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I have 2 year old e-machine, xp home, I just ran System Mechanic to clean up Registry and C drive. It improved the speed quite a bit. I also ran windows clean up and defrag. before that. Problem...... My cpu usage is still jumping around constantly between 8% and 99%. I've also noticed that I have 45 processes running in Windows Task Manager, Before I do anything. 550 MB are commited at that point. Is This part of the problem. Do I need all of those running. The Speed now is acceptable.
HiCustomerThank you for the question. It is typicaly for a heavily used home PC to have many processes running at a time, often consuming a lot of the CPU and memory. When you open task manager, you can sort by memory consumption. What processes are taking up the most memory when the machine boots up and is idle (not being used)? If these are not processes you need, you can disable them by going to Start -> Run -> msconfig, and disabling them from the "startup" tab. Hope this helps!
As you suggest I would like to disable some of the 45 processes running at start up. How can I tell what each of the processes are for?
My computer Broadband internet speed even though much improve after running cleanup and System Mechanic is still not fast, like before. Does my Registry need a more through cleaning?
Thanks for the reply. You actually want to avoid modifying the registry as little as possible. Hacking around in the registry (either manually or using non-Microsoft tools) is very dangerous to your system. I am not suggesting you disable all 45 processes, however I would recommend disabling anything you know of. If you go to Start -> Run -> type cmd, then type tasklist > c:\tasks.txt, it will gather a list of all your processes that are running. If you send this list (just copy and paste the text here), I would be happy to have a look and advise on what you need to keep running. It would also be helpful to know which processes are consuming the largest amount of memory when the system is idle. Were you able to have a look at that? Please let me know. Thanks again,
I've tried your instructions to get prossing list, but that route does not bring me to anything
Sorry, what this does is creates a file on your c:\ called tasks.txt. If you go back to command prompt, re-type the command, then type notepad c:\tasks.txt, the file will open and you can send me the contents. Thanks again,
I've gotten into dos but i'm not typing it in correctly for it to be accepted.
Can you tell me what happens when you just type tasklist ?
IT is not recognized.
Ok, apologies, This must not be a valid command for XP home, and only XP Pro and Win2k3 Server. Well, I suppose you could type it out but that may take some time. Can you get a large screenshot of task manager, and sort by memory by clicking mem usage twice so that the largest is on top?
I"LL have to follow up tomorrow nite . It's 2am and I get up at 6am. thanks zack
Ok, I will be here whenever you're ready to pick this back up. Thanks again,
How can I Copy the processes that are running in my task manager. I have xp home , it won't allow me to copy it. I'll send you a copy, so you can tell me what processes I can eliminate from the start up, and how to eliminate them. Thanks, Zack
HiCustomer
You can make the window as big as you can, click "mem usage" twice so that the largest process are at the top of the list, and then press alt+PrtSc (print screen key). Open MS Paint (Start -> Run -> mspaint), and paste. This will put a screenshot in a file, and you can save it. After getting this, attach it here and I will have a look. Thanks again,
I've Printed the screen, and it's copied in mspaint, but Ican not get it on to the form.?Zack
Have you saved the picture once it was in MSPaint (File -> Save As...)? After doing this, you can use the image icon in the toolbar inside the window you type in, and browse to the file you have saved. Let me know if you still have problems doing this. Thanks again,
A soon as I put icon or picture into your reply box. It changes to the reply box to C:\Documents and settings\..............I'm running xp home, it seems to work differently. While I'm waiting for you. I'm going to try something. Hope it works! NO! svchost.exe......30892 SfCtlCom.exe......17444 aolsoftware.exe......12568 SMSystemAnalyze......7224 TmProxy.exe......5892 msmsgs.exe......4716 TMBMSRV.exe SMTrayNotify.exe taskmgr.exe.....3166
The top 3 are iexplore.exe ranging from 84,460 down to 32344. I do have 3 internet explorers open to 3 of my email addresses. Is that too high for for ie. Could my high number of unopened or saved email be using too much of my cpu resources? Geting back to the beginning. What open processes on ststart up be taken off start up. And how do I take them off?
I'm sorry we spent so much time trying to copy the tasks manager. I appreciate your time and help. Let's skip the coping, that's why I typed the top heavy processes. Thanks, Regards, Zack
Hi Zack,
All those look normal. Your unopened email is not using any system resources, it is most likely the startup processes. Let's go to Start -> Run -> and type msconfig. Here you will want to go to the "startup" tab, and disable anything you recognize that you do not need at startup, and also disable anything that starts with C:\Program Files (unless it is something you recognize as a thing you want to start when the machine starts (ie - anti virus, or Google Desktop, etc. Do not disable (uncheck) anything that starts with C:\Windows. Now go to the "General" tab, and select "Selective Startup", and restart your machine. Disabling these unknown/unneeded items will significantly improve your system performance. If you do disable something that you need, there will be no harm, you can simply disable it. For example if something loads in your taskbar that you normally see, you can go back to msconfig and re-enable it to start when the system starts. Hope this helps!
Experience: Software Engineer and Support Professional
Thank You. Sorry, so much spent on trying to copy task mgr. Regards, Zack
That extra 2 0r 3 dollars was a tip for the tech.