HP system resources

[joness]

My brother-in-law just purchased a Hewlett-Packard computer
with a 733MHz proc and 64MB of RAM. His system ran really
slow right out of the box. When I told him to check system
resources, he said it only had 44% free. Could this be the
cause of his problems. He said there were no device
conflicts. I haven't seen the computer but I'm guessing
that it has shared memory. How would he optimize those
settings? Would updating any drivers help? Could he have
too many tsrs? He said his task bar is pretty full. His
computer has Windows ME. Any suggestions?


[This message has been edited by joness (edited 03-01-2001).]

[mjc]

44% free YEP it'll be slow.

WindowsME YEP it'll be slow.

First off tell him to uninstall BackWeb (about10%) and then shut down the RealPlayer tray icon (open RealPlayer -> View -> Preferences) and shut down the HP internet center. Then post back with what the resources are up to and I'll try to remember other HP specific things to shut down, I shut all mine down so long ago I can't remember all of them (HP6630 with 94% free at boot and 8 programs running in the background). Works calendar reminders is another good one to pitch out. Also <ctrl>-<alt>-<del> once to see what else is running in the background.

------------------
mjc
To ME or NOT to ME....

[Paleo Pete]

Also remove Fast Find from the Start Up folder, cut back the video resolution a notch, and try it without backgrounds, wallpaper and a ton of icons on the desktop. You'd be surprised at the difference it makes when the system doesn't have to redraw all those pictures 60-72 times a second.

With and HP I can almost guarantee it's running tons of garbage in the background. Depending on which virus scanner it uses check those settings too, anything more than the basic system check will slow it down considerably, and just that has an affect, but it's best not to run without it. He can always make sure he checks anything downloaded before opening, and turn on the email scan only when needed, etc.

------------------
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines!
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[Randy_tx]

Hopefully he bought it cheap enough to afford more Ram (another 64 MB) which would at least compensate a bit for the slowness of Win Me !

------------------
"As hard as a rock & dumb as a brick"...Windows CEMeNT

[mjc]

Here is the "semi-official" list from HP of things you can do without:

Things to leave on:
Vshwin32.exe- virus scan (primary antivirus)

VSEcomexe--- Virus scan (primary antivirus)

Keyboard manager-allows functionality of the special keyboard buttons and volume control.

Direct CD-CDRW software (If applicable)

Easy CD Creator-CDRW software (If applicable)

Primax 3d Mouse-For scroll mouse (only leave if the system has a scroll wheel mouse)(my comment:most wheel mouse software can be accessed through the control panel so a background tray-based settings manager is not needed)

USBMMKBD-For the USB keyboard and mouse (only leave if the system came with USB keyboard and mouse.)

HID serv -For the USB keyboard and mouse (only leave if the system came with USB keyboard and mouse.)

Load Power Profiles-Non-essential if not using power management (if standby mode is used, leave these checked).

6. Below is a list of NON-ESSENTIAL items that can safely be UNCHECKED to prevent these items from loading at Start-up.

Task bar display controls-This allows control of resolution from the desktop (icon in lower right)

Reminder-For reminding about bills, etc (Financial Software)(if you use this feature then do not uncheck it)

Task Monitor-Monitors program usage in order to create a "Top 50" list of programs to be sorted during a defrag

ATICwd32-Provides System Tray access to common display functions on ATI Rage Pro video cards.

ATItask-Provides System Tray access to common display functions on ATI Rage Pro video cards.

ATIKey-More ATI features

HPScanpatch-A patch for use with certain types of scanners (5100c)

EAPCIsetup-For the sound card

Hpsysdrv-Keeps track of recoveries

Scheduling Agent-the agent that auto runs scandisk, defrag, and other tasks

TweakLco-For HP Icons
AOL Tray-icon in the system tray for AOL

MS Works calendar reminder-for the MS Works calendar

HP Registration-You are already registered

Encompass-Java browser

VSEcomr.exe-Virus scan

Imgicon-Iomega utility that displays the ZIP drive icon in Windows Explorer

WebscanX-McAfee Web Scan Internet Filter

As you can see HP does have alot running and some of it is redundant.
------------------
mjc
To ME or NOT to ME....

[This message has been edited by mjc (edited 03-02-2001).]