SUBBlime, Fixes Part I
That is a nice machine. For the record, as the test results will change, your score is 446. It should be much higher. You need this tuneup bad. It will make a BIG difference you will be able to see.
Plan on spending the next hour or so getting the FREE "Any computer repair shop would charge you $150 for this" tune up. It is important that you do this list in the exact order. Please don't get off on goose chases. If something comes up unexpectedly, just stop where you are and ask me. I will be here all day. When we finish, your computer should be running like the day it was new.
Print these instructions as you will be on and off the internet and doing some rebooting. Do them in the exact order listed.
Analysis (Why is anal part of that word?)
Your C drive is 75% full or 25% empty if you are an optimist. This is the maximum I would advise putting on this drive as once you pass the 30% level the performance begins to degrade.
Short term fix: Click on the "Cleanup Disk Space" link in the Customized Tune-up Tips box on your test results page and run the "Autofix". Then download and install Ace Utilities from the IBox at the top of this thread. DO NOT RUN IT IN EXPERT MODE. At the menu page, click on "Wizard" and enable all 4 options. Run the program and click Finish and reboot. Go back into the wizard and uncheck "History" Run Ace from the Wizard option every day and once a week enable the "History" option.This should resolve the disk space and performance problems with your C drive and may free up your video card too.
Long term fix to seriously consider later: Spend $40 at newegg.com for a second hard drive and make it the Master. Slave the old HD to the new HD. Install XP on the new master and transfer your most commonly used programs to the new master.
Internet Cache: Click on the "Adjust IE Browser Cache Size" link in the test results Tips box and follow the instructions.
Are we having fun yet?
The IBox for this thread has all of the following links:
Now is the time to download and run Spybot Search And Destroy. When it finishes, checkmark and "Fix" all the entries in RED TYPE. Ignore all the entries in GREEN TYPE. Don't quarantine nothin'.
Reboot.
Download and run Adaware 6.0. When the program finishes, it will present you with a list of problems. Just right click anywhere on the list, select all and hit delete. Don't quarantine anything here either.
Unecessary programs running in the background:
(some of these may have already been wiped by Spybot, Adaware, and Ace)
Qtask.exe This is an Apple process for running videos. 90 % of all videos run on other processes so it does not need to be running at all. It will run automatically when you need it. Go to Ace Utilities>Optimize>autostart manager and unclick it. then click "Update"
VetTray.exe: (etrust)
This is an outdated antivirus program that used to be installed by Computer Associates on some machines. Are you still using it? If not, unclick it in Ace Autostart and click update, reboot, and uninstall it.
ACSD.exe
From Answersthat work.com:
AOL Connectivity Service. Background task introduced with version 9.0 of AOL and which supposedly reconnects you to AOL if you lose your connection while online. It runs as a task in Win9x/ME, and as a service under WinNT4/2000/XP/2003.
Recommendation :
At the time of writing, 15‑Dec‑2003, this task is an annoying feature of the latest AOL. For a start the concept itself beggars belief since we cannot see how the task can check for loss of connection without constant pinging of a particular Internet address (be ready for ACSD firewall alerts!) – in short unnecessary traffic on your connection; the very sort of behaviour normally attributed to spyware ! But that is the least of the problems : this task is responsible for boot-up errors on some PCs, constant autodials on boot-up of some PCs, it is incompatible with some programs on others (you have to terminate ACSD to use the programs without problems), on other PCs it uses inconsiderable amounts of memory for what its role is, on some Win2000/XP PCs we have found it running away with CPU resources and incredibly slow PCs as a result, and, worse, it stays around when you have deliberately closed your Internet connection. This is TerribleWare ! Unfortunately, at the time of writing we do not have a solution to the problem : even if you disable this task in Starter on Win9x/ME, or set the service to manual on WinNT4/2000/XP/2003, opening AOL starts the task anyway. Out of frustrations some users have reverted back to AOL 8.0. The advice for those who stay with version 9.0 is that it is unthinkable that AOL will not eventually address the problem, so keep downloading those AOL updates whenever you are prompted by the software.
I agree.
AOLwbspd.exe-shellmon.exe-WAOL.exe See the above,
This will take you more than half way to the finish line.
More in part II
AI
