Re: sys.ini problems

Hi Bill,

disable some programs. I don't know what to make of that.

Some "freeware" includes adware/malware with their programs. If you
actually read the EULA, which nobody does, you would see that removing the
adware/malware screws up the "freeware" program.

words to that effect. What I'm asking is: should all services in the
standard list be started? or are there ones I don't need, and can I tell
if I need them, or not?

No. Some only start when needed, like Application Management for example,
it only needs to start when modifying, installing or uninstalling software
in Add or Remove Programs. Some services are not needed at all.

Service Startup States

<quote>
A service has 3 basic startup states:

Disabled: The service will not be loaded (Some programs stop working, won't
take memory and quick boot time)

Manual: The service will be loaded on demand (Slow program start, won't take
memory and quick boot time)

Automatic: The service is loaded at boot time (Fast program start, will take
memory and slow boot time)
<quote>
from...
Windows XP, 2000, NT4 Services Guide
http://smallvoid.com/tweak/winnt/services.html

Some services do not work correctly when set to Manual and some do not work
correctly when set to Automatic. Tough call depends on the service and if
having any trouble with it.

Some services you do not need, except they might have some feature that you
would like. To see any names in the User Name column in Task Manager,
Terminal Services needs to be set to automatic and running, for example.

Deciding what services need to be set to Automatic, Manual or Disabled is a
tough call.

Third party software can add legitimate services, like AV software or
firewalls.

The default settings can be a guide. But when Windows is installed, MS had
no idea who was going to be installing it, a stand alone user, a business
network with a 1000 machines or what, so MS had to do a some guessing, I
guess, to come up with something that would work for everyone. So there all
kinds of un-needed MS services that are set to Automatic for no reason on a
one user machine. Like the Indexing service for one example.

I am not going to count my services, but...

Default settings for services XP SP1
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/sys_srv_default_settings.mspx?mfr=true

[[This guide lists the default service configurations for Windows XP Service
Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 2. Services that have been added,
removed, or had the default settings changed are highlighted in bold text.]]
TweakHound - Windows XP Services Default Settings Guide
http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/defserv.htm

System Services for the Windows Server 2003 Family and Windows XP Operating
Systems
Services on the Windows Operating System Platforms
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/technologies/management/svrxpser_7.mspx

[[Services
Microsoft pulled their services guide that I had linked to previously
because the information was outdated due to SP2. Even the default settings
for Services listed in Help & Support are still wrong. I've gotten these
settings by doing a fresh install of both XP Home and Pro and exporting the
Services configuration as a .csv file.]]
TweakHound's Super XP Tweaking Guide - Services
http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/xptweaks/supertweaks6.htm

http://web.archive.org/web/20041128094512/http://www.blackviper.com/

http://web.archive.org/web/20041128084144/www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm#Services

http://smallvoid.com/tweak/winnt/services.html

http://www.geocities.com/ziyadhosein/xpserv1.htm

http://www.beemerworld.com/tips/servicesxp.htm


--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In news:885B2478-31D1-475F-B936-60C158CDC594@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
Bill <Bill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> hunted and pecked:
Hello again Wes:

I hope this will be the last time we need to communicate on this issue.
Yesterday I got a complete update on my AV from Norton. Today I ran a full
system scan in safe mode, which scanned a larger number of files than it
did previously, which I presume is a result of the AV update and running
in safe mode? The scan found 1 bit of adware which the utility rated as
"low risk" and it is quarantined; it also warned that removal might
disable some programs. I don't know what to make of that.

Another issue: in the "standard" list of services at service.msc, I
counted 108 services. Is this number normal? Yesterday when I went into
the file as per your instructions, I would guess that nearly half of them
were disabled. As I wrote to you yesterday, I enabled all that I thought
were necessary to my machine; there were several that would NOT start,
and displayed an error message saying the program was not available, or
words to that effect. What I'm asking is: should all services in the
standard list be started? or are there ones I don't need, and can I tell
if I need them, or not?

One more thingj: last night I was working with MS Publisher, which I use a
lot, and it ran very slowly and stalled a couple times; not quite to the
point of my having to "end task," but almost. I run Publisher on my
Iomega F drive. Until last night it was running fine.

Any thoughts you might have on these issues will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Bill

"Wesley Vogel" wrote:

Bill,

If you didn't disable those services, something did.

Canned spiel....

UPDATE your antivirus software and run a full system scan.

UPDATE whatever anti-spyware applications that you have and run a full
system scan with each one.

You might want to start in Safe Mode to run your antivirus and
anti-spyware software.

Running a full system antivirus scan or anti-spyware scan in Safe Mode
can be a good idea. Some viruses and other malware like to conceal
themselves in areas Windows protects while using them. Safe mode will
prevent those applications access and therefore unprotect the viruses or
other malware allowing for easier removal.

How to start Windows in Safe Mode Windows XP
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=61#winxo

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In news:D62D7B3B-F3C9-4BE8-A401-8EB61226ED78@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
Bill <Bill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> hunted and pecked:
Hi Wes:
It worked! I opened services.msc and followed your instructions. In
addition to the spooler and Themes, there were many other services that
had somehow become disabled. I noticed the "expanded" and "standard"
tabs at the bottom of that page, clicked "standard" and re-activated
all those that were marked "disabled," assuming "standard" meant almost
the same thing as "default." So far everything seems to be working
normally, and the machine is a bit faster than before, which was my
original complaint. The crash also marked my Norton AV subscription as
expired, since I know I had two and a half months left, and I had to
contact them by phone to get that solved. I will follow your advice and
do full system scans in safe mode.

Thanks again for your help.
Cheers,
Bill

"Wesley Vogel" wrote:

Bill,

I would update your AV daily. I use AVG 7 and they have at least 5 or
6 updates a week. I am sure that Norton Anti-Virus is similar. Are
you sure that you do not have it set to automatically update?

FYI, the Win.ini and System.ini are not required by XP, they are both
included for backwards compatibility with old MS-DOS 16 bit programs.
The System.ini file is used to start and store information for drivers
and services; the Win.ini file plays a similar role for applications.
Both of these files were used for different settings before there was
such a thing as a registry.

To check on the Print Spooler and Themes services,
open Services...
Start | Run | Type: services.msc | Click OK |
Scroll down to and double click Print Spooler | On the General tab, set
the Startup type to Automatic | Click Apply | Click the Start button |
When the service starts, click OK

Scroll down to and double click Themes | On the General tab, set the
Startup type to Automatic | Click Apply | Click the Start button | When
the service starts, click OK

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In news:13BA04E2-4F02-4464-821D-45BE51A72C3D@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
Bill <Bill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> hunted and pecked:
"Wesley Vogel" wrote:

You have apparently disabled *some* services also, i.e. the Themes
service probably.

Never, ever use msconfig to disable services, use services.msc.

You need to re-enable the things that you disabled using msconfig.

Msconfig Stuck in Selective Startup.

Msconfig.exe is the System Configuration Utility.

The Normal startup option reverts to Selective startup if you select
any of the options selected under other tabs in Msconfig.

Open msconfig...
Start | Run | Type: msconfig | Click OK

Click the System.ini tab.
If the Enable All button is available (not grayed out) click on it,
that means that you have something Disabled.
If you have to click the Enable All button then click on the Apply
button also.

Click the Win.ini tab.
If the Enable All button is available (not grayed out) click on it,
that means that you have something Disabled.
If you have to click the Enable All button then click on the Apply
button also.

Click the Boot.ini tab.
If /SAFEBOOT is checked, uncheck it.
If you had to do that then click on the Apply button also.

Click the Services tab.
If the Enable All button is available (not grayed out) click on it,
that means that you have something Disabled.
If you have to click the Enable All button then click on the Apply
button also.

Click the Startup tab.
If the Enable All button is available (not grayed out) click on it,
that means that you have something Disabled.
If you have to click the Enable All button then click on the Apply
button also.

Click on the General tab and select Normal Startup, if it's not
already selected.
Click on the Apply button.
And reboot.

The System Configuration Utility starts when you start your computer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/312393

Now, the first thing to do when your computer slows down...

UPDATE your antivirus software and run a full system scan.

UPDATE whatever anti-spyware applications that you have and run a
full system scan with each one.

You might want to start in Safe Mode to run your antivirus and
anti-spyware software.

Running a full system antivirus scan or anti-spyware scan in Safe
Mode can be a good idea. Some viruses and other malware like to
conceal themselves in areas Windows protects while using them. Safe
mode will prevent those applications access and therefore unprotect
the viruses or other malware allowing for easier removal.

How to start Windows in Safe Mode Windows XP

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=61#winxo

Also see...

Why is my computer running so slow, it used to be much faster?
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In news:E997CB62-9CE9-4AF0-9B89-758BB8E8BA5D@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
Bill <Bill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> hunted and pecked:
Hello:
My Dell I8200 was starting to run less efficiently than normal, so I
tried a diagnostic recommended by a Website columnist. It said to
run msconfig and then disable one by one the items on the sys.ini
tab. This is where I ran into trouble. This was last night (4 Dec)
and since then the machine has been running in a different mode than
normal, e.g. the task bar is now white instead of default blue. The
print spooler service is not active, and I don't know how to
reactivate. The items in the sys.ini list are all enabled. System
restore doesn't work past the point where the initial crash last
night occurred. Can anyone help me, in English?
Thanks!
Bill

Hello Wes:
Thanks for your timely response to my problem, however, it didn't
work. All the Enable buttons were grayed out, leaving only the
Disable buttons available. I DID notice under the Services tab, some
of the services listed had "stopped" as a status, while others were
"running." I presume that the ones "stopped" are the ones preventing
my system from running properly? So, the question is: how do I get
them running again. Before I posted to this Discussion Group, I had
read somewhere of a "process of elimination" to solve problems like
this -- does that sound familiar to you? Is there some way I can take
those "stopped" services one by one and re-start them?

For the record: I have Norton Anti-Virus, and run full system scans
weekly, and update the virus protection monthly, renewing my
subscription annually. What you said about viruses hiding in protected
areas sounds right to me, because the full system scans report only
about 200+K files examined, when I have almost 16GB of my hard drive
filled, which suggests to me that there are viruses hiding somewhere
Norton couldn't detect. Correct? Once I get this problem solved, I'll
run the scans in Safe Mode, as per your suggestion. Meanwhile, back to
the main problem. Any other ideas?
Many thanks, so far.
Bill

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