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Just got new computer...

Y

YoungGun21

Platinum Member
Ok I have Windows XP MCE 05 (if that matters)... well I just got this computer and I noticed that at start-up I have 50+ processes running. Among all of these I have 7 svchost.exe running. On my old computer I had one svchost.exe running. (I only know that cuz I always wondered what that was)

I am wanting to know what processes are ok to shut down or maybe you can show me a program that will let me know atleast what all of them are so I can make the decision on my own whether I need it running or not.

Hoping to get down to 30 or so...
 
run > services.msc and disable all the ones you don't want running.

Also you can look down in the right corner of your screen and disable programs that start up automatically which can help.

Otherwise, if you got your pc from a company like HP or Dell, they probably installed a bunch of junk on your pc for you... if I were you, I would do a clean install of XP so you can choose what to put only what you want on your system.
 
Originally posted by: plastick
run > services.msc and disable all the ones you don't want running.

Otherwise, if you got your pc from a company like HP or Dell, they probably installed a bunch of junk on your pc for you... if I were you, I would do a clean install of XP so you can choose what to put only what you want on your system.
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Generally speaking "disable all the ones you don't want" isn't a great idea. Most of the services are usually transparent and provide more good then harm. As long as processor usage is around idle who cares if it's running 50 processes (especially if you run Vista)?

Although I do agree that you should reinstall to get the vendor crap off of it.
 
Generally speaking "disable all the ones you don't want" isn't a great idea
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That's being kind 🙂 It's a terrible idea, since "the ones you don't want" are often times "ones that will make break your system if disabled"
 
You could start by going through Add/Remove Programs and uninstalling everything you don't see yourself needing.

One way to check what's running, and what runs at startup, would be to install Windows Defender and use the Software Explorer feature. Also, log on as an Admin and look in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup.

Also, if you got the computer from a previous owner as-is, check it for malware with some online antivirus scanners too.
 
Can also run Start > Run > msconfig

The last tab is called startup and will list all the programs that are loading as windows does. There is also a view for the services with with a check box which allows you to view non M$ services as the other guys say above becareful what you remove and I suggest that you make a restore point before you do anything.
 
Originally posted by: Nothinman
Hoping to get down to 30 or so...
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And you came to the number 30 as being good, how?
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Seems alot more reasonable than 60.

Also, I know how to disable them. I just open msconfig and disable them. But I don't know what all is running.

I guess what I'm saying is I want to know what all of the processes running are. That way I know which ones I can disable and which ones I can't.

 
Your best bet is to wipe the harddrive and reinstall XP. Did you get an XP disc with the computer. Really, disabling services and processes is a bad idea. They are all their for a reason, and even if they seem unnecessary, you are going to have software that you do want to use that is going to expect those things to be running.

Granted, it is true that vendors install a lot of cr@p on their PCs (Why vendors? WHY MUST YOU TORMENT US SO?!?). If you don't want to do a re-install, then go to add/remove programs. Basically, a fresh XP install will have nothing in add/remove programs, so pretty much anything in there, that isn't a program you want to use, can be pretty safely done away with.
 
My page file usage is somewhere around 400mb. I would like it to be way less. Is that reasonable?
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Considering that you probably got those numbers from taskmgr and taskmgr isn't a reliable gauge for pagefile usage, no.
 
Originally posted by: Nothinman
My page file usage is somewhere around 400mb. I would like it to be way less. Is that reasonable?
Click to expand...

Considering that you probably got those numbers from taskmgr and taskmgr isn't a reliable gauge for pagefile usage, no.
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So what IS a reliable gauge, Noth? 😀
 
So what IS a reliable gauge, Noth?
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In Windows I'm not 100% sure but I do believe that perfmon is a lot more accurate than taskmgr. I'm still baffled as to why MS decided to rename the Commit Charge graph in taskmgr to PF Usage in XP, all it does is confuse people and make them think things are worse than they really are.
 
Originally posted by: Nothinman
Seems alot more reasonable than 60.
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But why is 60 unreasonable?
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60 is fine if you *need* them 🙂

I have Azureus, 2 Firefox, Winamp, AV running on my OEM XP Home Sp2 install on this work box, and only 26 processes going. Silky smooth, and this is only an old NW 2.4.
 
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