computer programs running in background?

November 3, 2009

so i’m trying to get internet explorer 8 to run faster. i’ve got my computer running pretty good, but IE is being a pain. i have an HP dv6000. it’s a 32 bit. windows vista. i was down to about 35% free space left on my hard drive, so i went and bought an external 500 gb hard drive and put my music and pictures and other crap on there. and i’ve defraged. ran disk cleanup, ran a registry check, scanned for issues on disc C, now i’m at about 62% free space. i was hoping all that would help with IE but it hasn’t. i don’t have any virus software so i dunno if i have one or not, but random music will sometimes play in the background even when there isn’t any programs open. so i’m thinking i may have a virus? so now i’m looking at the programs running in the background, i read on someone elses question to use http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php?filter=application+experience this site to go by for the programs running, but i’m still confused, so i’m looking for someone who can actually tell me
"yes – keep it"
"no – it’s a virus or something unnecessary"
"maybe – depends on if you want to or not"
"? – i don’t know"

so here’s a list of things running in the background

Application Experience
Application Information
Background Intelligent Transfer Service
Base Filtering Engine
CNG Key Isolation
COM+ Event System
Computer Browser
Cryptographic Services
CyberLink Background Capture Service (CBCS)
CyberLink Task Scheduler (CTS)
DCOM Server Process Launcher
Desktop Window Manager Session Manager
DHCP Client
Diagnostic Policy Service
Diagnostic System Host
Distributed Link Tracking Client
DNS Client
Extensible Authentication Protocol
Function Discovery Resource Publication
Group Policy Client
HP Health Check Service
hpqwmiex
Human Interface Device Access
IKE and AuthIPsec Keying Modules
IP Helper
IPsec Policy Agent
KtmRm for Distributed Transaction Coordinator
LiveUpdate Notice Service Ex
Multimedia class Scheduler
Network Connections
Network List Service
Network Location Awareness
Network Store Interface Service
NVIDIA Display Driver Service
PIXMA Exteded Survey Program
Plug and Play
Portable Device Enumerator Service
Print Spooler
Program Compatibility Assisstant Service
ProtexisLicensing
ReadyBoost
Remote Acess Connection Manager
Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
Secondary Logan
Security Accounts Manager
Security Center
Server
Shell Hardware Detection
Software Licensing
SSDP Discovery
Superfetch
Symantec AppCore Service
Symantec Event Manager
Symantec Lic NetConnect service
Symantec Settings Manager
System Event Notification Service
Tablet PC Input Service
Task Scheduler
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Telephony
Terminal Services
Themes
UPnP Device Host
User Profile Service
Viewpoint Manager Service
WebClient
Windows Audio
Windows Audio Endpoint Builder
Windows Defender
Windows Driver Foundation – User-mode Driver Framework
Windows Error Reporting Service
Windows Event Log
Windows Firewall
Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)
Windows Management Instrumentation
Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service
Windows Mobile 2003-based device connectivity
Windows Mobile-based device connectivity
Windows Search
Windows Time
Windows Update
WLAN AutoConfig
Workstation

does anyone have any idea how to get the random music to stop playing? and any recommendations for free virus software? thanks!
the music is like a radio playing. sometimes it’ll be a commerical, sometimes it’ll be just music and sometimes it’ll be like radio dj’s talking. i haven’t downloaded anything yet except avg, it detected quite a few things including a trojan horse. and i contacted hp and they suggested reseting IE so i’ve done that. it helped a very very small amount. i’m thinking of testing out firefox

Cryptographic services missing even after Windows 2000 reinstalled. Is it worth it to try XP OEM instead?

July 23, 2009

My girlfriend’s laptop had some viruses, and I removed most of them using some tools and tips I got off the internet. (The laptop had three-year-old virus definitions.). Windows 2000 has been corrupted: the cryptographic services are missing.

I’ve tried to reinstall Windows 2000 from the recovery CD, and it doesn’t work! I’ve tried to "repair this version of windows" and also to start with a clean install. I still get the same problems after each install: cryptographic services are missing from the Services under Administrative Tools. This prevents me from reinstalling MS Office or the software for the wireless card (which have both been corrupted as well). I’ve tried renaming the directory %systemroot%system32Catroot2, re-registering the DLLs associated with cryptography, renaming the EDB.LOG file and every other solution I’ve found on the web.

Is it worth it to pay 0 for XP OEM and try installing that, or is that $ better spent on a computer tech?