My laptop has like 9GB of memory and should be running at lightening speed because it has so much memory. I have deleted ALL programs except the programs that came with the computer (the basics), yet my usage says that I am using 5GB of memory which seems a bit excessive for the very few programs I have stored. The computer runs like a snail. I've defragged several times, deleted cookies and temporary files and then defragged again. I went into task manager and I have like 30+ processes running at all times even when I don't have any applications running. That seems like a bit much plus when I do try to run an application, if it has a lot of graphics the computer says I'm low on virtual memory (which I shouldn't be because I have 9GB which is way more than I should ever need) So all you computer savvy people, what could I do to correct this and what processes SHOULD be running even in downtime. I know that I can end processes, but I only want to end the ones I don't need.

Also I know that there is a combination of keys that stops all programs from starting when the computer starts, but I can't remember the combination, I think that this would help so if anyone knows that key stroke combination I'd appreciate it.

Thanks

Can you list what processes you have running in task mgr

If you want prgrams not to start when your PC starts
-go to run and type msconfig and then go to the startup tab
-look the list of programs that are there and if there is something that you feel or you do not want to start with your PC, uncheck them and then click apply

Now when PC starts, the items that you unchecked will not start with computer on startup

30 processes seems about right but if you can list them, can offer some suggstions

You can also disable some services that you may not need running

Depending on what OS you have, use the link that is appropriate for you

Disable Unneeded Services

XP
Hacking Windows XP: Speed Up Your Boot - Disabling Unneeded Services - OS, Software & Networking by ExtremeTech

XP SP3
Windows XP x86 (32-bit) Service Pack 3 Service Configurations by Black Viper

Vista
Hacking Windows Vista: Speeding Up the System Boot - Disabling unneeded services - OS, Software & Networking by ExtremeTech

Some of them I can tell are mcafee virus software, and internet explorer, but the ones that I'm curious about are several that say svchost. I tried to copy and paste the list but it wouldn't let me do that so I figured I would give you the most mysterious ones.

Others include ctfmon.exe, alg.ele, mdm.exe, oasclnt.exelsass.exe, csrss.exe, smss.exe, etc.

Thank you so much for your time and assistance

Of the ones you mentioned above, the only one that is not needed by system is ctfmon - Most people do not use this and therefor can be disabled

What Does the Ctfmon.exe File Do?

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Ctfmon.exe monitors the active windows and provides text input service support for speech recognition, handwriting recognition, keyboard, translation, and other alternative user input technologies.

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If you would like to get this disabled, it will take about 5-10 min

Below is how to get this disabled - It looks long but really only takes a few minutes - a lot of words but a simple enough task

This works I personally do it when working with new installs

Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows XP:

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1. Quit all Office programs.

2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

NOTE: In Windows XP, click Start and then click Control Panel.

3. In Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs.NOTE: In Windows XP, click Add or Remove Programs.

4. In the Currently installed programs list, click to select Microsoft Office XP product, where Office XP product is the name of the specific Office product being used. If you are using a standalone version of one of the Office programs, click to select the appropriate product in the list. Click Change.

5. In the Maintenance Mode Options dialog box, select Add or Remove Features, and then click Next. This displays the Choose installation options for all Office applications and tools dialog box.

6. Click the plus sign (+) next to Office Shared Features to expand it.

7. Click the icon next to Alternative User Input, and then select Not Available.

8. Click Update.

NOTE: If you have multiple Office XP products installed, for example, Office XP Professional and Publisher 2002, you must repeat the preceding steps for each installed product.

Step 2: Remove Alternative User Input Services from Text Services

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

2. In the Control Panel, double-click Text Services.NOTE: In Windows XP, click Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options, and then click Regional and Language Options. On the Languages tab, click Details.

3. Under Installed Services, select each input item that is listed, and then click Remove to remove the item. All items must be removed, one by one, except the following input service:

English (United States)- default Keyboard United States 101

Step 3: Run Regsvr32 /U on the Msimtf.dll and Msctf.dll Files

1. Click Start and then click Run.

2. In the Run dialog box, type the following command:
Regsvr32.exe /u msimtf.dll

3. Click OK.

4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 for the Msctf.dll file.

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If you are curious of what other ones you have, just Google the name of it and information will come up on what type of process it is and what it is related to

You have been so helpful. Thank you so much!!

By the way, that website you gave me was awesome. I went through and disabled all the programs that the website said I could and it helped (a little:)

I know it will help out, hopefully enough that you will notice

Keeping your fonts around 400-450 if that many is a good # to try and keep around as far as startup speed

When you get over 500 fonts, you will see that it takes longer to load system as fonts have to be registered every time you restart the computer

9gb of RAM??

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Originally Posted by ITstudent2006

9gb of RAM?????

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My thoughts exactly. The only way a system could access that is if the OP was running Vista 64-bit.

Yeah XP and Vista are majority 32-bit allowing 4gb max. Although 64-bit would def. do 9gb I would doubt any PC would need it.

I could be wrong though :)

Maybe he's go 900mb and its using 500 or so. I am unsure but 1 gig sounds more reasonable than 9gb!

Explain Please! Tadita!

I'm not sure what amount of memory my laptop originally had, but I added memory to it about 2 years ago. Now I may be looking at this incorrectly, but when I run defrag, my computer says that I have 9GB of memory and that I am using like 4GB. Shouldn't having all that extra memory allow my computer to run faster? I thought it would. Of course, I don't know a whole lot about computers though.

I have windows XP on my laptop. So are you saying that my computer can run no more than 4GB ever with that operating system.

Also does that mean that I need Vista for my laptop if I want it to be able to access the rest of the available memory and run more smoothly

(I still have the issue that I don't know what the heck is using 4GB of memory to start with. I have deleted all programs except the basics)

With xp, your system will probably see and use 3.2gb ram and with vista, the system would be able to see and access 4gb ram

Accurate and the web sites/pages he suggested are ones I use myself. Excellent information!

I don't think the problem is the number of programs running, and it's possible tadita is confusing programs with processes. Personally I don't start my PC with any programs actually in the "running" state, meaning they're open and ready to use. I wait and let my security software do it's thing before starting any program.

The easy way I learned on another expert help site to tell if my PC was ready to use is to put the cursor down in the Quick Launch area and wait until it stops turning into an hour glass and stays as a cursor. I was told by following that simple habit I wouldn't be trying to fire up programs when my computer was still trying to get all of it's startup processes finished.

As for the 9GB of memory, I've never heard of anybody having over 4 and that's for folks with real high end pc's.

Just my initial thoughts on tadita's problem, don't mean to offend anybody.

If you are running Windows XP chances are that you are not able to use more than 4gb of RAM. Actually it has to do with whether your operating system is 64 bit or 32 bit. There is a 64 bit version of Windows XP but it is actually quite rare.