Hi Group, I tune up computers for a living. There are numerous ways to improve performance, without necessitating upgrades, though more memory is usually helpful.
Right click on My Computer and choose properties. Click the performance tab. (doesn't work for XP). You will see the percentage of resources available. This should be at least in the mid 70's at boot up. Preferably in the high 80's. When it gets down to the 50% range, it's time to reboot. Performing the following will help deal with this. Keep unnecessary programs from loading at boot up. I prefer to use a little utility from Mike Lin called Start up Control Panel - http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml . This will allow you to easily control what loads. There are important programs that need to run, so if you don't know, Google it. Most things like MS Office, Money, Fast Find, Real Player, QuickTime, Messenger, etc don't need to load. This does not uninstall them. You can always start them by clicking the shortcut. Spyware and adware. Many of these programs cause poor performance as well as possibly steal your personal information. I use a combination of programs that are available for free. The paid versions have more functionality. Be careful with these as some will change registry items. Google is your friend. Also, be aware that many spyware removers are not what they appear to be. They are actually created by hackers to put spyware on your computers. Adaware - www.lavasoft.de Spybot Search & Destroy - http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html M$ has recently purchased a spyware company and has a beta version of its anti spyware product. I'm testing it on my machines. It hasn't found anything that the previous two haven't yet. You may want to hold off on this until after it is tested. Also, I'm getting the sense that it may be a bit of a resource glutton. The above three work together to scan your computer for spyware. They all work a little differently, so one may pick up something that the others don't. Spybot also has an immunize function that will help keep spyware off your computer. But for that purpose, I use SpywareBlaster - http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html Making sure that you have plenty of free space on your hard drive is also crucial. Start/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Cleanup Uninstall unneeded software. Especially a lot of the 'free' stuff that is downloaded. It usually is not free, but comes loaded with spyware. Things like Gain/Gator, Bonzi Buddy, Bargain Buddy, Weather Bug, Search tools/bars, etc. Defrag your hard drive. Install a good anti-virus - AVG by Grisoft has a good free version - grisoft.com Install a firewall. XP has a built in firewall, but it is not enough. Sygate has a good free version and is fairly easy to use - sygate.com If the computer is already infested, disconnect from the Internet so that you don't spread it and make sure that it is completely clean. This is not always easily done. You will need to reboot and test again. Keep all of these up dated regularly. Especially crucial is to keep Windows updated. So many of the computers that I work on have not beed updated. These are often security patches. That's enough to keep people busy for a while. Be safe, Brian Schultz PC_Tune_ups at gorge dot net On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 09:03:58 -0500, Dave Hook <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I'm using Legacy version 5.0.0.173 with Windows ME. > > I seem to frequently get 'out of memory' or run time errors where Legacy > shuts down or sometime strange behaviour (such as fonts changing size on > me). This used to happen when I had several applications open at the same > time or was doing an activity in Legacy that opens several dialog boxes > (such as adding a photo to an event, for example). > > Now, it seems to be happening more frequently, and it is starting to happen > even if I don't have a lot of other applications open. Is there any way to > fix this or prevent it from happening? > > Thanks, > Dave > Legacy User Group Etiquette guidelines can be found at: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp To find past messages, please go to our searchable archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup%40mail.millenniacorp.com/ To unsubscribe please visit: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp
