The Ultimate Troubleshooter TUT July 26, 2005 Lorain County Computer Computer Users Group Users Group

Whats Running I checked my home PC Before I started any programs –27 tasks were running –49 services were running … 97 were installed to run when needed And I had already cleaned up my system

How do I Know Whats Running Taskbar – lists the programs you start System Tray – lists some programs Ctl-alt-del Applications - Also list programs you start Processes – lists all processes running in background Start Run msconfig Startup Shows applications that initiate at startup... But not tasks and processes The Ultimate Troubleshooter (TUT)

What are These You can Google any of them to find out There is a database - Task List at to look them up There is The Ultimate Troubleshooter (TUT) which lists them for you There are a few other software programs... but I do not know much about them

Why worry? RAM is a limited resource on your PC Every active task/program consumes RAM The more tasks running in the background, the less available to run your programs There are estimates that 50-65% of all lockups, crashes, shut downs, slow downs, etc. are caused by background tasks … Not virus, spam, hardware problems or software bugs

The Ultimate Troubleshooter (TUT) is Software to identify whats running on your PC that describes what each task or service does and gives views/recommendations about each explains how to make changes, if you want and also takes complete hardware inventory of your PC helps automate housekeeping and maintenance has additional tools for internet troubleshooting

How do they get loaded When new software is installed, your program files are loaded but so are other tasks that the vendor feels you should run with the program Update monitors –They continuously check internet for updates Schedulers –They schedule backups or notifications Launch monitors –Wait for hardware to be activiated (scanner, camera) Spyware/adware –You get ads to upgrade or buy other products

Also Internet Downloads Viruses Hardware drivers

Different Categories Applications that you start – , Internet Browser, Word Processor, Photo Editor, etc Applications that start automatically - essential –Anti-virus, Firewall, etc Applications that start automatically – your choice –Launch monitors, schedulers, update checking software Applications that start automatically – unwanted –Spyware, adware, etc

TUT demo - Open Reads/displays all tasks that are running Tabs for tasks, services, hardware and startups Color codes them by importance Can sort by clicking on title

TUT demo – Tasks/services/startups Left Click on any task, service or startup get ATW description/views recommendations (with instruction if required) in semi plain English Tools to get into control panel, startup, registry Right Click Get menu to stop task or change startup mode Double Click Get properties of task – generally with function

TUT demo – Hardware Click on Hardware Tab –Complete listing of all hardware –Detailed technical data for each internal component and attached peripheral

TUT demo – Housekeeping Click on Housekeeping tab List of tasks to do … you choose which ones you want When you click GO, a checklist is presented which you should go through to be sure that you dont have problems

TUT demo – Utilities Click on Utilities icon List of other utilities – internet/network TCP/IP configuration Name server lookup Ping Trace Route Whois For Techies! I dont know what they are … yet.

TUT demo – There are some tasks that are not known by ATW – Coded white When you click on , you can send a list of the unknown tasks to ATW as well as any other comments you have.

Comments TUT IDs 80-90% of the tasks You can check out the rest by typing into Google The Semi-Plain English descriptions and recommendations make TUT somewhat unique, useable and therefore, valuable ATW views are just that … use their input but configure your PC based on your needs The Housekeeping function is good but requires some work (checklist) to run Some PCs with XP/SP2 wont start … there is a fix on the ATW website

TUT Summary Gives you info to take control over your PC What it does Who makes it Whether it is valuable How to fix it Provides how to instructions to help you implement what you want to do Presented in reasonably understandable language Housekeeping program is pretty good WORTH THE COST - $35 download

NEW STARTUPS Demo on how tasks get installed