How to Identify and Purge Memory Resident Programs

What's your processor? You have 4 gig RAM? Harddrive size? A lot of programs use shared files, deleting them will effect other programs....60 programs? really... Do you use them all?

There's a program called Starter, from CodeStuff. It gives a brief description as you scroll over each process, and offers some advice on the wisdom of altering how they run (which it can do for you). The interface is easy to use. It's a freebie, and I just noticed my version is pretty old. Not sure where I downloaded from, so I can't vouch directly for this site but take a peek.

To give an idea, and save people downloading, here is a screen-snap;

Naff resolution, but hopefully enough. Centre pop-up box is detailing whatever process I had the mouse on. The unshown top of screen provides a mass of options.

I just downloaded the software and the install packets. Thanks Kris

L.J.

You're welcome, Jaguar. Let us know what you reckon, I haven't used it in a while.

I haven't tried any of these, but it seems worth a look. I may try some today. I'm with you. It's scary to just start deleting and disabling processes.

http://lifehacker.com/356876/reclaim-memory-by-mastering-windows-task-manager

A couple of good PC maintenance utilities are available free here;

http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

http://www.piriform.com/defraggler

If you want to get rid of unused programs I recommend going to your control panel / programs, then uninstall from there.

Finally, someone getting back on the subject!!

Nigh, you have two GA's, so I'm interested. Are there any catches to the trial period ? Very often I've found myself installing stuff that ends up saying, after x time, 'pay now to subscribe and get this fixed'. I don't like freeloading unless the author makes it clear they are happy to share, but at the same time I wouldn't mind paying for a utility that has been test-driven and reviewed. If they are offering a fix for nothing, I'm certainly not going to complain. CCleaner has already been mentioned (as it has on numerous threads), and I'd second it as an 'easy to use' option. I run it several times a day for deleting guff, and periodically to check what is running. IOBIT offer a similar free utility, though for ease of use I prefer CCleaner. My usual port of call for software is MajorGeeks {usual disclaimers}.

Another question ; Does the utility carpet bomb ? ie just go ahead and sweep all. I'm slightly uncomfortable with handing total control over. Obviously it makes senses to do a registry back up and system restore point before doing any of the stuff being discussed here. Peer review on CR4 is a big factor in how I view all sorts of things.

The OP mentioned (I think) something like 40 odd processes running. It may be arduous, but manually switching off one at a time then re-boot may be safer. CR4 has many people far more in the know than me so I shall keep reading. Many thanks to you and the OP (think it was Jag, but sorry if I got that wrong). Many computing forums are very dry and staid - CR4 is one of the few places you can get sensible info that doesn't look like it was churned out by m/s.

I've used the Revo uninstaller & it did what it said, it was a while ago so I don't know if it's changed in the current version. I would also endorse CCleaner as an easy to use clean up tool, I use it at home & at work. I also use Tracks Eraser Pro which I got free by signing up for a trial of something in the past. This is like CCleaner but also removes all the .dat files which log every web site you have ever visited. MajorGeeks is a top site. At home I pay for System Mechanic which gives me anti-virus & firewall as well as system clean-up & repair utilities. This lets you manage all of the start-up programmes.

I have 'Answers That Work, The Ultimate Troubleshooter' that I have used for years to identify tasks, services, and startups. I find it quite informative and useful.

On my system (Windows XP) you can turn off EVERY-thing except the virus checker. It wants to reboot then. Check later, because some of them come back--automatically enabled by the programs. I shut them off monthly.

Deleting programs isn't the best way to do it. Use the Add/Remove Programs utility under your Control Panel to remove the programs you don't need anymore.

Then do a degrag which kind of reshuffles the deck, purging the space that was once occupied by the programs you removed. No other applications should be running when you do this, as this will significantly slow down the process. You can even use Task Scheduler to do this for you on a regular basis.

Then you can do a disc clean-up.

Do you have CAD software on your machine?

Steve asked: "Do you have CAD software on your machine?"

Wow! How remarkably intuitive! Yes. I have Solidworks, Pro Engineer and Catia.

L.J.

It might be worth taking a look at your CAD setup.

I don't use any of those programs you have. But MY software [Inventor] can be a memory hog unless I employ some memory management tools, like Levels of Detail, on the really big assemblies. Inventor can also leave a copy of a checked-in file on my C: drive, so I need to clean THAT drive out on a regular basis. I currently have XP 64-bit with 12G of ram, but my Inventor suffered memory leak with my old 32-bit system. I'm not sure that was an OS problem though.

You may try the Software Explorer associated with Windows Defender; free software from Microsoft.

All the best.