Memory usage in XP

[Yonoz]

I have recently installed WinXP on some friends' older machines with low RAM. Running the task manager I can see several processes taking up quite a bit of memory on a clean XP installation. Does anyone know what processes are not needed for home use (the usual web surfing, e-mail clients and word processing) and for home networking (standard client for MS networks with file and printer sharing)? How do I remove the unneeded ones safely? If you could direct me to a good site or tutorial that would be great since it's hard to sift through all the memory optimization programs sites when you run a search...

Another thought that crossed my mind was to replace the standard XP components with slimmer ones - IE for example. Can anyone recommend such replacements? Provided I use Outlook Express how do I stop it from loading Messenger each time it starts or at least get it to close the damn thing when it exits?

Please don't recommend memory optimization programs unless you really know what you're talking about. User reviews for these programs are filled with silly comments from newbies as it is...

So if anyone can recommend any other way to tighten up memory usage on XP that's intended for the standard, not computer literate home user please let me know. That includes tweaks and settings. For example installing IDE driver to enable UDMA so the page file access is quicker - that sort of stuff....

Thanks. Hope I haven't wasted your time with this lengthy post.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

For sXP-services, go here:
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

If you like a faster browser than IE, download Avant from http://www.avantbrowser.com. It is an overlay of IE but with nice tabbed windows and a few other extras.
Alternatively, try Opera (requires Java installed) and/or Mozilla, which are both a lot smaller than IE.

You can disable Messenger (is one of the services above).

Once you have weeded out the services, check your mem-usage again and I am sure it will have improved a lot.

 

[Yonoz]

thanks

Thanks mate, that'll keep me busy for a while... Probably will pick up a few tricks along the way too :grinthumb