First
you have to determine if you are infected or not. If your computer is slow, chances are that
you have a virus, especially if your computer slows down when you connect on to
Internet. If the quality of your dial-up
connection is low, it can be extremely frustrating. So the first thing you should do is verify
you are not infected.
Proceed
to:
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm
It�s
a FREE APP (as of 25th of July 2004) that scans your computer for
viruses, usually up to date. Or use an
antivirus app.
Once
you determined that your system is free of viruses you can proceed to speed it up.
This
is done by checking processes currently running on your computer. You can safely access the list of current
processes by right clicking on the taskbar and choose �Task Manger�, where you
will find a tab named Processes. This tab displays all active processes in you
computer and are specific for each particular software installation.
Windows
has many routines that run simultaneously; some that are important some aren�t.
Essential
processes are (you shouldn�t terminate these or may not be allowed to kill
them):
Csrss.exe Client/Server Runtime Server Subsystem
handles Windows and graphics functions for all subsystems.
Ctfmon.exe Monitors the active windows &
provides text input service support for speech recognition & other
alternative user input technologies.
Explorer.exe This is the user shell, which we see as
the familiar taskbar, desktop, and so on.
Dllhost.exe COM+ hosting process controls processes
in the Internet Information Services, used by many applications. There can be
multiple instances of DLLhost.exe.
Internat.exe Loads the language icon (EN/ES) into the
system tray, allowing the user to switch between locales.
Locator.exe RPC Locator, Background task that runs on
Windows NT 4, 2000, and XP platforms, and maintains the database of currently
publicly-declared procedures.
Lsass.exe Local Security Authentication Server
verifies validity of user logons to your PC/Server.
Services.exe Windows Service Manager is responsible for
running, ending, and interacting with system services.
Smss.exe Session Manager Subsystem starts,
manages & deletes user sessions or client sessions under Terminal Server.
Spoolsv.exe Printer Spool Service is responsible for
managing spooled print/fax jobs.
Svhost.exe Service Host Process is an integral part
of Windows OS. It cannot be stopped or restarted manually. It manages 32-bit
DLLs and other services. Multiple instances possible.
System.exe Main Windows process.
Taskmgr.exe Windows Task Manager displays all processes
running on the system. The application is activated by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del
Winlogon.exe Windows Logon Process utility that manages
user logons and logoffs.
Other
common processes are (you can terminate these if you aren�t using them):
Realsched.exe RealNetworks
Scheduler program for RealOne player that prompts for
update.
HotTray.exe MSN services.
IEPLORE.EXE Internet Explorer.
Snmp.exe Windows Simple Network Managment Protocol (SNMP) agent, a proxy that listens for
requests and hands them off to the appropriate network provider.
Alg.exe Application Layer Gateway Service
part of Internet Connection Sharing application & Internet Connection
Firewall. Provides support for third party protocol plug-ins.
Annoying
processes is:
Cisvc.exe Microsoft Index Service Helper service
starts cdiaemon.exe if it uses over 40MB can take up a lot of cpu time
Cidaemon.exe Microsoft Indexing Serice
runs in the background, catalogs files so that you can search for files
containing a specific text string.
MDM.EXE Machine Debug Manager it�s the one that
causes annoying pop ups when you try to access certain HTML pages. KILL IT it slows
your computer down a lot!!!
WISPTIS.EXE Windows Ink Services Platform Tablet Input
Subsystem. It is a pen input device tool for Microsoft Tablet PC Platform.
You
shall find other processes in your computer as well, its easy to recognize if
it�s needed or not. Generally the name
hints its use.
For
example, if you use yahoo pager, you shall find YPager.exe in the process list.
You
can kill or terminate any process by clicking & highlighting it, then click on the
button �End Process� that appears on the bottom right of the dialog (kill
process).
Of
course there are also other processes that are hard to determine what they are.
For example Slssvc.exe is and HMI Intouch
application. When in doubt, use any
search page to determine what a certain process is.
Once
you get rid of all unnecessary processes you will probably find that your
computer�s response is faster, and that you can perform tasks in less
time.
Next
time you turn on your computer, all tasks that start up automatically will be
activated again. To avoid this, you need
to modify other areas of Windows XP, using the �services.msc�
utility.
If
all of this doesn�t help, you have a few other options:
- Get
more RAM, RAM improves performance.
- Upgrade
your computer with a better processor or a new system.
- Forget
it, its too complicated; leave things as they are now.