Kathy,
There are many things that can cause the problems you mentioned. There is no single solution, but rather a huge
array of
'things to try.' You could try looking through the Nospin PCsoft and PCbuild archives - there's a wealth of info
related to your type of PC problems.
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/pcsoft.html
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/pcbuild.html
I will try to answer some of your questions, and offer a few 'things to try'.
If your recovery disk is a set of disks, you should have an 'application recovery' disk, as well as one or two
'system recovery' disks. If that's the case, your 'system recovery' disk(s) will probably format your hard drive,
then reinstall your Operating System AND all the software that came with your PC. Choosing that option will mean
you'll lose everything you haven't saved to another location, ( i.e., another hard drive, partition, or to CD ).
That's a common problem with 'recovery disks' - you can't usually just reinstall your operating system. However,
if your recovery disk IS just a copy of Win ME, then you should be able to reinstall your OS over top of the
existing OS without losing any personal data. However, that option means reinstalling any 'critical updates',
patches, drivers, etc.
Your 'application recovery' disk should allow you to 'pick and choose' what to reinstall - everything except your
OS. That may be of help if a program ( or programs ) has / have become corrupt.
Adding more RAM is usually the best way to speed things up, but it won't necessarily solve all (or any) of your
freeze up problems. With 'only' 128Megs, your machine could probably benefit by adding up to the maximum of 512Megs
( that's generally agreed upon as the maximum that Win ME can use - more is generally considered overkill and not
much use. )
In my opinion, a complete reformat is better in most cases, but that will often present new problems as well as
fixing old ones. It also means you lose all your Windows settings that you've spent so long tweaking. Also, it
basically treats the symptoms, not the cause, which means we don't learn how to solve the problems. However,
sometimes it's still the best option if the problems have gotten out of hand, and it's cheaper in the long run.
Short of those options, you might try installing spyware removal programs, Microsoft's 'critical updates, registry
cleaners, cookie removers, popup stoppers, etc. You may also benefit by installing I.E. 6 if you're using anything
less than that. Other maintenance tools include 'disk cleanup', which can remove a lot of old, unneeded stuff. You
might also try scandisk and defrag, although neither has ever done much for me. It's not a bad idea to use
add/remove to get rid of programs you never use, if that's pertinent. I would also do a full virus scan, then run
your PC through the gauntlet of tests at www.pcpitstop.com
They have a thorough set of tests, which can help to diagnose and fix many problems.
This next suggestion (below) might also include adding another hard drive - 8GB isn't much these days. However,
that's a whole different can of worms, which you'd need to ask the good folk on the PCBuild list about...
Many agree that moving your WIN386.SWP file to a partition or drive by itself can help keep Windows running
smoothly. Personally, I agree, and therefore have mine on an 8GB partition all alone. If you have a spare
partition, the proper way to move your WIN386.SWP file is as follows:
Right click 'my computer' and choose 'properties.
Select the 'performance' tab, then push the 'virtual memory' button at the bottom.
Select 'Let me specify my own virtual memory settings.'
The 'hard disk' menu allows you to specify where you want to keep your win386.swp file ( got a spare partition ? ).
The minimum should be set to zero, and the maximum, I believe, is generally 2 or 3 times the amount of ram your PC
has. I'm not sure that these figures are critical - others may provide more precise info on this.
Then just 'apply' and 'OK' your way out, then reboot.
Finally, keep your recycle bin MT, and clean out your 'temp Internet files' regularly.
I'm sure you'll get a few responses to your questions, but hopefully this helps to get you started. Good luck.
Al Thompson
----- Original Message -----
From: "kathy schrieber" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, February 29, 2004 5:47 AM
Subject: [PCSOFT] web page seizes up
I have heard you should re-install windows every few years because it becomes so unstable-always crashing etc. It
has been 3 years for me with this Win ME version. I am having a terrible time on the internet as pages open and
then stop responding-I have to cntrl-alt-del and end task and start all over. It is getting worse. If I need to
reinstall do I just use the restore disk that came with the computer? I don't want to reformat just restore if
that will help with this problem. I also wonder if the problem could be a memory problem as I have only 128 megs
of ram, always getting insufficient memory messages as well as seizing up. This is a compaq with 8gig HD. Also
running when browsing is go back, system works, yahoo, weatherbug and zone alarm. Outlook express works fine and
usually doesn't lock up. Sorry for the length of this but I need to take some action! Please help with what you
think it could be.
PCSOFT maintains many useful files for download
visit our download web page at:
http://freepctech.com/downloads.shtml
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