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DEL.ICIO.USA Spring cleaning for Windows
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Question: I bought a new computer about a year ago, and it seems to have gotten a lot slower. Does this always happen? What should I do? — Bob W., Atlanta.
Answer: The problem is probably fat, and, if so, it’s time you put your computer on a software diet.
After a year of regular use, the chances are you have installed too many programs that start up automatically when you reboot and eat up memory and CPU time.
A new computer is a lean, clean machine … and runs fast.
But once you load it down with Quicktime, Real Media Player, Yahoo Messenger, Napster, WinAmp and whatever else you’ve stumbled across on the Internet, things are going to move slower than Oprah Winfrey taking a stroll up Stone Mountain. These pesky programs are usually, but not always, listed as icons in the system tray, which is the area just left of the computer clock on your desktop.
The first thing I generally do to speed a slowed machine is limit the number of programs that automatically start up when you reboot.
First, let’s see how many programs are running in the background. To do this we will use a utility called Task Manager. If you press the “control,” “alt,” and “delete” keys on your keyboard, it will pop up.
Click the “processes” tab and it will list the programs running in the background and consuming memory and CPU time. If you have more than 25 or so “running processes,” you have too many.
The easiest way to lighten the load is to use the Microsoft System Configuration Utility, which is built into Windows 98, 98SE, ME, and XP.
GEEK NOTE: If you are running Windows 95, NT or 2000, you can download the free Startup Control Panel or the Window XP version of Task Manager. If you download Task Manager, save it to the c:\winnt\system32 folder. You may get some error messages when using Task Manager with NT, feel free to ignore them, it will work fine.
Task Manager is designed to help troubleshoot problems with your computer, but can also be used to stop programs from automatically starting whenever you reboot.
To use it, click the START button in the lower left hand corner of your desktop, then click RUN. When the box pops up, type “msconfig” and hit return.
Don’t click things willy-nilly. Bad things will happen.
Instead, go to the “startup” tab, which is the last one. This lists every remora-like program that has attached itself to your computer.
De-select EVERYTHING listed except your anti-virus program.
Click OK, and then, when the computer asks if you want to restart, click YES.
Your computer will restart and you will get an annoying message that says something like “You have chosen to make your computer run better.” Check the box that says “Do not show this again.”
Now, go back to the Task Manager and see how many running processes you have. You should have 20 or so.
Voila! Your computer should be running a lot faster.
Now, it there are some programs you just cannot live without, go back and select them from the list using msconfig. Geekboy only allows an anti-virus program and audio control to auto-boot, you would be wise to do the same.
What if this does not make the computer run faster? Then you have a different problem, my best guess would be a virus or adware that is not detected by msconfig. Run a complete scan with an up-to-date anti-virus program, or use an online scanner like Trend Micro’s excellent Housecall. If that doesn’t work, consider adding more memory, which is the cheapest bang for the buck. If you are running Windows XP, I suggest at least 512 megabytes of memory.
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By Bev
April 4, 2006 10:12 AM | Link to this
My computer developed a virus that my antinorton virus eliminated, but an anti spyware wall paper has shown up on my computer that will not go away. Also, an error box pops up occassionally (cannot remember what it says). The computer runs fine and I am able to work in my different programs. How do I eliminate this spyware wallpaper? I do not have antispyware installed on this computer.