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Trimming down a less than reliable XP system


speedemon86

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Ref "Cleaning the guts of the PC" - yes, but warning! beware getting crap into the pinhole airhole in the HDD, crap on the CD/DVD lens, and crap in the floppy. Otherwise, yep...

Ref "Sending important stuff to free account" - best bet is Gmail due to larger file size limitation (20mb total per message) and mailbox size. Much larger than any other free account I've found. Check it out; I have RoadRunner, and dang if the limitations are low! Also check the other "free accounts"; also rather low.

Yep, cleaning the bugger is all fine, but a clean install is best (getting all drivers and re-installl software of course). Been 3 years for me and about due...

Peace and a bowl of Cheerios to ya!

Edited by submix8c
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I don't see the big deal with disabling services. I disabled a few here. I disabled several when I installed 2k on my home box in June of 07. Not a single problem, so... *shrug*

Well, it's pretty much done at this point. I just need to ensure that automatic system restore point is turned off, replace adobe with foxit, and... ah, immunize with spybot. That's really about it. After getting rid of Norton and nuking the trojans that were found by superantispyware/avg, the system runs fine. It's not perfect, which is what I compulsively aim for (I did it at home, dammit!), but it's feasible. They're happy, so I'm happy. Now for some more sake!

I will, however, ensure that this thread is etched in my gmail account because one of these days I'll build a new machine and install XP on that sucker, heh.

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Sure, you might be alright with disabling a few here and there, but when it comes to new programs, they might call on that service that you turned from Automatic to Disabled.

Imagine that you "fix" a friend's computer for them by defragging the hard drive, uninstalling Norton, and disabling a few services. Then they go and buy an iPod and start using iTunes. They might run into problems updating their iPod firmware.

There's little to no reason to disable services. Idle services don't use any memory or CPU time, and disabling them can lead to problems.

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Well put. I'd strongly advise against itunes on windows anyway :whistle:

Also: change of plans. It seemed alright, but time and use revealed otherwise. Three random reboots in the past hour or so. They have an IT guy that helps them out from time to time, I'm going to hopefully put my head together with his and get every last bit sorted out before I head home on Friday.

... I wish I was home :\

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keeping your CPU running at a much hotter temp than it should be - there by slowing down it's performance

Can't hurt to gently clean the fans and cooler, giving the whole system longer life expectancy, but I think PIIIs just shut down when too hot. No "hotter=slower". Just keeping it real.

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Can't hurt to gently clean the fans and cooler, giving the whole system longer life expectancy, but I think PIIIs just shut down when too hot. No "hotter=slower". Just keeping it real.

The later PIIIs don't shut down when they overheat, they throttle aka run slower.

Edited by Th3_uN1Qu3
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It might be unpopular to suggest here, but on a 700mhz celeron 192mb pc133 i810, you'll find Puppy Linux stable, and good against malware. I did however notice you had DirectX 9.0c which might indicate you're using it for gaming.

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It might be unpopular to suggest here, but on a 700mhz celeron 192mb pc133 i810, you'll find Puppy Linux stable, and good against malware. I did however notice you had DirectX 9.0c which might indicate you're using it for gaming.

9.0c is included in XP SP3 if i remember right...

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9.0c is included in XP SP3 if i remember right...

Included in SP2. Many updates have followed but the name is still 9.0c

As for the throttle it seems that one doesn't and there is not much 'later PIIIs', I searched before posting but I might be wrong ;) .

It might be unpopular to suggest here, but on a 700mhz celeron 192mb pc133 i810, you'll find Puppy Linux stable, and good against malware. I did however notice you had DirectX 9.0c which might indicate you're using it for gaming.

What you didn't notice is that the 700MHz was an other PC. :angel

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It might be unpopular to suggest here, but on a 700mhz celeron 192mb pc133 i810, you'll find Puppy Linux stable, and good against malware. I did however notice you had DirectX 9.0c which might indicate you're using it for gaming.

What you didn't notice is that the 700MHz was an other PC. :angel

And that I run 2k on that box, which I am more than happy with! :)

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Ladies & Germs,

I agreed with most of your comments until I got to the comments "debunking" the disabling of system services. Some of you folks have a lot to learn...

Ummm, can you explain how it's not possible to reduce your system memory usage and CPU cycles and not gain performance? Computers 101:

Any running process on your system is consuming memory and CPU cycles -- which is that much less available to anything else running on your system at any given time. You want to reduce the overall overhead, no? Running these little leeches 24/7 comes at a price -- you don't get something for nothing in this world.

System Memory and CPU Cycles are at the very heart of this matter - and his Uncle's system is quite weak in both areas - by today's standards - or yester-year's standards - or most standards - and he really cannot do anything about it - and he needed some help.

It seems we have another situation of a few people post before they even read the first post of the topic.

Measures such as "Tweaking" and "Slimming Down" and "Additional Security" and everything else I suggested will put him in a great starting position to either re-install the entire system or try to fix was broken without reinstalling - to reduce the overhead on the overall system, Ram, registry, etc.

Of course disabling services doesn't apply to "essential" Windows services -- that's why they're called ESSENTIAL. But with respect to services that are "covertly" installed by various software packages (usually just to help them launch faster) -- there are few reasons not to eliminate them.

Sure, an individual service running on today's modern, desktop PC leaves a very small footprint, but multiply that by a couple of dozen and you've potentially got a significant performance drain. Just like all the devices in your home that constantly draw low electrical current to run clocks or recharge batteries -- they eventually all add up. Do you like the size of your electric bill these days?

Oh, and by the way, if you read the very first post - his Uncle doesn't have a modern, desktop PC.

You've hit a nerve here, because software that "secretly" installs system services is one of my biggest computing gripes. Do you really want a rogue process by Adobe or Apple to be executing on your CPU 100% of the time when you only use darn Acrobat Reader less than 5% of the time? I don't.

PLEASE tell me that his Uncle's system NEEDS any of the following services:

Wireless Zero Configuration

Wired AutoConfig

Windows Time

Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service

Windows CardSpace

Uninterruptible Power Supply

Themes - If he doesn't use Visual Styles

Terminal Services

SSDP Discovery Service

Smart Card

Security Center - If he installs Comodo

Secondary Logon

Routing and Remote Access

Remote Desktop Help Session Manager

QoS RSVP

Portable Media Serial Number Service

Performance Logs and Alerts

Network DDE DSDM

Network DDE

Network Access Protection Agent

NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing

Indexing Service

Human Interface Device Access

Health Key and Certificate Management Service

Fast User Switching Compatibility

Extensible Authentication Protocol Service

Error Reporting Service

DNS Client - Especially if he uses a Host File - then he should use OpenDNS

ClipBook

There are a few others, but they were uninstalled when I cleaned up my Local Area Connections / Network Components: Server, Workstation, WebClient, Remote Registry, RPC Locator Service, Messenger Service, etc.

Feeling a bit silly?

I have a extremely modern, desktop PC and I have less than 15 Micro$oft services running at any given time with no error codes listed in the Event Viewer. Have any of you folks heard of the setting: "Manual"?

Sorry, but you lost all credibility when you tried to "debunk" disabling services...

Ladies and Germs, I've been doing this since the 286, Windows 3.11, "green screens", modems that had to be wheeled in with a dolly, and first-generation dot-matrix printers. This isn't my first rodeo...

It seems in this situation, all that I suggested is exactly what the Doctor ordered.

Funny, some of you still cannot diagnose his Ram correctly!

Rewards? I tell you something about rewards: I have a small but successful business in which I do home computer consulting & repair services for the average Joe - a kinda "poor man's" Geek Squad.

Typically, the kind/type of customer who comes into my shop has problems or issues that are something along these lines:

"Hi, I'm 45+ years old and I purchase this OEM computer 5-7 years ago and it's running like garbage. I cannot afford to purchase a brand-new desktop PC that will run Vista correctly because I would have to take out a second mortgage on my home or sell my children into slavery - can you help me out?"

Sound a bit familiar? If it don't, I would suggest re-reading the first post. If you cannot understand the data listed in the reports of the first post - try learning.

Because we are in the "back to school" time of the year - things around here for the past two weeks have been a bit slow. It will pick up in a few weeks once everyone gets settled down with their classes and they need to write their first report and their computer crashes.

It was either help out Speedemon86 to the best of my ability or close shop early and go home where my olé lady can put me to work doing "something" around the house that "needs to be done"...

"Rewards" are in the eye of the beholder.

"Rewards" are worth "two cents" and "a bowl of -honey-nut- Cheerios"!

poolsharkzz

Edited by Poolsharkzz
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Poolsharkzz, some of the services you listed are Vista services, and he runs XP. You'll want to fix that.

Agreed on all the rest, and you can have a XP computer with internet functionality AND themes with just 11 processes running. I've done it several times.

Edited by Th3_uN1Qu3
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I'm running XP Home SP3 fully updated - would you like to see a screen shot of my services page?

Yes, a few of the services listed (3?) are "shared" with Vista, or should "only be" for Vista, but are indeed a part of SP3. These were ported back for XP.

I'm sure you will want to fix that.

poolsharkzz

Edited by Poolsharkzz
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Ummm, can you explain how it's not possible to reduce your system memory usage and CPU cycles and not gain performance? Computers 101:

Any running process on your system is consuming memory and CPU cycles -- which is that much less available to anything else running on your system at any given time. You want to reduce the overall overhead, no? Running these little leeches 24/7 comes at a price -- you don't get something for nothing in this world.

System Memory and CPU Cycles are at the very heart of this matter - and his Uncle's system is quite weak in both areas - by today's standards - or yester-year's standards - or most standards - and he really cannot do anything about it - and he needed some help.

I would agree that threads that are in the RUNNING or READY TO RUN states would be consuming and queued to consume CPU cycles respectively, but a process in the "Running" state does not mean it is consuming CPU time.

A process can be seen as a "container" for threads, which actually execute on processors.

A thread in the WAIT state will not be scheduled for execution - it is an indication that it is waiting for something else to occur before its state is changed and it is poked to continue execution.

So unused, passive processes (such as a lot of services) don't waste CPU cycles.

As for memory consumed, Windows is a virtual memory-based OS and if a process consumes physical RAM and does not use it then over time it will be paged to disk (to the page file) and have a tiny footprint (working set).

Checking the CPU usage and working sets of processes shortly after a boot is not a good way to measure them.

By all means disable services that you know you do not need (WZC on systems with no wireless or 802.1x requirements), but be wary of disabling anything & everything - you don't necessarily know what the system itself, or future products you come to install, require.

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I've found that having many unused services set to manual (or if definitely not required - disabled) generally increases boot times. Sometimes dramatically, especially with older machines.

I must admit though I have had minor issues with some services set to manual, but not starting when required (sorry don't recall which off the top of my head). If its your own system all well and good, but with someone else's, unless they understand what you've done and how to undo it if required, I believe its best to er on the side of caution. Still, Blackviper's guide is pretty foolproof from my experience.

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