O/T Essential Programs NOT to close?

Re: O/T Essential Programs NOT to close?

Jack Guzman from Maine

>Todd,

I'm a pack rat and that also applies to my computer usage.I keep pictures and favorites forever.I don't remember why I saved it so I'm afraid to delete it.

About a year ago my hard drive overheated and I lost everything. I was amazed at how little I missed. Then again a month or so ago I had to clean out my hard drive to get rid of a persistent virus.I saved a few pictures and email addresses and just burned it all.up.No regrets.

I say don't worry about it. You'll be happier without the clutter.---Crackerjack

Some ideas. (sorta long)

Dan Donaldson

>What OS are you running? Even if you go in and stop the programs from running, they will start right back up the next time you reboot. It is better to get rid of them completely. If you do not want to completely reload, then the first thing I would do is go into the control panel, hit the add/remove program icon and uninstall everything that you don't use. Then I would get adaware and spybot and run both of them to see if there is any spyware running on your machine. (I am assuming that you have anti-virus software for that, make sure it is up to date and do a full scan). Also check the startup folder in the start menu to make sure that anything there is something that you want.

After all of this, you can take the names of anything else that you see in the task manager and type the name into Google. That will usually get you to an explanation of what it is and what it is for. If they are programs that you don't want, you could do a search for them and delete them (actually, I would rename them temporarily so that if problems occur, you can put them back. (Also set up a system restore point before doing this).

This might cause some problems because the programs are probably being started by the registry and editing that is not for the faint of heart. If the programs are gone, the system might complain.

If it ran well before and just started slowing down, I would suspect spyware.

My preference for a situation like this would be to save off my docs, e-mail, favorites and other personal stuff, format the disk and reload everything, but that is a lot of work. (I just did it on this computer last weekend)

Re: O/T Essential Programs NOT to close?

Greg Sloop

>Here's the standard answer for problems like yours - unexplanable slow computers...

These nearly always - in recent terms - come down to spyware and viruses.

Here's what you need, and it won't cost you a cent for non-commercial situations.

AVG from Grisoft.

Start here.

You'll have to "register" first. They'll send a link to the email address you supply, then you can download the program. This will clean your system from viruses. Run a full scan after you get it and install it.

Next, download AdAware

(If that link doesn't work, start here, click on download - right side 2/3 of the way down. Then click on the Download.com link under AdAware SE Personal. You'll have to click once again at download.com where it says, download now.)

Download AdAware, install it by double clicking on the downloaded program icon and then run a complete scan.

When it's finished, click next. This will show all the items it found. Generally you're safe doing a right click on that page and saying "select all." This will check all the items. Select Finish or Next (can't remember) and it will yank all that cruft out by the roots.

For probably better than 90% of all current problems this does the trick.

To avoid a repeat, download Firefox 1.0PR

Browse the web with Firefox instead of Internet Exploiter. Firefox has many fewer problems.

Finally, if you're still having a time of it, I'd be glad to help via phone or email.

Hope that helps.

Greg

Zoom Zoom

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine

>That's the sound of Dan's and Greg's replies flying over my head. I printed them out so I can muddle thru them tho. ;~) It's tough not understanding computer speak, but I'll get thru it. I appreciate the replies fellas, don't get me wrong or nothing, I just need to cypher them out a bit.

Jack, I don't think you quite understand my question, but I understand your reply. Trust me, in many ways I have "uncluttered" my life and you are right, I don't miss the stuff I trashed, and it most cases I've forgotten what it is that I've trashed. It is truly amazing the amout of stuff that we accumulate that has no purpose in our lives isn't it. Simplicity is the way to go.

Todd O. busily pushing the buttons and twiddling the knobs.

You're right Dan

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine

>I just checked and every program that I closed last night is now open again. :~( O.K., this is getting personell now.

I'm slowly starting to cypher this stuff out, but in the event ya'all don't hear from me for a while you'll know that I blundered.

Here goes nothing.

Todd O.

It all depends on the operating system.

Bruce, a MN galoot

>If you are running win98SE, you can go to START, RUN and type in MSCONFIG. That will take you to a new window. Choose STARTUP and take the check marks out of every box except SCAN REGISTRY, SYSTEM TRAY, LOAD POWER PROFILE. Choose OK at the bottom and when prompted to restart your computer, choose YES. That will remove a bunch of stuff from the startup routine.

Then get Adaware and AVG antivirus software as the other guys suggested. Running AdAware alone will remove an enormous amount of stuff running in the background.

For a really clean operation, save everything you want to keep someplace, like a second physical hard drive, and format and reinstall the operating system.

Bruce

Re: You're right Dan

Mike G.

>Just don't do what I did, LOL. My wife runs WinXP and I had WinME. I thought I could take her XP disk and install it on my computer to "upgrade" it. Big mistake, DAMHIKT.

Lets see... My own XP software...$100.00

Having my computer wiped...$100.00

Finding out my wife's not the "expert" she thinks she is............Priceless.

Mike G.

P.S. The Ad-Ware SE is a good program. You wouldn't believe the junk your computer collects without your knowledge.