Archive for August, 2009:
“Myxedema madness’’
“Myxedema madness’’ is caused by severe, prolonged thyroid deficiency, and is rarely seen these days because screening blood tests lead to early diagnosis and treatment. However, mild memory loss can result from mild to moderate forms of thyroid deficiency.
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Table 7.1:A Sample Listing of Applications and Services (2)
Some services on your machine rely on SVCHOST.EXE as a container application, as a means of executing without having to provide anything in the way of a user interface even in the Services console.
You can’t tell which of the services rely on SVCHOST.EXE
just by looking at them—you need to open up the service in the Services console (found in the Administrative Tools folder of the Control Panel). Right-click the service you want to inspect and choose Properties from the context menu. You’ll see a Properties dialog box, as shown in Figure 7.2. Look at the Path to Executable field in this figure and you’ll see that SVCHOST.EXE is the executable.
Unfortunately, the technique of using SVCHOST.EXE makes it difficult to determine which Task Manager entry belongs to which service. Generally, because you need all of these services or would
turn them off using entries in the Services console (see the “Clearing Unnecessary Services” section for details), you don’t really need to know the specific service name. Seeing that it’s a SVCHOST.EXE
entry is enough to tell you that it’s probably not a virus, adware, or spyware. Note that you can use the TaskList utility to make a finer determination of precisely what each SVCHOST.EXE entry does
(see the “Using the TaskList Utility” section for details).
TIP
Many people don’t trust Microsoft and with good reason—it seems as if Microsoft is always poking around on their systems. The reason for all of this information searching isn’t important. Services such as Automatic Updates use resources and could expose information that you don’t want exposed. You could manually remove all of these suspicious services by hand, but the process is time consuming and error prone. Products such as XP-Antispy ( http://www.majorgeeks.com/ download2062.html ) can perform the task for you in an incredibly short time frame. The XP-Antispy utility looks for suspicious services on your system, stops the service, and then disables it. You can always start the service temporarily when necessary.
Figure 7.2
Some services rely on SVCHOST.EXE to execute.
Taken From : Microsoft Windows XP Power Optimization
A Friend’s Story About Zenni Optical
My friend told me a story about her days when she was searching for some eyeglasses to be mix-matched to her clothes because she is about to attended a party. Here is the story; I was searching for the eyeglasses, everywhere including in the internet.
After a while, I clicked the Zennioptical.com. I thought it would be just the other ordinary online optical. But guess what? I was absolutely wrong. I could find so many excellent eyeglasses in there. They even have the $ 8 Rx eyeglasses .
The best thing for me was that I finally got the thing that I have been looking for. I found My favorite high fashion eyeglasses in that site. I also visit the Cbn.com and I found perfect tips for us, the How You Can Start Spending Smart tips. That is her short story to me.
Thyroid Deficiency
The most common hormonal cause of memory loss is thyroid deficiency. A patient whom I saw early in the course of my career illustrates the effects of thyroid deficiency in the brain.
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Treating Memory Loss Due to Brain Damage
If infection or carbon monoxide or lead poisoning is caught early and the offending agent is treated or removed, there can be partial to complete recovery in cognitive abilities, including memory. However, if many nerve cells have already died, recovery may not be possible. In such cases, longterm physical and cognitive rehabilitation is necessary. Researchers are now trying various techniques to directly stimulate brain nerve cells to reproduce and replace those that have died, raising considerable hope for the treatment of such patients in the future.
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Table 7.1:A Sample Listing of Applications and Services
Executable Purpose Required?
MBM5.EXE
This application monitors my motherboard for
potential problems such as overheating or a
nonfunctional fan.
This isn’t a standard Windows
application, but you should
have something like it.
EXPLORER.EXE
This is a copy of Windows Explorer running on my
system while I perform some file-related tasks.
No
WINWORD.EXE
I’m using this word processor to write the book—it’s
an example of a major application.
No
PSP.EXE
I’m using Paint Shop Pro to capture screenshots on
my system.
No
UPS.EXE
This generic Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
service monitors system power as well as the UPS
condition.
This isn’t a standard Windows
application, but you should
have something like it.
MDM.EXE
This is the Machine Debug Manager (MDM) used
with Visual Studio .NET, one of the programming
language products that I use. Theoretically, I could
turn it off between uses to save memory, but I
develop a lot of applications so it saves time to
leave it on.
No
ALG.EXE
This is the Application Layer Gateway (ALG) service
provided by Windows. You need it to run certain
kinds of applications. This is also the basis for
features such as the Internet Connection Firewall
and Internet Connection Sharing.
Only if you’re using one of the
affected Windows XP system
features.
The service host executable isn’t a standard
application or service; it’s actually a container for
hosting services. The text that follows this table
describes this particular executable in more detail.
It depends on the service that
the service host executable is
hosting.
TASKMGR.EXE
This is the Task Manager application. You only need Task Manager to
view the applications running
on your machine.
LSASS.EXE
This is the Local Security Authority (LSA) Service
Shell (LSASS) used to manage security on your
system. This application also works with the
WINLOGON.EXE
to verify user logons and other user
security concerns.
Yes
SERVICES.EXE
This application manages the services and controller
applications on your machine. It’s also associated
with the Event Log and Plug and Play services.
Yes
WINLOGON.EXE
You use this application to log onto Windows and it
monitors certain security aspects of your machine.
Yes
CSRSS.EXE
This is the Client Server Runtime Service Shell
(CSRSS). This application handles all of the graphics
and windows on your system, along with some other
low-level process management.
Yes
WINSIZE.EXE
This is a special Notification Area application used to
resize windows without having to drag the borders.
No
SMSS.EXE
This is the Session Manager Service Shell (SMSS).
You rely on this application to start, manage, and
delete your user sessions. In addition, Terminal
Services uses this application to work with client
sessions.
Yes
System This is a theoretical measure of memory used by
other system processes.
Yes
System Idle Process You really don’t have to worry about this entry. This
entry tells you about the special process that soaks up
any unused resources. Whenever you need more
resources, this application gives them up.
This process is always present;
you can’t delete it, but
theoretically, you don’t need
it either.
Taken From : Microsoft Windows XP Power Optimization
Head Injury
The most common type of head injury is a concussion, which is external trauma to the skull (a knockout) without direct brain injury. A contusion is a direct penetrating injury to brain tissue and is much rarer. A history of head injury with loss of consciousness increases the risk of memory loss later in life, presumably by lowering the brain’s cognitive reserve capacity against age-related memory loss.
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Using Task Manager
The Task Manager might not seem like the most capable tool, but it’s fast, easy to use, and easy to understand. Because it’s part of Windows, you don’t have to do anything to install it, so Task Manager is always available. In many cases, Task Manager is all you need to get the job done because it provides the information necessary to identify and track down vicious memory beasts. To activate Task Manager, right-click the Taskbar and select Task Manager from the context menu. Choose the Processes tab and you’ll see a list of applications running on your machine, as shown in Figure 7.1.
TIP
Clicking the columns in Task Manager will sort the list. You could set Task Manager to display the running processes in alphabetical order (for verification) or by the percentage of CPU time used (for performance tuning). You can also add new columns to the list using the View Select Columns command. You’ll see a Select Columns dialog box that lets you choose all kinds of interesting information including the Process IDentifier (PID) and performance features such as the number of I/O Reads the process has performed.
You’ll find that the Task Manager display isn’t quite complete. It’s enough to help you optimize your system, but you can do better with other utilities. Here are the limitations you need to consider.
The List of Processes Isn’t Complete Task manager only displays the applications that register themselves with Windows. Generally, the list includes applications you run, some low-level Windows applications, and any services that have a user orientation. Not included in the list are device drivers and some services that have a system orientation.
Memory Requirements Reflect Current Conditions You can run into problems with the memory values listed in the display because they reflect the amount of memory the application is currently using, not the amount that it could use. For example, as you load more documents into a word processor, it uses more memory. Always remember to check your applications when they’re in the state that you normally use them or you’ll obtain false memory readers—never just load the application without opening documents or getting it into a working state.
Figure 7.1
Task Manager provides a list of applications running on your system
and their current memory cost.
Lack of Historical Data Application memory requirements can vary quite a bit over time based on background processes and other needs. Because the Task Manager lacks a historical display, you only get a snapshot of current memory usage, which might not reflect the application’s use of memory over time. Even so, application memory use won’t vary enough to make the reading useless and Microsoft designed Task Manager to provide an overview.
You should know the purpose of every application in the list in Task Manager. In fact, you should know these applications on sight. When you see an application you don’t know about, it’s time to check it out. The application could be a virus, adware, spyware, or other unwanted memory hog. Generally, the best way to locate the executable is to open a command prompt at the root folder of your hard drive and use DIR to look for it. Table 7.1 tells you about the applications listed in Figure 7.1.
Taken From : Microsoft Windows XP Power Optimization
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Auto exhausts emit carbon monoxide gas, which atmospheric oxygen quickly converts to the less dangerous, though still unhealthy, carbon dioxide gas. People who try to commit suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning shut the garage doors to prevent access to fresh oxygen, connect the exhaust pipe to the interior of the car, and turn on the ignition. When this happens, the carbon monoxide from the exhaust competes with and displaces oxygen from hemoglobin in the body’s bloodstream, depriving vital tissues of life-giving oxygen.
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Dosage Makes a Big Difference
If you have memory loss and are taking one or more of the medications listed in the table, you should carefully review your situation. Keep in mind that most medication-induced brain toxicity usually occurs at moderate to high doses. Since almost all the medications listed in the table are prescription medications, you need to check with your doctor about the medication’s impact on your memory.
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