Windows XP tech questions

[Flock of Moosen]

Hopefully someone out there knows the answer or at least knows what direction to point me in for answers.

I'm new to the whole Windows XP world after living in 98ville for about 4 years. I just got a new system and one of the first things I did was run MSCONFIG to see what programs were loaded and running. I expected to see a few, but not as many as there were. There are a bunch, under both the Services and Startup tabs and I have no clue what most of them are. I don't want to uncheck them without knowing what they are, what they do, and why they are even loaded in the first place. Do any of you know which should definitely remain loaded or at least know of any sites that can help me out?

Another question of lesser importance is about WINIPCFG. I tried running that just to see if it was the same as the one with Windows 98 and it's not even on my system. Is it under a different name now or am I missing the program for some reason?

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

[FollowThisLogic]

If you feel like listing shit, go for it.

Services, there's a lot of. I don't really remember if XP's MSCONFIG lets you know which have been started and which haven't, but if it does, only list the started ones here. If MSCONFIG doesn't tell you what's been started, then open Services under Administrative Tools.

Startup is basically the same, shit starting from the registry. Go ahead and list what's there (name and program location) if ya like and I'm sure the crap can be weeded out.

WINIPCFG is gone. XP is NT-based, and NT & 2000 never had WINIPCFG. Nope, you get to regress to a command-line utility! Open up a command prompt (Start, Run, cmd... or like "Run Program" I think, if you haven't switched over from the disgustingly cute interface to Classic mode) and then at the prompt type IPCONFIG.

IPCONFIG /? will give you a list of things to do. I'm sure the most important stuff will be IPCONFIG /RELEASE, IPCONFIG /RENEW, and IPCONFIG /ALL.

[Flock of Moosen]

Okay, this oughta be fun typing this all out since you can't cut and paste that. :o

Services running:
Application Layer Gateway Service
ATI Hotkey Poller
Windows Audio
Background Intelligent Transfer Service
Computer Browser
Symantec Event Manager
Symantec Proxy Service
Creative Service for CD-ROM Access
Cryptographic Services
DHCP Client
DNS Client
Error Reporting Service
Event Log
COM+ Event System
GoBack Polling Service
Help and Support
Server
Workstation
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Messenger (Which I know shouldn't be running since I shut this fucker off already :fire: )
Norton AntiVirus Auto Protect Service
Network Connections
Network Internet Security Accounts Manager
Network Location Awareness (NLA)
Plug and Play
IPSEC Services
ProductivIT Service
Protected Storage
Remote Access Connection Manager
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) (The only one that has Yes listed as Essential)
Security Accounts Manager
Task Scheduler
Secondary Logon
System Event Notification
Internet Connection Firewall (ICF)/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)
Shell Hardware Detection
Print Spooler
System Restore Service
SSDP Discovery Service
Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)
Telephony
Terminal Services
Themes
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Upload Manager
Windows Time
WebClient
Windows Management Instrumentation
WMDM PMSP Service
Automatic Updates
Wireless Zero Configuration

Startup:
point32 - point32.exe (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\...)
type32 - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Hardware\Keyboard\type 32.exe (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\...)
Test_BS - C:\Program Files\AlienAutopsy\Test_BS.exe -h (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\...)
CTHELPER - CTHELPER.EXE (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\...)
UpdReg - C:\Windows\UpdReg.exe (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\...)
ADGJDet - C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy\PROGRAM\ADGJDet.exe (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\...)
ccApp - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\...)
ccRegVfy - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccRegVfy.exe (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\...)
WkUFind - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Works Shared\WkUFind.exe (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\...)
qttask - C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe -atboottime (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\...)
mnyexpr - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Money\System\mnyexpr.exe (HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\...)
Microsoft Office - C:\PROGRA~1\MI1933~1\Office10\OSA.EXE -b -l (Common Startup)

Well, that's all of it. :o
As you can see there seems to be way more running than needs to be. Normally I wouldn't think much of it, but my system has 1 Gig of RDRAM so it should fly, but I'm noticing slowdowns on a bunch of programs.

If you can make sense of all that garble FTL, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks a lot .

[FollowThisLogic]

Originally posted by Flock of Moosen
Okay, this oughta be fun typing this all out since you can't cut and paste that. :o

Should be even more fun to answer....

I'll bold stuff to ditch. I'll italicize questionables and explain later.

Services running:
<i>Application Layer Gateway Service</i>
<i>ATI Hotkey Poller</i>
Windows Audio
Background Intelligent Transfer Service
Computer Browser
Symantec Event Manager
Symantec Proxy Service
<i>Creative Service for CD-ROM Access</i>
Cryptographic Services
DHCP Client
DNS Client
Error Reporting Service
Event Log
COM+ Event System
<i>GoBack Polling Service</i>
Help and Support
Server
Workstation
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
<b>Messenger (Which I know shouldn't be running since I shut this fucker off already :fire: ) - Set this to DISABLED, not Manual.</b>
Norton AntiVirus Auto Protect Service
Network Connections
Network Internet Security Accounts Manager
Network Location Awareness (NLA)
Plug and Play
IPSEC Services
<i>ProductivIT Service</i>
Protected Storage
Remote Access Connection Manager
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) (The only one that has Yes listed as Essential)
Security Accounts Manager
Task Scheduler
Secondary Logon
System Event Notification
<i>Internet Connection Firewall(ICF)/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)</i>
Shell Hardware Detection
Print Spooler
System Restore Service
SSDP Discovery Service
Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)
Telephony
Terminal Services
Themes
Distributed Link Tracking Client
<i>Upload Manager</i>
Windows Time
<i>WebClient</i>
Windows Management Instrumentation
WMDM PMSP Service
Automatic Updates
Wireless Zero Configuration

Startup:
point32 - point32.exe (HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion...)
type32 - Crogram FilesMicrosoft HardwareKeyboardtype 32.exe (HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion...)
<b>Test_BS - Crogram FilesAlienAutopsyTest_BS.exe -h </b>(HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion...)
<b>CTHELPER - CTHELPER.EXE </b>(HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion...)
<b>UpdReg - C:WindowsUpdReg.exe </b>(HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion...)
<b>ADGJDet - Crogram FilesCreativeSBAudigyPROGRAMADGJDet.exe </b>(HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion...)
ccApp - Crogram FilesCommon FilesSymantec SharedccApp.exe (HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion...)
ccRegVfy - Crogram FilesCommon FilesSymantec SharedccRegVfy.exe (HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion...)
<b>WkUFind - Crogram FilesCommon FilesMicrosoft SharedWorks SharedWkUFind.exe </b>(HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion...)
<b>qttask - Crogram </b>FilesQuickTimeqttask.exe -<b>atboottime </b>(HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion...)
<b>mnyexpr - Crogram FilesMicrosoft MoneySystemmnyexpr.exe </b>(HKCUSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion...)
Microsoft Office - <b>CROGRA~1MI1933~1Office10OSA.EXE -b -l (Common Startup)</b>

OK, there ya go. Most of the things under Startup that I bolded are probably fine to kill. If something ends up not working by shutting them off, simply put them back (check the box again).

As far as Services..... this part is harder, as I'm sure there's new shit in XP that I don't know about. But with Services, as with the Startup items, they can easily be put back.

Application Layer Gateway Service - check the filename. If it ain't in a Windows subfolder, kill it.
ATI Hotkey Poller - As it looks, it's related to your ATI video card... I guess it has hotkeys to nifty video card functions... in other words you probably don't need it.
Creative Service for CD-ROM Access - listen, you shouldn't need a fucking service running to access the CD-ROM. Try setting it to Manual.
GoBack Polling Service - do you use GoBack? If so, why would you use that instead of Windows System Restore? If not, kill it.
Messenger - again, set to Disabled, not Manual.
ProductivIT Service - do you know of any software that you use called ProductivIT? If not, kill it.
ICF/ICS - if you're not using Internet Connection Sharing or the built-in XP firewall, kill it. (You shouldn't really use a software firewall anyway, break down and buy a router.)
Upload Manager - Again, see if this is in a Windows subfolder. If not, kill.
WebClient - see Upload Manager.

That'll probably help.

You also might want to check out your swap file settings. No matter how much RAM you have, the swap file will always be used, so you better have enough.

[FollowThisLogic]

Haha, it stripped all the slashes out and turned every C:\P into C : P, hence .

Stupid PHP board.

[Flock of Moosen]

Well, I got rid of all the stuff you said, bold and italicized alike. So far it seems a little faster, but nothing overly noticable. Guess I'll see when running a memory hog program.

Two things I wanted to mention. You asked about why I'm running GoBack instead of Windows System Restore. Unless that Windows Restore program allows you to revert to a specific time, then I'd rather have the GoBack program. I had an earlier version on my previous system and I can't tell you how many times it saved my ass. Somewhere or other I fucked up some settings and it was able to get me back to the way it was just minutes before I screwed everything up.

You also mentioned about the swap file. How much should it be set at and is there such a thing as setting it too high? I currently have Windows managing it and it's running around 1534-1536 MB. Not sure if that's good or not.

Anyway, thanks for the help FTL. It's much appreciated.

[The Brain]

You also might want to check out your swap file settings. No matter how much RAM you have, the swap file will always be used, so you better have enough.

Seeing as how I'm too late to provide FTL-like help on the configuration, I can at least help with the swap file.

As a general rule of thumb, they say set the swap to about 1.5 times the size of your total system RAM. (So 192MB swap for every 128MB of RAM you have). And set the minimum and maximum settings to the exact same value-- otherwise it wastes precious CPU cycles resizing itself too frequently.

[Flock of Moosen]

Originally posted by The Brain
[quote]
As a general rule of thumb, they say set the swap to about 1.5 times the size of your total system RAM. (So 192MB swap for every 128MB of RAM you have). And set the minimum and maximum settings to the exact same value-- otherwise it wastes precious CPU cycles resizing itself too frequently.

I let Windows set the swap for me and it automatically set it at 1535MB which is roughly 1.5 times my total RAM. Thanks for the info Brain.