Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Douglas Roberts]

How about Trojan cracks? Sounds like rich earth, ripe for tilling.

Merle, what are your thoughts?
On Feb 6, 2013 8:34 PM, "Nicholas Thompson" 
wrote:

> Hi, 
>
> ** **
>
> My Dell Studio (yeah, yeah, save the Mac cracks) has been cranky of late,
> particularly when streaming stuff, and since I am reluctant to put out a
> couple of hundred dollars to have it “tuned up”, I have been trying to see
> what I can do on my own.  This has led me to the resource monitor, a truly
> fascinating little gizmo, a couple of levels down in the Task Manager.
> The help files that are attached to it are pretty lean, and I was wondering
> if someone knew of a “Resource Monitor  for Idiots” source.  
>
> ** **
>
> One thing that I immediately learned which was STUNNING was that mac
> I-tunes has a chum that it loads called AppleRemoteDevicesManager.exe which
> grabs 25 percent of your resources off the top and doesn’t let go unless
> you whack it over the head with a brick.  It’s purpose is to manage your
> relationship with your mobile devices, but relentlessly demands resources
> even though you don’t have any mobile devices.   I think of it as
> essentially an Apple Trojan.  (Ok, now, you can make Mac-cracks). 
>
> ** **
>
> Thanks, 
>
> ** **
>
> Nick 
>
> ** **
>
> Nicholas S. Thompson
>
> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
>
> Clark University
>
> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
>
> http://www.cusf.org
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>

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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Nicholas Thompson]

HEY!

This my thread and the price of admission is actually being helpful with the
problem. Please don't jam this channel.  

 

After you have said something helpful, THEN you can be ribald.  

 

n

 

From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Douglas Roberts
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2013 8:39 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

 

How about Trojan cracks? Sounds like rich earth, ripe for tilling.

Merle, what are your thoughts?

On Feb 6, 2013 8:34 PM, "Nicholas Thompson" 
wrote:

Hi, 

 

My Dell Studio (yeah, yeah, save the Mac cracks) has been cranky of late,
particularly when streaming stuff, and since I am reluctant to put out a
couple of hundred dollars to have it "tuned up", I have been trying to see
what I can do on my own.  This has led me to the resource monitor, a truly
fascinating little gizmo, a couple of levels down in the Task Manager.
The help files that are attached to it are pretty lean, and I was wondering
if someone knew of a "Resource Monitor  for Idiots" source.  

 

One thing that I immediately learned which was STUNNING was that mac I-tunes
has a chum that it loads called AppleRemoteDevicesManager.exe which grabs 25
percent of your resources off the top and doesn't let go unless you whack it
over the head with a brick.  It's purpose is to manage your relationship
with your mobile devices, but relentlessly demands resources even though you
don't have any mobile devices.   I think of it as essentially an Apple
Trojan.  (Ok, now, you can make Mac-cracks). 

 

Thanks, 

 

Nick 

 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

http://www.cusf.org <http://www.cusf.org/> 

 

 



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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Douglas Roberts]

Help someone who relies on Dell? Can't be done, my friend.
On Feb 6, 2013 8:48 PM, "Nicholas Thompson" 
wrote:

> HEY!
>
> This my thread and the price of admission is actually being helpful with
> the problem. Please don’t jam this channel.  
>
> ** **
>
> After you have said something helpful, THEN you can be ribald.  
>
> ** **
>
> n
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] *On Behalf Of *Douglas
> Roberts
> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 06, 2013 8:39 PM
> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor
>
> ** **
>
> How about Trojan cracks? Sounds like rich earth, ripe for tilling.
>
> Merle, what are your thoughts?
>
> On Feb 6, 2013 8:34 PM, "Nicholas Thompson" 
> wrote:
>
> Hi, 
>
>  
>
> My Dell Studio (yeah, yeah, save the Mac cracks) has been cranky of late,
> particularly when streaming stuff, and since I am reluctant to put out a
> couple of hundred dollars to have it “tuned up”, I have been trying to see
> what I can do on my own.  This has led me to the resource monitor, a truly
> fascinating little gizmo, a couple of levels down in the Task Manager.
> The help files that are attached to it are pretty lean, and I was wondering
> if someone knew of a “Resource Monitor  for Idiots” source.  
>
>  
>
> One thing that I immediately learned which was STUNNING was that mac
> I-tunes has a chum that it loads called AppleRemoteDevicesManager.exe which
> grabs 25 percent of your resources off the top and doesn’t let go unless
> you whack it over the head with a brick.  It’s purpose is to manage your
> relationship with your mobile devices, but relentlessly demands resources
> even though you don’t have any mobile devices.   I think of it as
> essentially an Apple Trojan.  (Ok, now, you can make Mac-cracks). 
>
>  
>
> Thanks, 
>
>  
>
> Nick 
>
>  
>
> Nicholas S. Thompson
>
> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
>
> Clark University
>
> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
>
> http://www.cusf.org
>
>  
>
>  
>
>
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>

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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Douglas Roberts]

BUT, I do have a bridge I'd consider selling...
On Feb 6, 2013 8:52 PM, "Douglas Roberts"  wrote:

> Help someone who relies on Dell? Can't be done, my friend.
> On Feb 6, 2013 8:48 PM, "Nicholas Thompson" 
> wrote:
>
>> HEY!
>>
>> This my thread and the price of admission is actually being helpful with
>> the problem. Please don’t jam this channel.  
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> After you have said something helpful, THEN you can be ribald.  
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> n
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> *From:* Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] *On Behalf Of *Douglas
>> Roberts
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 06, 2013 8:39 PM
>> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
>> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> How about Trojan cracks? Sounds like rich earth, ripe for tilling.
>>
>> Merle, what are your thoughts?
>>
>> On Feb 6, 2013 8:34 PM, "Nicholas Thompson" 
>> wrote:
>>
>> Hi, 
>>
>>  
>>
>> My Dell Studio (yeah, yeah, save the Mac cracks) has been cranky of late,
>> particularly when streaming stuff, and since I am reluctant to put out a
>> couple of hundred dollars to have it “tuned up”, I have been trying to see
>> what I can do on my own.  This has led me to the resource monitor, a truly
>> fascinating little gizmo, a couple of levels down in the Task Manager.
>> The help files that are attached to it are pretty lean, and I was wondering
>> if someone knew of a “Resource Monitor  for Idiots” source.  
>>
>>  
>>
>> One thing that I immediately learned which was STUNNING was that mac
>> I-tunes has a chum that it loads called AppleRemoteDevicesManager.exe which
>> grabs 25 percent of your resources off the top and doesn’t let go unless
>> you whack it over the head with a brick.  It’s purpose is to manage your
>> relationship with your mobile devices, but relentlessly demands resources
>> even though you don’t have any mobile devices.   I think of it as
>> essentially an Apple Trojan.  (Ok, now, you can make Mac-cracks). 
>>
>>  
>>
>> Thanks, 
>>
>>  
>>
>> Nick 
>>
>>  
>>
>> Nicholas S. Thompson
>>
>> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
>>
>> Clark University
>>
>> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
>>
>> http://www.cusf.org
>>
>>  
>>
>>  
>>
>>
>> 
>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
>> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>>
>> 
>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
>> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>>
>

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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Marcus G. Daniels]

On 2/6/13 8:48 PM, Nicholas Thompson wrote:


One thing that I immediately learned which was STUNNING was that mac 
I-tunes has a chum that it loads called AppleRemoteDevicesManager.exe 
which grabs 25 percent of your resources off the top and doesn't let 
go unless you whack it over the head with a brick.  It's purpose is to 
manage your relationship with your mobile devices, but relentlessly 
demands resources even though you don't have any mobile devices.



http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4123
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3185699?start=15&tstart=0



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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Joshua Thorp]

Nick it sounds like you are on the right track.  

I would look at the RAM (memory) consumption first.  If you can avoid filling 
it up, thus causing your computer to swap to disk, your computer will probably 
run a lot better.  Easier said than done! But finding these background tasks 
that you don't need and uninstalling/disabling them is worth it to keep your 
computer running a little longer.

Also reading your email on the command line will help…  But I wouldn't 
recommend it, you'll miss all the sight gags. :)

--joshua


On Feb 6, 2013, at 8:53 PM, Douglas Roberts wrote:

> BUT, I do have a bridge I'd consider selling...
> 
> On Feb 6, 2013 8:52 PM, "Douglas Roberts"  wrote:
> Help someone who relies on Dell? Can't be done, my friend.
> 
> On Feb 6, 2013 8:48 PM, "Nicholas Thompson"  
> wrote:
> HEY!
> 
> This my thread and the price of admission is actually being helpful with the 
> problem. Please don’t jam this channel. 
> 
>  
> 
> After you have said something helpful, THEN you can be ribald. 
> 
>  
> 
> n
> 
>  
> 
> From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Douglas Roberts
> Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2013 8:39 PM
> To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor
> 
>  
> 
> How about Trojan cracks? Sounds like rich earth, ripe for tilling.
> 
> Merle, what are your thoughts?
> 
> On Feb 6, 2013 8:34 PM, "Nicholas Thompson"  
> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
>  
> 
> My Dell Studio (yeah, yeah, save the Mac cracks) has been cranky of late, 
> particularly when streaming stuff, and since I am reluctant to put out a 
> couple of hundred dollars to have it “tuned up”, I have been trying to see 
> what I can do on my own.  This has led me to the resource monitor, a truly 
> fascinating little gizmo, a couple of levels down in the Task Manager.The 
> help files that are attached to it are pretty lean, and I was wondering if 
> someone knew of a “Resource Monitor  for Idiots” source. 
> 
>  
> 
> One thing that I immediately learned which was STUNNING was that mac I-tunes 
> has a chum that it loads called AppleRemoteDevicesManager.exe which grabs 25 
> percent of your resources off the top and doesn’t let go unless you whack it 
> over the head with a brick.  It’s purpose is to manage your relationship with 
> your mobile devices, but relentlessly demands resources even though you don’t 
> have any mobile devices.   I think of it as essentially an Apple Trojan.  
> (Ok, now, you can make Mac-cracks).
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks,
> 
>  
> 
> Nick
> 
>  
> 
> Nicholas S. Thompson
> 
> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
> 
> Clark University
> 
> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
> 
> http://www.cusf.org
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> 
> 
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com


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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Sarbajit Roy]

Nick
What flavour/version of Windows are you running and how much RAM do you
have installed?.

Try Ctr-Alt-Del and see if a Task Manager pops up. If so, click on
"Processes".

On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 9:51 AM, Joshua Thorp  wrote:

> Nick it sounds like you are on the right track.
>
> I would look at the RAM (memory) consumption first.  If you can avoid
> filling it up, thus causing your computer to swap to disk, your computer
> will probably run a lot better.  Easier said than done! But finding these
> background tasks that you don't need and uninstalling/disabling them is
> worth it to keep your computer running a little longer.
>
> Also reading your email on the command line will help…  But I wouldn't
> recommend it, you'll miss all the sight gags. :)
>
> --joshua
>
>
> On Feb 6, 2013, at 8:53 PM, Douglas Roberts wrote:
>
> BUT, I do have a bridge I'd consider selling...
> On Feb 6, 2013 8:52 PM, "Douglas Roberts"  wrote:
>
>> Help someone who relies on Dell? Can't be done, my friend.
>> On Feb 6, 2013 8:48 PM, "Nicholas Thompson" 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> HEY!
>>>
>>> This my thread and the price of admission is actually being helpful with
>>> the problem. Please don’t jam this channel.  
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> After you have said something helpful, THEN you can be ribald.  
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> n****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> *From:* Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] *On Behalf Of *Douglas
>>> Roberts
>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 06, 2013 8:39 PM
>>> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
>>> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> How about Trojan cracks? Sounds like rich earth, ripe for tilling.
>>>
>>> Merle, what are your thoughts?
>>>
>>> On Feb 6, 2013 8:34 PM, "Nicholas Thompson" 
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi, 
>>>
>>>  
>>>
>>> My Dell Studio (yeah, yeah, save the Mac cracks) has been cranky of
>>> late, particularly when streaming stuff, and since I am reluctant to put
>>> out a couple of hundred dollars to have it “tuned up”, I have been trying
>>> to see what I can do on my own.  This has led me to the resource monitor, a
>>> truly fascinating little gizmo, a couple of levels down in the Task
>>> Manager.The help files that are attached to it are pretty lean, and I
>>> was wondering if someone knew of a “Resource Monitor  for Idiots” source.
>>> 
>>>
>>>  
>>>
>>> One thing that I immediately learned which was STUNNING was that mac
>>> I-tunes has a chum that it loads called AppleRemoteDevicesManager.exe which
>>> grabs 25 percent of your resources off the top and doesn’t let go unless
>>> you whack it over the head with a brick.  It’s purpose is to manage your
>>> relationship with your mobile devices, but relentlessly demands resources
>>> even though you don’t have any mobile devices.   I think of it as
>>> essentially an Apple Trojan.  (Ok, now, you can make Mac-cracks). 
>>>
>>>  
>>>
>>> Thanks, 
>>>
>>>  
>>>
>>> Nick 
>>>
>>>  
>>>
>>> Nicholas S. Thompson
>>>
>>> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
>>>
>>> Clark University
>>>
>>> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
>>>
>>> http://www.cusf.org
>>>
>>>  
>>>
>>>  
>>>
>>>
>>> 
>>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>>> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
>>> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>>>
>>> 
>>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>>> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
>>> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>>>
>>  
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>
>
>
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>

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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Merle Lefkoff]

Hey, Nick.  I wasn't being frivolous, I was very serious.  We struggle with 
re-languaging tired old concepts along with the arcane jargon of complexity 
that you guys are masters at.   Because what we're selling is so out of the box 
(WHAT?  We're going to sit down at the negotiating table without an agenda?!),  
I take a special delight in discovering old words that can be used in new and 
captivating ways.  And you already know I appreciate you.

And Friam dear, or Douglas dear--you should be ashamed of yourselves if you're 
older than 14.  

On Feb 6, 2013, at 8:48 PM, Nicholas Thompson wrote:

> HEY!
> This my thread and the price of admission is actually being helpful with the 
> problem. Please don’t jam this channel. 
>  
> After you have said something helpful, THEN you can be ribald. 
>  
> n
>  
> From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Douglas Roberts
> Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2013 8:39 PM
> To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor
>  
> How about Trojan cracks? Sounds like rich earth, ripe for tilling.
> 
> Merle, what are your thoughts?
> 
> On Feb 6, 2013 8:34 PM, "Nicholas Thompson"  
> wrote:
> Hi,
>  
> My Dell Studio (yeah, yeah, save the Mac cracks) has been cranky of late, 
> particularly when streaming stuff, and since I am reluctant to put out a 
> couple of hundred dollars to have it “tuned up”, I have been trying to see 
> what I can do on my own.  This has led me to the resource monitor, a truly 
> fascinating little gizmo, a couple of levels down in the Task Manager.The 
> help files that are attached to it are pretty lean, and I was wondering if 
> someone knew of a “Resource Monitor  for Idiots” source. 
>  
> One thing that I immediately learned which was STUNNING was that mac I-tunes 
> has a chum that it loads called AppleRemoteDevicesManager.exe which grabs 25 
> percent of your resources off the top and doesn’t let go unless you whack it 
> over the head with a brick.  It’s purpose is to manage your relationship with 
> your mobile devices, but relentlessly demands resources even though you don’t 
> have any mobile devices.   I think of it as essentially an Apple Trojan.  
> (Ok, now, you can make Mac-cracks).
>  
> Thanks,
>  
> Nick
>  
> Nicholas S. Thompson
> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
> Clark University
> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
> http://www.cusf.org
>  
>  
> 
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com



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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Douglas Roberts]

Agree completely, Merle.

Except, now that you mention it: 14 was an extraordinarily good year.
On Feb 6, 2013 9:33 PM, "Merle Lefkoff"  wrote:

> Hey, Nick.  I wasn't being frivolous, I was very serious.  We struggle
> with re-languaging tired old concepts along with the arcane jargon of
> complexity that you guys are masters at.   Because what we're selling is so
> out of the box (WHAT?  We're going to sit down at the negotiating table
> without an agenda?!),  I take a special delight in discovering old words
> that can be used in new and captivating ways.  And you already know I
> appreciate you.
>
> And Friam dear, or Douglas dear--you should be ashamed of yourselves if
> you're older than 14.
>
> On Feb 6, 2013, at 8:48 PM, Nicholas Thompson wrote:
>
> > HEY!
> > This my thread and the price of admission is actually being helpful with
> the problem. Please don’t jam this channel.
> >
> > After you have said something helpful, THEN you can be ribald.
> >
> > n
> >
> > From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Douglas
> Roberts
> > Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2013 8:39 PM
> > To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
> > Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor
> >
> > How about Trojan cracks? Sounds like rich earth, ripe for tilling.
> >
> > Merle, what are your thoughts?
> >
> > On Feb 6, 2013 8:34 PM, "Nicholas Thompson" 
> wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > My Dell Studio (yeah, yeah, save the Mac cracks) has been cranky of
> late, particularly when streaming stuff, and since I am reluctant to put
> out a couple of hundred dollars to have it “tuned up”, I have been trying
> to see what I can do on my own.  This has led me to the resource monitor, a
> truly fascinating little gizmo, a couple of levels down in the Task
> Manager.The help files that are attached to it are pretty lean, and I
> was wondering if someone knew of a “Resource Monitor  for Idiots” source.
> >
> > One thing that I immediately learned which was STUNNING was that mac
> I-tunes has a chum that it loads called AppleRemoteDevicesManager.exe which
> grabs 25 percent of your resources off the top and doesn’t let go unless
> you whack it over the head with a brick.  It’s purpose is to manage your
> relationship with your mobile devices, but relentlessly demands resources
> even though you don’t have any mobile devices.   I think of it as
> essentially an Apple Trojan.  (Ok, now, you can make Mac-cracks).
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Nick
> >
> > Nicholas S. Thompson
> > Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
> > Clark University
> > http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
> > http://www.cusf.org
> >
> >
> >
> > 
> > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> > 
> > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>
>
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>

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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Arlo Barnes]

Not sure I quite understand the situation, but CCleaner has a utility to
look at the StartUp folder (where startups come from, of course) and the
registry to see what is being run at startup, and removing these insures
that you have to muck around with Task Manager > Processes less. Of course,
some applications just change this back again when they are run, but on the
other hand some applications will not allow you to kill them at the process
or application level (AVG, for instance. Why I now have only ClamWin and
Piriform scanners. I had to delete what I could of the AVG program files
over several reboots to get rid of it).
-Arlo James Barnes

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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Nicholas Thompson]

Thanks for all your suggestions.  Most I actually understood, for which I am
enormously grateful.  

 

I have the habit of burying my most important question under a lot of verbal
rubble, so I want to ask it again in case you missed it.  Is there any guide
to the Resource Monitor that is more forthcoming than the help files that
come with it?  Stuff like what the various charts and graphs and numbers are
telling me.   

 

N

 

 

 

From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Arlo Barnes
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2013 10:09 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

 

Not sure I quite understand the situation, but CCleaner has a utility to
look at the StartUp folder (where startups come from, of course) and the
registry to see what is being run at startup, and removing these insures
that you have to muck around with Task Manager > Processes less. Of course,
some applications just change this back again when they are run, but on the
other hand some applications will not allow you to kill them at the process
or application level (AVG, for instance. Why I now have only ClamWin and
Piriform scanners. I had to delete what I could of the AVG program files
over several reboots to get rid of it).
-Arlo James Barnes


FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Owen Densmore]

Nick: did you google:
how to use the windows resource monitor
.. it turned up lots and lots of info.

However, the classic solution to a clean machine is to literally start
over: wipe the disk *after* making a complete copy of its contents to a
cheap disk, and drag stuff back aboard as you need it.

This is augmented by Dropbox: if you don't have it now, you may want to
consider it as a backup of your working stuff, stuff that you can't replace
from other sources and is data you actually created.  It also makes it
trivial to see/work on the files from any of several computers.

Then the "lets start over" approach is much much easier.  Clean system with
one folder of your working repository.

I'm always amazed just how zippy a new system is.

I keep a log of all installs I do, you may start doing that .. it makes it
easy to know what you may need to reinstall if you go the clean install
route. And what may need removing 'cause you don't use it anymore.

   -- Owen

On Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 11:11 PM, Nicholas Thompson <
nickthomp...@earthlink.net> wrote:

> Thanks for all your suggestions.  Most I actually understood, for which I
> am enormously grateful.  
>
> ** **
>
> I have the habit of burying my most important question under a lot of
> verbal rubble, so I want to ask it again in case you missed it*.  Is
> there any guide to the Resource Monitor that is more forthcoming than the
> help files that come with it?*  Stuff like what the various charts and
> graphs and numbers are telling me.   
>
> ** **
>
> N
>
> **
>

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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Nicholas Thompson]

Thanks owen.  I did lots of stuff LIKE that, but may not have recognized a
helping hand when it was proffered.  With your reassurance I will plunge
back in.  

 

The response to this inquiry has led me wonder some wonderings about the
folks on the list.  Is it the case that:

 

(1)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC

(2)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who has had this
sort of problem (="resource leakage"?).

(3) I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to
pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert. 

(4)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to
pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert and who also too dumb to know
how to use the resource monitor to fix it, myself.  

 

 

N

From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Owen Densmore
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2013 10:25 AM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

 

Nick: did you google: 

how to use the windows resource monitor

.. it turned up lots and lots of info.

 

However, the classic solution to a clean machine is to literally start over:
wipe the disk *after* making a complete copy of its contents to a cheap
disk, and drag stuff back aboard as you need it.

 

This is augmented by Dropbox: if you don't have it now, you may want to
consider it as a backup of your working stuff, stuff that you can't replace
from other sources and is data you actually created.  It also makes it
trivial to see/work on the files from any of several computers.

 

Then the "lets start over" approach is much much easier.  Clean system with
one folder of your working repository.

 

I'm always amazed just how zippy a new system is.

 

I keep a log of all installs I do, you may start doing that .. it makes it
easy to know what you may need to reinstall if you go the clean install
route. And what may need removing 'cause you don't use it anymore.

 

   -- Owen

On Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 11:11 PM, Nicholas Thompson
 wrote:

Thanks for all your suggestions.  Most I actually understood, for which I am
enormously grateful.  

 

I have the habit of burying my most important question under a lot of verbal
rubble, so I want to ask it again in case you missed it.  Is there any guide
to the Resource Monitor that is more forthcoming than the help files that
come with it?  Stuff like what the various charts and graphs and numbers are
telling me.   

 

N

 


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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Gary Schiltz]

Nick,

Are you still in Santa Fe? I'm not, but if I was, I would help out in person at 
the next WedTech (hint for those who are there in Santa Fe). Surely your 
buddies wouldn't charge you $200 for a bit of hands-on help (I'd do it for a 
cup of coffee :-)

Gary

On Feb 7, 2013, at 2:57 PM, "Nicholas  Thompson"  
wrote:

> Thanks owen.  I did lots of stuff LIKE that, but may not have recognized a 
> helping hand when it was proffered.  With your reassurance I will plunge back 
> in. 
>  
> The response to this inquiry has led me wonder some wonderings about the 
> folks on the list.  Is it the case that:
>  
> (1)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC
> (2)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who has had this sort 
> of problem (=”resource leakage”?).
> (3) I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to 
> pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert.
> (4)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to 
> pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert and who also too dumb to know 
> how to use the resource monitor to fix it, myself. 

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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Douglas Roberts]

In my case, Nick, I am a person who doesn't do Windows.

Linux, baby.

But that does not mean I am not fascinated by the tribulations of those who
do, because I am, in much the same way as being unable to take my eyes off
of a train wreck.

So the lack of response from me is thus explained.

--Doug


On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 12:57 PM, Nicholas Thompson <
nickthomp...@earthlink.net> wrote:

> Thanks owen.  I did lots of stuff LIKE that, but may not have recognized a
> helping hand when it was proffered.  With your reassurance I will plunge
> back in.  
>
> ** **
>
> The response to this inquiry has led me wonder some wonderings about the
> folks on the list.  Is it the case that:
>
> ** **
>
> **(1)**I am the only person on this list that owns a PC
>
> **(2)**I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who has had
> this sort of problem (=”resource leakage”?).
>
> **(3)** I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too
> cheap to pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert. 
>
> **(4)**I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too
> cheap to pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert *and* who also
> too dumb to know how to use the resource monitor to fix it, myself.  
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> N
>
> *From:* Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] *On Behalf Of *Owen
> Densmore
> *Sent:* Thursday, February 07, 2013 10:25 AM
>
> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor
>
> ** **
>
> Nick: did you google: 
>
> how to use the windows resource monitor
>
> .. it turned up lots and lots of info.
>
> ** **
>
> However, the classic solution to a clean machine is to literally start
> over: wipe the disk *after* making a complete copy of its contents to a
> cheap disk, and drag stuff back aboard as you need it.
>
> ** **
>
> This is augmented by Dropbox: if you don't have it now, you may want to
> consider it as a backup of your working stuff, stuff that you can't replace
> from other sources and is data you actually created.  It also makes it
> trivial to see/work on the files from any of several computers.
>
> ** **
>
> Then the "lets start over" approach is much much easier.  Clean system
> with one folder of your working repository.
>
> ** **
>
> I'm always amazed just how zippy a new system is.
>
> ** **
>
> I keep a log of all installs I do, you may start doing that .. it makes it
> easy to know what you may need to reinstall if you go the clean install
> route. And what may need removing 'cause you don't use it anymore.
>
> ** **
>
>-- Owen
>
> On Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 11:11 PM, Nicholas Thompson <
> nickthomp...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> Thanks for all your suggestions.  Most I actually understood, for which I
> am enormously grateful.  
>
>  
>
> I have the habit of burying my most important question under a lot of
> verbal rubble, so I want to ask it again in case you missed it*.  Is
> there any guide to the Resource Monitor that is more forthcoming than the
> help files that come with it?*  Stuff like what the various charts and
> graphs and numbers are telling me.   
>
>  
>
> N
>
>  
>
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>



-- 
*Doug Roberts
d...@parrot-farm.net*
*http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins*<http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins>
* <http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins>
505-455-7333 - Office
505-672-8213 - Mobile*

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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Eric Charles]

1) I use a PC, because I am cheap and lazy . 

2) This sort of thing is a ubiquitous problem on PCs, and is sometimes a 
problem for Macs depending the exact operating system (but I've never seen it 
as bad on a Mac as it usually is on a PC). 

3) I would be suspicious of a store-bought expert helping with this... and as 
has been suggested, an expert friend should be cheaper (though not necessarily 
free, as it is time consuming). 

4) I know how to use the resource monitor, and often find that it is not 
telling me what I want to know. The long list of Processes often does not seem 
to account for what the Performance screen tells me is the CPU Usage and 
Physical Memory Usage. I've never really figured out why this discrepancy 
occurs... but I haven't tried hard to find out. It is certainly annoying. 

As suggested, a complete wipe will fix the problem. I have rarely done this... 
but usually am thinking about getting a new computer at about the time the 
problem is annoying enough that I would consider a wipe... and switching to a 
new computer is pretty much the same thing as wiping the old one. If you do not 
use too many programs, a wipe might be relatively easy. 

Also worth noting: Depending on your computing needs, $200 is a significant 
fraction of the cost of a new machine. 

Eric 



 
Eric Charles 
Assistant Professor of Psychology 
Penn State, Altoona 

- Original Message -

From: "Nicholas Thompson"  
To: "The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group"  
Sent: Thursday, February 7, 2013 2:57:32 PM 
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor 



Thanks owen. I did lots of stuff LIKE that, but may not have recognized a 
helping hand when it was proffered. With your reassurance I will plunge back 
in. 

The response to this inquiry has led me wonder some wonderings about the folks 
on the list. Is it the case that: 

(1) I am the only person on this list that owns a PC 
(2) I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who has had this sort of 
problem (=”resource leakage”?). 
(3) I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to pay 
the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert. 
(4) I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to pay 
the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert and who also too dumb to know how to 
use the resource monitor to fix it, myself. 


N 
From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Owen Densmore 
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2013 10:25 AM 
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group 
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor 

Nick: did you google: 

how to use the windows resource monitor 

.. it turned up lots and lots of info. 



However, the classic solution to a clean machine is to literally start over: 
wipe the disk *after* making a complete copy of its contents to a cheap disk, 
and drag stuff back aboard as you need it. 



This is augmented by Dropbox: if you don't have it now, you may want to 
consider it as a backup of your working stuff, stuff that you can't replace 
from other sources and is data you actually created. It also makes it trivial 
to see/work on the files from any of several computers. 



Then the "lets start over" approach is much much easier. Clean system with one 
folder of your working repository. 



I'm always amazed just how zippy a new system is. 



I keep a log of all installs I do, you may start doing that .. it makes it easy 
to know what you may need to reinstall if you go the clean install route. And 
what may need removing 'cause you don't use it anymore. 



-- Owen 

On Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 11:11 PM, Nicholas Thompson < nickthomp...@earthlink.net 
> wrote: 


Thanks for all your suggestions. Most I actually understood, for which I am 
enormously grateful. 

I have the habit of burying my most important question under a lot of verbal 
rubble, so I want to ask it again in case you missed it . Is there any guide to 
the Resource Monitor that is more forthcoming than the help files that come 
with it? Stuff like what the various charts and graphs and numbers are telling 
me. 

N 

 
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv 
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College 
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com 

FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Nicholas Thompson]

Gary,  

 

No body has offered because I haven't asked.  When I worked in a university,
we were all neophytes with this stuff - "citizens" is the term Owen uses -
and we would trade information all the time, and each of us would get good
at some things.  I got good at macros, for instance.  For a while, I had a
library of macros that would automatically put a comment I in a student's
paper that described almost any writing error and provide a few examples for
how to fix it.  Things like, "When to use Which and when to use That." Here,
I don't have much to trade, so I wouldn't ask unless my back was really to
the wall, and 200 dollars every few years cannot be conceived of as having
one's back against the wall.  In short, I confine myself to asking people to
point me in the right direction, which somebody ALWAYS does.   The problem
is usually that I have gotten frustrated and I can't think, and the solution
usually right before my eyes if only somebody will point it out.  And they
do.  Sometimes after grumbling, which is fair enough. 

 

In the present case, somebody has directed me to a toggle that strips all of
the eye-candy out of win7 and leaves me with a much more readable,
predictable display.  I only wish I had asked for advice three years ago
when I bought the machine.  

 

Is my memory correct:  you are in Peru.  Watching birds, among other things?
If you ever make your way back, I will buy the coffee.  Even if my computer
is fast as light. 

 

Nick 

 

  

 

From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Gary Schiltz
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2013 1:03 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

 

Nick,

 

Are you still in Santa Fe? I'm not, but if I was, I would help out in person
at the next WedTech (hint for those who are there in Santa Fe). Surely your
buddies wouldn't charge you $200 for a bit of hands-on help (I'd do it for a
cup of coffee :-)

 

Gary

 

On Feb 7, 2013, at 2:57 PM, "Nicholas  Thompson"
 wrote:





Thanks owen.  I did lots of stuff LIKE that, but may not have recognized a
helping hand when it was proffered.  With your reassurance I will plunge
back in. 

 

The response to this inquiry has led me wonder some wonderings about the
folks on the list.  Is it the case that:

 

(1)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC

(2)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who has had this
sort of problem (="resource leakage"?).

(3) I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to
pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert.

(4)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to
pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert and who also too dumb to know
how to use the resource monitor to fix it, myself. 


FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com

Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Bruce Sherwood]

For what it's worth, I'll mention that my primary machine is Windows, but I
routinely check the behavior of my projects VPython (vpython.org) and
GlowScript (glowscript.org) on Mac and Ubuntu Linux.

Because it's so common for knowledgeable people to do Windows-bashing, I'll
comment that in my efforts over the last 12 years to make VPython work well
on all three major platforms, it is Mac and Ubuntu Linux that have
regularly broken things with their updates, whereas Windows has maintained
backward compatibilty during this entire period, across several major
operating system releases.

Bruce


On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 2:20 PM, Nicholas Thompson <
nickthomp...@earthlink.net> wrote:

> Gary,  
>
> ** **
>
> No body has offered because I haven’t asked.  When I worked in a
> university, we were all neophytes with this stuff – “citizens” is the term
> Owen uses – and we would trade information all the time, and each of us
> would get good at some things.  I got good at macros, for instance.  For a
> while, I had a library of macros that would automatically put a comment I
> in a student’s paper that described almost any writing error and provide a
> few examples for how to fix it.  Things like, “When to use Which and when
> to use That.” Here, I don’t have much to trade, so I wouldn’t ask unless my
> back was really to the wall, and 200 dollars every few years cannot be
> conceived of as having one’s back against the wall.  In short, I confine
> myself to asking people to point me in the right direction, which somebody
> ALWAYS does.   The problem is usually that I have gotten frustrated and I
> can’t think, and the solution usually right before my eyes if only somebody
> will point it out.  And they do.  Sometimes after grumbling, which is fair
> enough. 
>
> ** **
>
> In the present case, somebody has directed me to a toggle that strips all
> of the eye-candy out of win7 and leaves me with a much more readable,
> predictable display.  I only wish I had asked for advice three years ago
> when I bought the machine.  
>
> ** **
>
> Is my memory correct:  you are in Peru.  Watching birds, among other
> things?  If you ever make your way back, I will buy the coffee.  Even if my
> computer is fast as light. 
>
> ** **
>
> Nick 
>
> ** **
>
>   
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] *On Behalf Of *Gary
> Schiltz
> *Sent:* Thursday, February 07, 2013 1:03 PM
>
> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor
>
> ** **
>
> Nick,
>
> ** **
>
> Are you still in Santa Fe? I'm not, but if I was, I would help out in
> person at the next WedTech (hint for those who are there in Santa Fe).
> Surely your buddies wouldn't charge you $200 for a bit of hands-on help
> (I'd do it for a cup of coffee :-)
>
> ** **
>
> Gary
>
> ** **
>
> On Feb 7, 2013, at 2:57 PM, "Nicholas  Thompson" <
> nickthomp...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> 
>
> Thanks owen.  I did lots of stuff LIKE that, but may not have recognized a
> helping hand when it was proffered.  With your reassurance I will plunge
> back in. 
>
>  
>
> The response to this inquiry has led me wonder some wonderings about the
> folks on the list.  Is it the case that:
>
>  
>
> (1)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC
>
> (2)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who has had this
> sort of problem (=”resource leakage”?).
>
> (3) I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap
> to pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert.
>
> (4)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap
> to pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert *and* who also too dumb
> to know how to use the resource monitor to fix it, myself. 
>
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>

FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Joshua Thorp]

Interesting,  but the big difference here would be that Mac and Linux come with 
python installed where windows doesn't.  So updating windows isn't likely to 
have as big an impact,  since presumably you are including python in you 
windows installer and not in you mac or linux one.  Or am I wrong?

--joshua

On Feb 7, 2013, at 2:43 PM, Bruce Sherwood wrote:

> For what it's worth, I'll mention that my primary machine is Windows, but I 
> routinely check the behavior of my projects VPython (vpython.org) and 
> GlowScript (glowscript.org) on Mac and Ubuntu Linux.
> 
> Because it's so common for knowledgeable people to do Windows-bashing, I'll 
> comment that in my efforts over the last 12 years to make VPython work well 
> on all three major platforms, it is Mac and Ubuntu Linux that have regularly 
> broken things with their updates, whereas Windows has maintained backward 
> compatibilty during this entire period, across several major operating system 
> releases.
> 
> Bruce
> 
> 
> On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 2:20 PM, Nicholas Thompson 
>  wrote:
> Gary, 
> 
>  
> 
> No body has offered because I haven’t asked.  When I worked in a university, 
> we were all neophytes with this stuff – “citizens” is the term Owen uses – 
> and we would trade information all the time, and each of us would get good at 
> some things.  I got good at macros, for instance.  For a while, I had a 
> library of macros that would automatically put a comment I in a student’s 
> paper that described almost any writing error and provide a few examples for 
> how to fix it.  Things like, “When to use Which and when to use That.” Here, 
> I don’t have much to trade, so I wouldn’t ask unless my back was really to 
> the wall, and 200 dollars every few years cannot be conceived of as having 
> one’s back against the wall.  In short, I confine myself to asking people to 
> point me in the right direction, which somebody ALWAYS does.   The problem is 
> usually that I have gotten frustrated and I can’t think, and the solution 
> usually right before my eyes if only somebody will point it out.  And they 
> do.  Sometimes after grumbling, which is fair enough.
> 
>  
> 
> In the present case, somebody has directed me to a toggle that strips all of 
> the eye-candy out of win7 and leaves me with a much more readable, 
> predictable display.  I only wish I had asked for advice three years ago when 
> I bought the machine. 
> 
>  
> 
> Is my memory correct:  you are in Peru.  Watching birds, among other things?  
> If you ever make your way back, I will buy the coffee.  Even if my computer 
> is fast as light.
> 
>  
> 
> Nick
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Gary Schiltz
> Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2013 1:03 PM
> 
> 
> To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor
> 
>  
> 
> Nick,
> 
>  
> 
> Are you still in Santa Fe? I'm not, but if I was, I would help out in person 
> at the next WedTech (hint for those who are there in Santa Fe). Surely your 
> buddies wouldn't charge you $200 for a bit of hands-on help (I'd do it for a 
> cup of coffee :-)
> 
>  
> 
> Gary
> 
>  
> 
> On Feb 7, 2013, at 2:57 PM, "Nicholas  Thompson"  
> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks owen.  I did lots of stuff LIKE that, but may not have recognized a 
> helping hand when it was proffered.  With your reassurance I will plunge back 
> in. 
> 
>  
> 
> The response to this inquiry has led me wonder some wonderings about the 
> folks on the list.  Is it the case that:
> 
>  
> 
> (1)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC
> 
> (2)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who has had this sort 
> of problem (=”resource leakage”?).
> 
> (3) I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to 
> pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert.
> 
> (4)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to 
> pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert and who also too dumb to know 
> how to use the resource monitor to fix it, myself. 
> 
> 
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> 
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[lrudolph]

Nick says, in relevant part:
 
> The response to this inquiry has led me wonder some wonderings about the
> folks on the list.  Is it the case that:
> (1)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC

You have been in the presence of both Eric and me when we have been using our 
PCs, and I even 
recall that you and I once (briefly) discussed Win7 when we first got our 
(respective) present 
PCs.

> (2)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who has had this
> sort of problem (="resource leakage"?).

I'm not sure I'd say I've had anything as bad a case of it as you have.  
However, one 
suggestion I haven't seen (but may have missed) is that, instead of/in addition 
to focussing 
on the Resource Monitor, you use the (still there in Win7, though somewhat 
gussied up) good 
old msconfig.exe to find--and rout out--all sorts of cruft that has been 
installed behind your 
back.  

For instance, if you've had occasion to install anything from HP, you will find 
that any 
number of most-of-the-time-useless, all-of-the-time-resource-intensive, 
programs have been co-
installed silently.  I have *never* found that deleting them from the Startup 
routine causes 
me problems: every one of them that is actually necessary to perform something 
I occasionally 
do (e.g., scanning with my HP All-In-One device) will load perfectly happily, 
and perform as 
adequately as HP is capable of making it perform, at the time when I choose to 
do the task.  
(Then I can, if it's causing slowdowns, kill it afterward with the Task 
Manager.)

Much software from non-HP sources is as bad, if not worse, when it comes to 
sneaking undesired 
extras into your Startup.  (Adobe is another source of such, IME.)

> (3) I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to
> pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert. 

Those "experts" are in the same class as the "expert audiologists" who spam the 
snail-mail of 
everybody over (apparently) 65 with come-ons for "free hearing tests" (which 
will, of course, 
diagnose the need for hearing aids), or the "expert waterline insurers" who 
just sent everyone 
in my town a snail-mail offer to buy a $150/year Waterline Insurance Policy 
(there is one 
small strip of our town, where leaking service-station gas reservoirs polluted 
the aquifer 
beyond remediation, that has "city water"--piped from the actual city, Fall 
River, next door; 
everyone else in town has private wells), or ... you get the idea.  

> (4)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to
> pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert and who also too dumb to know
> how to use the resource monitor to fix it, myself.  

See above: the resource monitor plus msconfig (plus, if you really want to get 
down and dirty, 
services.exe, which used I think to be services.msc?) is probably all you need. 
 In fact, I 
suspect that you would be better served by not trying to find out everything 
you need to make 
use of all the information that the resource monitor tells you, but rather just 
going to the 
(expanded, Win7 version of the) Task Manager, and consulting the various tabs 
there that tell 
you an often more useful proper subset of the resource monitor's information.

Lee



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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Ron Newman]

Is there a list somewhere of commonly found - and usually unneeded -
services that can be disabled in the services manager?  That is, a list of
descriptions of what each service does in plain english?

Ron
-- 
Ron Newman, Founder
MyIdeatree.com 
The World Happiness Meter 
YourSongCode.com 


Lee :

> See above: the resource monitor plus msconfig (plus, if you really want to
> get down and dirty,
> services.exe, which used I think to be services.msc?) is probably all you
> need.  In fact, I
> suspect that you would be better served by not trying to find out
> everything you need to make
> use of all the information that the resource monitor tells you, but rather
> just going to the
> (expanded, Win7 version of the) Task Manager, and consulting the various
> tabs there that tell
> you an often more useful proper subset of the resource monitor's
> information.
>
> Lee
>
>
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>

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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Merle Lefkoff]

Hi Nick.  Tried to send you a message on your e-mail.  I don't have time to go 
through your spam thingy.  Sorry.
On Feb 7, 2013, at 1:54 PM, Eric Charles wrote:

> 1) I use a PC, because I am cheap and lazy.
> 
> 2) This sort of thing is a ubiquitous problem on PCs, and is sometimes a 
> problem for Macs depending the exact operating system (but I've never seen it 
> as bad on a Mac as it usually is on a PC). 
> 
> 3) I would be suspicious of a store-bought expert helping with this... and as 
> has been suggested, an expert friend should be cheaper (though not 
> necessarily free, as it is time consuming). 
> 
> 4) I know how to use the resource monitor, and often find that it is not 
> telling me what I want to know. The long list of Processes often does not 
> seem to account for what the Performance screen tells me is the CPU Usage and 
> Physical Memory Usage. I've never really figured out why this discrepancy 
> occurs... but I haven't tried hard to find out. It is certainly annoying. 
> 
> As suggested, a complete wipe will fix the problem. I have rarely done 
> this... but usually am thinking about getting a new computer at about the 
> time the problem is annoying enough that I would consider a wipe... and 
> switching to a new computer is pretty much the same thing as wiping the old 
> one. If you do not use too many programs, a wipe might be relatively easy. 
> 
> Also worth noting: Depending on your computing needs, $200 is a significant 
> fraction of the cost of a new machine.  
> 
> Eric
> 
> 
> 
> Eric Charles
> Assistant Professor of Psychology
> Penn State, Altoona
> 
> From: "Nicholas Thompson" 
> To: "The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group" 
> Sent: Thursday, February 7, 2013 2:57:32 PM
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor
> 
> Thanks owen.  I did lots of stuff LIKE that, but may not have recognized a 
> helping hand when it was proffered.  With your reassurance I will plunge back 
> in. 
>  
> The response to this inquiry has led me wonder some wonderings about the 
> folks on the list.  Is it the case that:
>  
> (1)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC
> (2)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who has had this sort 
> of problem (=”resource leakage”?).
> (3) I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to 
> pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert.
> (4)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to 
> pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert and who also too dumb to know 
> how to use the resource monitor to fix it, myself. 
>  
>  
> N
> From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Owen Densmore
> Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2013 10:25 AM
> To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor
>  
> Nick: did you google: 
> how to use the windows resource monitor
> .. it turned up lots and lots of info.
>  
> However, the classic solution to a clean machine is to literally start over: 
> wipe the disk *after* making a complete copy of its contents to a cheap disk, 
> and drag stuff back aboard as you need it.
>  
> This is augmented by Dropbox: if you don't have it now, you may want to 
> consider it as a backup of your working stuff, stuff that you can't replace 
> from other sources and is data you actually created.  It also makes it 
> trivial to see/work on the files from any of several computers.
>  
> Then the "lets start over" approach is much much easier.  Clean system with 
> one folder of your working repository.
>  
> I'm always amazed just how zippy a new system is.
>  
> I keep a log of all installs I do, you may start doing that .. it makes it 
> easy to know what you may need to reinstall if you go the clean install 
> route. And what may need removing 'cause you don't use it anymore.
>  
>-- Owen
> 
> On Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 11:11 PM, Nicholas Thompson 
>  wrote:
> Thanks for all your suggestions.  Most I actually understood, for which I am 
> enormously grateful. 
>  
> I have the habit of burying my most important question under a lot of verbal 
> rubble, so I want to ask it again in case you missed it.  Is there any guide 
> to the Resource Monitor that is more forthcoming than the help files that 
> come with it?  Stuff like what the various charts and graphs and numbers are 
> telling me.   
>  
> N
>  
> 
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe h

Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Joshua Thorp]

For our mac user friends I just came across this neat little command: purge

It apparently frees up memory in caches.  See this:  
http://osxdaily.com/2012/04/24/free-up-inactive-memory-in-mac-os-x-with-purge-command/

--joshua

On Feb 7, 2013, at 7:35 PM, Merle Lefkoff wrote:

> Hi Nick.  Tried to send you a message on your e-mail.  I don't have time to 
> go through your spam thingy.  Sorry.
> On Feb 7, 2013, at 1:54 PM, Eric Charles wrote:
> 
>> 1) I use a PC, because I am cheap and lazy.
>> 
>> 2) This sort of thing is a ubiquitous problem on PCs, and is sometimes a 
>> problem for Macs depending the exact operating system (but I've never seen 
>> it as bad on a Mac as it usually is on a PC). 
>> 
>> 3) I would be suspicious of a store-bought expert helping with this... and 
>> as has been suggested, an expert friend should be cheaper (though not 
>> necessarily free, as it is time consuming). 
>> 
>> 4) I know how to use the resource monitor, and often find that it is not 
>> telling me what I want to know. The long list of Processes often does not 
>> seem to account for what the Performance screen tells me is the CPU Usage 
>> and Physical Memory Usage. I've never really figured out why this 
>> discrepancy occurs... but I haven't tried hard to find out. It is certainly 
>> annoying. 
>> 
>> As suggested, a complete wipe will fix the problem. I have rarely done 
>> this... but usually am thinking about getting a new computer at about the 
>> time the problem is annoying enough that I would consider a wipe... and 
>> switching to a new computer is pretty much the same thing as wiping the old 
>> one. If you do not use too many programs, a wipe might be relatively easy. 
>> 
>> Also worth noting: Depending on your computing needs, $200 is a significant 
>> fraction of the cost of a new machine.  
>> 
>> Eric
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Eric Charles
>> Assistant Professor of Psychology
>> Penn State, Altoona
>> 
>> From: "Nicholas Thompson" 
>> To: "The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group" 
>> Sent: Thursday, February 7, 2013 2:57:32 PM
>> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor
>> 
>> Thanks owen.  I did lots of stuff LIKE that, but may not have recognized a 
>> helping hand when it was proffered.  With your reassurance I will plunge 
>> back in. 
>> 
>> The response to this inquiry has led me wonder some wonderings about the 
>> folks on the list.  Is it the case that:
>> 
>> (1)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC
>> (2)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who has had this 
>> sort of problem (=”resource leakage”?).
>> (3) I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to 
>> pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert.
>> (4)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to 
>> pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert and who also too dumb to know 
>> how to use the resource monitor to fix it, myself. 
>> 
>> 
>> N
>> From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Owen Densmore
>> Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2013 10:25 AM
>> To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
>> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor
>> 
>> Nick: did you google: 
>>how to use the windows resource monitor
>> .. it turned up lots and lots of info.
>> 
>> However, the classic solution to a clean machine is to literally start over: 
>> wipe the disk *after* making a complete copy of its contents to a cheap 
>> disk, and drag stuff back aboard as you need it.
>> 
>> This is augmented by Dropbox: if you don't have it now, you may want to 
>> consider it as a backup of your working stuff, stuff that you can't replace 
>> from other sources and is data you actually created.  It also makes it 
>> trivial to see/work on the files from any of several computers.
>> 
>> Then the "lets start over" approach is much much easier.  Clean system with 
>> one folder of your working repository.
>> 
>> I'm always amazed just how zippy a new system is.
>> 
>> I keep a log of all installs I do, you may start doing that .. it makes it 
>> easy to know what you may need to reinstall if you go the clean install 
>> route. And what may need removing 'cause you don't use it anymore.
>> 
>>   -- Owen
>> 
>> On Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 11:11 PM, Nicholas Thompson 
>>  wrote:
>> Thanks for all your suggest

Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Bruce Sherwood]

It's not Python that's the issue, it's the C++ Visual module which (until
the very recent work) had three C++ components (for Windows, Mac, and
Linux) for creating windows and handling events.

On the Mac, the problem is that it has often happened that a minor
operating system upgrade made something in our supposedly
standard  Mac-specific code break, or Tcl is broken so the lightweight Idle
IDE won't work, or some damn thing. A particularly dramatic example is
pulling the plug on the Carbon framework, with the effect that VPython,
with a rather conventional architecture that continues to work on Windows
and Linux, could not run on Cocoa, which requires that Cocoa call VPython,
whereas the API of VPython requires essentially that VPython call Cocoa.
(Hence the recent major effort to restructure VPython in a fundamental way
while preserving its API.)

On Ubuntu Linux, the problem is that very often some library is broken by a
release, and one must hunt and hunt for some scrap of information that
tells you how to make things work again.

We don't include Python in our installers; we tell people to install Python
first before using our installer. This is true even on the Mac. It is true
that Python comes with the Mac, but the Apple version is crippled, and
there is general agreement that if you're actually going to use Python
yourself on a Mac you should install a Python from python.org.

A hoped-for benefit of the change to base VPython on wxPython (which is a
wrapper for the cross-platform GUI framework wxWidgets) is that this will
insulate VPython from the continual upheavals in the Mac and Linux
environments.

Bruce

On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 2:54 PM, Joshua Thorp  wrote:

> Interesting,  but the big difference here would be that Mac and Linux come
> with python installed where windows doesn't.  So updating windows isn't
> likely to have as big an impact,  since presumably you are including python
> in you windows installer and not in you mac or linux one.  Or am I wrong?
>
> --joshua
>
>
>

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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Owen Densmore]

Just an observation: Things are Getting More Complicated .. when it
comes to computing.

I have two friends, both quite bright in terms of computing.  One a
PC, the other a Mac user.  Both have what I call Rotten System Syndrom
(RSS).  It is NOT a PC vs Mac issue.  Its just that things are getting
way too complex.  The cloud, backups, sluggish systems, how to
uninstall apps, knowing what's on the computer, knowing whether or not
there is a problem.  It goes on and on.  The same for Linux, Mac,
Windows.

I'd love to say: Oh, just get a Mac.  Or Ubuntu.  Or Windows 8.

Nope.  It all boils down to systems being so complicated that even
experts have problems.

My solution has been along the lines I mentioned to Nick earlier: in a
phrase -- System Hygiene.

So how do you keep your system clean and nice .. and not even need to
do a clean install?

There are several things that contribute to your system being healthy.

The most important is: know what is on your system and being able to
remove it when no longer needed.  Nick hit one one right away: a
system utility like the Task/System monitor he found.  So rather than
being a noob, Nick turned out to hit on the right issue right away.

On my system, I always have the "Activity Monitor" running, and yes,
as Josh mentioned, run "purge" often.  So I can see visually what's up
with the system.  All the Big 3 have these, just look for performance
monitor etc and you'll find it.

Next: after understanding how your system is running, look at your
disk.  Again, all the Big 3 have something like Omni Disk Sweeper for
the Mac: a program that lets you see, by size, where everything is on
your disk.  I had to scrape my Mini clean recently so that Time
Machine (the incremental backup system) wouldn't fill up immediately.
I found over (blush) 40GB! that I no longer needed!  That's a lot of
cruft.  And I'm supposed to be hip.  But no, cruft happens.

So after (2 days believe it or not) of figuring out what needed to be
done, I applied yet another tool available on all of the Big 3: an
un-installer programmer.  There were several available.  I deleted a
large amount of the 40GB blush that way.  Amazing just how much TeX
takes up on legacy systems.

What next?  Well, I still had WAY too much on my system to have a sane
backup/TimeMachine strategy.  DiskSweeper again.  Man did I have a LOT
of stuff I no longer needed.  What to do?  I chose a mixed strategy:
- All working docs were put in the cloud. How? Dropbox for a lot of
it.  Music?  Both Google Drive and iTunes Match.  Again available for
the B3.  Whew, that was a lot.  I had over 80GB music, and now it's
all in the cloud, multiply backed up.  Next photos.  As mentioned
earlier, Arc and Amazon storage helps there.  Mail: IMAP/gmail ..
that's solved (and now with 2-factor authentication).  Movies?  again,
not too difficult.  A larger dropbox might help but I decided on
simply finding .torrent files, so that I can get lost movies in a few
hours if needed, the rest on local storage (redundant, via a NAS, but
really not needed)
- Loose a lot of apps I really don't use.  AppZapper was seriously
busy for quite a while.  And even then, I had to find out how to keep
my /usr/local clean due to the mixed strategies of Linux/Unix systems
for package management.

So, no Nick, you are not odd having to figure out what to do.  And you
hit almost immediately on the important issue: how to monitor your
system.  What's running now and what's it doing?  Check the net for
what causes these odd daemons/services running.  See if you can get by
without that option.  Find the cruft.  Buy a disk or two for backup
and pushing data not needed 24/7.

It really is that simple: Things have gotten really complex as my two
friends, Mac & PC know.  Decide on a strategy.  Don't worry if its the
best.  It just has to satisfy your requirements.  Follow a plan after
deciding on the strategy.  Don't be in a hurry, its not easy nor
obvious.  Do NOT think you are odd, noob, ignorant, weird, and so on.
As I say, my two friends are very intelligent yet still struggling
with their two systems.

My recommendation is to think out a Machine Hygiene strategy first,
then a plan that implements it.  You will have to haunt Best Buy for a
couple of disks, and sign up for Dropbox and/or similar systems.
Decide what data is really, really important, likely using a Disk
Sweeper to find out just what you DO have on your system.  Then just
devote a taks a day for a couple of weeks and you'll be fat, dumb and
happy!  And not dumb at all.

   -- Owen

On Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 8:33 PM, Nicholas  Thompson
 wrote:
> Hi,
>
>
>
> My Dell Studio (yeah, yeah, save the Mac cracks) has been cranky of late,
> particularly when streaming stuff, and since I am reluctant to put out a
> couple of hundred dollars to have it “tuned up”, I have been trying to see
> what I can do on my own.  This has led me to the resource monitor, a truly
> fascinating little gizmo, a couple of levels down in the Tas

Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Douglas Roberts]

You say that like complexity is a bad thing.


On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 8:29 PM, Owen Densmore  wrote:

> Just an observation: Things are Getting More Complicated .. when it
> comes to computing.
>
> I have two friends, both quite bright in terms of computing.  One a
> PC, the other a Mac user.  Both have what I call Rotten System Syndrom
> (RSS).  It is NOT a PC vs Mac issue.  Its just that things are getting
> way too complex.  The cloud, backups, sluggish systems, how to
> uninstall apps, knowing what's on the computer, knowing whether or not
> there is a problem.  It goes on and on.  The same for Linux, Mac,
> Windows.
>
> I'd love to say: Oh, just get a Mac.  Or Ubuntu.  Or Windows 8.
>
> Nope.  It all boils down to systems being so complicated that even
> experts have problems.
>
> My solution has been along the lines I mentioned to Nick earlier: in a
> phrase -- System Hygiene.
>
> So how do you keep your system clean and nice .. and not even need to
> do a clean install?
>
> There are several things that contribute to your system being healthy.
>
> The most important is: know what is on your system and being able to
> remove it when no longer needed.  Nick hit one one right away: a
> system utility like the Task/System monitor he found.  So rather than
> being a noob, Nick turned out to hit on the right issue right away.
>
> On my system, I always have the "Activity Monitor" running, and yes,
> as Josh mentioned, run "purge" often.  So I can see visually what's up
> with the system.  All the Big 3 have these, just look for performance
> monitor etc and you'll find it.
>
> Next: after understanding how your system is running, look at your
> disk.  Again, all the Big 3 have something like Omni Disk Sweeper for
> the Mac: a program that lets you see, by size, where everything is on
> your disk.  I had to scrape my Mini clean recently so that Time
> Machine (the incremental backup system) wouldn't fill up immediately.
> I found over (blush) 40GB! that I no longer needed!  That's a lot of
> cruft.  And I'm supposed to be hip.  But no, cruft happens.
>
> So after (2 days believe it or not) of figuring out what needed to be
> done, I applied yet another tool available on all of the Big 3: an
> un-installer programmer.  There were several available.  I deleted a
> large amount of the 40GB blush that way.  Amazing just how much TeX
> takes up on legacy systems.
>
> What next?  Well, I still had WAY too much on my system to have a sane
> backup/TimeMachine strategy.  DiskSweeper again.  Man did I have a LOT
> of stuff I no longer needed.  What to do?  I chose a mixed strategy:
> - All working docs were put in the cloud. How? Dropbox for a lot of
> it.  Music?  Both Google Drive and iTunes Match.  Again available for
> the B3.  Whew, that was a lot.  I had over 80GB music, and now it's
> all in the cloud, multiply backed up.  Next photos.  As mentioned
> earlier, Arc and Amazon storage helps there.  Mail: IMAP/gmail ..
> that's solved (and now with 2-factor authentication).  Movies?  again,
> not too difficult.  A larger dropbox might help but I decided on
> simply finding .torrent files, so that I can get lost movies in a few
> hours if needed, the rest on local storage (redundant, via a NAS, but
> really not needed)
> - Loose a lot of apps I really don't use.  AppZapper was seriously
> busy for quite a while.  And even then, I had to find out how to keep
> my /usr/local clean due to the mixed strategies of Linux/Unix systems
> for package management.
>
> So, no Nick, you are not odd having to figure out what to do.  And you
> hit almost immediately on the important issue: how to monitor your
> system.  What's running now and what's it doing?  Check the net for
> what causes these odd daemons/services running.  See if you can get by
> without that option.  Find the cruft.  Buy a disk or two for backup
> and pushing data not needed 24/7.
>
> It really is that simple: Things have gotten really complex as my two
> friends, Mac & PC know.  Decide on a strategy.  Don't worry if its the
> best.  It just has to satisfy your requirements.  Follow a plan after
> deciding on the strategy.  Don't be in a hurry, its not easy nor
> obvious.  Do NOT think you are odd, noob, ignorant, weird, and so on.
> As I say, my two friends are very intelligent yet still struggling
> with their two systems.
>
> My recommendation is to think out a Machine Hygiene strategy first,
> then a plan that implements it.  You will have to haunt Best Buy for a
> couple of disks, and sign up for Dropbox and/or similar systems.
> Decide what data is really, really important, likely using a Disk
> Sweeper to find out just what you DO have on your system.  Then just
> devote a taks a day for a couple of weeks and you'll be fat, dumb and
> happy!  And not dumb at all.
>
>-- Owen
>
> On Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 8:33 PM, Nicholas  Thompson
>  wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> >
> >
> > My Dell Studio (yeah, yeah, save the Mac cracks) has been cranky of late,
> > parti

Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Nicholas Thompson]

Thanks, Owen, for these kind words.  

The hardest thing at this point is knowing what I dare touch what I don't.
There are several programs which some of the sites on the web tell you are
part of the system and can't be touched, and some tell you are filled with
viruses.  So, I guess if you have some instincts to share with me about
which advice sites are trust worthy and which are not. 

Another problem is fighting with the programs, like Utube, that resist when
you try to kill them. 

As for dropbox, I have already paid for Carbonite and they are from Boston
and their call center is in Maine so I trust them.  I love it.  Any time I
am not paying attention it puts little green dots beside all my files.
Could you ask for anything more?  I am definitely a citizen.  

And I do get the impression that there are not a lot of people on this list
with win7 machines.  

Nick  





-Original Message-
From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Owen Densmore
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2013 8:29 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

Just an observation: Things are Getting More Complicated .. when it comes to
computing.

I have two friends, both quite bright in terms of computing.  One a PC, the
other a Mac user.  Both have what I call Rotten System Syndrom (RSS).  It is
NOT a PC vs Mac issue.  Its just that things are getting way too complex.
The cloud, backups, sluggish systems, how to uninstall apps, knowing what's
on the computer, knowing whether or not there is a problem.  It goes on and
on.  The same for Linux, Mac, Windows.

I'd love to say: Oh, just get a Mac.  Or Ubuntu.  Or Windows 8.

Nope.  It all boils down to systems being so complicated that even experts
have problems.

My solution has been along the lines I mentioned to Nick earlier: in a
phrase -- System Hygiene.

So how do you keep your system clean and nice .. and not even need to do a
clean install?

There are several things that contribute to your system being healthy.

The most important is: know what is on your system and being able to remove
it when no longer needed.  Nick hit one one right away: a system utility
like the Task/System monitor he found.  So rather than being a noob, Nick
turned out to hit on the right issue right away.

On my system, I always have the "Activity Monitor" running, and yes, as Josh
mentioned, run "purge" often.  So I can see visually what's up with the
system.  All the Big 3 have these, just look for performance monitor etc and
you'll find it.

Next: after understanding how your system is running, look at your disk.
Again, all the Big 3 have something like Omni Disk Sweeper for the Mac: a
program that lets you see, by size, where everything is on your disk.  I had
to scrape my Mini clean recently so that Time Machine (the incremental
backup system) wouldn't fill up immediately.
I found over (blush) 40GB! that I no longer needed!  That's a lot of cruft.
And I'm supposed to be hip.  But no, cruft happens.

So after (2 days believe it or not) of figuring out what needed to be done,
I applied yet another tool available on all of the Big 3: an un-installer
programmer.  There were several available.  I deleted a large amount of the
40GB blush that way.  Amazing just how much TeX takes up on legacy systems.

What next?  Well, I still had WAY too much on my system to have a sane
backup/TimeMachine strategy.  DiskSweeper again.  Man did I have a LOT of
stuff I no longer needed.  What to do?  I chose a mixed strategy:
- All working docs were put in the cloud. How? Dropbox for a lot of it.
Music?  Both Google Drive and iTunes Match.  Again available for the B3.
Whew, that was a lot.  I had over 80GB music, and now it's all in the cloud,
multiply backed up.  Next photos.  As mentioned earlier, Arc and Amazon
storage helps there.  Mail: IMAP/gmail ..
that's solved (and now with 2-factor authentication).  Movies?  again, not
too difficult.  A larger dropbox might help but I decided on simply finding
.torrent files, so that I can get lost movies in a few hours if needed, the
rest on local storage (redundant, via a NAS, but really not needed)
- Loose a lot of apps I really don't use.  AppZapper was seriously busy for
quite a while.  And even then, I had to find out how to keep my /usr/local
clean due to the mixed strategies of Linux/Unix systems for package
management.

So, no Nick, you are not odd having to figure out what to do.  And you hit
almost immediately on the important issue: how to monitor your system.
What's running now and what's it doing?  Check the net for what causes these
odd daemons/services running.  See if you can get by without that option.
Find the cruft.  Buy a disk or two for backup and pushing data not needed
24/7.

It really is that simple: Things have gotten really complex as my two
friends, Mac & PC know.  Decide on

Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Joshua Thorp]

Very good advice and nice explanation Owen, thanks!

On Feb 7, 2013, at 8:29 PM, Owen Densmore wrote:

> Just an observation: Things are Getting More Complicated .. when it
> comes to computing.
> 
> I have two friends, both quite bright in terms of computing.  One a
> PC, the other a Mac user.  Both have what I call Rotten System Syndrom
> (RSS).  It is NOT a PC vs Mac issue.  Its just that things are getting
> way too complex.  The cloud, backups, sluggish systems, how to
> uninstall apps, knowing what's on the computer, knowing whether or not
> there is a problem.  It goes on and on.  The same for Linux, Mac,
> Windows.
> 
> I'd love to say: Oh, just get a Mac.  Or Ubuntu.  Or Windows 8.
> 
> Nope.  It all boils down to systems being so complicated that even
> experts have problems.
> 
> My solution has been along the lines I mentioned to Nick earlier: in a
> phrase -- System Hygiene.
> 
> So how do you keep your system clean and nice .. and not even need to
> do a clean install?
> 
> There are several things that contribute to your system being healthy.
> 
> The most important is: know what is on your system and being able to
> remove it when no longer needed.  Nick hit one one right away: a
> system utility like the Task/System monitor he found.  So rather than
> being a noob, Nick turned out to hit on the right issue right away.
> 
> On my system, I always have the "Activity Monitor" running, and yes,
> as Josh mentioned, run "purge" often.  So I can see visually what's up
> with the system.  All the Big 3 have these, just look for performance
> monitor etc and you'll find it.
> 
> Next: after understanding how your system is running, look at your
> disk.  Again, all the Big 3 have something like Omni Disk Sweeper for
> the Mac: a program that lets you see, by size, where everything is on
> your disk.  I had to scrape my Mini clean recently so that Time
> Machine (the incremental backup system) wouldn't fill up immediately.
> I found over (blush) 40GB! that I no longer needed!  That's a lot of
> cruft.  And I'm supposed to be hip.  But no, cruft happens.
> 
> So after (2 days believe it or not) of figuring out what needed to be
> done, I applied yet another tool available on all of the Big 3: an
> un-installer programmer.  There were several available.  I deleted a
> large amount of the 40GB blush that way.  Amazing just how much TeX
> takes up on legacy systems.
> 
> What next?  Well, I still had WAY too much on my system to have a sane
> backup/TimeMachine strategy.  DiskSweeper again.  Man did I have a LOT
> of stuff I no longer needed.  What to do?  I chose a mixed strategy:
> - All working docs were put in the cloud. How? Dropbox for a lot of
> it.  Music?  Both Google Drive and iTunes Match.  Again available for
> the B3.  Whew, that was a lot.  I had over 80GB music, and now it's
> all in the cloud, multiply backed up.  Next photos.  As mentioned
> earlier, Arc and Amazon storage helps there.  Mail: IMAP/gmail ..
> that's solved (and now with 2-factor authentication).  Movies?  again,
> not too difficult.  A larger dropbox might help but I decided on
> simply finding .torrent files, so that I can get lost movies in a few
> hours if needed, the rest on local storage (redundant, via a NAS, but
> really not needed)
> - Loose a lot of apps I really don't use.  AppZapper was seriously
> busy for quite a while.  And even then, I had to find out how to keep
> my /usr/local clean due to the mixed strategies of Linux/Unix systems
> for package management.
> 
> So, no Nick, you are not odd having to figure out what to do.  And you
> hit almost immediately on the important issue: how to monitor your
> system.  What's running now and what's it doing?  Check the net for
> what causes these odd daemons/services running.  See if you can get by
> without that option.  Find the cruft.  Buy a disk or two for backup
> and pushing data not needed 24/7.
> 
> It really is that simple: Things have gotten really complex as my two
> friends, Mac & PC know.  Decide on a strategy.  Don't worry if its the
> best.  It just has to satisfy your requirements.  Follow a plan after
> deciding on the strategy.  Don't be in a hurry, its not easy nor
> obvious.  Do NOT think you are odd, noob, ignorant, weird, and so on.
> As I say, my two friends are very intelligent yet still struggling
> with their two systems.
> 
> My recommendation is to think out a Machine Hygiene strategy first,
> then a plan that implements it.  You will have to haunt Best Buy for a
> couple of disks, and sign up for Dropbox and/or similar systems.
> Decide what data is really, really important, likely using a Disk
> Sweeper to find out just what you DO have on your system.  Then just
> devote a taks a day for a couple of weeks and you'll be fat, dumb and
> happy!  And not dumb at all.
> 
>   -- Owen
> 
> On Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 8:33 PM, Nicholas  Thompson
>  wrote:
>> Hi,
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> My Dell Studio (yeah, yeah, save the Mac cracks) has been cranky of l

Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Marcus G. Daniels]

Nick,

If you use a proprietary system like a Mac running Mac OS X or a Windows 
PC, and you aren't a person that has reason to know the semantics of 
internal interfaces (a.k.a. APIs) there really is no recourse but to 
seek support from the vendors involved, or online support groups.


A second approach is Doug's guerrilla like tactics as with Google.  Just 
beat them until they give you the answer you want.  Most users expect 
things not to work, so there's only so far that can take you.  There's 
only so much outrage that can be generated.


In your case, it sounds like the problem was the Layered Service 
Provider interface that Microsoft provides and how it interacts with 
some other product trying to intercept that traffic (see the table at 
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4123).Sometimes the developers of one 
of these intermediate products will be motivated to debug the problem, 
other times you'll need to appeal the the app vendor (here Apple), or 
the operating system vendor (here Microsoft).  Do a little work with 
Google, and the support websites of the likely vendors involved, and 
you'll find the answer almost every time.


The third approach is to make it your responsibility.  With Linux, there 
is source code to the whole thing.  Tens of millions of lines of code.  
It can all be rationalized.  While it is true that few people have the 
depth and breadth to understand all of these things, the beauty of the 
free software community is that you can almost always find that expert 
and someone has likely had the same problem and analyzed it, and _to the 
bottom_.   Not just in terms of vague phenomenology as with so many 
Windows or Mac problems, but the the particular line of code with a 
mistake.


I just don't understand how people who use or write software for a 
living, especially scientific software, would ever tolerate using a Mac 
or Windows box.   I won't tolerate being helpless to vendors who make it 
hard to understand how their software interacts with other software.   
Well, let me qualify that, I won't tolerate being helpless when it 
matters and I can get my way.  I don't mind using a Mac or Windows box 
for entertainment, for example.  And I'll use Microsoft Word or 
Powerpoint if collaborators want to use that.   Those things don't 
involve `real' problem solving -- at worst solving problems 
with`presentation' issues can become an annoying distraction.   Any 
interesting program will have bugs, and any interesting program runs in 
concern with a lot of other programs.   If bugs exist in `secret' 
components, we'll you're often completely powerless to do anything about 
it.


Could I tolerate some obstacles and `secret' components?  That is, 
tolerate intellectual property of software companies?   I often could, 
but I think it is better if I don't, and will also try to persuade more 
people not to tolerate it either!


(I mostly sit in front of Macs, but I do all my work on Linux machines 
either over the network or in Linux systems in virtual machines.)


Marcus


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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Douglas Roberts]

I don't want to get all gushy or anything, but I knew there was a reason
that I liked you, Marcus.

(Written, gushingly, on an Android device.)

And fuck you, Google. Get it fucking right, finally. Please.
On Feb 7, 2013 9:26 PM, "Marcus G. Daniels"  wrote:

> Nick,
>
> If you use a proprietary system like a Mac running Mac OS X or a Windows
> PC, and you aren't a person that has reason to know the semantics of
> internal interfaces (a.k.a. APIs) there really is no recourse but to seek
> support from the vendors involved, or online support groups.
>
> A second approach is Doug's guerrilla like tactics as with Google.  Just
> beat them until they give you the answer you want.  Most users expect
> things not to work, so there's only so far that can take you.  There's only
> so much outrage that can be generated.
>
> In your case, it sounds like the problem was the Layered Service Provider
> interface that Microsoft provides and how it interacts with some other
> product trying to intercept that traffic (see the table at
> http://support.apple.com/kb/**TS4123 ).
>Sometimes the developers of one of these intermediate products will be
> motivated to debug the problem, other times you'll need to appeal the the
> app vendor (here Apple), or the operating system vendor (here Microsoft).
>  Do a little work with Google, and the support websites of the likely
> vendors involved, and you'll find the answer almost every time.
>
> The third approach is to make it your responsibility.  With Linux, there
> is source code to the whole thing.  Tens of millions of lines of code.  It
> can all be rationalized.  While it is true that few people have the depth
> and breadth to understand all of these things, the beauty of the free
> software community is that you can almost always find that expert and
> someone has likely had the same problem and analyzed it, and _to the
> bottom_.   Not just in terms of vague phenomenology as with so many Windows
> or Mac problems, but the the particular line of code with a mistake.
>
> I just don't understand how people who use or write software for a living,
> especially scientific software, would ever tolerate using a Mac or Windows
> box.   I won't tolerate being helpless to vendors who make it hard to
> understand how their software interacts with other software.   Well, let me
> qualify that, I won't tolerate being helpless when it matters and I can get
> my way.  I don't mind using a Mac or Windows box for entertainment, for
> example.  And I'll use Microsoft Word or Powerpoint if collaborators want
> to use that.   Those things don't involve `real' problem solving -- at
> worst solving problems with`presentation' issues can become an annoying
> distraction.   Any interesting program will have bugs, and any interesting
> program runs in concern with a lot of other programs.   If bugs exist in
> `secret' components, we'll you're often completely powerless to do anything
> about it.
>
> Could I tolerate some obstacles and `secret' components?  That is,
> tolerate intellectual property of software companies?   I often could, but
> I think it is better if I don't, and will also try to persuade more people
> not to tolerate it either!
>
> (I mostly sit in front of Macs, but I do all my work on Linux machines
> either over the network or in Linux systems in virtual machines.)
>
> Marcus
>
> ==**==
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe 
> http://redfish.com/mailman/**listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>

FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Douglas Roberts]

BTW, I think my supply of outrage has been drained. Running on empty now.
On Feb 7, 2013 9:31 PM, "Douglas Roberts"  wrote:

> I don't want to get all gushy or anything, but I knew there was a reason
> that I liked you, Marcus.
>
> (Written, gushingly, on an Android device.)
>
> And fuck you, Google. Get it fucking right, finally. Please.
> On Feb 7, 2013 9:26 PM, "Marcus G. Daniels"  wrote:
>
>> Nick,
>>
>> If you use a proprietary system like a Mac running Mac OS X or a Windows
>> PC, and you aren't a person that has reason to know the semantics of
>> internal interfaces (a.k.a. APIs) there really is no recourse but to seek
>> support from the vendors involved, or online support groups.
>>
>> A second approach is Doug's guerrilla like tactics as with Google.  Just
>> beat them until they give you the answer you want.  Most users expect
>> things not to work, so there's only so far that can take you.  There's only
>> so much outrage that can be generated.
>>
>> In your case, it sounds like the problem was the Layered Service Provider
>> interface that Microsoft provides and how it interacts with some other
>> product trying to intercept that traffic (see the table at
>> http://support.apple.com/kb/**TS4123 ).
>>Sometimes the developers of one of these intermediate products will be
>> motivated to debug the problem, other times you'll need to appeal the the
>> app vendor (here Apple), or the operating system vendor (here Microsoft).
>>  Do a little work with Google, and the support websites of the likely
>> vendors involved, and you'll find the answer almost every time.
>>
>> The third approach is to make it your responsibility.  With Linux, there
>> is source code to the whole thing.  Tens of millions of lines of code.  It
>> can all be rationalized.  While it is true that few people have the depth
>> and breadth to understand all of these things, the beauty of the free
>> software community is that you can almost always find that expert and
>> someone has likely had the same problem and analyzed it, and _to the
>> bottom_.   Not just in terms of vague phenomenology as with so many Windows
>> or Mac problems, but the the particular line of code with a mistake.
>>
>> I just don't understand how people who use or write software for a
>> living, especially scientific software, would ever tolerate using a Mac or
>> Windows box.   I won't tolerate being helpless to vendors who make it hard
>> to understand how their software interacts with other software.   Well, let
>> me qualify that, I won't tolerate being helpless when it matters and I can
>> get my way.  I don't mind using a Mac or Windows box for entertainment, for
>> example.  And I'll use Microsoft Word or Powerpoint if collaborators want
>> to use that.   Those things don't involve `real' problem solving -- at
>> worst solving problems with`presentation' issues can become an annoying
>> distraction.   Any interesting program will have bugs, and any interesting
>> program runs in concern with a lot of other programs.   If bugs exist in
>> `secret' components, we'll you're often completely powerless to do anything
>> about it.
>>
>> Could I tolerate some obstacles and `secret' components?  That is,
>> tolerate intellectual property of software companies?   I often could, but
>> I think it is better if I don't, and will also try to persuade more people
>> not to tolerate it either!
>>
>> (I mostly sit in front of Macs, but I do all my work on Linux machines
>> either over the network or in Linux systems in virtual machines.)
>>
>> Marcus
>>
>> ==**==
>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
>> to unsubscribe 
>> http://redfish.com/mailman/**listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>>
>

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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Marcus G. Daniels]

On 2/7/13 9:37 PM, Douglas Roberts wrote:


BTW, I think my supply of outrage has been drained. Running on empty now.


But if I understood correctly, an Android revision is in the works?!  heh.

Marcus


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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Douglas Roberts]

Maybe. If they feel like it. In their own good time.

Arrogant bastards.
On Feb 7, 2013 10:11 PM, "Marcus G. Daniels"  wrote:

> On 2/7/13 9:37 PM, Douglas Roberts wrote:
>
>>
>> BTW, I think my supply of outrage has been drained. Running on empty now.
>>
>>  But if I understood correctly, an Android revision is in the works?!
>  heh.
>
> Marcus
>
> ==**==
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe 
> http://redfish.com/mailman/**listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>

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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Steve Smith]

Josh -





For our mac user friends I just came across this neat little command: purge
Thanks!  I didn't want to admit it in front of the Apple-bashers 
(especially Doug), but in the last year I've had more problems with 
automatic resource (usually memory) management on OSX (10.6.7,8) than 
ever before.   The Apple Task Manager is roughly the same (I assume) as 
the Windows Resource Manager, and I find it quite easy to go see who are 
the memory hogs.


Not unsurprisingly, the worst hogs are Web Browser plugins that are 
trying to do more than their share of heavy lifting (Flash and 
Silverlight).  Typically I can just kill one or both of those buggers 
off and let the web pages using them restart them (simple reload of the 
page) and for a while I'm all good again.  Sometimes iPhoto gets carried 
away but I'm also pretty willing to just kill/restart it and things 
usually go back to right.


I am not that clear on how the Inactive memory is managed, but it *is* 
clear to me that when free memory goes to zero, so does performance!


Purge looks like a winner (and maybe a good alternative to my killing 
the browser plugins and iPhoto)


- Steve


It apparently frees up memory in caches.  See this:  
http://osxdaily.com/2012/04/24/free-up-inactive-memory-in-mac-os-x-with-purge-command/

--joshua

On Feb 7, 2013, at 7:35 PM, Merle Lefkoff wrote:


Hi Nick.  Tried to send you a message on your e-mail.  I don't have time to go 
through your spam thingy.  Sorry.
On Feb 7, 2013, at 1:54 PM, Eric Charles wrote:


1) I use a PC, because I am cheap and lazy.

2) This sort of thing is a ubiquitous problem on PCs, and is sometimes a 
problem for Macs depending the exact operating system (but I've never seen it 
as bad on a Mac as it usually is on a PC).

3) I would be suspicious of a store-bought expert helping with this... and as 
has been suggested, an expert friend should be cheaper (though not necessarily 
free, as it is time consuming).

4) I know how to use the resource monitor, and often find that it is not 
telling me what I want to know. The long list of Processes often does not seem 
to account for what the Performance screen tells me is the CPU Usage and 
Physical Memory Usage. I've never really figured out why this discrepancy 
occurs... but I haven't tried hard to find out. It is certainly annoying.

As suggested, a complete wipe will fix the problem. I have rarely done this... 
but usually am thinking about getting a new computer at about the time the 
problem is annoying enough that I would consider a wipe... and switching to a 
new computer is pretty much the same thing as wiping the old one. If you do not 
use too many programs, a wipe might be relatively easy.

Also worth noting: Depending on your computing needs, $200 is a significant 
fraction of the cost of a new machine.

Eric



Eric Charles
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Penn State, Altoona

From: "Nicholas Thompson" 
To: "The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group" 
Sent: Thursday, February 7, 2013 2:57:32 PM
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

Thanks owen.  I did lots of stuff LIKE that, but may not have recognized a 
helping hand when it was proffered.  With your reassurance I will plunge back 
in.

The response to this inquiry has led me wonder some wonderings about the folks 
on the list.  Is it the case that:

(1)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC
(2)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who has had this sort 
of problem (=”resource leakage”?).
(3) I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to 
pay the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert.
(4)I am the only person on this list that owns a PC who is too cheap to pay 
the 200 bucks to get it fixed by an expert and who also too dumb to know how to 
use the resource monitor to fix it, myself.


N
From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Owen Densmore
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2013 10:25 AM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

Nick: did you google:
how to use the windows resource monitor
.. it turned up lots and lots of info.

However, the classic solution to a clean machine is to literally start over: 
wipe the disk *after* making a complete copy of its contents to a cheap disk, 
and drag stuff back aboard as you need it.

This is augmented by Dropbox: if you don't have it now, you may want to 
consider it as a backup of your working stuff, stuff that you can't replace 
from other sources and is data you actually created.  It also makes it trivial 
to see/work on the files from any of several computers.

Then the "lets start over" approach is much much easier.  Clean system with one 
folder of your working repository.

I'm always amazed just how zippy a new system is.

I keep a log of all installs I do, you may start doing

Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Bruce Sherwood]

I develop scientific software (VPython, GlowScript), not exactly for a
living but as an important supplement to a physics textbook and curriculum.
I'm committed to making these 3D programming environments work in Windows,
Mac, and Linux. In the 12 years of the life of VPython, Windows has been
much easier to deal with than either the Mac or Linux environments.

Bruce

On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 9:25 PM, Marcus G. Daniels wrote:
>
>
> I just don't understand how people who use or write software for a living,
> especially scientific software, would ever tolerate using a Mac or Windows
> box.

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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Barry MacKichan]

I'm not familiar with Disk Sweeper, but I'll put in a good word for DaisyDisk. 
It is pretty, elegant, and extremely useful for finding out where all the disk 
space went. (Mac only)

--Barry

On Feb 7, 2013, at 8:29 PM, Owen Densmore wrote:

> Again, all the Big 3 have something like Omni Disk Sweeper for
> the Mac: a program that lets you see, by size, where everything is on
> your disk.


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Re: [FRIAM] Windows Resource Monitor

[Owen Densmore]

Thanks for the pointer.  I now use it too, along with omni disk sweeper,
they complement each other.

   -- Owen

On Tue, Feb 12, 2013 at 11:26 AM, Barry MacKichan <
barry.mackic...@mackichan.com> wrote:

> I'm not familiar with Disk Sweeper, but I'll put in a good word for
> DaisyDisk. It is pretty, elegant, and extremely useful for finding out
> where all the disk space went. (Mac only)
>
> --Barry
>
>

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