Not enough memory

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Thunder

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Haven't used 98 in a long time and I have an online friend with a problem. Any ideas are welcome. For quite a while now I have been having probs and it has gradually gotten worse.

I bought it in June of last year so it is not even a year old. (This is my 3rd computer so I am not an entirely ignorant computer user.) I am using win98 second edition and have upgraded to IE 5.5 because 6.0 really created havoc.... I have erased the harddrive completely, reinstalled everything 4 times.... and after a couple of weeks the same thing started over and like I said above is constantly getting worse.

I don't have any of my graphic or photo programs installed. I am using what I call a bare bones computer... I am partitioned and haven't used a 1/4 of either drive, so I should have enough disk space. The modem is a conexant 56K.

Now for the problems.
It is constantly telling me I don't have enough memory. If I am in a chat room it gets where I can't see what i am typing or what anyone else has typed. I have to do a total reboot. Sometimes even a cold boot to get it to work.

By now I can only have one browser window open and nothing else. I can not open a Word document and save it, or copy and paste to it if I am on the internet... I can't have MSN messenger open at all with the browser open.

I can only print something out if I am not online... and then only if I have one word document open and after the 2nd print out I need to reboot.

It takes almost a minute to a minute and 1/2 to change webpages... I connect good to the internet but the pages take literally forever. For every two hours I spend on the internet one hour of that is pages changing.

I have gone to start, to run and then typed msconfig and shut down all that I know I can for startup... My history is nil, my documents are cleaned out as are my temp files, internet temp files, recycle bin.

1.0 ghz athlon processor
20 gb harddrive
256mb ram PC133

My system.ini:

[386Enh]
ebios=*ebios
woafont=dosapp.fon
mouse=*vmouse, msmouse.vxd
device=*dynapage
device=*VCD
device=*vpd
device=*int13
keyboard=*vkd
display=*vdd,*vflatd
EMMExclude=C000-CFFF
PageBuffers=32
DMABufferSize=64
32BitDiskAccess=ON
PagingDrive=C:
MaxPagingFileSize=330240
MinPagingFileSize=330240
ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1


[vcache]
MinFileCache=4096
MaxFileCache=4096
 
Try doing a Cont+Alt+Del one time and count how many programs you have running. You should close everything except Systray and Expplorer and see if that helps. You should only have two or three things running by the clock.

Try that and get back to us and see if there is something else.
 
Win/98 uses a default setting to help Windows allocate hard drive space for virtual memory. The amount of hard drive space you allocate for virtual memory is important. If you allocate too little, you will get "out of memory" errors.

Control Panel> System> Performance tab> Virtual Memory.
Click on the option, "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings." In the minimum box, enter the smallest amount of hard drive space you wish to use (2 megabytes). The maximum figure upper limit is twice physical RAM space. (Windows default is normally 12mb above the amount of physical ram)
 
Hmmm, the taking 1-2 minutes to change pages interests me. That sounds to me like something is chewing up a mass amount of CPU resources.


Question, are you by any chance installing off of a burned CD, or installing other programs off disk/burned CD that could possible be infected by a virus? You should at least perform a virus scan with an updated scanner to be sure.

And ideally, pagefile should be 1.75-2.5x the size of your physical ram, depending on how you use your box. Less then 1x can cause problems, I remember on XP with 768mb RAM and a 512mb swapfile, I started getting out of memory errors.

Also, if at all possible, have you considered trying a different OS, at least for a while? Win2k/XP/etc ?
 
I don't agree with Soul Harvester about pagefile size. It shouldn't matter in this case, considering it's already quite big.
Does the computer perform the same way in safe mode, Thunder? Have you tried disabling 32bitdiskaccess? Open Resource Meter, take a look at it when this slowdown happens.
 
Thanks guys.:) Those are all things I could do if I was in front of her computer but she is in NY and I'm in Arkansas.:) I know it's not the page file, I ran 98 for a long time with a 50mb pagefile without trouble. With the ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 I rarely ever touched the swap. And like I said, I had her add that line as well as the rest of them like 32BitDiskAccess=ON to elimate other possibilities.
I don't think safe mode is an option because she wouldn't be able to go online or use her printer....which appears to be when the problem starts.
Virus is a thought and will be the next thing I ask her.:)
Keep em coming guys.:)
 
Actually when setting the swapfile size you want to keep its minimum and maximum size the same. You also need to set it at 1.5 times the physical memory, not to exceed 350MB. This keeps the system from constantly resizing the swapfile and keeps it from having to search a huge swapfile. If possible you should either put your swapfile on a seperate partition or drive so it will not fragment. you can alaso specify that the swapfile be place in a certain area of the disk by using Norton Speed Disk or similar Defrag utility.
 
well, appears to be a problem only while online, so I would consider a virus/ trojan of some sort, or a file swapper (Kazaa has taken control!)gone bad. Maybe a few more system specs (modem/dsl/cable) definatly try the CAD until minimum software is in use
if using IE5.5 or Above use the repair function.
 
Originally posted by Thunder
have upgraded to IE 5.5 because 6.0 really created havoc.... The modem is a conexant 56K.


also, do you know how she removed IE6? and eraseing the hard drive was that a reformat? or just deleteing?
more info on the brand, hardware specs
Has it had these problems from day one?
Is this a Compaq or emachine?
 
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