Question:
Hi Guys
I have a Packard Bell Laptop with 256mb Memory and 30gb harddrive running Windows XP.
The problem that i have encountered is that it takes at least 5min to load up windows XP. Then when im trying to disconnect from my broadband it takes at least another 2 min for it too disconnect when u click on disable (i.e. disconnect the broadband). then sometime when u want to open another program it may take a minute to load that program up. When i open the task manager i see a load of programs running that i dont even know what they do lol.
Im almost sure my problem is to do with memory, as when i look at the properties it says i have only 47mb of free memory some times it goes to as low as 19mb.
Any ideas of how i can free up the memory at all or if there are any programs that may help out. Ive also got a horrible purple skin to Internet explorer as well (Packard Bell Standard skin i think) Does Any one know how to change that as well? Many thanks and hope u guys can help out
cheers
James
Answers:
256Mb is a little low for XP. However a virus check, spyware check, a look at what progs you have running may help. Have a look in the task manager (hit ctrl-alt-del for that). edit: I see you have done that - maybe look them up - or list them here
If the problems are really bad I would do a complete reinstall and just reinstate the software you need (you may not feel comfortable with this though!)
I'm sure others will offer more ideas, but HTH
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Purple skin remover:-
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Do above post &
Go 2 Internet option,click setting and you're see sliding bar bring It to
9-10MB.
It worked 4 me.
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hi guys
Right Below are all of the process that are going on listed i tsak manager:
msmsgs.exe
BTTRAY.EXE
TeaTimer.exe
Ctfmon.exe
IEXPLORE.EXE
realsched.exe
rundll32.exe
PCMservice.exe
CCAPP.EXE
jusched.exe
VTTimer.exe
SynTPEnh.exe
SynTPLpr.exe
CCEVTMGR.EXE
SNDsvc.exe
explorer.exe
CCSETMGR.EXE
symwsc.exe
slserv.exe
Savscan.exe
SVChost.exe
NAVAPSVC.EXE
svchost.exe
CCPROXY.EXE
BTwdins.exe
alg.exe
svchost.exe
svchost.exe
svchost.exe
lsass.exe
services.exe
winlogin.exe
Aolacsd.exe
csiss.exe
smss.exe
spoolsv.exe
system
system idle process
These are all the process that are running under Task manager. In theSystem tray (in the bottom corner of windows XP) im running Norton Anti-virus and Firewall, Bluetooth adapter, Spybot Search and Destroy, Volume control and synaptics pointing device ( ihave a laptop this is for the touch sensitive pad to replace the mouse) Plus i have the broad band connection which is with BT (British Telecom).
Any help with this would be greatfully appreciated as although my laptop is usable it is just a pain when i try to open or close programs/broadband connection and it takes ages to do what u want it to do
Also when shutting the computer down that also takes ages so that why i thought it might be a memory peoblem in terms of the fact its getting eaten by programs running in the background.
All help appreciated guys
many thanks
James
Answers:
speaking of this, ages ago someone posted a link to a site where you could go through the list and check if you needed particular applications to keep running - anyone remember what it was?
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Out of those processes you listed, I noticed the following:-
PCMservice.exe - this belongs to Dell so I assume its a Dell computer. ? is it really necessary?
jusched.exe - Sun Java update schedular. Do you really need this? Can you not just goto control panel every now and again and run Java update via control panel instead?
VTTimer.exe - apart of VIA chipset (probably graphics)
SynTPEnh.exe - part of TouchPad
SynTPLpr.exe - part of TouchPad
SNDsvc.exe - not sure what this is but possibly part of Sound!
slserv.exe - part of SmartLink?!
realsched.exe - update checker from RealNetworks. Do you really need this? Can you not manually update every now and again?
Aolacsd.exe - If you're using BT for internet then why is this running as its used by AOL
Ctfmon.exe - part of MS Office - apparently the Language bar in which case I can't see why it is needed.
csiss.exe - I couldn't find much info on this at all!
Now some of the above may not be necessary/essential depending on your usage, etc.
How much harddrive space is there in total and how much free? If you're not sure how to get this then press and hold down the Windows symbol key (in between Ctrl and Alt keys) and then the 'E' key (for Windows Explorer). Right click on drive C: and then left-click on the properties.
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... Also, can you post details of the size of your page file and whether or not it is of a Custom Size or a 'System Managed' size? For more info on your pagefile and how to view info about then see post.
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hi bbb_uk total page size at the moment is 287mb its on custom at the moment (how it came with computer i have not changed this) maximum paging file size for drive is marked as 896mb. Does this help at all?
if not let me know what else u need
cheers mate
James
Answers:
hi bbb_uk total page size at the moment is 287mb its on custom at the moment (how it came with computer i have not changed this) maximum paging file size for drive is marked as 896mb...
How much space is left on your harddrive out of how many. Eg, my capacity for C: drive is 100GB and have 82GB free space (therefore i've used about 18GB)
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hi bbb_uk total page size at the moment is 287mb its on custom at the moment (how it came with computer i have not changed this) maximum paging file size for drive is marked as 896mb. Does this help at all?
Most guides recommend at least 1.5 x physical RAM as the size of your pagefile. So in your case, you could set it to 1.5 x 256 = 384 MB inital size and 512MB maximum size (as long as you have enough free disk space to do this).
Follow the link in bbb_UK's previous post on this, to see how to change it from its current settings.
Also - does your XP desktop look like the standard XP blue/green 'bubble' screen? Since laptops generally have lower spec built in graphics, you could try turning off some of the visual effects to improve performance. Here's a guide:
Good luck in fixing up your laptop! PS What speed is the Processor? Right-click My Computer, choose Properties, and on the General tab look at the Computer section. This should say the speed in MHz/GHz.
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Most guides recommend at least 1.5 x physical RAM as the size of your pagefile. So in your case, you could set it to 1.5 x 256 = 384 MB inital size and 512MB maximum size (as long as you have enough free disk space to do this)...
I personally, would set the minimum pagefile size to 1000MB (1GB) and the maximum to 2000MB (2GB) depending on usage and assuming you have enough free space capacity. If the pagefile is set at 1000MB it ensures that windows never (well almost never depending on usage) have to worry about pagefile size and more importingly because it is high windows never has to try and lower and increase the pagefile size itself which may increase speed as then windows wouldn't have to spend time increasing/decreasing this file which obviously is time consuming and can be noticable on a slow system with slow disc access. A pagefile that is low that requires windows to increase/decrease according to usage all the time will slow the system down not to mention cause more defragmentation of the harddrive.
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Hi guys i believe my processor speed is 1.7ghz and the processor is and AMD Sempron i will double check the speed of the processor when i get home tongiht as im at work now, but im 99.9% sure its 1.7ghz.
In regards to pagefile size what exactly does this do? Is it like a cache for Windows XP?
James
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hi bbb_uk
turned off alot of the process that u said about but am a bit puzzled about this one: PCMservice.exe You said this had something to do with Dell computers but mine is a Packard Bell any ideas??
The rest i have turned off as follows:
jusched.exe: Turned this off and will update when and if i need it
slserv.exe - part of SmartLink?! (While turning the other stuff off i found out that smartlink is the internal 56k modem is there any way of turning this off as well or do i need it?? i run broadband so i cant see why it has to be running)
realsched.exe - Turned Realnetwork update off as well as i really dont use it think i used it once to view a file windowsmedia wouldnt open
Aolacsd.exe - This was part of Packard Bell introduction bit to introduce the user to the computer AOL was part of there introduction. So ive uninstalled this.
Ctfmon.exe - part of MS Office - apparently the Language bar in which case I can't see why it is needed. (any ideas how u turn the language bar off?? lol bit stuck on that)
In regards to PCMservice.exe any help would be greatly appreciated
Very grateful forthe help so far thank u
james
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Total size of harddrive is 33.2gb and free is 23.0gb so ive used 10gb so far hope this helps
James
Answers:
Hi James,
PCMservice.exe
A search reveals that this process is part of Dell Media Experience software and/or PowerDVD. I use PowerDVD and this process isn't running therefore assuming you do use PowerDVD I can only assume that your version of PowerDVD was made in conjunction with Dell.
slserv.exe
You can turn off internal modems within BIOS but unless you're familar with using the BIOS I wouldn't recommend touching it. You could therefore try uninstalling the driver/software or alternatively see paragraph under ctfmon.exe on how to stop a process(service) and/or programme from starting during boot-up.
Ctfmon.exe
To stop a process (service) and/or programme from starting during boot-up then click <Start> then click <Run> and type in msconfig. The System Configuration Utility will then start. At this point, just click on 'Services' tab (near top right-hand side of window) and untick the one for ctfmon.exe (and slserv.exe if needed) in the long list then apply/ok and this service then shouldn't start at next boot-up.
I would only recommend unticking one service at a time then re-booting to see if it affects any software like Office from working (just in case). If it does appear to affect software you use then simply go back in and tick it again.
You can also tick the box titled 'Hide All Microsoft services' and this will hide microsoft's services and leave just the non MS (microsoft) services running (obviously ctfmon may not appear when selecting this as it is part of MS).
In addition to services (processes), it could be listed under 'Startup' tab (next to 'Services' tab) where you can untick/tick programmes that also start during boot-up.
UPDATE: You could also try unticking the service for this Dell service, PCMservice.exe and seeing if this affects any programmes at all.
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Sorry I should have been more clearer. If you adjust the pagefile first, reboot and check that it has taken affect (ie currently allocated states 1000mb). If not, select No pagefile and reboot and then adjust pagefile again and finally reboot. At this time it should now display the currently allocated pagefile size of 1000mb.
After the above is done and ensuring nothing is running (other than what normally starts during boot-up), do Ctrl-Alt-Del and click on the process tab. Each process should list its individual CPU usage and at the bottom of the task manager window it lists the total CPU usage along with how many processes are actually running. If the individual CPU usage - two digits column represented from 00 to 99 - the 99 being 100% cpu usage for that specific process isn't displayed then click on 'View', then 'Select Columns'. Here ensure 'CPU Usage', CPU Time', 'Memory Usage' and 'Peak Memory Usage' are all ticked. This then gives an idea of the CPU usage and the memory used by each process and the maximum memory used by each process since computer was started.
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excellent
will give this a go when i get home tonite. hopefully it will give a bit more insight as to why it a bit slow many thanks BBB_uk will let u know the results.
cheers
James
Answers:
hi guys sorry didnt try this last night as i went out and got a bit tipsey.....ooopss!!!
Will try tonight and let u know the out come
James