Hello,

I recently bought a Toshiba M115-S3154, a Core Duo 1.6 gig machine
running Win XP Media Center Edition (bought in the USA, I live in Norway
-maybe not so wise but that's another topic). The price was right.
The machine came with 512 megs of ram and even after removing some of
the software it came loaded with, it's still using over 300 megs of
memory at startup.
I've installed Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel and deleted some
programs from running at startup but even so, 300 megs is a lot.
Task Manager shows 62 processes at startup with no applications running,
except utilities.

I'd like to free up at least 100 megs, if possible.

Qustions:
1. Is there a site that explains the processes running on this machine
(or similar machines) and which ones are unneeded (safe to disable)?
I've used Black Viper's site in setting up other Win XP machines but
that was just Windows processes.
Examples of unknown processes which use a lot of ram include,
1. iFrmewrk.exe - 17,172K
2. ZCfgSvc.exe - 15,336K
3. RTHDCPL.exe - 20,540K

I have no idea what these processes are, although I know that a Google
search would answer my questions -but I'd prefer not to go through the
time consuming process of checking out all the processes through Google.

2. If I buy a 512 or a gig brick of ram and run the machine in Single
Channel Mode, how much of a performance hit will I experience? Can the
Core Duo even run in Single Channel Mode?

I'm not a gamer.

My desktop is my main computer - an Athlon 1.33 gig with a gig of ram
(still adequate)- and this laptop will be used mostly for e-mail,
Internet, light (very light - thank you God) Office work and - but
here's the kicker - Photoshop. Photoshop uses all the memory it can get
and 100 meg or so is really stretching it, specially if one starts
working with multiple layers, etc.

Oh yes, I haven't even configured the Media Center yet.

TIA

-PS

What I have found to work well is to take the name of an unknown process
(such as ZCfgSvc.exe .... or just ZCfgSvc) and "Google" it. You will
almost always find out what it is.

That said, I would not worry too much about the amount of memory used on
startup, per se. It's going to be large, but it's also transient. I'd
pay more attention to the specific startup tasks.

The system will run in single channel memory mode, but what I'd do if
you currently have one 512MB memory module is try to get a second module
that is compatible with the one that you have. It takes some research,
but you can usually do it. What you are likely to find is someone
selling the exact same module (with photo) on E-Bay ... someone else who
wants to upgrade a Toshiba laptop to more memory. Alternatively, buy
two modules and you can sell the existing module to someone else on E-Bay.

Some aspects of the TV part of Media Center (MCE) are country specific.
Other than TV, it will work fine, but wherever it matters, since it's
a US system, it's going to expect US NTSC and US TV tuner specifications.

[Note, MCE is XP Pro with a lot of additions (which you don't have to
use and which won't get in the way if you don't use them), a few very
minor changes and one big change (no domain networking, although this
can be hacked). It's definitely and unconditionally better than XP
Home; it's as good as or better than XP Pro for most people, if you
don't need domain networking. You can configure the startup user
interface to be either Media Center or the standard Windows desktop.]


P Settli wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I recently bought a Toshiba M115-S3154, a Core Duo 1.6 gig machine
> running Win XP Media Center Edition (bought in the USA, I live in Norway
> -maybe not so wise but that's another topic). The price was right.
> The machine came with 512 megs of ram and even after removing some of
> the software it came loaded with, it's still using over 300 megs of
> memory at startup.
> I've installed Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel and deleted some
> programs from running at startup but even so, 300 megs is a lot.
> Task Manager shows 62 processes at startup with no applications running,
> except utilities.
>
> I'd like to free up at least 100 megs, if possible.
>
> Qustions:
> 1. Is there a site that explains the processes running on this machine
> (or similar machines) and which ones are unneeded (safe to disable)?
> I've used Black Viper's site in setting up other Win XP machines but
> that was just Windows processes.
> Examples of unknown processes which use a lot of ram include,
> 1. iFrmewrk.exe - 17,172K
> 2. ZCfgSvc.exe - 15,336K
> 3. RTHDCPL.exe - 20,540K
>
> I have no idea what these processes are, although I know that a Google
> search would answer my questions -but I'd prefer not to go through the
> time consuming process of checking out all the processes through Google.
>
> 2. If I buy a 512 or a gig brick of ram and run the machine in Single
> Channel Mode, how much of a performance hit will I experience? Can the
> Core Duo even run in Single Channel Mode?
>
> I'm not a gamer.
>
> My desktop is my main computer - an Athlon 1.33 gig with a gig of ram
> (still adequate)- and this laptop will be used mostly for e-mail,
> Internet, light (very light - thank you God) Office work and - but
> here's the kicker - Photoshop. Photoshop uses all the memory it can get
> and 100 meg or so is really stretching it, specially if one starts
> working with multiple layers, etc.
>
> Oh yes, I haven't even configured the Media Center yet.
>
> TIA
>
> -PS

Barry Watzman wrote:
> What I have found to work well is to take the name of an unknown process
> (such as ZCfgSvc.exe .... or just ZCfgSvc) and "Google" it. You will
> almost always find out what it is.

I know (sad face). I was hoping to avoid that - the search by search method.

>
> That said, I would not worry too much about the amount of memory used on
> startup, per se. It's going to be large, but it's also transient. I'd
> pay more attention to the specific startup tasks.

Got the startup tasks covered through Mike Lin.

> The system will run in single channel memory mode, but what I'd do if
> you currently have one 512MB memory module is try to get a second module
> that is compatible with the one that you have.

I'm almost certain that I've got two 256 meg bricks (sigh).


It takes some research,
> but you can usually do it. What you are likely to find is someone
> selling the exact same module (with photo) on E-Bay ... someone else who
> wants to upgrade a Toshiba laptop to more memory. Alternatively, buy
> two modules and you can sell the existing module to someone else on E-Bay.

I live in Norway.



>
> Some aspects of the TV part of Media Center (MCE) are country specific.
> Other than TV, it will work fine, but wherever it matters, since it's a
> US system, it's going to expect US NTSC and US TV tuner specifications.

I'm dumping Media Center, before even configuring it. I didn't buy this
machine to be my home entertainment unit. I avoid Microsoft media
products totally, except my for my homey MSN Messenger.


>
> [Note, MCE is XP Pro with a lot of additions (which you don't have to
> use and which won't get in the way if you don't use them), a few very
> minor changes and one big change (no domain networking, although this
> can be hacked). It's definitely and unconditionally better than XP
> Home; it's as good as or better than XP Pro for most people, if you
> don't need domain networking. You can configure the startup user
> interface to be either Media Center or the standard Windows desktop.]

Thanks for info. Didn't know I could dump the Media Center and still
keep it - without it interfering.

-PS

If you are dumping Media Center for Linux, fine. But if you are dumping
it for XP Home or Pro, ***DON'T***.

Media center is just a very slightly modified version of pro that has a
second, alternate user interface IN ADDITION TO the Windows desktop, and
a lot of {good} add-on media software which will NOT get in the way or
cause problems if you don't use it.

You can select which of the two interfaces (Media Center or the standard
XP desktop) runs by default at bootup. If you don't run the Media
Center interface, it's XP Pro, and the fact that the MCE stuff is on the
hard drive will not cause problems or get in the way. The only
consequence there is that it takes up a bit of disk space, but in these
days of huge multi-gigabyte hard drives, the few dozen megabytes is
truly irrelevant.

Regardless of which interface you start with, you can switch back and
forth as often as you like in both directions with 2 mouse clicks.

I don't remember where the setting for the startup interface is, but I
think it's in Media Center, scroll down to "Settings" and I believe it's
there.

Many people who get MCE remove it and install Home, not realizing that
they just DOWNGRADED and lost almost all XP Pro features (Remote
Control, full NTFS security, etc.). And even if they remove MCE and
install Pro, all that they did, effectively, was switch interfaces,
which they can do without removing the OS.

The only real drawback of MCE relative even to XP Pro is that it does
not support domain networking (unless you hack it ... a hack that is
well documented). And the media stuff really is worthwhile if you have
an application for it.


P Settli wrote:

> Barry Watzman wrote:
>
>> What I have found to work well is to take the name of an unknown
>> process (such as ZCfgSvc.exe .... or just ZCfgSvc) and "Google" it.
>> You will almost always find out what it is.
>
>
> I know (sad face). I was hoping to avoid that - the search by search
> method.
>
>>
>> That said, I would not worry too much about the amount of memory used
>> on startup, per se. It's going to be large, but it's also transient.
>> I'd pay more attention to the specific startup tasks.
>
>
> Got the startup tasks covered through Mike Lin.
>
>> The system will run in single channel memory mode, but what I'd do if
>> you currently have one 512MB memory module is try to get a second
>> module that is compatible with the one that you have.
>
>
> I'm almost certain that I've got two 256 meg bricks (sigh).
>
>
> It takes some research,
>
>> but you can usually do it. What you are likely to find is someone
>> selling the exact same module (with photo) on E-Bay ... someone else
>> who wants to upgrade a Toshiba laptop to more memory. Alternatively,
>> buy two modules and you can sell the existing module to someone else
>> on E-Bay.
>
>
> I live in Norway.
>
>
>
>>
>> Some aspects of the TV part of Media Center (MCE) are country
>> specific. Other than TV, it will work fine, but wherever it matters,
>> since it's a US system, it's going to expect US NTSC and US TV tuner
>> specifications.
>
>
> I'm dumping Media Center, before even configuring it. I didn't buy this
> machine to be my home entertainment unit. I avoid Microsoft media
> products totally, except my for my homey MSN Messenger.
>
>
>>
>> [Note, MCE is XP Pro with a lot of additions (which you don't have to
>> use and which won't get in the way if you don't use them), a few very
>> minor changes and one big change (no domain networking, although this
>> can be hacked). It's definitely and unconditionally better than XP
>> Home; it's as good as or better than XP Pro for most people, if you
>> don't need domain networking. You can configure the startup user
>> interface to be either Media Center or the standard Windows desktop.]
>
>
> Thanks for info. Didn't know I could dump the Media Center and still
> keep it - without it interfering.
>
> -PS

Barry Watzman wrote:
> If you are dumping Media Center for Linux, fine. But if you are dumping
> it for XP Home or Pro, ***DON'T***.
>
> Media center is just a very slightly modified version of pro that has a
> second, alternate user interface IN ADDITION TO the Windows desktop, and
> a lot of {good} add-on media software which will NOT get in the way or
> cause problems if you don't use it.

[cut the reasons why I'm not dumping Media Center except for my deep
mistrust for all Microsoft media extensions...but then I don't have to
run it - keep on rocking in the free world]

I'm down to one question:

How much of a hit will I take running dual channel memory in single
channel mode? I'm not a gamer. Will it any kind of notable difference in
how the applications I run, run? The reason I ask is I'm totally
convinced that Win XP runs best with a gig of memory and if I ever
upgrade to Vista 2 gig would probably generate the same sentiment. Which
is the reason I lean towards a 1 gig brick. I'm sure I can match it
later for a total of two. In the meantime I've got 1,25 gigs running in
single channel mode.

At what cost?

--PS

Memory modules are not "single channel" or "dual channel". They are
just memory modules. Single/dual channel is how the motherboard
(chipset, really) uses them. Dual channel is to memory a lot like RAID
is to hard drives: You take two modules and you use them in a way that
DOUBLES their speed. And that's what happens: The speed of the memory
system DOUBLES. However, depending on what you are doing, the speed of
the memory system may or may not be critically important. In some
applications, the impact could be huge, in other applications it might
not even be noticed.

But 1 gig notebook modules (SO-DIMM) are VERY expensive.


P Settli wrote:

> Barry Watzman wrote:
>
>> If you are dumping Media Center for Linux, fine. But if you are
>> dumping it for XP Home or Pro, ***DON'T***.
>>
>> Media center is just a very slightly modified version of pro that has
>> a second, alternate user interface IN ADDITION TO the Windows desktop,
>> and a lot of {good} add-on media software which will NOT get in the
>> way or cause problems if you don't use it.
>
>
> [cut the reasons why I'm not dumping Media Center except for my deep
> mistrust for all Microsoft media extensions...but then I don't have to
> run it - keep on rocking in the free world]
>
> I'm down to one question:
>
> How much of a hit will I take running dual channel memory in single
> channel mode? I'm not a gamer. Will it any kind of notable difference in
> how the applications I run, run? The reason I ask is I'm totally
> convinced that Win XP runs best with a gig of memory and if I ever
> upgrade to Vista 2 gig would probably generate the same sentiment. Which
> is the reason I lean towards a 1 gig brick. I'm sure I can match it
> later for a total of two. In the meantime I've got 1,25 gigs running in
> single channel mode.
>
> At what cost?
>
> --PS

Barry Watzman wrote:
> Memory modules are not "single channel" or "dual channel". They are
> just memory modules. Single/dual channel is how the motherboard
> (chipset, really) uses them. Dual channel is to memory a lot like RAID
> is to hard drives: You take two modules and you use them in a way that
> DOUBLES their speed. And that's what happens: The speed of the memory
> system DOUBLES. However, depending on what you are doing, the speed of
> the memory system may or may not be critically important. In some
> applications, the impact could be huge, in other applications it might
> not even be noticed.
>
> But 1 gig notebook modules (SO-DIMM) are VERY expensive.

Yes they are.
What no one so far has been able to tell me on this board so far, is,
how much how of a hit I take running in single channel mode from DDR2

--PS

No one will be able to tell you that because it's variable .... it
depends on what program(s) are running. The hit can approach 50% with
some applications, but it can also approach 0% probably most of the time.

The problem is that an SO-DIMM is half the size of a desktop DIMM, so it
needs chips twice as dense for the same size (a 1GB SO-DIMM would need
the same high density chips as a 2GB desktop DIMM). And then, while
desktops have 4 sockets, laptops only have 2 sockets. So you pay twice
for the small size


P Settli wrote:

> Barry Watzman wrote:
>
>> Memory modules are not "single channel" or "dual channel". They are
>> just memory modules. Single/dual channel is how the motherboard
>> (chipset, really) uses them. Dual channel is to memory a lot like
>> RAID is to hard drives: You take two modules and you use them in a
>> way that DOUBLES their speed. And that's what happens: The speed of
>> the memory system DOUBLES. However, depending on what you are doing,
>> the speed of the memory system may or may not be critically
>> important. In some applications, the impact could be huge, in other
>> applications it might not even be noticed.
>>
>> But 1 gig notebook modules (SO-DIMM) are VERY expensive.
>
>
> Yes they are.
> What no one so far has been able to tell me on this board so far, is,
> how much how of a hit I take running in single channel mode from DDR2
>
> --PS