My computer won't move!

[Mona~on~wheels]

Okay it says "Window Search" no desktop. Is that what you're talking about?

[Foolish Old]

One thing you might want to try is to open your browser (Internet Explorer) and select Tools>Manage Add-ons. Here you can disable anything you don't want/need. You can enable again, so no worries if you change your mind. There's not much you need. Disable one at a time and see what effect (if any) you notice.

[markg]

This won't help if you've downloaded some junk that's infected your PC but once you can get your PC back up and running and you want to peek at a speeding it up a little bit this may be a bit helpful.

It's been a while since a messed with XP but a lot of times if you have an older computer with an older CPU and not much memory stuff just run slow – especially over time as you had more and more programs. Every developer wants their latest and greatest beast to be in your startup but that takes away resources such as RAM and can cause your computer to take forever to boot up, too

What I do is use selective startup and and choose what applications I want at start up. Your mileage may vary but it's been useful for me.

Do a search for msconfig - and run that as an administrator of possible with your regular account if you need to. There you'll see a tab that says startup. uncheck the ones you don't want using your resources at start up. Don't uncheck the Windows ones but there could be some that you just don't use very often that you don't want using resources at start up. you can also do it for some unwanted services on another tab there within msconfig.

Here's a quick article on how to get to it on XP. Just be careful of the ads. Man that page is packed full of them.

http://www.netsquirrel.com/msconfig/msconfig_xp.html

note: I hope this makes sense because I'm using voice software and sometimes my mouth doesn't say what my brain thinks.

[Mona~on~wheels]

Foolish & Mark I think they're both great ideas!!! Thanks for explaining how to do it!
Also Foolish that I don't have to worry I can add it back. lol

Mark I know I have a bunch of things on start up my daughter told me I did but was too busy to fix it. So I'll get busy & let ya'll know. I understand exactly what you said. Good job!


THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

[Mona~on~wheels]

ALOT OF THIS IS OVER MY HEAD but,,,,,,,,,,

The only thing I knew that I took off start up is my printer.
Should I left it on start up?

How about this?

IgfxTray (igfxtray.exe)

This page expands upon the information already available for this entry in the Pacman's Portal Windows start-up programs database.
User's choice - depends whether a user deems it necessary
For further information on how to identify and disable startup programs please visit the Introduction page.
Description:

System Tray access to display settings for Intel desktop and mobile motherboard chipsets with integrated graphics. With this enabled, you can access settings like graphics properties and hot key settings via the icon on the System Tray. Different chipset versions may have different options available. These options are normally also available via the system Control Panel - under Display (XP) or Personalization and Appearance (Vista)

[sjean423]

Mona, if this has happened suddenly (the slow down) and you can pinpoint when, try doing a system restore to a date previous to that.

this link will explain how if you don't remember, but I think you have done it before one time.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084

[Foolish Old]

ALOT OF THIS IS OVER MY HEAD but,,,,,,,,,,

The only thing I knew that I took off start up is my printer.
Should I left it on start up?

How about this?

IgfxTray (igfxtray.exe)

This page expands upon the information already available for this entry in the Pacman's Portal Windows start-up programs database.
User's choice - depends whether a user deems it necessary
For further information on how to identify and disable startup programs please visit the Introduction page.
Description:

System Tray access to display settings for Intel desktop and mobile motherboard chipsets with integrated graphics. With this enabled, you can access settings like graphics properties and hot key settings via the icon on the System Tray. Different chipset versions may have different options available. These options are normally also available via the system Control Panel - under Display (XP) or Personalization and Appearance (Vista)

Think of it this way - how many lights do you want to be on the first switch you flip when you enter the house? True, if you decide you want to go in a room, then it's convenient to have it already lit up. But if you don't need anything in that room, you're paying an energy cost with no return.

Same is true with your computer. There's a lot of stuff that you don't need to have running "just in case" you might want to use it. Having it running in the background slows down your computer. So it comes down to a cost/benefit analysis. How much do you mind having to wait for a program to open when you want to use it? How much does it slow your computer down having it ready to use all the time?

Turning things off in your Startup or Disabling them in Tools>Add-ons can be easily reversed. Deleting them from your hard drive means that you would have to reinstall them. That's not too bad most of the time. But use caution when deleting. Truthfully, unless someone has had a specific reason to learn what some of this stuff does, they are as in the dark as you feel. Google is your ally. Try to use sites that aren't selling stuff or asking you to download anything that will "fix" your computer.

[Mona~on~wheels]

Mona, if this has happened suddenly (the slow down) and you can pinpoint when, try doing a system restore to a date previous to that.

this link will explain how if you don't remember, but I think you have done it before one time.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084

Yes I have! lol! I keep messing up.

If it takes everything back to that point it's too late.
That was like 3 wks & I've done alot of documents & photo work I don't want to loose.

But thanks for reminding me sjean.

[Mona~on~wheels]

Think of it this way - how many lights do you want to be on the first switch you flip when you enter the house? True, if you decide you want to go in a room, then it's convenient to have it already lit up. But if you don't need anything in that room, you're paying an energy cost with no return.

Same is true with your computer. There's a lot of stuff that you don't need to have running "just in case" you might want to use it. Having it running in the background slows down your computer. So it comes down to a cost/benefit analysis. How much do you mind having to wait for a program to open when you want to use it? How much does it slow your computer down having it ready to use all the time?

Turning things off in your Startup or Disabling them in Tools>Add-ons can be easily reversed. Deleting them from your hard drive means that you would have to reinstall them. That's not too bad most of the time. But use caution when deleting. Truthfully, unless someone has had a specific reason to learn what some of this stuff does, they are as in the dark as you feel. Google is your ally. Try to use sites that aren't selling stuff or asking you to download anything that will "fix" your computer.

Great analogy! My problem is I don't understand what they're saying when I google.

[Foolish Old]

Yes I have! lol! I keep messing up.

If it takes everything back to that point it's too late.
That was like 3 wks & I've done alot of documents & photo work I don't want to loose.

But thanks for reminding me sjean.

System Restore does not cause you to lose your personal files or password. Items like documents, e-mail messages, browsing history, and the last specified password are saved when you revert to an earlier state with System Restore.

System Restore protects your personal files by not restoring any files in the My Documents folder. It also does not restore any files that use common data file name extensions, such as .doc or .xls. If you're not sure whether your personal files use common data file name extensions, and you do not want the data files to be affected by System Restore, save them in the My Documents folder.
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d....mspx?mfr=true