Thanks Haystack,

Mr Google suggests it could be a registry problem:-

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/270008/

Snag is I have not the nerve to tinker with the registry as I know my CD drive, which I'd need for a 'recovery' is not working.

Frying pan to fire syndrome.

TP

Am I not right in thinking that this Upper Filter entry is a bug?



If so, any suggestions as to the safe way to get rid of it?

TP

Tp first couple of entries might be usefule - http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-12,GGLD:en&q=upperfilters

TP, have you ever used TweakUI by any chance? It has a facility to hide drives.

K.

No never.

Sk,

Yes, I've seen that. It was the reason I was looking at that entry.

Presumably I delete the whole of that UpperFilters line. Yes?

TP

If you uninstall the driven then those entries should go. Didn't you say earlier that you had done that already. What is the whole entry if present at all when you uninstall it?

H.

The entry that I photographed above remains the same when the drive is uninstalled.

Reading some more threads, such as this one that follows, it does seem that the Upper entry could have crept on to my system through looking at Ipod software.

http://www.file.net/process/gearaspiwdm.sys.html

Anyway I am pretty convinced that this GEARAspiWDM is the problem.

TP

TP

I'm not sure which registry entries are the problem, but if you want to play around with the registry, then select a key in the left hand pane, and click File - Export to save the key to a file. You can then delete or modify the key and restore it by opening your saved file.

Only use this method for minor registry settings, there are some parts of the registry where changes may immediately make your system unstable and it would not be possible to recover in that way. Idealy, you need to make a ful registry backup and be able to restore it from your boot CD.

BTW, will your system boot from your W2K setup CD?

Op,

"be able to restore it from your boot CD.

BTW, will your system boot from your W2K setup CD?"

No. This was going to be my ultimate problem. The machine will not see the CD drive so I was terrified that I might screw the operating system and not be able to recover with a CD.

Anyway, the long story has come to a happy end and having removed that Upperfilters entry in the registry I can now see my internal CD drive again.

Thanks to all of you who have patiently fed an assortment of ideas. It is annoying that my various bug tracing software progs could not spot the error in the registry.

Thank heavens for threads like this and the marvel of Google.

Back to do some real work now.

TP

TP

I'm glad that you have it sorted, but the registry mod would not have prevented it from booting from the CD so beware of something hardware related.

Thanks Op,

I understand. I also failed to explain that I had not got round to trying the Boot from a CD mode as I was paranoid about de-stabilising an otherwise working machine.

And I would not have attempted that registry change if today were not the day when our IT chappie is in the building.

But I will be on my guard as always for anything else that looks suspicious.

TP

thePublisher,
another speed test site you was looking for,
http://www.speedtest.net/

many using this one

steve

Thanks Steve,

Now to learn how to interpret the results.

TP

iam on 10meg ntl

i get

2/7/2007 5:15 PM GMT 9637 kb/s 488 kb/s 29 ms London < 50 mi

so i get 9.6 meg download which i think is good,the upload speed is important too,
just got orange bb for a backup and for lappy,only 5 for 8 meg but having major probs with them,only getting 2meg ish,the tech support most in india are crap,
just found out that i had been downgraded to 2 meg for some reason,

2/7/2007 5:32 PM GMT 1943 kb/s 202 kb/s 43 ms London ~ 200 mi

the above is for the orange 2 meg which is good if i was on the 2 meg speed but i should be on the 8 meg speed,

last oct 06 NTL was test 20 meg,i now have heared they are testing 50 meg,i was getting some good speed for a while but now back to 10 meg

10/27/2006 5:55 PM GMT 14720 kb/s 731 kb/s 24 ms London < 50 mi

10/27/2006 1:49 AM GMT 16682 kb/s 735 kb/s 18 ms London < 50 mi

10/26/2006 1:20 AM GMT 16567 kb/s 735 kb/s 17 ms London < 50 mi

so good things to come i think on NTL,they just take their time.




10/26/2006 1:20 AM GMT 16882 kb/s 734 kb/s 28 ms London < 50 mi

Steve,good site,that speed check one.

Rick..........

Two interesting sites. And charmingly different results from tests taken about ten minutes ago.



So much to learn...........

But thanks for introducing me to yet another wonder of the internet!!!

TP

.

I am using Pipex adsl but only get 1.5mb on my BT line. and BT dont know if they are going to upgrade the line

However I do have a NTL (virgin) cable telephone / digital tv line installed can I use me pipex adsl on this line if so how, and how do I check the speed of my connection on the NTL line

Richgit69

I wonder if Sam knows?

;-)

Disabling unwanted services and speeding up your computer

16Dec06

You probably have heard of people telling you that you can speed up your computer by stopping unwanted services. But when you look at the list of services running, you are unsure of what to shut down and what not to. Heres a small guide to help you choose what to shutdown in a list of common processes/services.

Notes:
1. To enter service manager, go to Start > Run > Type services.msc and hit enter.
2. To toggle the Startup Type of a service between Automatic, Manual and Disabled, double-click on the required service and choose the specific option from the listbox titled Startup Type in the General tab.
3. If you are unsure about a service or for some reason, think its important, leave it alone or turn it to manual instead of disabling. It will help protect from damage.
4. Completely mastering service management is a task possible only by trial and error.
5. There are risks involved in turning down important services, better read the description before attempting to change a services Startup Type.
I hope I have been clear enough for you to understand what to disable and what not to. Enjoy a faster and healthier computer.

Useless services:

AdobeLM Service Not all have this service, still its useless, just disable it if you have it.
Alerter Disable this if you arent on a network because you wont receive an alert thus.
Application Management Set this to manual.
Automatic Updates Disable it if you dont require auto updating and patching of windows. Pretty useless if you use auto-patcher by neowin for updating your windows. Saves bandwidth.
ClipBook Disable this if you arent on a network since you dont need to share anything then.
Computer Browser Disable this too if you arent on a network as then you dont have to browse and monitor connected computers.
Cryptographic Services Set this to manual if you arent sure you require this.
Distributed Transaction Service Set this to manual.
DNS Client Set this to manual if you arent on a network.
Error Reporting Service Disable this damn useless service for reporting errors to Microsoft because they will hardly even reply to you for any error you get. Also saves lots of bandwidth.
Fast User Switching Compatibility Disable this if you have only a single user on your computer, or if you dont use fast user switching feature much. That is, if you completely log-off and then allow other users to sit on your computer, then you dont need this. Useless and saves time and memory disabling. Note that this process is completely useless for low memory computers.
FTP Publishing Disable this if you dont use an FTP.
Help and Support Set it to manual or turn it off if you dont use the help feature often. You can turn it on again when you want help.
HTTP SSL Set it to manual.
Human Interface Device Access turn this off if you dont use hot-keys or remote systems on your computer, if you use them sometimes, better turn it to manual.
IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service set this to manual to save memory and time. Dont turn it off if you have a CD Writer or a DVD Writer attached to your computer.
Indexing Service Turn it off, it uses lots of CPU. If you are an avid searcher, like a maniac, on your computer, leave it on since it will help you. If you know where your files are and dont use search that often, then disable it for good.
InstallDriver Table Manager Disable this, does no harm in doing so.
IPSEC Services Set this to manual.
Messenger Disable this if you arent on a network, it uses too much memory and is a hog. Also it does no good and is a known security threat sometimes.
MS Software Shadow Copy Provider Set this to manual.
Net Logon disable if you arent on a network.
NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing Disable this if you dont use Remote desktop feature, pretty useless feature according to me.
Network Provisioning Service disable this, its useless if you arent on a network.
NT LM Security Support Provider Disable this, its useless too.
NVIDIA Display Driver Service If you dont use the features of nVidia Desktop, this must be disabled, big hog of memory.
Office Source Engine Disable it if you have a MS Office CD handy always, its helpful if your installation goes corrupt.
Portable Media Serial Number Service Set it to manual if you connect portable media to your computer, else disable it.
Print Spooler Disable it if you dont have a printer.
Protected Storage Disable it if you dont allow strangers to sit on your encrypted storage computer.
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager Disable it if you dont use Remote Desktop feature for help and support from Microsoft which most probably is a Yes.
Remote Procedure Call Locator Set it to manual.
Remote Registry Serious security threat if turned on, disable it no matter what.
Removable Storage disable it if you dont use removable storage drives, else turn it manual.
Routing and Remote Access Set it to manual.
Secondary Logon Useless feature for most, disable it or turn it manual.
Security Accounts Manager Disable it, pretty useless unless you use NTFS Encryption.
Security Center Damn useless and irritating feature. Disable it. No use at all.
Server set it to manual or disable it if not on network.
Smart Card Disable it if you dont use smart cards on your computer.
SSDP Discovery Service Disable it of not on network or dont have UPnP devices on home networks.
Task Scheduler Disable it if you dont schedule tasks like defragmentation, error scans etc, and plan to do it your self instead.
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Set it to manual if on network else disable it for good.
Telnet Set it to manual if you use this feature, else disable it, especially home users.
Terminal Services Since you arent using Remote Desktop etc, disable it for good.
Uninterrupted Power Supply Disable it if you dont have an UPS attached to the serial port of your computer.
Universal Plug and Play Device Host Set it to manual.
User Privilege Service Set it to manual.
Volume Shadow Copy disable it if you dont backup using System Restore or Windows Backup.
Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) Disable this if you have another firewall such as Norton or Zone Alarm installed, Else let it remain ON for better security.
Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) If you dont connect/use a camera/scanner with your computer, disable this service, else set it to manual.
Windows Media Connect Disable this if you dont use a gadget such as an iPod etc, for your Windows Media Player.
Windows Media Connect (WMC) Helper Disable this if you disabled the above one or if you dont need help.
Windows Time Disable if not on a synchronized network.
Wireless Zero Configuration Disable if not on a wireless network.
WMI Performance Adapters Disable it, useless service for basic usage.
Workstation Disable if you arent on a network. Or simply, if you are a gamer, just shut this one.