Windows 7 is a tyrant!

[rotary]

I've been having problems with it as well, but my main problem is speed and CPU usage. As slow as my ancient system was with Win98, I never, ever had to wait 7 minutes for a game (Zoo Tycoon 2) to load.

Win7 is a ram whore. If anyone uses their PC for anything other than email they should have 4 gigs of ram, otherwise it's pretty sloooooow going.

 

[gsdx]

Win7 is a ram whore.

RAM isn't the problem. Currently it's running at 36%.

The CPU, however, is running at 57% and often runs at 100% for several minutes at a time.

 

[Corny]

^ when the cpu is at a high load, do you also hear the HDD working?

 

[gsdx]

^ I never hear that working. Even the CD Rom runs very quietly. I can feel it more than hear it. I'll listen and feel for it tomorrow morning specifically.

It's like loading the game. It starts up okay and I get the little pop-up asking if I want to allow the program to make changes to the system (which I allow) and then I sit back and wait for from 7 to 10 minutes while the CPU shoots to 100% (the gadget 'odometer' is installed which is where I get the figures) and it sits there the whole time until the splash screen finally appears and the CPU drops back to about 53%. Only then does the CD start.

 

[DonQuixote]

Neil,
There's an indicator light of a cylinder to the right of your WIFI lite - if it's lit or blinking on/of, the Hard drive is running.
(Above the End Key over the numeric keypad.)

p.s. And, the system is a Dell Studio 1737 2.0GHz Centrino Dual Core Processor w/ 1MB Cache, 4GB RAM.

 

[gsdx]

^ I always wondered why that thing was flashing. That's easier to watch than trying to hear or feel the hard drive working.

Right now, it's off more than it's on.

 

[Kulindahr]

They changed its name - that's why there's no "system tray", lol. I don't remember its current moniker this morning, however.

Yet another example of how Microslop writes their help software for people who already know how to use the system.

Help software should be written for people who are clueless, and with users of the last three predecessors distinctly in mind.


For example, a good Help program would respond to this:

There are two programs down on the right end of the task bar I don't wnat how do I get them to stop using resources unless I want them?


So... how do I get those programs out of there?????

 

[gsdx]

So... how do I get those programs out of there?????

You should be able to right-click on the icon and find out what it is, and you should also be able to turn it off from there.

 

[Kulindahr]

Usually you can right click on the icon and select open or double click on it to open the program. Check the preferences. There is usually an option to disable it from starting up with Windows.

You should be able to right-click on the icon and find out what it is, and you should also be able to turn it off from there.

YAY!!

You two rock.

 

[DonQuixote]

Kuli,
I was wrong - it IS still called the "taskbar"
I opened help search on start menu - got a help session w/ hyperlink on it.

My issue is finding the items that are loaded at start-up and appear in the lower right corner under the ^.

I can close them with a right-click, but that only closes them for the session.
I just found it while composing this -

"To remove or hide an icon from the notification area
Click the icon in the notification area and then drag it toward the desktop. "

I love our collective self-help forum - with some professional help from Corny!

 

[Kulindahr]

Usually you can right click on the icon and select open or double click on it to open the program. Check the preferences. There is usually an option to disable it from starting up with Windows.

You should be able to right-click on the icon and find out what it is, and you should also be able to turn it off from there.

I celebrated too soon: I did that, but they came back when I booted next.

 

[Kulindahr]

Kuli,
I was wrong - it IS still called the "taskbar"
I opened help search on start menu - got a help session w/ hyperlink on it.

My issue is finding the items that are loaded at start-up and appear in the lower right corner under the ^.

I can close them with a right-click, but that only closes them for the session.
I just found it while composing this -

"To remove or hide an icon from the notification area
Click the icon in the notification area and then drag it toward the desktop. "

I love our collective self-help forum - with some professional help from Corny!

Okay, I tracked that down.

It doesn't do anything at all -- the icons just stay there.

Why doesn't Windows require users to give permission before a program becomes part of start-up???

 

[DonQuixote]

Some programs ask, but not all.
I have to check it out, myself - I had already closed them tonight.

 

[Corny]

I celebrated too soon: I did that, but they came back when I booted next.

that's because you just ended the program, but not stopped it from starting again.

It doesn't do anything at all -- the icons just stay there.

Why doesn't Windows require users to give permission before a program becomes part of start-up???

windows asks you for permission if a program may modify your system. when you say yes, it can do almost anything. so do not install programs that don't ask you or that you don't want to have

however it is right that an easy overview of which program is loaded at bootup is missing. well that's not entirely correct because there is a tool for that but it is not linked anywhere.
click the windows icon and in the search box enter "msconfig" (sans quotes) and remove the programs that you do not want to have.

be fucking careful if you don't know what it is, touch it. BE EXTRA CAREFUL if you are touching the services.

microsoft bought one of the best companies that writes tools for windows some time ago, sysinternals. they also offer a tool which gives you even more control over what gets loaded at startup:

http://technet.microsoft.com/de-de/sysinternals/bb963902(en-us).aspx

i can only emphasize it again .. be fucking careful i'm not taking any responsibility if you fuck your system up because you decide that you don't need com+ or so.

 

[D-Base]

I've been nothing but in love with win 7. Been using it half an year now and it's the best OS ever. It updates itself like a charm, it's so easy to work with, it's beautiful... installed in 15 minutes, found all it's necessary drivers... never had a bsod. Never had a crash. I love readyboost. The new taskbar is awesome, jumplists are very useful.

 

[Kulindahr]

however it is right that an easy overview of which program is loaded at bootup is missing. well that's not entirely correct because there is a tool for that but it is not linked anywhere.
click the windows icon and in the search box enter "msconfig" (sans quotes) and remove the programs that you do not want to have.

be fucking careful if you don't know what it is, touch it. BE EXTRA CAREFUL if you are touching the services.

microsoft bought one of the best companies that writes tools for windows some time ago, sysinternals. they also offer a tool which gives you even more control over what gets loaded at startup:

http://technet.microsoft.com/de-de/sysinternals/bb963902(en-us).aspx

Is it going to do like XP did and chastise me at every boot-up for messing with the system start-up?

 

[Kulindahr]

Okay, I took off Veoh Video Player, Realplayer, and two Corel Photoshop 6 entries.

None of those were on here to begin with, so they can hardly be essential.


Now, do I really need Adobe Acrobat loading every time?

 

[gsdx]

Now, do I really need Adobe Acrobat loading every time?

I was wondering that, too. It's not like I use it every day. If it pops up once a week I'm lucky. Othewise, it's just sitting in the RAM taking up space.

 

[Kulindahr]

You don't need Acrobat to run when your computer boots. Any non-essential programs can be disabled without adversely affecting your system.

Do I presume correctly that it will step up when I need it?

 

[Kulindahr]

Now that those are gone....


I still have that annoying Yahoo search thing on Firefox. I didn't ask for it, I don't want it -- am I going to have to search for Yahoo entries in the registry to kill it?