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Win98 runs extremely slow

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17 replies

by darrenm

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I recently reformatted my drive and installed Win98 (how can I tell if its first or second edition?). I installed on a 2GB partition. My system runs incredibly slow, booting is ok except for the plug and play that I need to disable but after boot upeverything just drags. half the time my mouse is dragging behind just playing catch up. I set it to act as a network server and set the swap file pretty large. Like I mentioned its a new install so temp files and defrag shouldnt play a part. The only things I have running in the back are AVG anti virus and Zone Alarm, of course all the other normal boot up stuff. The resolution is set high and the colors are set to true color or what ever the highest is. My video card is a Riva 128 4mb basic card. What I dont understand is that when I load a game the game runs just fine but when I get out of the game and come back to my normal resolution everything is slow again, so so incredibly slow. Well any ideas would be appreciated.

17 replies

by saihib

In System Properties/General Windows 98SE will have a .2222 extension for the version number. Anything else is Win98. I'd try running msconfig and in the Startup tab uncheck everything but systray and explorer and reboot and see if that makes a difference. Anti-virus software in general consumes a lot of resources and would be my first suspect. You also don't mention how much memory youur machine has or even the type of processor.

by joe

Make sure also your antivirus is not set to scan all files or File System Realtime Protection is set to all files. I think there are some virus programs that are set to scan all files as they are being used.HTH

by thechas

1. by disableing plug and play, you are limiting the performance of your system. When you force Windows to run in a directed mode, it just runs slower.

2. Did you install the chipset drivers for your motherboard? These are critical for optimum performance.

3. Instead of setting a fixed size swap file, I prefer to give it it's own 1-4GB partition. This way, the swap file does not get fragmented, and windows doesn't need to do extra work to maintain a fixed size swap file.
The only time that I have seen a performance improvement with a fixed size swap file is with benchmark tests.

Chas

by thechas

1 common slow down for W98 is the IDE devices running in "compatability mode"

You will see a 50% - 75% reduction in performance in compatability mode.

Chas

by thechas

For details on MS-DOS compatability mode, check out Microsoft Knowlwdge base article Q151911

Basically, if Windows has problems configuring your IDE controller, it defaults to the very slow MS-DOS compatability mode.

You should be able to lookat either device manager, or the performance tab of system properties to see if you are running compatability mode.

Chas

by gregh

You say the machine runs fine when playing a game (at probable lower res) but slows back down when you come out of it. A 4meg video card cannot support high res very well. I suggest resetting you colors to 16 bit and lower the resolution. I the system runs better, then the video card it your problem. Upgrade it. A 64meg Geforce2 MX 400 card can be had for $50 or less now days, and should cover all your needs if you've been getting by with a 4meg card.

by gregh

If you do upgrade your video card, don't forget to download updated drivers. Those shipped with the card WILL be outdated.

by trifinc

Did you go into "Safe Mode", under device manager and check for duplicate devices, also be careful under system devices. Then proceed to run "MSCONFIG", disable config.sys, and autoexec.bat, check the startup tab to see what is running. If this doesnot help proceed to check you BIOS settings, choose "default" or "optimal".

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