Help! Comp has "not so fresh" feeling =) What 2 do?

[bigd480]

I just replaced my p2-350 with a p3-700 and the OS just isn't as zippy as I want it...

I don't want to do a reinstall of Windows 98 to get it back to that nice "freshly installed" state, and was hoping someone would have some tips/tricks to get that performance without reinstalling.

If you're going to suggest a defrag, see my other post on how Win 98 won't let me do that http:// [url]http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=34&threadid=203891 [/url]

I've also RegCleaned and removed extraneous network adapters, but there's just a ton of software on my computer, and much more used to be on it but isn't now though its presence is still felt, if you know what I mean... That's what I want to clear out, and keep the stuff that's there now...

Thanks for the help

 

[Klosters]

Ya know, there's only one way to "get it back to that nice freshly installed state." Don't muck about. And a "refresh" re-install doesn't quite do the job. If you have critical data, transfer it to a different HDD or burn a CD-R. Put that W98 rescue floppy into the A:\ drive. I'm sure you know what comes next.

 

[BCYL]

From what I read in your 2 posts, I would say it would be very difficult to get back at that "fresh" state you want. I would really suggest a format and reinstall to get your performance and your defrag and scandisk back...

Even if you can get your performance back, a reinstall would be worth it since your Windows is obvious quite messed up...

 

[TheyCallMeSAK]

How much memory do you have?

If you have at least 128 (err.. 196 and ^ will do better), I know the best way to get that fresh feeling, and beyond!!

(1)Make a Win98 Bootdisk while you can.
(2)Copy all files over to other HDD/CDR
(3)Most software will need reinstallation, but it is worth it
(4)Boot from 98Bootdisk
(5)Start COmputer with CDROM support
(6)place WIN2K cd in the drive, Access CDROM drive, cd/bootdisk
(7)Bootdisk ENTER
(8)figure it out from there
(9)Windows 2k is so much better!!!!!
FASTER FASTER FASTER

Good Luck

 

[shk]

They Call Me Sak is correct about the RAM too.

Alternative 1. - If you can, get another 256MB PC133 RAM if your mobo supports that type, that will do it since you got heavy load of programs in your PC. Get a "Cacheman 3.8" disk cache optimizer(very good) from www.outertech.com also get a "Analog X" Memory optimizer from www.tweakfiles.com and look for it. Them both programs work very nicely as a descent team work. These will get you that speed and efficiency.

Alternative 2. - Try to hunt down which file is screwing you to keep from defraging. From my experience, I found out that the some of the Internet Browser program(Earthlink, Quixnet, etc..) keep from defraging your PC. If you can uninstall the program you'll find, then you should be able to defrag. Erase that sucker!!


my spec:
PIII 800EB 192MB RAM @ 134mhz FSB
WIN98SE
Baracudda UDMA66
Cacheman 3.8 & Analog X

 

[bigd480]

I found out the defrag prob was due to the fact that I formatted my drive with WD's EZ-Drive (it apparently had a problem with >8GB drives and I got my 18 when that was considered huge)

I'm tempted to reformat but a lot of the programs I have are things I've downloaded from who knows where that I don't want to try to find again (my screen res is 10x7 and i have to scroll a screen and a half to see all my stuff in the start menu)

I used to have this utility that would completely transfer a program from one drive to another as if it were originally installed on that drive (I have a 10GB in there I can use as backup) I'm thinking about reformatting and then moving back programs that I can't get anymore...

As for win2k... I'm a UT student so I can buy MS software for $5 per disk but I'm afraid of backwards compatability issues because I've always heard that games suck on an NT platform... Also, the Viper II is the world's worst supported video card, driver-wise, and I doubt they'll put out anything worth using as far as Win2k drivers...

Also, I have 128MB and I know W2K needs more than that, but what about WinME?

 

[rahvin]

Your best bet is to do a cleanup on hardware stuff, go into device manager and delete everything, reboot about 100x and you will have everything redetected. (this is a slow painfull process).

Otherwise a lot of slowness is probably coming from the size of your registry from all those programs you have installed. If you don't use it frequently you shouldn't have it installed.

 

[mpitts]

When my computer gets like this, my solution is to format.. Do a decent backup and format c: