Improving sytem performance

[vetman]

Just wanted to know how i cud improve my system performance, more so where it concerns system resources. When i check it, it fluctuates generally (i guess depending on the progs. i run concurrently); peaking at around 41%. Somtimes a window pops up sayin too little resources available to run the prog. Additionally, the close program window shows a number progs running , half of which God only know where they are from.

[jlreich]

How much ram do you have?

And what kind of programs are you running when it says not enough resources?

Did this start recently, all of the sudden, or did it get worse over time?

Have you made any hardware changes, or installed any new programs lately?


My first thought was viruses, spyware/adware, but I see from your other thread, Budfred gave you a clean bill of health. Does your computer still seem to be clean? Budfred is the master, but sometimes these things come back regardless. Is ME completely up to date, all security patches? Did you follow Budfred's advice on staying clean?

There are some things that can be done to tweak performance out of your computer, but lets see your specs first, and then go from there.

[classicsoftware]

Look at your Hijack this log and make a note of all programs that run in the 04 segment. Review them one ata time and make note of those programs that are NOT required to run at startup. You can pick up a lot of resources that way.

DO NOT use HJT to remove them, use MSCONFIG so you can put them back if you need to. Investigate carefully. Once you are sure you want to remove something. enable it with MSCONFIG and either use HJT or edith the registry.

For example a simple Google search for wkfud.exe will show this is not a necessary program. You could eliminate C:\Program Files\Microsoft Works\wkfud.exe from the startup and gain some resources.

Do this for each file and you can hone your system...

[vetman]

thankz alot for the suggestions. With regards to whether my computer is clean: yep it is...No spyware, adware, etc.... I am running on 128 Mb ram and the prob has occured recently and only when i am running a number of progs. concurrently. I havent loaded anything new recently apart from some virus and spyware protection tools as well as a firewall prog. I will however follow the suggestions where it concerns the msconfig and reply on what results..
Thankz again.....

[jlreich]

You can check the startup entries at http://castlecops.com/StartupList.html . That should help to figure out what programs are and are not necessary at startup. :)

[saphalline]

Also, depending on what programs you're trying to run in addition to your AV and firewall, more RAM might help. As long as you've gotten the clean bill of health from Budfred, you have no memory leaks or other resource hogs. My next thoughts then are that you're trying to run too many memory-intensive apps at once.

For instance, with AV and firewall running in the background and with only 128MB of RAM, starting up Photoshop is going to absolutely kill your free resources!! :eek: Now that the software is under control, maybe think about improving your hardware.

[jlreich]

Yes more ram would help. Also if you decide to get more ram, get a can of compressed air, and blow out all the dust while you have the case open.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Some of the things you may find in msconfig may also be toggled with the program itself such as disabling autoupdate checks in the background, your A/V scanning in the background and other processes 'behind the scenes'.

[vetman]

Thankz for the advice... Really appreciate it!
What about disk compression cud that improve performance? And also, i heard that laptops cannot be upgraded on a hardware basis ( especially with regards to increasing RAM), is that true?

[classicsoftware]

I have found disk compression slows things down. RAM is usually upgradable.

[bassman]

Some system specs would help us figure out if RAM is upgradable. Make and Model of your laptop would be a start. Laptops typicaly use a SODIMM module which is accessed via a small removable panel on the bottom of the case. Some require removing the keyboard.

Let us know and we can go from there ;)