Is it time to buy a new computer?

I have a Dell Dimension XPS T450MHz computer with a Pentium III (512K
Cache, whatever that means) I added RAM for a total of 224MB. The hard
drive is 13GB with only 2.97 GB used. OS is Windows 98SE My computer
is very slow: takes forever to boot up, takes forever to launch apps,
sometimes mouse is slow and jerky, sometimes hard drive runs alot. I
defrag and run scandisk regularly/empty recycle bin/delete temp file.
I've used regclean; deleted stuff from startup; played with virtual
memory; scanned for viruses/adware/spyware (have McAfee); changed to
network server setting, etc. Tried all the tweaks that I dare relating
to Win 98. I've physically cleaned out all the dust in the CPU and
tried to blow out all the dust around the exhaust fan. All to no
avail. Is it time to buy a new computer? Is the thing just wearing
out? It has been hot & humid here - any connection?

Thanks for any advice.

"Mary" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a Dell Dimension XPS T450MHz computer with a Pentium III (512K
Cache, whatever that means) I added RAM for a total of 224MB. The hard
drive is 13GB with only 2.97 GB used. OS is Windows 98SE My computer
is very slow: takes forever to boot up, takes forever to launch apps,
sometimes mouse is slow and jerky, sometimes hard drive runs alot. I
defrag and run scandisk regularly/empty recycle bin/delete temp file.
I've used regclean; deleted stuff from startup; played with virtual
memory; scanned for viruses/adware/spyware (have McAfee); changed to
network server setting, etc. Tried all the tweaks that I dare relating
to Win 98. I've physically cleaned out all the dust in the CPU and
tried to blow out all the dust around the exhaust fan. All to no
avail. Is it time to buy a new computer? Is the thing just wearing
out? It has been hot & humid here - any connection?

Thanks for any advice.

Do a ctrl-alt-del and look at all the programs running at startup.
You may be surprised!
It shouldn't be slow booting up or run slow unless, perhaps your cpu fan is not
running fast enough and the cpu is overheating.

"Mary" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a Dell Dimension XPS T450MHz computer with a Pentium III (512K
Cache, whatever that means) I added RAM for a total of 224MB. The hard
drive is 13GB with only 2.97 GB used. OS is Windows 98SE My computer
is very slow: takes forever to boot up, takes forever to launch apps,
sometimes mouse is slow and jerky, sometimes hard drive runs alot. I
defrag and run scandisk regularly/empty recycle bin/delete temp file.
I've used regclean; deleted stuff from startup; played with virtual
memory; scanned for viruses/adware/spyware (have McAfee); changed to
network server setting, etc. Tried all the tweaks that I dare relating
to Win 98. I've physically cleaned out all the dust in the CPU and
tried to blow out all the dust around the exhaust fan. All to no
avail. Is it time to buy a new computer? Is the thing just wearing
out? It has been hot & humid here - any connection?

Thanks for any advice.

Do a ctrl-alt-del and look at all the programs running at startup.
You may be surprised!
It shouldn't be slow booting up or run slow unless, perhaps your cpu fan is not
running fast enough and the cpu is overheating.

"Mary" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a Dell Dimension XPS T450MHz computer with a Pentium III (512K
Cache, whatever that means) I added RAM for a total of 224MB. The hard
drive is 13GB with only 2.97 GB used. OS is Windows 98SE My computer
is very slow: takes forever to boot up, takes forever to launch apps,
sometimes mouse is slow and jerky, sometimes hard drive runs alot. I
defrag and run scandisk regularly/empty recycle bin/delete temp file.
I've used regclean; deleted stuff from startup; played with virtual
memory; scanned for viruses/adware/spyware (have McAfee); changed to
network server setting, etc. Tried all the tweaks that I dare relating
to Win 98. I've physically cleaned out all the dust in the CPU and
tried to blow out all the dust around the exhaust fan. All to no
avail. Is it time to buy a new computer? Is the thing just wearing
out? It has been hot & humid here - any connection?

Thanks for any advice.

See my articles on maintenance and security:
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

I like McAfee only slightly more than Norton (and I *hate* Norton.) The
older versions of those apps were supposedly built to run on Win9x systems,
and even then they were bloatware, always bogging systems down. The newer
versions of these apps aren't even really designed for Win9x anymore. I
recommend ETrust AV or you can try AVG or AVAST, both free, both with their
own problems, but none of them are such huge, bloated monsters like McAfee
and Norton.

Dirt in the machine will primarily cause overheating, resulting in
spontaneous reboots. If you're having any of those, then you need to clean
even more. But mostly, it sounds to me like you may have apps in the
background (starting with McAfee) causing the problems, and the symptoms
also point to possible malware (virus, spyware, adware, etc.) Follow ALL of
the advice in my articles, clean up the system as advised, do a cleanboot
scandisk and defrag, consider switching AV apps, and then post the list of
background apps back here for comment. Here's how you do that:

Run MSINFO32 from the Start\Run box. Expand the Software Environment
section, click on Startup Programs. Now click anywhere in the right-hand
pane. Press Ctrl-A to Select All, then Ctrl-C to copy. Now open a reply to
this message and use Ctrl-V to paste in the list and send it off.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User

"Mary" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a Dell Dimension XPS T450MHz computer with a Pentium III (512K
Cache, whatever that means) I added RAM for a total of 224MB. The hard
drive is 13GB with only 2.97 GB used. OS is Windows 98SE My computer
is very slow: takes forever to boot up, takes forever to launch apps,
sometimes mouse is slow and jerky, sometimes hard drive runs alot. I
defrag and run scandisk regularly/empty recycle bin/delete temp file.
I've used regclean; deleted stuff from startup; played with virtual
memory; scanned for viruses/adware/spyware (have McAfee); changed to
network server setting, etc. Tried all the tweaks that I dare relating
to Win 98. I've physically cleaned out all the dust in the CPU and
tried to blow out all the dust around the exhaust fan. All to no
avail. Is it time to buy a new computer? Is the thing just wearing
out? It has been hot & humid here - any connection?

Thanks for any advice.

See my articles on maintenance and security:
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

I like McAfee only slightly more than Norton (and I *hate* Norton.) The
older versions of those apps were supposedly built to run on Win9x systems,
and even then they were bloatware, always bogging systems down. The newer
versions of these apps aren't even really designed for Win9x anymore. I
recommend ETrust AV or you can try AVG or AVAST, both free, both with their
own problems, but none of them are such huge, bloated monsters like McAfee
and Norton.

Dirt in the machine will primarily cause overheating, resulting in
spontaneous reboots. If you're having any of those, then you need to clean
even more. But mostly, it sounds to me like you may have apps in the
background (starting with McAfee) causing the problems, and the symptoms
also point to possible malware (virus, spyware, adware, etc.) Follow ALL of
the advice in my articles, clean up the system as advised, do a cleanboot
scandisk and defrag, consider switching AV apps, and then post the list of
background apps back here for comment. Here's how you do that:

Run MSINFO32 from the Start\Run box. Expand the Software Environment
section, click on Startup Programs. Now click anywhere in the right-hand
pane. Press Ctrl-A to Select All, then Ctrl-C to copy. Now open a reply to
this message and use Ctrl-V to paste in the list and send it off.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User

"Mary" wrote:

I have a Dell Dimension XPS T450MHz computer with a Pentium III (512K
Cache, whatever that means) I added RAM for a total of 224MB. The hard
drive is 13GB with only 2.97 GB used. OS is Windows 98SE My computer
is very slow: takes forever to boot up, takes forever to launch apps,
sometimes mouse is slow and jerky, sometimes hard drive runs alot. I
defrag and run scandisk regularly/empty recycle bin/delete temp file.
I've used regclean; deleted stuff from startup; played with virtual
memory; scanned for viruses/adware/spyware (have McAfee); changed to
network server setting, etc. Tried all the tweaks that I dare relating
to Win 98. I've physically cleaned out all the dust in the CPU and
tried to blow out all the dust around the exhaust fan. All to no
avail. Is it time to buy a new computer? Is the thing just wearing
out? It has been hot & humid here - any connection?

Thanks for any advice.


A 450 mhz Pentium III with 224 mb of RAM should be pretty snappy when
running Windows 98 SE.

Common causes of your slow startup and lack of response a
1. Viruses. Make sure your antivirus software is completely up to
date with the virus definitions not less that a week old and do a
complete virus scan of the computer. Then get a "second opinion" by
using one of the free online virus scanners such as:
http://housecall.trendmicro.com
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/
http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/

2. Spyware. See MVP Jim Eshelman's Spyware Quick Fix page at
http://www.aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm and follow the procedures he
recommends there.

3. Too many background "tools and toys" (a.k.a. crap and corruption)
being loaded when your computer starts up. Use Start - Run - MSCONFIG
and go to the Startup tab. Compare the list of items that are loading
at startup with the following checklist web sites to see what can be
safely dispensed with:

http://www2.whidbey.com/djdenham/Uncheck.htm
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php
http://www.3feetunder.com/krick/startup/list.html - has trojan related
items listed

Note: Please ensure that you fully understand the purpose of a
startup item, how and why it was put into the startup, and the
consequences (if any) of removing it before you make any changes. Some
items are very important for the proper and safe functioning of your
computer, including at least one item that is listed twice.

Disabling an item by unchecking it in MSCONFIG should only be done for
testing purposes or as a "last resort" when no other way of getting
rid of the unwanted item can be found.


4. Running "Computer Killer" applications. Many of the commercial
antivirus, antispyware, and/or Internet security applications out
there are designed to run on today's new computers, with much faster
CPUs and scads of RAM. Running these apps on an older machine can
often have what I call the "who dropped the anchor?" effect on
computer performance. Norton/Symantec products have a well-deserved
reputation for having this type of impact, and I have often likened
McAfee products to driving a car with both feet on the brake pedal.

I am reluctant to recommend specific alternatives but I have found
that products from eTrust and/or Trend Micro tend to have a lesser
impact on the performance of an older computer.

Hope this is of some assistance.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

"Mary" wrote:

I have a Dell Dimension XPS T450MHz computer with a Pentium III (512K
Cache, whatever that means) I added RAM for a total of 224MB. The hard
drive is 13GB with only 2.97 GB used. OS is Windows 98SE My computer
is very slow: takes forever to boot up, takes forever to launch apps,
sometimes mouse is slow and jerky, sometimes hard drive runs alot. I
defrag and run scandisk regularly/empty recycle bin/delete temp file.
I've used regclean; deleted stuff from startup; played with virtual
memory; scanned for viruses/adware/spyware (have McAfee); changed to
network server setting, etc. Tried all the tweaks that I dare relating
to Win 98. I've physically cleaned out all the dust in the CPU and
tried to blow out all the dust around the exhaust fan. All to no
avail. Is it time to buy a new computer? Is the thing just wearing
out? It has been hot & humid here - any connection?

Thanks for any advice.


A 450 mhz Pentium III with 224 mb of RAM should be pretty snappy when
running Windows 98 SE.

Common causes of your slow startup and lack of response a
1. Viruses. Make sure your antivirus software is completely up to
date with the virus definitions not less that a week old and do a
complete virus scan of the computer. Then get a "second opinion" by
using one of the free online virus scanners such as:
http://housecall.trendmicro.com
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/
http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/

2. Spyware. See MVP Jim Eshelman's Spyware Quick Fix page at
http://www.aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm and follow the procedures he
recommends there.

3. Too many background "tools and toys" (a.k.a. crap and corruption)
being loaded when your computer starts up. Use Start - Run - MSCONFIG
and go to the Startup tab. Compare the list of items that are loading
at startup with the following checklist web sites to see what can be
safely dispensed with:

http://www2.whidbey.com/djdenham/Uncheck.htm
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php
http://www.3feetunder.com/krick/startup/list.html - has trojan related
items listed

Note: Please ensure that you fully understand the purpose of a
startup item, how and why it was put into the startup, and the
consequences (if any) of removing it before you make any changes. Some
items are very important for the proper and safe functioning of your
computer, including at least one item that is listed twice.

Disabling an item by unchecking it in MSCONFIG should only be done for
testing purposes or as a "last resort" when no other way of getting
rid of the unwanted item can be found.


4. Running "Computer Killer" applications. Many of the commercial
antivirus, antispyware, and/or Internet security applications out
there are designed to run on today's new computers, with much faster
CPUs and scads of RAM. Running these apps on an older machine can
often have what I call the "who dropped the anchor?" effect on
computer performance. Norton/Symantec products have a well-deserved
reputation for having this type of impact, and I have often likened
McAfee products to driving a car with both feet on the brake pedal.

I am reluctant to recommend specific alternatives but I have found
that products from eTrust and/or Trend Micro tend to have a lesser
impact on the performance of an older computer.

Hope this is of some assistance.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

Yes, heat plays a factor. But, the PC has to be exposed to that heat for it
to be so. Pentium's have a built in safeguard to slow down when a critical
internal temp is attained. Then, stop period after that. Then, meltdown.

Every year or so, I backup all my critical personal files off disk. Then,
do a clean install of 98SE. Lately, I've been doing a image restoration
instead w/no drivers on that install. There's nothing to clean or find,
just tweak after that.

It can be prudent to buy a new PC. Just depends how much your PC habits and
use have changed.

"Mary" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a Dell Dimension XPS T450MHz computer with a Pentium III (512K
Cache, whatever that means) I added RAM for a total of 224MB. The hard
drive is 13GB with only 2.97 GB used. OS is Windows 98SE My computer
is very slow: takes forever to boot up, takes forever to launch apps,
sometimes mouse is slow and jerky, sometimes hard drive runs alot. I
defrag and run scandisk regularly/empty recycle bin/delete temp file.
I've used regclean; deleted stuff from startup; played with virtual
memory; scanned for viruses/adware/spyware (have McAfee); changed to
network server setting, etc. Tried all the tweaks that I dare relating
to Win 98. I've physically cleaned out all the dust in the CPU and
tried to blow out all the dust around the exhaust fan. All to no
avail. Is it time to buy a new computer? Is the thing just wearing
out? It has been hot & humid here - any connection?

Thanks for any advice.

Yes, heat plays a factor. But, the PC has to be exposed to that heat for it
to be so. Pentium's have a built in safeguard to slow down when a critical
internal temp is attained. Then, stop period after that. Then, meltdown.

Every year or so, I backup all my critical personal files off disk. Then,
do a clean install of 98SE. Lately, I've been doing a image restoration
instead w/no drivers on that install. There's nothing to clean or find,
just tweak after that.

It can be prudent to buy a new PC. Just depends how much your PC habits and
use have changed.

"Mary" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a Dell Dimension XPS T450MHz computer with a Pentium III (512K
Cache, whatever that means) I added RAM for a total of 224MB. The hard
drive is 13GB with only 2.97 GB used. OS is Windows 98SE My computer
is very slow: takes forever to boot up, takes forever to launch apps,
sometimes mouse is slow and jerky, sometimes hard drive runs alot. I
defrag and run scandisk regularly/empty recycle bin/delete temp file.
I've used regclean; deleted stuff from startup; played with virtual
memory; scanned for viruses/adware/spyware (have McAfee); changed to
network server setting, etc. Tried all the tweaks that I dare relating
to Win 98. I've physically cleaned out all the dust in the CPU and
tried to blow out all the dust around the exhaust fan. All to no
avail. Is it time to buy a new computer? Is the thing just wearing
out? It has been hot & humid here - any connection?

Thanks for any advice.

Hello Mary:

Without knowing what type of applications you're running on your system, it
would be kind of hard to say if you require a new system or not.

One thing I do recommend before buying a new system, is to buy a new 40 or
80 GB HDD. Mirror or reinstall Windows to the new drive...if you're still
not happy with the performance, you're best to buy a new system ....

Chris.

--
"All problems have a simple solution! The more complex the solution, the
more ludicrous the analogy!"
"Mary" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a Dell Dimension XPS T450MHz computer with a Pentium III (512K
Cache, whatever that means) I added RAM for a total of 224MB. The hard
drive is 13GB with only 2.97 GB used. OS is Windows 98SE My computer
is very slow: takes forever to boot up, takes forever to launch apps,
sometimes mouse is slow and jerky, sometimes hard drive runs alot. I
defrag and run scandisk regularly/empty recycle bin/delete temp file.
I've used regclean; deleted stuff from startup; played with virtual
memory; scanned for viruses/adware/spyware (have McAfee); changed to
network server setting, etc. Tried all the tweaks that I dare relating
to Win 98. I've physically cleaned out all the dust in the CPU and
tried to blow out all the dust around the exhaust fan. All to no
avail. Is it time to buy a new computer? Is the thing just wearing
out? It has been hot & humid here - any connection?

Thanks for any advice.