Andromeda43

(Thanks Bledd) Did I not just finish saying that Start is NOT required to run a program? Just put the program name, with path if required, on a line by itself and it will run. It's been working like that for over twenty six years that I personally know about. I even gave a perfectly easy to read example. If the statement includes long filenames, either with or without spaces, then put the whole line inside of quotes and it will execute just fine. If you ever need to make a 8.3 out of a long name like "Easy Cleaner.exe", then do it like this: EasyCl~1.exe Use the first six letters, leaving out any spaces, and then add the tilde one (~1) followed by the extension. I use this method a lot when I'm working in DOS to remove some crapola file from my HD.

It sounds like something I'd use FDISK to fix....but then, I only use FAT-32 partitions....all of them. However if you'd like to have a great service tool in the form of a ME boot disk with FDISK on it, Download: ME-Boot CD.iso from Here.. Andy decent CD burning software will put that file on a bootable CD for you and you'll have a Windows ME boot CD that will make you a great service tool. Feel free to share it. It's completely menu driven so nothing to type. If FDISK can see your HD, then you should be able to make the second partition the boot partition. No Guarantees, but I'd start there anyway. Good Luck, Andromeda43

Maybe just another day for you, but it was my 63rd B-Day. My 21st was spent at the 5th General US Hospital in Stuttgart Germany. I was stationed there for about two years, 1962 to 1964. (US Army) I celebrated my 21st birthday with some buds at the biggest beer garden in Stuttgart. Congrat's on your milestone and I wish you a great life.

Well, I didn't get to hear it....my browser locked up on that site, trying to play the sound file. So, I still don't know what your problem was. Care to explain it?

In the hour or more that it takes to load Windows on a new drive, that's all you need to know the drive is working OK. If you then want to do a Chkdsk and Defrag, that would be more than enough. Anything more than that would be wasting your time and shortening the drives life by just that much. Andromeda43

A wise old Owl once wrote.... The OS programmers at M$ aren't complete idiots. When they came up with the idea of a file on the HD to supplement ram, (virtual memory) they put it in the most convenient place for the DOS (disk operating system) to find it. Lo and Behold, they put it in the root directory of the boot drive, usually "C:". Whether you have partitions or not, has nothing to do with system performance. It's just kind of nice to have a place out of the way to keep your "STUFF". Your best bet is to just leave your Pagefile alone. Windows handles it nicely, thank you. You can stuff your PC with all the ram it can hold and windows will still use the Pagefile for certain functions. One of the biggest things you can do to improve performance is to get the Kernal up off the HD and into your ram where your OS can access it quickly. That's seldom done and can greatly improve perfromance. Here's the Registry Tweak to do it: ************************************ Memory Performance Tweak These Settings will fine tune your systems memory management -at least 256MB of ram recommended, 512 preferred for first tweak. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Session Manager \ Memory Management 1.DisablePagingExecutive -double click it and in the decimal put a 1 - this allows XP to keep data in memory now instead of paging sections of ram to harddrive. 2.LargeSystemCache- double click it and change the decimal to 1 -this allows XP Kernal to Run in memory improves system performance a lot. This tweak can actually slow down a system with less than 256 megs of ram. *************************************************************** Y'all have a great day now, Y'hear? Andromeda43 B)

Duh! Did I miss something in the 26 years that I've been running stuff from batch files? In all that time I've never used the word "Start", or "Run" or "Sickem" or even "GiddyUp!". Why would you ever need to.??? Any program file name placed on a line by itself in a batch file will just RUN. The only "IF" involved is, 'Can the OS find the file'. If the OS can't find the file within its own path statement, then include the path in the command line within your batch file. "C:\Program Files\Ahead\Nero\nero.exe" The above line, for instance, in a batch file, will run the Nero program. It's been like this ever since Windows came up with 'Long Filenames'. Life was sure simpler in the DOS days when all names of files and folders were just 8 digits long. Good Luck, Andromeda43

As a professional who still works on many PC's that run 98, 98/SE or ME as their OS, I remove the resource hogs like Nxxxxx and McAxxx from my customers PC's and install AVG 7.1 FREE for them. AVG 7.1 FREE is highly efficient at stopping the viruses and many Trojans. It's VERY user friendly and with it's scheduler properly set up will give the user a daily update and a daily virus scan, all in the background and with a very small hit on system performance. With the simple and friendly user interface doing manual updates or scans is a snap. In over three years of using AVG, I've never had a virus set up housekeeping on my PC. And oh yes, did I mention it's absolutely FREE? ***************************** AVG 7.1 FREE: World famous AVG FREE will keep your computer free of viruses, trojans, dialers, etc. By default, it updates and scans for viruses on a daily basis. Can be downloaded from: http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/ Save to your desktop and run the install from there. Immediately get updates. More than one may be required. ***************************** Try it! You'll like it! Andromeda43 B)

Yup 20 miles. (Many people put their backup DVD's in a safe deposit box in thier bank.) That's my "Hurricane" image. For a quickie restore I always have an image only a few days old on my backup hard drive. Then I always have an image not more than a week old on a DVD in my own safe. Remember, the only BAD backup is the one you were too lazy, or too busy to make. When I have just a little "Ooooops" I just use System Restore. When the problem is too large for System-Restore to fix it, I then resort to a Ghost Restore from my last Image file. That takes all of four minutes or so, from my backup drive to my C: (SATA) drive. I too try lots of new programs for my Computer Security Business. Sometimes they don't work as advertised, so Ghost is the way to get rid of them with NO leftovers to worry about. Blessings all around, Andromeda43 B)

Resources has an "S" on the end of it.....OK? That means that there is NO one thing that comprises "Resources". It's everything in your computer. Ram, hard drive space, cache, # of running programs sapping power from your CPU, etc. And of course, free time on the CPU. Clean up the mess and there will be sufficient resources. Shut down unneeded TSR's (programs) and Disable unneeded Services. That's a good place to start, unloading (freeing up) your Resources. Good Luck, Andromeda43

What exactly are you trying to do? I tune up computers for a living, and I guarantee my customers a 100% increase in system performance when I'm done. (over an 'Out of The Box' PC) There is NO one thing or One area where you're going to get that kind of increase. If you're going for max performance, you're going to need at least one gig of ram and a SATA hard drive. There's a whole list of Services that can be Disabled or put into Manual mode.... see my own list on My Webpage that takes a huge load off of the CPU. Then there's those totally redundant TSR's that load when you boot up the PC and run in the background. Some may even show up as Icons in your system tray. You can shut down the ones you don't need in "MSCONFIG". Then you can go to the registry and start tweaking..... Again, you'll find some really good ones on my web page. Then you can go to Add/Remove programs in your control panel and UN-Install every factory installed program that you don't want or need. For Sure, get out all the Demo's or Trials. Once you've done all that give your HD a really good cleaning and defrag it. Then run a good Registry cleaner like Easy Cleaner And, then follow that up with a registry Optimization with "NTREGOPT.exe" from the same site. The entire process takes me several hours, so you're not going to get it done in a few minutes, even if you do everything I do. (and you won't) But if you do what I've outlined here, using the programs I've given you access to, you'll have a much improved PC. Oooops! Much of what I've outlined here is for the XP operating System, but The Easy Cleaner program works equally well on Windows 98, 98/SE or even ME. Then get my "Hoover.bat" cleanup program from my site. That little guy is now running happily in over 14 countries. Then there's always this little routine that I use for all my customers, still using those older OS's. ********************************************** Tweak Win 98,or '98/SE, to make it run more effeciently: 1: START---Settings---Control Panel Double Click "System" Click "Performance" tab Click "File System" Button Set, "Typical Role of this computer" to 'Network Server' Click the Apply button Then: Click the "Floppy Disk" tab Un-Check the little box in 'Settings' window Click "Apply",,,,,,then click OK Click OK again (this change will become permanent after a Re-Boot 2: START---RUN--- type in Sysedit , and then press ENTER Maximize the "System Configuration Editor" window Maximize the "System.ini" window Scroll down till you can see the entire [386Enh] grouping Place your mouse cursor on the first blank line at the bottom of the group Then, type in the following line.... ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 (type the line exactly as shown,,,with NO spaces and caps where I've put them) Then press enter. The above line will help Windows to use RAM more effectively. Click "File" in the upper left corner of the Editor window. Then click "SAVE" Close the Editor window and Re-Boot your computer. After a re-start, windows will now operate at 15% to 30% faster and more efficient than it did before. *********************************************** Good Luck, Andromeda43 B)

I call my PC the "Hal 9000". It was as close to a Super Computer as I'll ever get, before I was forced to install Winders XP-Pro. It ran like the proverbial "Scalded Dog" and I never had any BSOD problems, and all with Win-98/SE with all the tweaks and upgrades, service packs, etc. I still have the Ghost Image of that setup, just as it was the morning I installed XP. In short, Win-98/SE runs very good on a new, fast, modern PC. You just may have troubles finding hardware drivers for 98/SE for some of the new vid cards, etc. The day I installed xp, I also had to replace my sound card, modem and scanner. There were NO XP drivers for any of them. Ce la vie B)

BSOD's are not an inherant part of Winders 98. I ran it for years and never had but one or two bsod's and there was always a good reason,,,,and it weren't the OS. It don't like two programs trying to grab off the same piece of ram....and it don't like corrupted files and drivers. So, Please don't badmouth Winders 98 for your BSOD's. : Fix the problems on your computer and 98 will run just fine. Cheers PS: If someone is running the old Winders 98, there's two things they should do. 1. Upgrade to Win-98/SE 2. Install the unofficial Service Pack 2 They will then have a much more efficient and stable running OS.

Nope! There's a whole passle of things that batch files cain't do and that's one of 'em. You'll need something like a Visual Basic program that can ask you for keyboard entries. Good Luck, B)

WHAT? It just gets worser and worser! I think I'm in the wrong business. maybe I should start selling copies of XP! Cheers! B)

"Upg" definitely means "Upgrade" but that's the only place in that whole article that it's even mentioned. I wonder if it's not just a misprint. If it is truly an upgrade, then it will only load from within some earlier version of windows. It won't boot up a PC or load from a DOS prompt. Microshaft upgrades have always been like that. A full retail version will.... That's how I got from Winders-98/SE to XP-Pro. I had to install my own SP2 when it came out later, and then I slipstreamed XP together with SP2 for a really great upgrade CD. That new egg price seems a bit high though. B)

That's blasphemy! Thou darest not blaspheme against the OS God, Microshaft! Your HARD Drive will go soft and your mouse will die. There are many places left in this world where hackers roam free and licensing is a dirty word. The new Russia for one. It's the new land of the FREE (programmer) and home of the brave (hacker). For an OS?....I'm well prepared to go back to 98/SE if I have to. I still have that old Ghost Image of my HD with 98/SE on it. M$ can stick that vista where the sun don't shine as far as I'm concerned. I learned Commodore Basic, DOS, windows 3.1, win-95, win-98 and win ME before I was forced to learn Windows XP. It can't be any harder to learn Linux. There's always more than one way to skin the proverbial cat. Here, kitty, kitty, kitty! B)

XP is as full of security holes as a piece of swiss cheese. M$ probably won't be doing anything to fix them either. One person who has taken it upon himself to fix several of the worse holes is Steve Gibson. www.grc.com Take a look at his web site and download all his little fixes. or you can download them all in one package Here. Just download and unzip the package: GRC.com.zip Run each program to fix a particular security problem. That will do more to patch security holes than all the registry tweaks you could do. Good Luck, Andromeda43 B)

More and more programs are written to only work on a dirivitive of Windows NT. You can do nothing about it....or to circumvent it. That's just the way it is. Keep your AdAware SE/Personal and Spybot S&D up to date at lease several times a week and do a scan every time you get an update. This will help you a lot. Don't forget to Immunize every time you get updates for Spybot. Good Luck, Andromeda43 B)

If you're using Windows XP it's all together possible that you could have thirty or more programs (and Services) running in the background. You only have one CPU and since you've already admitted that it's a Celeron CPU (well known to be the least efficient cpu that Intel makes) therein lies your problem. It just can't service that many programs at once without some having to 'Wait'. The solution is to shut down all TSR's and Services that you don't need running all the time. You can kill the TSR's by running "MSCONFIG", going into the Startup tab and deselecting all the programs that you don't absolutely need to have running all the time. Then from the RUN box, you can run 'Services.msc' and deselect all the services you don't need. My own favorite list of services to shut down is: ****************************************** Here's my short, short list of services to disable for a stand alone PC, not on a network: From the RUN box, type in Services.msc , then maximize the window to full screen size. Then scroll down the list of services to each item on the following list and right click on an item and then click Properties. In the properties box you can Stop a running service and then set the action box to "Disable". Then Apply the change and OK the window to close it. Move down the list to the next item and repeat the process. When done, close the entire window and reboot your PC. Clip book Computer Browser DNS Client Error Reporting Service Messenger Performance Logs and Alerts Portable Serial Number Remote Registry Remote Desktop Help Session Manager Routing and Remote Access Server (leave this on for a local network) Smart Card Helper System Event Notification Task Scheduler Universal Plug and Play Device Host Upload Manager Web Client Windows time Wireless Zero Configuration (disable if you are not using a wireless network) ************************************* There may be more (or less) that you can get along without, but that's a good place to start. Next, clean out all the junk files from your hard drive and do a full Defrag. Use "Windows' Disk Cleanup" and "Defrag" to do a basic cleanup. Windows is always using the HD and when it's clean and defragmented, things just work better. Good Luck, Andromeda43 B)

CRC code is a part of a file that is used to verify the validity of a file. How it's created is a bit complicated so I won't go into that here. When a file has been sent over any distance or copied from one media to another, the CRC check is used to tell if the file made the trip without corruption or error. If just one 'bit' is changed a CRC error will be generated. Any time you get a CRC error, it means that the file somehow got corrupted in its travels. The solution is to 'do it again'. If reading from a CD, make sure the CD is clean and NOT scratched. Good Luck, Andromeda B)

I read many different forums and in each one I've seen one Guru after another admonish readers to NOT install Vista Beta on the OS drive. Never! Nada! Nunca! Nicht! Absolutely NEVER install any beta version of anything unless you have a backup of your hard drive on another HD or DVD. Even though I have Ghost backups of my own HD going back over two years, I wouldn't dream of putting Vista Beta on my C: drive. When the DVD gets here (whenever) it will be installed on a new drive....NOT my C: drive. I wish I could say I have some kind of a quick fix for the problem......But, alas, I don't. My only "Quick Fix" would be to get out your Ghost backup Image of your HD that you made before you installed Vista and do a restore. Good Luck, Andromeda B)

General Mandible, I have the utmost respect for anyone who does anything meaningfull to try to help others clean up their PC's. Crap in the gap and junk in the trunk does more to slow down and corrupt a PC than all the viruses and spyware in the world. I've been writing cleanup batch files for years to keep my own pc and those of my friends and customers clean and running at peak performance. My little "Hoover.bat" program for windows 98 is now running on thousands of PC's in over 9 countries that I'm personally aware of. My "XPCleanup.bat" program that I put on my own website is being used by many. It deletes all the real "Junk" stuff from the HD. Programs like windows "Disk Cleanup" and "Defrag" can just be programmed into the task Scheduler for a daily cleanup and a batch file like my "XPCleanup.bat" can be put into the Startup folder for a quickie cleanup every time the PC is rebooted. Lines can easily be added to dump things like AV Quarantine folders, IM Cache folders, etc. I have all that stuff in my own XPCleanup.bat file on my PC. I even added a line to dump the cache folder for my "Call Wave" program, that wants to save every message I receive on my phone while online. All that cached stuff can kill a system if not dealt with on a regular basis. All it takes is a simple batch file in the right place (like the startup folder) to do the job. All together, a system can be kept pretty clean and defragged without any real operator intervention. For my own customers, I give them several cleanup and reorganize programs in a weekly cleanup routine. I then give them a printed sheet of instructions on just how to run the routine. It gives them a sence of accomplishment to go through it and know that their PC is 'now' clean, defragged and error free. Keep up the good work, Andromeda43 B)

When you select "Forward" a window will open, but the address book doesn't open up unless you click the little address book icon next to the word "To", beside the address box. Then, Please, Please, Please, never use TO if you're sending to more than one recipient. Always put the names of the recipients in the BCC box instead. This way, there will NOT be that big glob of eMail addresses on the top of the outgoing eMail. Doing that keeps the eMail clean and prevents spamming. Good Luck, Andromeda43 B)

All very good information. Getting Windows to shut down reluctant programs is indeed a piece of cake. Just a couple of registry tweaks gets the job done nicely. Here they are: ************************************************** Decrease Shutdown Time Cut the amount of time it takes your computer to shut down to only a few seconds. Click Start, click Run, and type regedit. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control. Click the Control folder. Right click "WaitToKillServiceTimeout" and click Modify. Set the value to 1000 (One Second) *************************************************** Automatically Ending Non-Responsive Tasks HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ AutoEndTasks = Set the value to 1 HungAppTimeout = Set the value to 1000 WaitToKillAppTimeout = Set the value to 1000 (One Second) *************************************************** Then, to greatly increase system efficiency use this tweak: *************************************************** Memory Performance Tweak These Settings will fine tune your systems memory management -at least 256MB of ram recommended, 512 preferred for first tweak. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Session Manager \ Memory Management 1.DisablePagingExecutive -double click it and in the decimal put a 1 - this allows XP to keep data in memory now instead of paging sections of ram to harddrive. 2.LargeSystemCache- double click it and change the decimal to 1 -this allows XP Kernal to Run in memory improves system performance a lot. This tweak can actually slow down a system with less than 256 megs of ram. *************************************************** Works for me! (and my hundreds of customers) Andromeda43 B)