Forums Forums Enthusiast Forums A - Z Gadgets & Tech Can anyone point me the way forward please

Ok I've been stupid and lost my taskbar on my pc by deleting processes using windows task manager is there anyway of getting this back

Usually just rebooting will bring it back - but if you want to play safe.

From task manager "new task" and "explorer"

Yes that's worked thank you

In the future you can avoid this by simply not ending 'explorer.exe'. It's pretty much the only task you shouldn't bother trying to end.

yes found that out lol now i just want to decrease the percentage on the gauges on the sidebar app

If you want to use less resources turn off the sidebar app. It does nothing but suck resources away from important things. If you're trying to save resources without having to do that, go start > run > msconfig and unselect items you don't need to start when the computer does under the startup tab at the top.

Items you don't need when the computer starts = basically everything.

Agreed, the sidebar is an antiquated relic from the alpha releases of Longhorn, and serves no useful purpose, but wastes a significant amount of resources for what it is.

Changing any non-vital services to "manual" instead of automatic, means they will only be turned on when needed; you can do this by running services.msc, if in doubt, there are quides on google available as to what is safe to change to disabled/manual.

By not running services you are not actually using at the time, it can help save memory and a small amount of CPU resources.

well its not really done much by turning it off still slow i think i will have to sort out pics and vids from my phone now to see if that will help

Out of interest how much memory does your PC have ?

512 mb

You should really have a bare minimum of 1GB for NT6 operating systems (Vista/7/2008), with 2GB highly recommended for comfortable running. What CPU is it?

Erm how do I find that out lol

Easy way is to go to the start menu, right click on "My Computer", and select properties.

It will give you an outline of the computer specs within the dialogue box that opens (memory, Processor etc).

Do you know the manufacturer and model number of the computer?

right its intel (r) celeron(r) d cpu 3.46ghz 3.46ghz

emachines e4214 operating vista home basic service pack 2 32 bit

That CPU is plentiful for NT6.

I assume this is a desktop and not a laptop right (Crucial UK say its a desktop, emachines site is about as much use as a beergarden). If so, your system takes DDR2 5300 RAM upto a maximum of 1GB per socket (2GB max), and it should cost about £20 for 2GB RAM or £12 for 1GB RAM.

1GB - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/115961
2GB - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/116260

It is pretty straight-forward to upgrade memory yourself, there is guides on the net, only takes a few minutes, but I can do it for you for free if you get stuck.

If you upgrade the memory, you will feel the difference right away, and even if you only add 1GB, it will be a massive improvement and make Vista run like it should do (even Vista Basic will struggle like hell with 512MB RAM)!!