HP dv2000 Memory Usage

Just got my dv2000 today (it took 1 full day to get from China to East coast..amazing...) anyway, I was wondering how much of this HP stuff do you need (i.e. HP Total Care adviser, HP Connections, HP Alerts, etc...)? Also I was looking at my memory usage and currently (with nothing running except the normal stuff in the background I have about 58 process running using around 740 MB of ram. Well I have 2 GB of system memory, but I would like to lower the usage. Anyway to do that?

On a separate unrelated note, it has a web cam but how in gods name do I use it? I do not see any software...

Thanks!

 

for the webcam u can use it through quickplay, muveeproducer or windows live messenger. theres no isolated software like was for xp... sucks !

 

That memory usage, is a fair bit, but in Windows Vista it seems okay. I am ssumming you have Windows Vista installed. Anyway, you can exit programs completely, or prevent them from starting up when the notebook does. Try and get rid of the programs by induvidually by going into them, and selecting the option which prevents the from starting up. If some are more persistant, and still don't go away, use the mscongfig prompt in "Run", and then click on the "Startup" tab, and uncheck those programs you don't wish to start up.

 

Yes the computer came with Vista Home Premium.
I am retarded. I never thought about msconfig. LOL... Anyway, after looking at the startup I am not sure there is too much I can turn off. Out of the HP stuff:
hp quickplay
hp digital imaging
hp quick launch buttons
hp health check scheduler
hp wireless assistant
hp wireless assistant

I will turn them off one by one and see what they do and if I need them. The remaining things seem sort of important (i.e. windows defender, Symantec Antivirus, etc...)

Thanks for the help. Oh and by the way if there are any services you know of that I can/should turn off let me know. I am sure it is because vista is still pretty new but I remember "tweak" guides that were posted for XP but I don't see any for vista.

 

I've been using a nice program called "Startup Control Panel" by a guy named Mike Lin. I simply put a shortcut on my desktop and can easily disable or enable most programs from startup. I went to his website to see if it was compatible with Vista and found this comment:

Windows Vista, after all these years, finally has a very good startup manager built-in; go to Control Panel > Performance Information and Tools, and then click on Manage Startup Programs on the left.

 

May I suggest replacing Norton Antivirus with some other antivirus. Norton products are very resource hungry, and they'll take as much RAM as they feel fit. I also causes the computer to start up slower, because it has a lot of subsequent processes that need to be opned during start up.

 

If the version of Norton Antivirus is the 2007, I'd keep it for a while, and check it out. Symantec has lightened the resource usage and number of processes in their 2007 products. I have Norton Internet Security 2007 (which includes NAV 2007) installed on my older desktop, and it runs very well.

 

AVAST Anti-Virus 4 Home Edition.

free, and very effective.


AVG Free is also good. Norton and Symantec are memory-hogs.

 

As I said above, Symantec has drastically improved the resource usage of it's 2007 products. Plus the detection rate of Norton Antivirus 2007 is much better than AVG. See here:

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=167859

 

Currently I am using Norton 2005 Corporate edition (updated for vista) that seems to take a lot of resources when the computer is booting but releases them after about a min or so after boot. I might either get a new version of Norton or switch over to AVG.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

wblakenc, you can download trial versions of most antivirus software, and check them out on your computer. If one doesn't run well on your computer, then try another. I've had good luck with Norton, but as metr0man suggested, there's nothing wrong with giving Avast or AVG a try.

 

Am using Avast. Love the voice warnings when a file might have a virus. Sometimes if you disable a startup program in msconfig it reactivates when restarted. I believe it has to do with the registry automatically activating it. The best way for having more performance is to adjust the setting in the "system" folder. You'll have less eye candy but it will perform better overall.