Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Office 2003

Apr 7, 2005 3:19PM PDT

I've got Office 2003 and since I've installed it, my computer runs fairly slower than when I didn't install. To verify that Office was the problem, I've removed it, and the computer runs as it should (much faster).

My question, I guess, is why does the computer run so slow even when Office isn't running, and even when, after using it, I reboot before doing anything else on the web.

Is something always running in the background, and how do I go about removing those background files?

I don't really want to get into the registy, as I'm rather limited in computer literacy, and don't want to mess up anything.

Below is a summary from Belarc Advisor.

Thanks for your help.


Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (build 2600)
1.70 gigahertz Intel Celeron
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
128 kilobyte secondary memory cache
41.05 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
33.66 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

SAMSUNG CD-ROM SC-148
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

Maxtor 2F040J0 [Hard drive] (41.11 GB) -- drive 0, s/n F12JCN0E, rev VAM51JJ0,

SMART Status: Healthy

382 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'J5G3' has 128 MB
Slot 'J5G2' has 256 MB

Local Drive Volumes:
c: (on drive 0) 41.05 GB 33.66 GB free

Software Versions:
Adobe Reader Version 7.0.0.0
Adobe Systems AdobeDownloadManager Version 2.0
ALWIL Software - avast! Antivirus Version 4, 6, 0, 0
America Online, Inc. Sinf Application Version 7.00.000
Avance Sound Manager Version 5.0
avast! Antivirus Version 4, 6, 0, 0
avast! iAVS4 Control Service
Belarc, Inc. - BelManage Client Version 6.1f
BigFix Inc. - BFast Version 1, 7, 6, 0
BigFix Version 1, 7, 6, 0
Blitz2 Application Version 2, 3, 4, 0
Callisto Corporation - PhotoParade Player Version 4, 0, 0, 1
ChessProgram8.exe
Cinematronics - 3D Pinball Version 5.1.2600.2180
DBConvert Application Version 5.1.8.3656
Estima - WinTD-32 Version 1.0.0.0
ICQ ICQRun Version 5.1.6.3645
ICQ NetDetect Agent
ICQ Version 5.1.8.3659
ICQUninstall Application Version 5.1.8.3650
iGlobalMedia.com - PartyPoker.com client Version 1, 0, 0, 1
Inno Setup Version 51.13.0.0
Jordan Russell - Inno Setup Uninstaller Version 51.5.0.0
Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE VI.Second Edition
Lexmark International, Inc. - MarkVision for Windows (32 bit) Version 7.4
Lexmark Supplies Monitor Version 3.0.105.1
Lexmark Z25-Z35 Series ColorFine Printer Version 1.0.6.8
Lexmark Z25-Z35 Version 1.0.6.0
Microsoft (r) Windows Script Host Version 5.6.0.8820
Microsoft AntiSpyware (Beta 1) Version 1.00.0501 Microsoft Application Error Reporting Version
Microsoft Clip Organizer Version 11.0.6361
Microsoft Corporation - Internet Explorer Version 6.00.2900.2180
Microsoft Corporation - Messenger Version 4.7.3001
Microsoft Corporation - Office Source Engine Version
Microsoft Corporation - SelfCert Version
Microsoft Corporation - Windows Installer - Unicode Version 3.0.
Microsoft Corporation - Windows Movie Maker Version 2.1.4026.0
Microsoft Corporation - Windows

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Hard Drive
Apr 7, 2005 5:17PM PDT

How Big Is Your Hard Dirve How Much Memorey Has your computer got

microsoft office runs in the background you might have to much installed on your computer

- Collapse -
Specs
Apr 8, 2005 4:34AM PDT

41.05 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
33.66 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

382MB RAM

- Collapse -
Re: MS Office background programs
Apr 7, 2005 6:13PM PDT

Yes, most like Office 2003 is running some background programs. Even earlier versions of Office did that. Like indexing programs.

I don't have, nor know, Office 2003, so I can only give some general guidelines.
- Start>Run>MSCONFIG, go to the Startup tab and see if anything is checked (i.e. run at startup) that you recognize as part of MS Office (program file folder should be a good indication)
- Start>Run>Services.msc to check for services you recognize as part of MS Office
The tips and links in http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-6121-0.html?forumID=45&threadID=22053&messageID=238474 might be helpful with the above.
- ctrl-alt-del to enter taskmanager, and have a look at the (CPU-usage of) all running processes. On an empty system all (except System Idle) should be practically 0%. If not, it could be such an MS Office program.

Post back your experiences before doing anything you can't easily undo! Also don't disable processes or services at random, without knowing what they do.

Kees

- Collapse -
solved
Apr 8, 2005 7:06PM PDT

Thanks for the replies everyone. You folk are the best.