Freeing up Resources on Vista

[Hellbent]

I have an Ars Technica-esque question that maybe some technophiles on here might be able to help answer.

I'm trying to stream ABC's Lost in HD quality. It constantly has lots of little hiccups but I don't want to switch to normal resolution. I need help diagnosing whether the hiccups are solely bandwidth related or other issues involved in my computer such as other component inadequacies (video, ram, processing etc). When I pause the Lost episode, it stops downloading. It also doesn't show how much has streamed, so I don't know whether or not that is the problem.

I've closed all my systray apps but I still have lots of Processes running. Which ones can I do away with? Will closing any of them help my situation?

Here are exes processes as listed under "Image Name" in Task Manager with a brief description in parentheses:

================================================
explorer
csrss
taskeng (task scheduler engine)
rundll32 (windows host process)
jusched (Java)
winlogon
rundll32 (windows host process)
CtHelper
dwm (desktop windows manager)
unsecapp (Sink to receive asynchronous callbacks for WMI cilent application)

rhaphlpr (rhapsody helper)
realsched (RealNetworks Scheduler)
================================================

Are there any *sched* processes I SHOULDN'T close? Or can I close them all?

When I look at the Resource Monitor history, it does seem to indicate my network bandwidth is getting maxed out and thus not quite able to handle the load.

System Specs
Windows Vista Home Premium, Service Pack 1 (32 bit OS)
Dell Dimension DM061 (was refurbed, came with onboard sound which I recently upgraded to Creative Labs PCI Audigy SE)
Intel Core 2 4300 @ 1.79GHz
3gb RAM
nVidia Geforce 8600 GTS w/256 or 512mb (not sure which)

Something to know about this gfx card: I couldn't get the supplemental power cord (6 pronged) into the slot and had to cut off some plastic that was defectively not supposed to be there so it would fit properly. I still don't know whether I had sufficiently removed the plastic that was preventing a proper connection (it was hard to cut it), so I actually don't know if the power cord has a good connection and if the card is drawing the extra supplemental supply of power! It is my understanding that if it is not, then the card will not be able to handle as much intensive video (games or otherwise)

Thank you very much for any help you can provide!
--Hellbent

[Bucket]

Vista doesn't have anything that should be fucking with your bandwidth in that way. Check for viruses and trojans. Call your ISP. If you have Norton, uninstall it and use Windows's firewall instead.

[Pure Hellspawn]

Jusched - http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/what-is-juschedexe-and-why-is-it-running/

You can disable it, but be sure to update your Java periodically (perhaps once a week). If you think you will forget to do so, then leave it running.

Realsched is with real player. You can disable it if you want, but be sure to update!! very similar to jusched in that regard.

Hope this helps.

[Hellbent]

I looked at Resource Monitor: the blue line under network is not hitting the ceiling. I think the video card power cable may not be connected properly.

Hellspawn: Hah, I get error messages telling me Java is too new a version for the web app it's handling. Thanks for the link.

[Pure Hellspawn]

Hellbent said:

I looked at Resource Monitor: the blue line under network is not hitting the ceiling. I think the video card power cable may not be connected properly.

Hellspawn: Hah, I get error messages telling me Java is too new a version for the web app it's handling. Thanks for the link.

Lol. Can you show the message?

Also, this link will tell you about whatever process you want: http://www.processlibrary.com/

Search for a process, and it will tell you how safe it is, and how it should be disabled (if at all).

[Jodwin]

Hellbent said:

I looked at Resource Monitor: the blue line under network is not hitting the ceiling.

That only means that your network adapter doesn't get all the traffic it could handle. If you have a 100Mb/s adapter then the resource monitor reflects that, not your internet connection speed. Besides, lagging network connections could be caused by many things, like the server not being to send you data fast enough even if you could download it, or then there might be something else bottlenecking the transfer in the middle. So, shortly put, you can't really judge connection speeds that easily. Your hardware should be good enough though, if there's anything that would be sub-par it would be the processor but I don't think that's an issue either.


If you want to make sure your gfx card is working properly, try downloading and running some benchmark tests and compare to scores with people who have similar systems.

[Hellbent]

Pure Hellspawn said:

Lol. Can you show the message?

Also, this link will tell you about whatever process you want: http://www.processlibrary.com/

Search for a process, and it will tell you how safe it is, and how it should be disabled (if at all).

"The application requires an earlier version of Java. Do you want to continue?" It works fine, but it gives the warning message every time I load a Monopoly Room or Game on Pogo.com.

@Jodwin: Thanks for the tip, I shoulda thought of it myself.

[Lich]

Go to Run in the Start menu and type services.msc

Read this guide:
http://www.blackviper.com/WinVista/servicecfg.htm

It will tell you what services you can safely disable that may be using RAM for no reason. Stick with recommendations listed in the safe category. One caveat: If you use a printer at all, do not disable Print Spooler, or you will not be able to print. If you don't have a printer, disable it. If you end up getting one, you can just set it to "Automatic" and then start the service again and the print service will be available again.

If you don't mind video/rendering effects being gone, try disabling all that stuff along with menu animations... I run Windows XP at total barebones. I've got an Intel Core2 E7200 with 4GB of RAM, which is more than enough, but memory is memory.

Did you also try setting your pagefile up on a separate physical hard disk than your operating system?

[Hellbent]

Lich said:

Go to Run in the Start menu and type services.msc

Read this guide:
http://www.blackviper.com/WinVista/servicecfg.htm

It will tell you what services you can safely disable that may be using RAM for no reason. Stick with recommendations listed in the safe category. One caveat: If you use a printer at all, do not disable Print Spooler, or you will not be able to print. If you don't have a printer, disable it. If you end up getting one, you can just set it to "Automatic" and then start the service again and the print service will be available again.

If you don't mind video/rendering effects being gone, try disabling all that stuff along with menu animations... I run Windows XP at total barebones. I've got an Intel Core2 E7200 with 4GB of RAM, which is more than enough, but memory is memory.

Did you also try setting your pagefile up on a separate physical hard disk than your operating system?

I understand everything but the last line. (pagefile what?)

I took out my new sound card computer is running great again. Thanks everyone for the tips. I will use them the next time my computer is bogging!

[Lich]

Hellbent said:

I understand everything but the last line. (pagefile what?)

I took out my new sound card computer is running great again. Thanks everyone for the tips. I will use them the next time my computer is bogging!

Blargh, sorry. That last line read very well.

Your page file (or virtual memory) is a file that Windows uses from time to time when managing RAM. Sometimes Windows will write information in RAM to a file on disk. This activity can be sped up if you define your page file to run on a separate physical disk (not just a separate partition on the same drive) from your operating system (i.e., if Windows runs on a hard disk mounted at c:, try putting your page file on a separate hard disk mounted on d:).

Also, I'm sorry to hear that the Audigy SE didn't cut it for you. I feel bad knowing that I made the suggestion for you to get that card. Like others suggested, I would consider downgrading to XP. I know you don't have any more free power connectors, but maybe consider temporarily detaching one of your hard disks to connect a CD-ROM? Or getting a power plug splitter? I've not used Vista on a machine of my own, and I've had great success with CL cards in XP and XP x64.

[Bloodshedder]

If the video card's auxiliary power wasn't connected, chances are the computer wouldn't boot at all. Why don't you just try disconnecting it completely and see what happens?

[Maes]

Try using DPC Latency Checker, a tool which tells you if there are major fuckups with your computer's bus and device drivers causing unwanted latency. Unfortunately it doesn't tell you exactly which drivers misbehave, but it's much easier to verify by turning devices on an off without rebooting and watching the graphs.

[Planky]

I seem to remember a page in the NVidia control panel that displayed the state of the power connector - I had a broken molex connector connected to a Geforce card and every now and then I got a warning that because it couldn't get enough voltage, it was dropping performance down to the minimum.

I don't know if they still have this though (it was when the controls where still part of the display properties).

[caco_killer]

What company do you use for internet? I have Comcast Hi-Speed Internet and I have the same issue you're having when I watch HD Videos on Youtube.

[Hellbent]

Thanks guys for the replies. I removed the new sound card (see my Sound Card thread) and the computer is running fine again. I will look into the videocard connector problem though, as NFS:MW Demo has pauses during gameplay. I have Linksys and it's pretty good.