Hello again!

I've been working on my parents computer for some time now, actually researching. After trying to help myself for awhile I thought I'd come to see the experts ;-)

Anyways. I've noticed how slow my computer is, in my task manager is full of processes i dont recognize. I've got stuff in my registry i know too that doesn't belong and im unsure how to remove them. Any ideas?

Go to start Run... msconfig | Startup

Uncheck all the boxes save your AV and Firewall.

On reboot you will be told you are in diagnostic mode. Just say yes don't tell me again.

As to registry cleaning:


The Registry is constantly changing as you use your computer. Many temporary settings are recorded so having a recurrence of errors is not uncommon. Rather it is common. Unused file extensions or MRU entries will always recur.

That being said: the first time that you ever use a cleaner you will probably get several hundred hits.

If you cleanup regularly you will always find some.

Cleaners vary on how deep they dig.

I use this freeware which is a moderate digger:

RegSeeker

A deep digger is jv 16 PowerTools

The current version needs to be purchased but you can still get the old freeware version here:

http://www.oldversion.com/program.php?n=jv16

Before using any cleaner you should back up your registry.

ERUNT is a great free tool for that:

[ERUNT] Registry Backup and Restore for Windows
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/


[ERUNT Download URLs]
http://www.aumha.org/downloads/erunt.zip
http://www.aumha.org/downloads/erunt-setup.exe


[Installing & Using ERUNT]
http://www.winxptutor.com/regback.htm
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_eruntuse.html
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-on...runt/erunt.txt


Hope this helps.

Wow Jephree! Quick response! I will be sure to look into all of this, and try what you said. Thanks a ton.

What do you mean by "AV" ?

Anti Virus program.

I have McAfee, but I dont see it anywhere in my startup.

If it is not listed in msconfig then it was most likely pre-installed and hidden.

So no problem unless it becomes a problem.

Under msconfig you can also go to Services and with "Hide All Microsoft Services" checked you can uncheck the remaining services.

I did what you said, but I didnt "Hide All Microsoft Services". This is what my task manager looked like:

SVCHOST are generic Service Hosts. Generally XP runs a bout a half dozen of these.

One of yours is running your CPU @ 88%.

First off right click that line and End Process.

See if this affects anything and also see if it disables some program noticeably.

good idea, but when i logged on today that SVCHost wasen't there. now I've got a "System Idle Process" at 92% but when I try to end it it says the operation is not valid for this process.

My activity light on my computer has been on the entire time since I've turned my computer on today. So I know SOMETHING has to be draining my resources. I tried shutting down a SVCHost that took up 37,644k of my mem usage. No change, light still on though.

I've had a hard time getting my IExplorer to work too, its been (NOT RESPONDING) me to death. It was a huge chore to log onto D-A-L.com or any website for that matter too.

System Idle Process should be high. It is the inverse of CPU usage. If you are 92% Idle then your total CPU usage is 8%. In general the System Idle should be over 95% when you are doing nothing. On a good running system it should be 99%. Again when you are doing nothing and no programs open.

I would suggest running a HijackThis log by our Pros over in that section.

If they give you an all clear come back to this thread and we can look further.



Please read THIS and after completing the steps outlined post a HijackThis log over in that section along with a brief description of your problem.

Do not post HijackThis logs in this section please.