Need Advice: What should I disable or remove?

[roadtripboy]

I have an old (2006) desktop that I still use sometimes. It has Windows XP and an AMD Sempron Processor.

I know the processor is slow and it struggles when playing video and some other tasks.

My question is: Are there any programs or processes that I can turn off or unload that would help improve this machine's performance?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Paws]

My question is: Are there any programs or processes that I can turn off or unload that would help improve this machine's performance?

Yes.

For a more detailed answer, be more specific.

 

[roadtripboy]

^Thanks ever so much.

 

[OPHELIA_HARDIN]

Go here and do some homework.

http://www.blackviper.com/sitemap/

 

[looseliam]

I used to get XP down to 15 running processes after startup. You'll also want to check and see what is set to run on startup. You can peak in the registry or run hijackthis to remove unneeded startups. You can post the hijackthis log here if you're unsure what to remove.

Here is a listing of my services and their status. I have the firewall disabled, but you may not want to do so. Read up on each service to determine if disabling it is right for you. I don't play games or anything like that on this laptop but with the service states listed below, I've run into no problems.

http://www.imagehost.cz/images/sy0cirph7nic6nh0433u.jpg

 

[roadtripboy]

I used to get XP down to 15 running processes after startup. You'll also want to check and see what is set to run on startup. You can peak in the registry or run hijackthis to remove unneeded startups. You can post the hijackthis log here if you're unsure what to remove.

Here is a listing of my services and their status. I have the firewall disabled, but you may not want to do so. Read up on each service to determine if disabling it is right for you. I don't play games or anything like that on this laptop but with the service states listed below, I've run into no problems.

http://www.imagehost.cz/images/sy0cirph7nic6nh0433u.jpg

Thanks for the info...I'll check it out.

 

[OPHELIA_HARDIN]

I used to get XP down to 15 running processes after startup. You'll also want to check and see what is set to run on startup.

No way! That's pretty durned good. I should have made notes -- been so long since I did a WinXP install I've forgotten what I disabled. Haven't got around to tweaking Win7 yet -- seems to work okay w/ default settings but I'm sure I disabled some crap in there too.

 

[roadtripboy]

Just info in case it will help someone else.

The problem was Google Chrome...and the way it handles flash video.

To fix: type "aboutlugins", then disable any flash player that is part of Google Chrome, leave only the one that's listed as being on your main drive.

 

[roadtripboy]

Have you ever wondered why people have stopped posting in this forum?

The answer is clear to me...how about the rest of you?

 

[Corny]

First - there were never many people posting here, to begin with.
Second - read the sticky about asking questions the smart way. You asked an unspecific question and the wrong question. You wanted to disable services to speed up your machine, when apparently you only had a problem with flash videos.

Aparts from Paws glorious answer, people actually tried to help you. But given your question, nobody could come up with a universal solution.

And looseliam when quite out of his way to provide you detailed infos.

What more did you expect?

 

[roadtripboy]

I wasn't talking about this post. But, the tech forum in general and to be blunt...the level of snark that lives here.

As for "asking questions in a smart way"...the problem with that is: if people were able to do that they wouldn't need help from this forum.

I'm happy to thank the people who tried to help. But, that doesn't change the overall tone of the tech forum.

 

[borg69unimatrix]

I have an old (2006) desktop that I still use sometimes. It has Windows XP and an AMD Sempron Processor.

I know the processor is slow and it struggles when playing video and some other tasks.

My question is: Are there any programs or processes that I can turn off or unload that would help improve this machine's performance?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Just info in case it will help someone else.

The problem was Google Chrome...and the way it handles flash video.

To fix: type "aboutlugins", then disable any flash player that is part of Google Chrome, leave only the one that's listed as being on your main drive.

I agree with Corny...

Your question and solution is light years apart. There's no way someone here could have put those two together cohesively, and it's not really what was asked. I fully well understand your frustrations with PC's, but it's not our fault we can't help an improper description of the problem.

 

[roadtripboy]

You've missed the point...

As I pointed out, I wasn't commenting on the reaction to my question. But, rather to the general tone of the tech forum.

My question was vague but design. I wanted to see if anyone had any advice on things that would help speed up slower, older computers. My question was typed late at night after a long day. I never expect a big response to it. I came back to post my solution to the video problem in hope that it would help someone else, knowing it didn't relate directly to my first post.

There was a time when the tech forum had several new posts everyday. When you could learn lots of new info just by reading other people's posts. That doesn't happen anymore and it's a shame.

That's it...I'm done explaining. Like me or hate me....I done with this thread.