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Slowww PC


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Hello everybody. I have a problem with a slow PC. Its Win 98SE, P3 800 MHz, 64 MB RAM, old 10 Gig HDD.

The problem is that after boot up, it shows a performance of 88 % on an average. I run Opera for browsing etc, and half an hour later, performance shows 76%, but its really lagging...takes 10 seconds to move from one page to another..similar slowing of opening of new programs, windows etc. After reboot, things get faster, but then slows down again as mentioned.

I recently deleted a whole bunch of unneeded programs, and the speed increase I got immediately (without reboot) was amazing!!! But then I rebooted, and the situation I described above rose again.

Also, the CPU makes this screeching noise sometimes, low volume.

Also, sometimes on startup, it shows an error " CMOS settings changed, pls enter again, save and restart". So i press del, enter the date an time, and continue. The PC restarts normally on the next 5 or 6 reboots after that, before displaying the same message 7th time..

So, whats my problem ?

Is it the CMOS battery (as i read on a site) ?

Is it the old old HDD ? ( I regularly defrag)

Is it the RAM ? Do I need more ?

Is it the fans ? (making the noise and overheating etc? )

I have already disabled most startup items, cleared temp files etc...so no probs in that area...Pls help.

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The screechng noise is likely to be a fan somewhere in your case. Open it up and clean out all the dust, this may alleviate the noise issue. And at the end of the daya good clean is not going to harm it.

As for the rest a good ole fashion reinstall would probably be good.

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The screechng noise is likely to be a fan somewhere in your case. Open it up and clean out all the dust, this may alleviate the noise issue. And at the end of the daya good clean is not going to harm it.

As for the rest a good ole fashion reinstall would probably be good.

I'll clean the fan.

As for the reinstalls, I've done 3 over the past 3 months :(

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more ram would be very helpful, you should max it out, urs should take anywhere from 384-500 mbs. clean out all of the dust on the inside of the case. how have u removed alot of unneeded programs if you recently reinstalled? you need to do a clean install.

i have a comp with 384mb of ram and 350mhz cpu and it runs win xp vry well.

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more ram would be very helpful, you should max it out, urs should take anywhere from 384-500 mbs. clean out all of the dust on the inside of the case. how have u removed alot of unneeded programs if you recently reinstalled? you need to do a clean install.

i have a comp with 384mb of ram and 350mhz cpu and it runs win xp vry well.

Would an extra 128 MB RAM do fine ? I cant afford a higher one currently. To remove the unneeded programs, I went through each and every folder on the PC, and deleted everything I didnt need, ran the registry cleaner etc..

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Also, the CPU makes this screeching noise sometimes, low volume.

Also, sometimes on startup, it shows an error " CMOS settings changed, pls enter again, save and restart". So i press del, enter the date an time, and continue. The PC restarts normally on the next 5 or 6 reboots after that, before displaying the same message 7th time..

Sounds as if it is the CMOS battery is failing/has failed, if you have to reset the time/date all the time.

Also sounds as if the fan heatsink on the CPU is failing, although if you stick a couple of drops of oil on the centre bearing spindle, and clean out the dust and crap build up, it may keep going for a bit longer. BUT..... I would reccomend you get a new HSF ASAP, as you dont want the CPU dying on you, do you????

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Would an extra 128 MB RAM do fine ? I cant afford a higher one currently. To remove the unneeded programs, I went through each and every folder on the PC, and deleted everything I didnt need, ran the registry cleaner etc..

well it would definetly be a start. and just by deleting files doesnt mean that you got rid of them, there are registry entries and alot more crap. consider reinstalling windows, it will go much faster.

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Thanks for all the advice. I used the registry cleaner, and windows refused to start up later. Despite absolutely no knowledge, I've somehow used that step-by-step confirmation process to start it up... the anti-virus isnt running now, and Age of Empires wont work :( . Was it the registry cleaners fault ? Anyway, I'll have to load Windows again I think then.

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Adding more RAM won't help with Windows 98. 98 can only recognize so much memory and then ignores the rest. In fact, I've heard that running Windows 98 on a system with too much memory actually slows it down. Your 64MB should be plenty.

Perhaps your registry cleaner has a "restore" feature? If it does then you should be able to set the system back to its original state.

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Adding more RAM won't help with Windows 98. 98 can only recognize so much memory and then ignores the rest. In fact, I've heard that running Windows 98 on a system with too much memory actually slows it down. Your 64MB should be plenty.

Perhaps your registry cleaner has a "restore" feature? If it does then you should be able to set the system back to its original state.

I did try and restore it via dos. it displayed a screen which I believe indicatd that the library had been restored with the previous backed-up copy, but the problem persisted.

What you're saying about RAM is interesting.. Actually theres another reason why I wanted 128, and thats because none of the games i am interested in run on less than 128 MB :P

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Adding more RAM won't help with Windows 98. 98 can only recognize so much memory and then ignores the rest. In fact, I've heard that running Windows 98 on a system with too much memory actually slows it down. Your 64MB should be plenty.

I call BS!

From:

"Out of Memory" Error Messages with Large Amounts of RAM Installed

APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition

• Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition

• Microsoft Windows 98 Standard Edition

• Microsoft Windows 95

If a computer that is running any of the versions of Windows that are listed above contains more than 512 megabytes (for example, 768 megabytes) of physical memory (RAM), you may experience one or more of the following symptoms[...]WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use one of the following methods:

• Use the MaxFileCache setting in the System.ini file to reduce the maximum amount of memory that Vcache uses to 512 megabytes (524,288 KB) or less. For additional information about how to use the MaxFileCache setting, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

108079 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/108079/EN-US/) 32-Bit File Access Maximum Cache Size

• Use the System Configuration utility to limit the amount of memory that Windows uses to 512 megabytes (MB) or less.For additional information about how to use the System Configuration utility, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

181966 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/181966/EN-US/) System Configuration Utility Advanced Troubleshooting Settings

• Reduce the amount of memory that is installed in your computer to 512 MB or less.

Put as much RAM in the machine as you can get. I've used up to 1GB in a Win98SE machine before. There's not much of a difference out beyond 512MB though, except with large programs.

Edited by mjc
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