Once you have backed up all your file and settings you can now consider the tips below.

Follow direction to the letter, don't do anything that is not listed below.  (Don't play with things you do not know about as this can get you in trouble).

If one or more of your services or programs do not work like it did before you started go back and re-check the box to that function if you unchecked it before.

If you have problems you can email us or call us on the show for help.

Windows 98

Shut down problems

For Windows 98 user's who have a shutdown problems (hang) make sure your system tray (bottom right hand corner next to the clock) does not have more than 3 or 4 items loading. Make sure you backup your system before attempting any system changes.
This tray loads on startup and use's system resources, these resources take up valuable memory.
You have a set amount of resources and some programs want you to load on start up to look like they are really fast (1 to 5 second loads) but the truth is 99 percent do not need to be loaded up front and are just a memory hog slowing down other key programs you might use. In some cases these programs aren't used much or at all. They also have to shut down properly which takes time on shut down. Some off these programs have changed or corrupted the shutdown sequence from completing that is why the long wait till shut down. Here is a Microsoft approved tool to fix this problem (shut down hang).
You will still have to remove all those pesky programs in your system tray which caused this mess in the first place. About this in our Tune up section.  

The tool below works on all versions of Windows 98.

Shutdown tool

Backing Up Your System

Run any backup program you might have.   Image your drive if you know how.
Export your phone books and email addresses, copy your My Documents folder.
Backup Registry - this is where all your programs go to look how to load (what specific address on the hard drive they reside, like a street address.)
In Outlook or Outlook Express export your phone books and messages.
Outlook gets exported to a .pst file, remember your favorites from Internet Explorer.

Burn all the backup to a Cd-Rom (if you have one) or tape backup and you are somewhat safe before you start any changes you might make. 
(PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR BACKUP WORKS, TEST IT BEFORE YOU DO CHANGES!!!)
If you hose your system you can then reload it.  Your system should be redone at least once or twice a year to keep it running at peak performance. By backing up your data and redoing your system your computer will run better and you can get rid of problem programs that did not uninstall correctly. You get clean OS settings and reload only the programs you need. 
Then use your backup to reload your data and phone, email settings, email address books, favorites and more...

Tune-Up Section

Trash can size

Right click on trash can, click on properties and check to see how much percentage the bar is at?
By default it is set to 10%. This in 99 percent of the time is way way to much.
What this means is it will allow 10% of the drive to be set away for the trash can.

Example:  A 20 gig drive will set aside 2 gigs for the trash can. This is totally absurd!
Move the slider down to 2 percent and click apply.

System Tray Overload

Ever notice on some people's computers that the system tray is almost touching the start button?
That these systems need to be rebooted more times than other computers with less icon in the system tray. All those icons are memory stealing if they are not used dozen of times a day. They don't need to be loaded!

System Resources

Go check out your system resources on startup. By right clicking My Computer and clicking on properties then click on the tab Performance. 
Then check out how much resources are left.
You should start out with 88 to 94 percent,  if you are down to 56 to 72 it needs this tweak to squeeze the wasted horse power you are loosing to badly written programs.  Your system crashes and overwrites files at 38 to 46 percent left. That is why some machines freeze with not much going on.
Now that you get the idea we need to remove some of the files that are not important enough to load on startup. This is done by going into system tools and making the adjustments.

1. Click on start

2. Programs

3. Accessories

4. System Tools

5. Click on the tab TOOLS

6. Click on system Configuration

7. Click on the tab STARTUP

You are now looking at what loads and depending on what you have loaded is what your performance is going to be.

There are 3 to 4 main files that should be checked for your system to function correctly and they are:

1. system tray

2. scan registry

3. task monitor

These are the core that should be checked.

If you have an anti virus software that should be checked.
Microsoft office shortcut bar should be checked if you use it.
Scheduler should be checked if you use it to defrag and scandisk your system .

Programs to remove from startup.

  Real player
  Instant Messaging (or any communications program you don't need at startup)
  HP registration (or any registration)
  update programs
  mouse utilities
  video utilities - screen size or resolution unless you change your settings daily 

Ok, now you should be ready to apply them.  Click Apply and click ok it should now ask you to reboot.  Reboot your system.  When your system restarts go check out system resources again and you should see a vast improvement on memory utilization.

Keyboard short cut's you might not have heard of!

Here are just a few good one's using the Window's Key, they are habit forming but
won't add a pound to your weight. People will ask how'd you do that?
 

or Email us any time at 
Info@ComputerSecurityNews.org