Hi everyone,

Sometimes my computer will not start right. The various program icons shown in the lower right hand corner of the task bar do not load, i.e., anti-virus, windows defender, comodo firewall, etc..

If I click on task manager or anything else, it may open but it takes a very very long time. It seems that the system is in conflict or simply out of memory. I then turn the computer off via the power button, re-start and everything works fine the second time. The problem is intermittent and does not happen on every start up. I have a feeling that it's related to ccleaner cleaning on reboot (possibly index dat files) or some program that loads automatically at start-up.

I'm using windows media center XP SP2 on an HP Pavillion A1520n computer. All Microsoft critical updates for SP2 have been applied.

I have attached a GIF image showing my running processes at startup, there are 56 processes running right at startup and that's with zero applications running. Does anything look suspicious in the process list ? It looks to me like it's just too much junk running at start-up, but I guess that's the way computers come new nowadays (makes you want to just build your own). Is it normal to have 56 processes running right at start-up without even manually starting any applications ?

Can anyone recommend a good startup manager that will let me uninstall or disable anything that is unnecessary ? I found two but have not run them yet ...

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/startupcpl.html

http://www.malwarebytes.org/startuplite.php

Is there anything wrong with permanently disabling a unwanted start-up program via msconfig ? I had heard that it was not proper to permanently disable unwanted start-up programs via msconfig as msconfig was mainly for diagnostic purposes. I also see you can disable things by going to control panel, administrative services, and then clicking the services icon. What is the proper way to disable unwanted start-up programs manually ?

I would appreciate any advice on making my computer run as lean as possible on start-up and any advice on the proper way to track down the source of the intermittent start-up problem.

Thanks
John

P.S. The very first process in the list which is hard to read is kdb.exe, you will probably have to zoom in to see all the processes clearly.

Not much help from me here, but I see 22 HP_Administrator processes running on your machine and that’s a good reason to be suspicious. My guess is that HP loaded this machine with unnecessary processes and services, but other than that you can try to do some research on how to disable them, or wait for some input from a more qualified member.

i use startup.cpl. it's a good one. i have a copy of the old freeware pc magazine startup cop (my favorite) that i will email to you. send your email in a pm.

there is a lot of non windows stuff there that probably doesn't need to be running. most of the hp stuffs isn't necessary unless this computer is still under warranty in which case i think some of the hp stuffs is for tech support.

also please do give us the specs for your computer, memory amount, processor speed, hard drive capacity and amount of used hard drive space.

one last question. is this your personal computer and not a business or school computer?

Thanks surfer, I will send you a pm with my email.

My computer is about 2 years old and is out of warranty, so I doubt I need any HP warranty stuff on it.

This is mainly a personal computer, but I have some programs on it that I use for my work and personal projects, CAD, etc.. I sometimes work on things from home.

The computer specs are as follows...

Hard drive is a Western Digital (just replaced it) WD Caviar SE16 (SATA).

Hard drive capacity = Says 320 GB on the box but when I click properties on the C drive it says the total capacity is 289 GB.

Hard drive free space = 256 GB

Used hard drive space = 32.9 GB

Processor = AMD Athlon 64 X 2 Dual Core 3800 +

2.00 Ghz, 960 MB RAM

Thanks again,
John

P.S. I suspect I should probably add more memory to this machine.

for you memory should be a priority as well as a video card. looks like y'all have onboard video or one of those cards that use system ram. get ram up to 2 gigabytes. no need for more as 32 bit windows won't use much more than that. i suspect that the icon problem is memory related of your icon cache is corrupt. get tweakui from microsoft.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/Downloa...ppowertoys.mspx

Tweakui will be in the list on the right.

install then:
at the bottom of the menu is Repair. choose rebuild icons from the drop down, click repair.

Thanks surfer, I received the start-up manager you sent via email, I will give it a try.

My gut feeling is that removing unnecessary programs and/or installing more memory may take care of the problem. A better video card is always good, but I remember the last time I upgraded the video card on my old windows 98 machine, it was a nightmare getting the drivers to work right, but perhaps the XP would go more smoothly. I will probably try to disable unnecessary programs first, then add more memory if needed and only fool with the video card as a last resort.

Regarding tweakui, I'm not sure I have an icon problem per se, that is, the icons are not showing up because the programs themselves do not seem to be loading. When the problem occurs, it seems like the machine is running out of memory, the computer is so sluggish that for all practical purposes, it's frozen. Then after I reboot by pressing the power button, everything is fine. I suspect something is conflicting on start-up, and/or memory is running out during start-up. Would tweakui help with this ?

It's strange that the problem is intermittent, and although I did not test the theory yet, it seemed to me that this happened when I used ccleaner and that's why I suspected that perhaps ccleaner attempting to clean dat files on reboot was causing the problem, perhaps ccleaner using memory to delete dat files on reboot along with all the other programs loading is causing problems.

The only security programs I'm using are Avira antivir free, windows defender, and comodo firewall. I use sandboxie, but I have it set so it does not load on start-up

Thanks
John

sounds like y'all know where y'all're goin. please let us know how it goes.

One thing I found that looks real suspicious to me is a blank entry under the msconfig start up programs...

I have attached a gif image (msconfig_1) and I have highlighted the entry in blue, there is no start-up name or command location listed, only a registry key is listed but I cannot get any more information from msconfig.

How can I find the exact registry location and how can I find out exactly what this is and what it's doing ? Does it look suspicious to you guys too ?

Using the siw system information tool http://www.gtopala.com/ it shows I have about 102 autorun programs starting which seems like quite a bit. I've also downloaded the "autoruns" program from microsoft as the msconfig seems limited. I'm going to check this out along with the start up cop program.

Is there a web site or software tool that actually analyzes your start-up and/or auto-run programs and advises as to what they do and whether or not you should probably remove or disable them ? Otherwise I guess I just have to do an online search each program under msconfig and see if I can find what it does that way.

I wish you could buy a computer with nothing but the Operating system installed, with perhaps an anti-virus installation .exe file on the desktop that you can use in case you don't have your own AV to install. I guess a browser and email client exe install file would also be OK.

I just know I'm going to take a crack at building my own computer some day

Thanks
John

ok john here's the ones i can see in the screen cap with recommendation. the ones that aren't there are essential.

Name: HPBootOP
Filename: HPBootOp.exe
This is a valid program but it is not required to run on startup.
This program is not required to start automatically as you can run it when you need to. It is advised that you disable this program so that it does not take up necessary resources.

Name: ehTray
Filename: ehtray.exe
This is a valid program, but it is up to you whether or not you want it to run on startup.

File hphupd08.exe is not a Windows core file. may be disabled.

DISCover is for online game purchase. may be disabled

Name: DMAScheduler
Filename: DMAScheduler.exe
This is a valid program but it is not required to run on startup.
This program is not required to start automatically as you can run it when you need to. It is advised that you disable this program so that it does not take up necessary resources.

nwiz.exe is a part of NVidia's Nview features installable alongside it's graphics hardware products. This application will give the user access to additional features which allow the configuration of up to 32 monitors on a host, or to expand the desktop across many monitors. This is a non-essential process. Disabling or enabling it is down to user preference.

Name: AlwaysReady Power Message APP
Filename: ARPWRMSG.EXE
This is a valid program but it is not required to run on startup.
This program is not required to start automatically as you can run it when you need to. It is advised that you disable this program so that it does not take up necessary resources.

what's the full path of the one that has no name? HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Current Ver... is all that's showing.

the only way to get a computer the way you want it is to build it. well there is one place that'll build em as you want but i can't remember their name.

i remembered the name of the custom built place.

http://www.ibuypower.com/mall/lobby.htm

Hi Wes,

Thanks for the additional feedback and the custom computer link, I will add that to my bookmarks.

I was able to find the reg entry for the blank start up line in msconfig, its something called pcdrprofiler. It turns out it's something that PC doctor uses (another pre installed program), but what a suspicious name, especially with a blank msconfig entry

I don't understand why they don't just put pc doctor in the msconfig entry, plus since there's no command, is it actually doing anything ? Looks like a bad reg entry, and this is something that's installed right from the factory and was also on the restore disk

I attached two more gif images showing the rest of the autorun programs listed in msconfig, in case you are able to take a quick look and advise as to anything you see that's probably not necessary.

Does it seem like I have an unusual amount of programs loading at start-up or is this pretty much the norm nowadays ? I guess it also depends to some degree on what you have installed, but It seems to me that most all third party installed programs (aside from security programs) should not run unless you start them.

Thanks again and take care,
John

i'll work on em. there's a bunch there i know don't need to run but some i'll need to look up. by the time we finish that machine should run better.
it looks normal for a hp.

Hi Wes,

I also found an article from hp that lists some but not all of the programs ...

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/documen...7149&dlc=en

What I found interesting about this article is that is says you must uninstall hpbootop in order to see all of the programs that are shown under add remove programs in the control panel, and in order to see "everything" that is starting under msconfig. So, I guess this hpbootop thing can hide programs starting under msconfig, at least that's how I understand the article.

They recommend to uninstall hpbootop, then reinstall it from the hp application recovery tool when your all done

Perhaps it's hiding something, perhaps not, I guess I will have to uninstall it to find out. One thing I did already was to turn off advanced text services under control panel, regional and language options, to get rid of CTFmon.exe. I have read that it can hog resources and you have to disable it this way to really stop it because if you just un-check it in msconig it just keeps coming back.

Also, the hp article just recommended to use msconfig's "selective start-up" option to disable any unwanted program, so perhaps I will try that first instead of installing a start-up manager, since it's just another installed program I may not really need that much. Unless you think I'm better off using Start up Cop that you sent me.

I also wonder if there are some things I should just uninstall as opposed to disable, or if I'm better off just disabling them on start-up.

Thanks
John

** Cleared by site staff. **

this is against SAF terms of service. please keep assistance on the board. please provide a secure download source and the name of the program so all saf users can benefit:cheers 2:

*edit by saf staff*

howdy john.

these can be disabled.

jusched

_reader sl

ISUSPM

uupdatesfromhp isn't necessary but worldn't hurt to run ocassionally.

that's all i can see from the screen cap.

Another custom build place with decent prices, but be aware that a fair bit of knowledge of the components is helpful.

http://www.pcusa.com/

Thanks for you help Wes, I will disable what I think I can live without and see if that helps things. I will also probably install the maximum memory the OS can use since that's a good idea on any computer.

Thanks for the link Jim, if I ever build one I will get a book and do some online research to make sure I get the right parts and configuration.

Take care guys,
John

the programs name is startupCPL , I am new on this site , I do not now how to give you the program thru the web site and I do not now were you can find it on the internet + I have a home made program you use with it to delete your temp files on startup , if you can help me put the program on the web site , I will but I see you'v came right

here's a link for startupcpl.
http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml

thanks for the link surfer