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Personal Tech

Solutions: Several steps help streamline system and speed up processes

Answers to your software and hardware questions.

By JOHN TORRO
Published March 27, 2006

Q. I'm trying to improve my computer's performance (Windows XP) and the time it takes for various programs to load. Sometimes Internet Explorer takes a full minute to load. I also have icons on my taskbar that I rarely use, such as Kodak Easyshare. I have tried to right-click, but the delete option does not come up. I have been to the startup menu and found numerous files that I think may be unnecessary. In attempting to check each of these files, I have discovered there is a program called Win Task Pro 5, which apparently will eliminate any of these that are not needed. I regularly use only Word, Internet Explorer, Eudora, printer/scanner, Quicken and Earthlink. My desktop icons are sufficient to access these. Anything else I can locate through Start/Programs. Is Win Task Pro 5 a good program to accomplish my task?

A. We have written previously about Win Task 5, which is a good product. The Web site www.answersthatwork.com has extensive process information that can be used for process investigation. Your problem seems to be performance related. Assuming that you have run an up-to-date antivirus program and spyware remover first, the logical place to start is to remove unnecessary programs, particularly those that start at Startup and remain resident even though they are rarely used. And many times they don't provide an easily accessible option for you to turn them off. In that case, run the System Configuration Utility Start, Run, type MSCONFIG and click OK. This is where you should be looking instead of or in addition to just the Programs Startup menu. Check the Startup tab along with the Processes tab to find the processes that you want to prevent from starting. On the Process tab, click Hide Microsoft Processes to make it a little easier to look through the list. Once you have cleaned your startup of unnecessary processes, the next place to look is the other performance factors: disk, CPU and memory. Make sure you have enough free disk and it is defragmented. I recommend at least 20 percent free disk. For example, on a system with a 60-gigabyte disk, you should run with a minimum of 12 GB free. This is important because when the system swaps processes in and out of memory, a shortage of free disk space can slow your system down significantly. Next, let's check memory. Right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager. Click the Performance tab. Look at the values for Physical memory and Available memory. A general threshold is 20 percent available memory for determining excessive memory pressure. The memory metrics here are shown as KB. For example, if you have 256 MB of physical memory, it will show as approximately 262,000 KB. Your available memory in this case should not be consistently dipping below 52,400 KB. If it does, you may benefit by adding some memory. There is not much you can do to tweak your CPU other than to eliminate the number of processes running. In your case, you say Internet Explorer is taking an inordinate amount of time to start. Internet Explorer is a heavy-hitter when it comes to CPU and memory resources, but maybe yours is working more than it needs to, meaning maybe you have excessive add-ons attaching themselves to IE. From within Internet Explorer, click Tools, Manage Add-ons, and check which add-ons are present and loaded. There may be some you weren't aware of. To disable an add-on, click it and select Disable under settings. After eliminating all the other possibilities, if your Internet Explorer still is not loading as expected, maybe it has to do with one more dimension of performance (or perceived performance): waiting on communication, either from your home page or making the connection to your Internet provider. First try setting your home page to Use Blank (Tools, Internet Options) to eliminate a slow home page. Next, check with your Internet provider to make sure your connection settings are optimal and correct.

Q. I'm using Windows 98 SE (don't laugh, it's very stable with Firefox) and have Norton Antivirus 2005. I started getting messages about my failure to run LiveUpdate, though NAV is set to do this automatically. I would get an illegal operation message titled "lucallbackproxy" when attempting to run it manually. I called Norton and was told I shouldn't run ZoneAlarm with NAV, as NAV has a built-in firewall. I was very clear about the Norton program I have; the customer service person still insisted I don't need ZoneAlarm. I'm not crazy about this. But at least LiveUpdate seems to be working now. However, when I shut down the computer (which isn't often), I often get six or seven lucallbackproxy illegal op messages and have to click them all before Windows will shut down. Any idea what this is, and if the Norton representative was correct in saying I don't need to run my firewall?

A. No laughing from me. I'm a firm believer in "If it's not broke, don't fix it." Life is too short to be spending time fixing geeky operating system related problems. As far as lucallbackproxy is concerned, it is part of the Norton LiveUpdate process. As far as I'm aware, Norton Antivirus 2005 basic package (which I ran before upgrading to 2006) does not include an Internet firewall. I use the built-in Windows XP firewall with no problems, so I can't compare the combination NAV 2005/ZoneAlarm. I also couldn't find any information on this on Symantec's site (or anywhere else), other than a report that reinstalling LiveUpdate corrected this problem in one case. You also may want to get a second opinion from Symantec as to exactly what it is your version of NAV 2005 contains.

[Last modified March 27, 2006, 10:08:22]