly be shuttled in and out of real memory
because there isn't enough real memory to accommodate all the programs
that need it at the same time. But some running programs sit in the
background, not doing anything until you use them, and therefore use
no real memory at all (until you use them).
A good example of that last kind of program is one that I keep running
here all the time: Allchars. AllChars lets me (in all applications)
type many common special characters (many of these are used in other
languages) by pressing the ctrl key followed by a two character
mnemonic combination. I need to do this seldom, but it's very handy to
have running for when I need it. But because I use it seldom, the
memory it uses is almost always paged out, and having it running in
the background has no effect on my performance. That's an example of
why I so often say "Despite what many people tell you, you should be
concerned, not with how *many* of these programs you run, but *which*.
Some of them can hurt performance severely, but others have no effect
on performance."
That's also an example of why having programs starting automatically
can slow down your boot time (because they take time to load) without
affecting overall performance.
--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
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