re: Question about 'Things that slow down system bootup'
Wednesday, April 9, 2003 at 6:47 am
Windows 98 Annoyances Discussion Forum
Posted by DGBrothers
(3 messages posted)
Well, it's always best to start from scratch. Things will run faster and be more
stable.
So, I'd start out by making a boot disk (be sure to copy FDISK and FORMAT onto the
floppy as well). Then I'd back up any files you want to keep (documents, photos,
etc.) onto a CD-RW, tape, or floppies.
Then boot the machine with the boot floppy, and FDISK (low level format) the hard
drive. As soon as that's done, reboot from the floppy, and FORMAT the drive. After
the format, reboot, boot from the Win98SE CD-ROM, and set up Win98SE.
Once Win98SE is up and running, set up your internet connection settings (you wrote
them all down before you formatted, didn't you?) go to www.windowsupdate.com, and
download all the updates to Win98SE.
After the requisite reboots and going back to www.windowsupdate.com until all the
updates are installed, go immediately to www.zonelabs.com, and download the free
ZoneAlarm firewall. Read the instructions carefully, and set it up.
Then get yourself a good antivirus program, I use Norton Antivirus 2003. Be sure
to do a LiveUpdate to get the latest Virus Definition files. And do LiveUpdate regularly,
to keep your virus protection up-to-date.
Next, search the internet for three programs, the first is called AdAware, the second
is called Spybot Search & Destroy, the third is called Spyware Blaster. Download
and install them, and use them all regularly.
Now, your computer is protected from hackers, from viruses, and from spyware. Now,
we get a chance to strike back at the hackers.
Search the internet for a free program called VisualZone, it an adjunct for the ZoneAlarm
firewall that tracks down hackers and reports them to their ISP, hopefully getting
them disconnected. Sign up for the DShield service (it's free) to report hackers
trying to hack into your computer.
Next, set up your email program. Most people use Outlook or Outlook Express. Be sure
to configure Norton Antivirus to protect your email after you've got the email program
installed and running correctly.
Now search for Microsoft's DCOM Configuration Utility, and disable DCOM. And search
for the Microsoft .NET Framework Wizard, and set all the settings to 'No Trust'.
Another handy program you might want to get is called Startup Cop. It's free, and
allows you to easily prevent programs from starting up during bootup. There are a
lot of 'cling-on' programs that start up, and you just don't need them, and they
slow your computer down and make it less stable. Be sure to thoroughly research each
program before disabling its startup, as some programs you DO need.
Next, get yourself another free program called RegCleaner by Jouni Vuorio. It'll
keep the trash out of your registry, and keep your system running fast and stable.
Karen Kenworthy, from PC Magazine also has a neat program (it's actually a conglomeration
of several utility programs). The best one is the registry compressor, which removes
some trash from the registry that RegCleaner misses, and compacts the registry.
Now that the system is running stably, is completely updated, and is protected from
hackers, virii, and spyware, go ahead and install the rest of the programs you want.
Be sure to run your spyware checkers after each install, to keep your system clean,
and get into the habit of checking all downloaded files with Norton Antivirus.
The latest and greatest for running Win98SE is not to use it as the primary operating
system at all. Instead, after you format the hard drive, you install Linux, and a
program called Win4Lin. It runs Win98SE as a program running under Linux. The Windows
programs then run under the Win98SE 'program'. If Win98SE crashes, you don't have
to reboot. Just close the window that Win98SE is running in, start it again, and
you're up and running again. Programs take far fewer resources and run more stably
under this setup. The only restriction is that because Linux doesn't allow direct
hardware access by any program, DirectX won't work under Win98SE, so most modern
games won't work. But having a Win98SE machine that runs a dozen programs at once
stably, and 'reboots' take all of 5 seconds by closing the Win98SE window and reopening
it? No games is a small tradeoff. AND you can now run all the Linux programs out
there, as well, like the program that replaces Microsoft Office, called OpenOffice
(did I mention OpenOffice is FREE, and just as good as MS Office?).
Hope this helps...
-----------------------------------------------------------
On Monday, April 7, 2003 at 1:55 pm, shirley byrd wrote:
>Hey,DGBrothers,//read your reply..I inherated an IBM 96Aptiva it has..win95.Win.98
>installed two..long story,win 98 se some old 95 programs.I want to remove ALL except
>MY OWN 98seit has 17000000 mb can you imagine ALL THAT ROOM??? been up graded 2
>times I need a good program,,,sugestions please?thanks
>
>
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All messages in this thread [show all]
 |  | |  | re: Question about 'Things that slow down system bootup' (DGBrothers: Wed, Apr 9, 2003, 6:47 am) |
| | |  | Okay... (GM: Mon, Aug 20, 2001, 6:40 pm) |
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