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Can *.pwl files cause slow browsing?

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9 replies

by frenchfries290

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I serviced a Compaq tower today, with Windows ME O/S, that was taking 2 or 3 minutes to open web pages on multiple websites. I removed malware using Norton AV, Ad-aware, and Spybot. All three programs had recent defination updates. All the cookies and temp files were removed. I removed every item from the Startup folder using msconfig. The System Resources were in the high 70s and low 80s. The computer was still very slow after all this had been completed. This computer was a previously owned PC. There were 6 *.pwl files in the system.ini file. I deleted all but the default password file. The computer system resources shot up to 95% and it began to open web pages at an acceptable speed. Is it possible that the *.pwl files could effect system resources? I can't make the connection.

FrenchFries

9 replies

by melvin_780702

PWL file contains valuable information like dial-up and network passwords. This is an universal storage for sensitive information. Any program could use PWL files.

by padum

No we don not see any harm caused by the *.pwl files as it retain all setting of networking such as dial up , lan etc.

you should hv find out there may some problem with your norton antivirus.It sometimes takes long time to verify the validation certificates before execute a program.

So fer our knowledge is concern we recomend winxp and updated windows version then winme . Win me is more valnerable version of windows.So update your windows and enjoy yourself.
thanks

by curacao_dejavu

NO,
However there are so many issues with windows me, that in general all it people tend to avoid having to deal with windows me.

Leopold

by addison

PWL = PassWordList
It is simply a batch file that holds all of your windows passwords. By no means will a pwl slow your internet browsing. However, what will slow it down is lack of hard drive space, cookies, and internet temporary files. Clear these items out, and your browsing should speed up.

by dunneman

Judging from the fact that after removing the extraneous .pwl files, the system resources free shot up by 15%, I would venture to guess that they were somehow tying up resources... however, as they are relatively small files, I can't see how 5 pwl files could be taking up 15% of the system resources - unless the swap file might have been set too small, or there is not enough RAM for the applications that are being loaded at boot time.

This forum posting:
http://www.netsys.com/firewalls/firewalls-9512/0442.html

makes mention of pwl files being stored in system memory.

by choppit

It's unlikely that the present of the .pwl files themsleves caused the system to slow down. However, if removing the files did indeed cure the problem then this would suggest that a program (or worm) was trying to read the .pwl files continuously. This would explain a high resource usage.

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