I'm computer retarded. Soooo right now I'm assuming that isn't the best. Should be three pics.

that doesnt look too good steve. i'm guessing you probably have a ton of chit on startup that you dont need.

start, run, msconfig, startup, then unclick all the ones you dont need. that should be a start, i'm sure james will help some more.

heres mine

my PF usage on startup is around 104mb to give you an idea.

I'll have to cut some stuff back.

Mines worse and i have a much much crappier computer.....

fresh restart

Steve ...

Start > Run ... > msconfig > startup ... take a screenshot ...

All the items that have been crossed-out should be removed if you don't use them ... I left Firefox and Desktop uncrossed because I personally find it much more convienient to have those two in the Quick Launch. If you don't use any of them, just remove the Quick Launch bar altogether by right-clicking on an empty part of the bar > Toolbars > Quick Launch

Also, if at all possible, clean up the desktop by grouping similar items into folders. The fewer items you have on the desktop, the less memory will be taken up. In benchtests, I've found that your computer starts to get slower after you exceed 8 items ...

I'm down to nice icons on my desktop (including the recycle bin), + four in the quick launch bar. I don't think I should have fourty processes running though.

Startup:

Here's four screen shots of the programs installed. It won't let me remove Kazaa and the Yahoo Companion because some files couldn't be found blah blah blah (?).

I can probably do away with Winamp ...

i'll have to look mine up tonight for You, I avg 30ish processes as well.

the thing is, from what I've read, no matter what You do, XP handicap's Your ram usage.

Under Startup programs in MSCONFIG ... Only remove a few of these at a time so you don't have to figure out which one is causing problems ...

AHQTB provides an icon in the taskbar so you can quickly change your settings. This can be removed. If your sound doesn't work after removing this, re-enable it.

navapw32 + SNDMon are Norton Anti-Virus components. If you're not using Norton anymore, remove these.

InkMonitor monitors your ink levels and informs you when you're running low on ink. Not needed on any of the Epson printers I've used. If your printer doesn't work properly after disabling this, re-enable it.

RUNDLL32 - You need to expand the command section so I can see where this is coming from. Nv makes me suspect it has something to do with Nvidia, but I'm not certain.

MsgPlus - I haven't used Messenger Plus in a while, but last I checked, it wasn't needed at startup. Remove both.

qttask opens Quicktime at startup. Definitely not needed. I would uninstall Quicktime as this will never go away until you uninstall it. I can send you the k-lite Mega Codec pack so you don't need Real Player or Quicktime to play Real or Quicktime media.

iTuneshelper monitors the computer for iPod devices. Not needed, but if your iPod doesn't connect after disabling it, re-enable it.

jussched auto-updates your Java client. Not needed.

NBJ schedules hard drive back ups. If you manually back up your hard drive, you should disable this. If Nero Back-It-Up no longer works after disabling this, re-enable it.

msnmsgr opens MSN at startup. In order to stop it from loading, you must disable this and in MSN. Tools > Options ... > General > Uncheck "Automatically Run when I log on to Windows"

Epson Status Monitor isn't needed, IIRC. If your printer no longer works properly, re-enable it.

then defrag.

i have been cleaning up some stuff lately and i dont want to delete anything that i dont know what it is. dont wanna screw anything up. anyways, my PF usage was at like 330ish and now im down to like 240ish with about 40 processes. i only have 256 MB of RAM at 333Mhz and i want it to be as fast as possible. just curious if you guys could also help me delete some stuff i dont need. thanks

You can probably get rid of most of that stuff, Bobby ...

I'll give it a look over later as I don't have the time to do it right now, but I can tell you some things quickly right now that may help you ...

ccApp + SNDMon = Norton Anti-Virus (required)

NvCpl = nVidia graphics card drivers (required)

nwiz = nView Desktop Manager Wizard (Uncheck this, just eats up RAM)

CTFMon = Advanced Text Services. Generally not required. Unchecking won't remove it. To remove it, go to Start > Control Panel > Regional and Language Options > Languages > Details > Advanced > Check "Turn Off Advanced Text Services" > Click OK

Thanks James ... very much appreciated.

I'll re-start and check out the difference, and see if my iPod connects.