Stability in Win98se

[ChromWolf]

Recently, I've been having problems with my system, an ancient K6-3 450 MHz on a PA-2013 PCB 2.1 board (GOD I wish I had cash..). Before, it would run for about 3 days, and crash--pretty good for such an ancient system running 98se, I always thought. But for about the past 2 or 3 weeks, it's been crashing about 3 times every 1 day... And I've finally gotten to the point where I feel I should do something about it.

Essentially, the system is more or less fine until after maybe 6 hours of use. Past this point, the system still more or less works, but when I try to open certain things from inside a Windows Explorer window (Word files, PDF files, I believe MP3's, or other various files), that folder stops responding. However, I can still close the unresponsive folder, and open the same file inside the program itself (i.e. clicking File, Open, and choosing the file). As well, though this occurs alot less frequently, my system will display the "Out of Memory, This operation cannot continue, please close one or more programs to continue" or whatever message. At this point, after closing most everything down, the system displays a resource percentage that's usually below 20%; I know this isn't an accurate description of my memory and such, but it usually takes close to a week of continuous use to have it happen. A little history...

I had 256 MB of PC100 SDRAM in it, and I can only imagine they're compatible, because no major hardware changes have occured since I installed the 2nd of the two some time ago--I don't remember when. However, I do remember that the newer (in terms of how long it's been in my system, that is) of the two sticks (if I'm thinking of the right stick of memory) was a bit flakey in another computer; I through it in mine as a test, and it worked more or less fine, so it sorta got left in. This is as I recall it, anyway... However, in writing this, I also recall upgrading my father's system to what we had hoped would be a cheap upgrade from a fossilizing 200MHz to a K6-2 450MHz (all he needs is an e-mail checker anyway); we ended up going Duron, and needed low-end DDR memory, so the memory we were *going* to use in his system may have migrated to mine, and *that* may also be where this 2nd stick came from. Regardless, since it's been installed, I've not had any real problems.

Also a while back, I had switched power supplies... Let's call my current power supply "A" and my backup one that I don't entirely trust "B". "A" was in the system originally; however, after the system got somewhat glitchy (I don't recall how similar this was to my current problem, but I imagine it's not too dissimilar), I pulled "A" and put "B" in. "B" eventually started making a very disconcerting ticking noise, and I found this was some sort of electrical arcing going on at the base of the external power cord connector. Needless to say, I pulled "B" and put "A" back in, hoping it would be okay... until now, as I say, I've had no problems.

I should point out that while no *major* system changes have occured, I have installed an old 4x2x24 burner (which was recently unplugged due to showing signs of death) and installing a few programs I've been not entirely pleased with (including a.... er.. shall we say "not entirely factory-direct" copy of Adobe Acrobat 5). As I say about said software, my copy of Acrobat 5 seems to run like a pregnant while, similar to Winamp3 and Netscape 7; they take a long time to load, crash easily, and are just not as fast. However, it seems to me that the memory problems seemed to begin about the time I installed Acrobat 5, and if anyone thinks that's the problem, I really wouldn't be opposed to getting rid of it in favor of my older version.

I've pulled the 2nd stick of memory, cleaned/oiled a noisy CPU fan, and run the system for a while, and still got the same symptoms. I have the extra power supply ("B"), but I'm concerned about trying it again because of that ticking noise. I'm willing to try it nonetheless, because aside from the ticking, it performed okay...

Thoughts? Suggestions? Clearly, I'm thinking this may be a bad memory or power supply problem, but am I missing anything? Is it worth it for me to be silly and try power supply "B"? Thanks in advance!

[ChromWolf]

WOW that's a huge post... sorry, it's late, and I'm apparently feeling verbose--and the above post was even after cutting it back and "un-verbosizing" it. :P I think I'd better get to bed now, before I make it worse...

[Cricket]

First of all, system resources are not the same thing as RAM: System Resources FAQ

Do you have a lot of background programs running on that computer? If you have a lot of icons by the clock, you have a lot of background programs. You can use msconfig to limit the number of programs starting up with Windows.

Have you been cleaning out your Windows Temp folders? If not, open up Windows Explorer and clean out the Windows\Temp and Windows\Temporary Internet Files folders.

Have you scanned your system for viruses, spyware, malware and trojans?

How long has this installation of Win98SE been on your system? The longer you go without a format and re-install of Windows, the flakier it gets...Windows actually degrades over time.

Cricket

[Force Flow]

An installation for win98 (if it isn't riddled with too many viruses, bad installs & updates, etc) should last about 3-4 years.

[Cricket]

Originally posted by force_flow2002 An installation for win98 (if it isn't riddled with too many viruses, bad installs & updates, etc) should last about 3-4 years.

What ...no, it's more like 1 year. Some folks will reformat and reinstall more often than that.

This is where Ghost comes in real handy...instead of reinstalling everything, just restore the saved image to the partition. Quick and easy.

Cricket

[Force Flow]

Really?

I guess I've been mighty lucky then with all of the things I do to my systems.

[GaryRouth]

Hi all

chromwolf - can't hurt to test things:

memory - DocMemory - http://www.simmtester.com

hard drive - run the diagnostics for your brand: DataLifeGuard for Western Digital, Powermax for Maxtors, SeaTools for Seagates, etc. Available at their websites.

system stress tests - SiSoft Sandra System analyser - http://www.sisoftware.co.uk

. . . and a K6 III 450 can get hot - try running with the cover off the case & see if that freshly oiled fan is doing it's job or not.

Make sure spyware isn't dragging you down unnecessarily: http://www.spywareinfo.com has lots of links for spyware stoppers.

Like Cricket & forceflow mention, limit your background jobs. You can check pacs-portal's famous list for help. The general background page is at --> http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.htm . . . and the actual list itself can be accessed directly at ---> http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup...artup_full.htm

And you can try an "over the top" reinstallation of Windows by renaming Win.com to Win.xxx [you can do this in DOS. rename win.com win.xxx] Then run Setup.

Then try a run of RegClean (version 4.1 works well with Win98) --> http://download.com.com/3000-2094-881470.html?tag=list

Empty the temporary files, scandisk thorough, defrag - and see if things are better.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[TwoRails]

Originally posted by force_flow2002 An installation for win98 (if it isn't riddled with too many viruses, bad installs & updates, etc) should last about 3-4 years.

I go along with that. Or longer. I've only rebuild once on this box I'm typing on since I installed Win98, and tha't because I messed up Uninstalling Win ME. And that includes all the mobo swaping I've done, which is at least 3 or 4 since the one rebuild.

TwoRails

[RayH]

I'm running Windows 98 SE on a P5AB w/K6 II 450. The thing runs like a watch.

I do use Drive Image to protect my installations. I image before and after I do any major changes.

But I regularly use Spider, Easy Cleaner, and Defrag the thing every three or four weeks. I haven't reformatted anything. I also use Eraser every once in a while to clean up the drive. All the mentioned programs are free. Just search for them.