My computer uses too much RAM; how to fix this ?

http://www.theeldergeek.com/security_center.htm

And to Fly: Since you're using SP2, there are no longer security updates being issued for your machine by the Microsoft Corp.
No longer updates of any sort for that matter, I believe.

And though while perhaps something like drivers from the Microsoft Updates site may still be available for you there, it's better to update drivers from the manufacturer's own website, as Microsoft has been known to mistakenly offer inappropriate/incompatible/wrong drivers for machines.

So unless you want to upgrade to SP3, you no longer have any use for the Microsoft Updates site or the Automatic Updates service.

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/jacks-blog-10017212/windows-xp-sp2-nears-end-of-life-10017718/

 

I just switched back to Windows Update because of the Microsoft Update problem, and my computers response time is much better.

 

Interesting point. I never tried this because MS has disabled the old Office Update site. So, if you have any other MS sotware (especially Office), the only way you can keep it up to date is to still use Microsoft Updates.

 

What is the difference between windows update and microsoft update? If I have MS Office(2007) do I need to pick a particular one? How do I pick one?

I usually do update by clicking the security icon --- it only updates Windows, not office.

 

If you are concerned about any security Office updates, they tell me you can switch back long enough to get them and then switch back easy enough. Hopefully MS will fix the problem they caused with the August Microsoft (mentioned by Wearetheborg earlier) update soon.

 

What a coincidence as I, too, was trying to fix this problem last night on my old Dell Inspiron 8100 laptop (10 yr old) which became very slow after I updated McAfee AV definition for whatever reason but it was alright day before. This laptop can accommodate a max 512MB RAM only so there is no more room for RAM expansion which is a bit sad as the laptop is still in very good condition. (I only use it as desktop ... ).

I have noticed for several months now that it takes ages (never count) to fully boot into Windows properly because it needs to start the application one by one. First the AV starts slowly then a warning about FW not on but after a few minutes it starts. The slowest to start for me is my SAS followed by Rainlendar. However my PowerShadow, SG, SpywareBlaster started with no problem. So I uninstalled SAS and Rainlendar but the system is still slow. Added to the headache now is my constant inability to get connected to the internet as the connection keeps dropping and I need to reactivate the LAN card all the time. Apart from that the laptop still work fine.

I am typing this now using my new PC (1.5 month old) but this system too is also not very stable as it keeps giving me Black Screen of Death (Win7x64, 4GB RAM, i5, Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2, SSD) and on several occasions (last night) I needed to boot into SafeMode several times before things went back to normal. It does not like cold start (more than 12 hr) for whatever reason.

Anyway, in few months time I might need to get something else as a back up.

 

If you download Autoruns from microsoft you can eliminate some of the items that automatically load at startup and possibly pick up some speed in your bootups. Here's the url: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

 

http://windowstipoftheday.blogspot.com/2005/12/windows-update-vs-microsoft-update.html

 

I feel it should also be mentioned that if you are going to disable Windows Updates (the service itself, not just untick the box in Control Panel)... when you re-enable it to check manually it must be set to "Automatic". Putting it on "Manual", then starting it won't suffice. The "Background Intelligent Transfer Service" must also be started (Manual is fine for this one). I have them both disabled, and start them once a month to look for updates. Cryptographic Services is the other one that's needed. In XP Home "Manual" works fine, it will run when it needs to, but in Pro it must be set to "Automatic" to work. I don't turn this off though.

And I agree about disabling the Security Center service. It's worthless, and a substantial resource suck to boot. It's been years since I've used it but I recall it giving me false information too... saying I had no AV/firewall installed because it couldn't detect a particular product. That could be dangerous if an end user were to install a 2'nd AV/firewall because they took it's word for it, or at least waste their time uninstalling/reinstalling again because they think it didn't install right. The service itself doesn't actually provide any "security", it just tells you what you should already know: "You have an AV installed, Congrats!"... or "Windows Firewall is turned on".

System Restore is another one that sucks a lot of juice, and probably won't work when you really need it to anyway. Having a good imaging/backup strategy in place is much better.

And if you aren't using the Windows Firewall and/or sharing a connection, then the "Windows Firewall/ICS" is just pointlessly sucking juice too.

Firefox might run even lighter for you than IE7. It did for me. When I started using FF I had been using IE7, and noticed an obvious difference. This can vary depending on ones particular setup though. I know someone that the opposite is true for... FF runs like molasses on their PC for whatever reason. And adding the AdBlock Plus add-on will certainly speed up your browsing (though this relates to connection speed, not so much RAM).

And I just noticed (Fly) that you're using the Avira suite. I don't know if that's resource intensive or not. I've only used the AV (free), and it was very light. It might benefit you to go that route too, then look for a light, stand-alone outbound FW to compliment it. I find that going that route is often lighter than using suites.

 

Thanks, I'll try it again. I think I did it so, but got the Security Center nag just after that. But it's worth trying it again.

 

Recently I received an update for MS-Word. For as far as I know I won't receive updates for the Windows OS, but other MS products are a different matter.

 

That actually makes kind of an interesting point, then:
Microsoft no longer supports XP SP2 in 'stand alone' fashion, but will provide new updates for Office being run on SP2-- if that's true.

But you say 'recently'. The final updates for SP2 were released a month and a half ago, so that could qualify as 'recently'.
Do you know when exactly that MS-Word update was released? Just asking as a point of curiosity.

 

Not exactly. But I received the update after the official end for support of SP2.

 

From Performance Issues on machines during and/or after installing Updates (Windows XP only):