Windows 98 System Resources

I have a user with an IBM Thinkpad, running Windows 98SE and 256 MB Ram. After bootup, the system resources are down to 62%, and when opening Corel Draw, it drops to 30%. I have cleared out all unneccessary startup programs. Is there anything else, a configuration setup or something I’m missing, or is there something with IBM. I have searched IBM & MS websites to no avail.