System resources low

[Ice_Cube]

****WARNING LONG POST!****

ok, I admit to having low RAM (192 Mb) but that ran the machine well ages ago. But now, it stuggles to open a couple of applications. So I am assuming this is not directly linked to a lack of RAM.

I would like to know what programs I need running in the background and what I don't need. E.G. what can I get rid of in "msconfig" here is a list of background progs that are running at the moment, I get these by using Help and Support:

ctnotify.exe  c:program filescreativesharedllctnotify.exe  

[checks for CD's?]

ddhelp.exe  c:windowssystemddhelp.exe

[help and support?(I have it running at the mo)]

explorer.exe  c:windowsexplorer.exe  

[lol, I might need this one ;))

fpdialer.exe  c:program filesnetgearfirstgearfpdialer.exe  

[linked to my network? I use firstgear]

helpctr.exe  c:windowspchealthhelpctrbinarieshelpctr.exe

[no idea]

 

iexplore.exe  c:program filesinternet exploreriexplore.exe

[internet explorer]

kernel32.dll  c:windowssystemkernel32.dll  0xffef22b9

kernel32.dll  c:windowssystemkernel32.dll  0xfffff4d9  

kernel32.dll  c:windowssystemkernel32.dll  0xfffde041

[3 open at once? Is that ok?]

loadqm.exe  c:windowsloadqm.exe  0xfffa81f9

[related to MSN messenger. But what it does is a mystery......]

 

lvcoms.exe  c:windowssystemlvcoms.exe

[no idea]

 

mediadet.exe  c:program filescreativesharedllmediadet.exe

[no idea]

minilog.exe  c:windowssystemzonelabsminilog.exe  

[no idea]

mprexe.exe  c:windowssystemmprexe.exe

[no idea]

msnmsgr.exe  c:program filesmsn messengermsnmsgr.exe

[MSN messenger v.6.0]

mstask.exe  c:windowssystemmstask.exe

[no idea]

navapw32.exe  c:program filesnorton antivirusnavapw32.exe

[NAV related?]

rnaapp.exe  c:windowssystemrnaapp.exe

[no idea]

rsdhcp.exe  c:program filesnetgearfirstgearrsdhcp.exe

[again, I think this is related to my network]

rundll32.exe  c:windowsrundll32.exe

[no idea]

spool32.exe  c:windowssystemspool32.exe  

[no idea]

ssdpsrv.exe  c:windowssystemssdpsrv.exe  

[no idea]

stimon.exe  c:windowssystemstimon.exe  

[no idea]

stmgr.exe  c:windowssystemrestorestmgr.exe  

[system restore?]

systray.exe  c:windowssystemsystray.exe

[lol, might need this one too ;))

tapisrv.exe  c:windowssystemtapisrv.exe

[no idea]

vsmon.exe  c:windowssystemzonelabsvsmon.exe

[no idea]

winmgmt.exe  c:windowssystemwbemwinmgmt.exe

[no idea]

wmencagt.exe  c:program fileswindows media

[no idea, but I am suspicious of this one]

wmiexe.exe  c:windowssystemwmiexe.exe  

[no idea]

wordpad.exe  c:program filesaccessorieswordpad.exe  

[wordpad]

zonealarm.exe  c:program fileszone labszonealarmzonealarm.exe

[zonealarm, my firewall]

The actual programs that are running are "Help and Support" "Word pad" and "Internet Explorer".

I came across something that worried me, I went into my performance tab and I found that I was running with "47% of my system resources free"

This is very low. There is no way that 3 windows open (not RAM eating application) could cause this drain.

My thoery, there is some program that I open that still leaves itself in the RAM even after I restart. What do you think?  

[gryphon]

Are you using WinXP or Win98 ?

[ guessing Win98 ]

There is nothing in your RAM when you reboot. ..did you have a look at the resources just after you log into Windows or after using it for a while ?

[Ice_Cube]

Windows ME :D

I looked at it while I was creating this thread which was pretty much straight after a re-boot.

EDIT: would any of these programs help?

http://www.webattack.com/Freeware/system/fwmemory.shtml

[Ice_Cube]

Ok, I discovered some interresting information. I optimise my RAM using a utility to 65%. Then I open adobe photoshop and it goes down to 35%, which is fair enough, it is a big graphics design utility. So then I close the program........

It only goes back up to 45%. Somehow, adobe is leaving stuff in my memory, so after a while the system grinds to a halt. Is this normal or something you have to put up with?

I also looked at purchasing some RAM. I realise that the right RAM is important so I looked at what I already had and I have:

"non-ECC PC133 SDRAM"

so I looked on some sites, would this be ok?

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3Jldmlld3M=&product_uid=21610

[Andrew]

When was the last time you formatted your computer?

Do you often install/uninstall programs/games?

How big is your hard drive and is it full?

Do you regularly defragment your hard drive?

Formatting computer will make it go faster, much faster.

When you say you got a program to clean out the ram, its hard to keep the ram free, and is normal for the free ram to be lower after closing a program.

Programs you probably dont need:

msnmsgr.exe c:program filesmsn messengermsnmsgr.exe

[MSN messenger v.6.0]

wordpad.exe c:program filesaccessorieswordpad.exe

[wordpad]

I have no idea why wordpad would open ??? (nevermind)

I came across something that worried me, I went into my performance tab and I found that I was running with "47% of my system resources free"

How many programs did you have running? that is quite low if you just started your machine and looked at it. I tried to keep my old win98 computer at 90-95%(at start of windows)

you low performance can be due to not having it formatted, fragmentation and backround services (which I HATE)

RAM is important, Especally when I had 32MB ram and added another 32mb, it went much faster.

I was/am once a pro at optimizing windows (win98) and even have winxp optimized to the MAX.

Please reply with answers to questions I had.

[Ice_Cube]

1. I formatted recently.

2. I have installed hardly any games

3. HD=40Gb, I have 25 Gbytes free

4. Deragged about 1-2 months ago

The two programs you mentioned were just running in the backgound at the time of posting.

The list in my first post was of the programs running at that time of posting.

When I start up the computer and imediatley check it, it is about 70%. About 5 minutes later it hovers around 50% (an I haven't openned any large programs like adobe, fireworks, games, etc....

[Andrew]

4. Deragged about 1-2 months ago

That is one of your problems. DEFRAG!(although it probably will take a while so do it over night if possible) But first do a thourough scandisk if not done recently.

Also clearing out temp files and cookies (as long as you remember your passwords) would help.

Are all of your visual settings for windows turned up all the way? (32 bit color quality?) all the animations etc? if so turn them all off as that slows down computer ;)

Don't forget to uninstall programs you dont use and dont plan on using. (as long as its not like Microsoft Word / Corel etc.) Uninstall programs before defragging...

hmm, you said you formatted recently. I am assuming you have High speed internet and download lots of files? if so your hard drive gets fragmented faster.(with all these new files on computer whether its movies or songs)

[Ice_Cube]

Yeah I'll do that de-frag. I don't plan on de-installing programs though, as about 1 year ago I had loads of games installed and this did not effect anything.

lol, I wish I had a high speed internet, I use a 56K ;).

[Nyarlathotep]

In Win ME, the only programs that you basically need running in the background (when you press [ctrl]-[alt]-[del]) are explorer and systray.

If you want to check what starts up, check this out. WinPatrol gives you all the info that you need.

And there's nothing you can do about the memory getting lower..

[syczek]

**** BEWre for this PROGRAMS ****

c:windowsalevir.exe worm opasoft A

c:windowsinstit.bat worm opasoft I

c:windowsnwiz.exe hows trojan(unknown)

c:windowsbrasil.exe worm opasowt E

C:windowsarp.exe (???)

the tree worms is very hardly to remove from system, i have an irst dangerous file alevir.exe , in time downloading domination for dune2000(map editor)!!! northon antywirus dont detect shit, , and before restart computer, windows stucked has do. and in time loading windows 98, an errors has been occured.

can load file c:windowsalevir.exe:brasil.exe

system is maintenace down, please check win.ini and remowe road for file.if error has ben returning, please make backup regiedit.reg ... urgh, i trying kill worms in 5days, and war has been caccompliszed.if you remove instit.bat and clear roa for file alevir.exe in win.ini , the other worm brasil.exe , block temporairy(to next restart computer) internet connection! if you delete all files!(brasil.exe instit.bat alevir.exe and clear win.ini , in kernel32.dll has been writed script to rebuilding an worms, and you must make operation agan, again, again. i musting download NEW KERNEL32.DLL AND COPY TO SYSTEM FOLDER IN WINDIWS. and hostile worms, has ben remowed succefuully

[Andrew]

**** BEWre for this PROGRAMS ****

c:windowsnwiz.exe hows trojan(unknown)

I have that on startup...thats not good. more info please, although me look at NAV webpage.

EDIT -

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/bat.mumu.a.worm.html

it says nwiz.exe is legitimate file although can become infected..

[gryphon]

@ syczek

If that Brasil.exe if the newer Brazil virus you are pretty safe . . . need to remove it never the less. And as it indicates it's a worm that is probably the case. The new one is a worm spreading by MS Outlook, IRC or KaZaA. There was a prior version though .. .and it was a little bit more, let's say devestating to your system. ...

@ Andrew

Do you have a NVidia grafics card ? If so the file probably belongs to tha. Althought it's not needed as a must on startup.

[Andrew]

Pretty sure I do have nvidia tnt2 radeon or something.

If I dont need it then I will disable it. :)

[Nyarlathotep]

Pretty sure I do have nvidia tnt2 radeon or something.

You have either a TNT 2, or a Radeon. One being Nvidia and Radeon being ATi :)

[Andrew]

Pretty sure I do have nvidia tnt2 radeon or something.

You have either a TNT 2, or a Radeon. One being Nvidia and Radeon being ATi :)

Oops, guess I'll pick TNT2, NVidia.

[Ice_Cube]

**** BEWre for this PROGRAMS ****

c:windowsalevir.exe worm opasoft A

c:windowsinstit.bat worm opasoft I

c:windowsbrasil.exe worm opasowt E

I think he means "brasil.pif". These three are all linked to the operaserve worm and are also related to "marco!.exe" which acts everytime you connect to the internet and calls all its worm buddies to your system. It also hides in your system restore too. A firewall solves this problem but you can add some lines of code into your "autoexec.bat" file to stop the worm. and NAV does detect this virus after a few seconds.

EDIT- I have "nwiz.exe" on start up, and I would also say it was related to a NVidia card.

[Nyarlathotep]

I have "nwiz.exe" on start up, and I would also say it was related to a NVidia card.

Correct :)

Process File: nwiz or nwiz.exe

Process Name: NVIDIA nView Control Panel

Description: NVIDIA nView Control Panel is installed by NVIDIA Graphics Card Drivers provides desktop layout settings and optimizations

Common Errors: N/A

System Process: No

[Apollyon]

Lol, that virus is so easy to spot. It places a "GAY.INI" in your C directory. ;D