Minimum startup options for Winme

[swee'pea99]

I'm still trying to stop my daughter's thinkpad 570 from freezing.

What can I delete from the startup menu under msconfig?

Currently it has ticks by:

ScanRegistry Registry (Machine Run)
TaskMonitor Registry (Machine Run)
PCHealth Registry (Machine Run)
System Tray Registry (Machine Run)
IrMon Registry (Machine Run)
LoadPowerProfile Registry (Machine Run)
TrackPointSrv Registry (Machine Run)
BelkinWLAN Registry (Machine Run)
LoadPowerProfile Registry (Machine Service)
SchedulingAgent Registry (Machine Service)
*StateMgr Registry (Machine Service)
RtlWake Startup Group

Can I stop some of these to free up some resource without screwing everything up?

Thanks.

 

[Garz]

Boot up in safe mode, recheck them one by one till you find the culprit!

 

[ian turner]

Er what resources are you short of ?
How often does it freeze and when ?
Most of those entries are fairly basic and unlikely to cause any problem

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks Garz - d'you literally mean untick 'em all and it'l work fine, then reintroduce them one at a time till it freezes, then I'll know when it does that it was the most recent 'tickee' that's causing grief? (And if that is what you're saying, can't I just untick 'em all & leave it? Or will that cause me problems?)

Thanks also ian. Um, I don't know really. It's an old machine, and far from high-powered (450Mhz, 300-odd of RAM) so I'd like to run it 'lean' and see if that helps.
It freezes when she's playing on some SIMS-type game called YoVille.

Incidentally, googling seemed to suggest that others have had freezing probs with YoVille running on Firefox so I've installed Opera to see if that might make a difference. Fingers crossed....

 

[classic33]

Try Diagnostic Startup, loads basic decises & services.
OR
Selective Startup. I cut the number of processes running from over 50 to just under 40.

Another worth having a go at is bringing task manager up & seeing what is actually running. Obvious ones like word or other applications you have installed are worth considering removing from startup. Don't do a mass halt on what runs, but try stopping them one by one & see what happens.

 

[Garz]

Its fine to untick them all however some toys may get thrown out of the pram from certain programs, or they dont start-up. It's pretty straight forward with a laptop as the maker usually has software required for stuff to work for example a hp laptop would require the software for it's mouse tracker pad to be there named 'hp-trackpad'.

What I usualy do if im nagged to sort this from family members is use an online process database that has a list of them with a brief explanation. From this you can tell if the service needs to be running. 90% of them dont btw.

Here is a tasklist site, for ones you cannot find use google to dig out anything random.

 

[rh100]

Hi SP

Some of the entries in that list look like required system files - Belkin would be the wifi driver etc. I don't recognize them all so some web searches may tell you what they are. But deselecting them could shut down the bits you need.

Yoville is web based, through facebook, and I believe it uses Flash.

If that is the only place you get problems with the laptop, then disabling start up services could be a sledgehammer to a walnut.

I would recommend you first clear out cookies and temp cache from within your internet browser.

Then go to http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ to load the latest version of flash.

The problem with Windows ME is that it is very unstable anyway, but you probably knew that.

Does Windows ME have windows update (may not be supported anymore though)? If so then run it and allow a full update.

Hope this helps

Rich

 

[ian turner]

Odds on its a flash problem as various versions have caused freezing problems.
Doubt you'll get any updates as ME ran out of support ages ago. Its not too unstable if a clean install as I ran a fairly stable system with it.

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks for all suggestions. I have tried downloading the latest ME-friendly version of flash (which turns out to be 9.0) - no difference. Still waiting to see how Opera plays out.

 

[2Loose]

I can't login to Facebook from work, but apparently they are aware of this freezing problem and have posted a possible solution http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=21526880407&topic=6191

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks 2Loose - I'll definitely check that out when I get home.

 

[2Loose]

Hmm that link seems to take me straight to my (or your) facebook page, but this is what else I found;

-CAN’T LOG ON/ CREATE AN AVATAR/ OR IT FREEZES (OR FREEZES IN GENERAL) WHEN YOU LOAD ITEMS IN STORES/APARTMENTS ECT: Since there are several things that can cause these issues, your issue may or may not be coming from the game itself. Getting stuck at 74% usually means there is a firewall problem.
You may try installing/reinstalling flash here:

http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/

And here’s a link to disabling most firewalls that may be helpful:

http://help.expedient.com/general/disable_firewall.shtml

Please make sure that you are using the newest available version of whatever browser you use. If you are using an older version it may be the cause of loading and freezing issues.
Don't worry, we know "some" of these issues are in the game and not always issues on your side, we are looking into that too. Please be patient though.

 

[swee'pea99]

Hello 2Loose. I tried that url, but it doesn't work - as you say, it just suddenly turns itself into a different url and I'm looking at my daughter's home page.

I've already tried uninstalling/reinstalling flash...as to firewalls, I'm not sure whether she has one or not, to be honest. I'll ty to find out tomorrow.

When you say 'we know'...does that means you work at Facebook?

(Me, I'm always patient. My 10 year old daughter on the other hand....

 

[Garz]

Hmmm rather than use Win ME id rather play with something like ubuntu at least its stable and free!

 

[2Loose]

Garz, seconded...Ubuntu ftw.

Swea'pea, no I don't work at facebook - lol, if I did I am sure I'd be out riding something very different to my Giant mtb...Ducati or Cervelo perhaps. I cut and pasted that from the
YoVille support pages.