Windows 98 Maintenance

 

All three of these should be run every 2 to 3 weeks. They will keep the Win98/98SE operating system running smoother and help in not corrupting operating system files as fast.

Scandisk

Start in Safe Mode by re-booting the computer, and immediately after starting up, Press and hold down, F8, at top of keypad.

When the options show on the screen, use the up and down arrow keys on the keyboard to select "Safe Mode".

Press "Enter"

After it boots to Safe Mode, go to "Start", "Programs", "Accessories", "System", "Tools", and select "Scandisk". When started, it is faster if set on "Standard". The "Thorough" usually is not needed and takes a long, long time.

Click on "Start" and let it run until finished.

Defrag

When Scandisk is finished, click on "Close".

Now, go back to the same place (Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools), but this time, click on "Defrag". Click on "OK", and wait until it finishes (might take 1 hour if not done within a month).

After it finishes, Click on "OK" or whatever.

Then, re-boot.

System File Checker

Restart the computer in Safe Mode, as above.

Go to Start/Run, then type in SFC, and click on "OK"

This opens the System File Checker window.

Click on "Start". This will scan for altered or corrupt files. If it finds one, it will stop running and ask you what to do. Put a check mark by "Restore", and click "OK".

Most of the files will come from C:\Cabs. So, click on the "Browse", and select C:\Cabs.
Click on "OK".

Continue until it finishes.

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!! WARNING !! The following two utilities are for use by experienced users PC Users only.

To Repair the Registry:

Registry Repair should be done maybe every month.

Turn off the computer; or reboot; then immediately press F8, (or, could be F5) located on top of the keyboard. Keep it press down until an options window comes up, then release it (If F8 or F5 doesn't work, then re-boot, and immediately press down the CTRL key, hold down until it comes up to the options screen).

Use the up and down arrow keys on the keyboard to select "Command Prompt Only".

Press "Enter"

You will now see C:>

Type: SCANREG /FIX (there is a space between the G and the / ).

You will now see : C:>SCANREG /FIX

Press "Enter"

This will take about 5 minutes or so. When finished, press "Enter" for OK.

Manually, turn off the computer, wait a few seconds, the turn it back on.
If you don't have the "Command Prompt Only" option, then re-boot the computer normally.

Go to "Start", "ShutDown", then choose "Restart in ms-dos mode". The system will reboot and come up to "C:\Windows".

Type in : CD C:\

Press Enter.

It will then be at the "C:>" prompt.

Then type in : SCANREG /FIX

Press "Enter"

When it returns to the "C:>" prompt, then manually turn off the computer, and turn it back on.

Virtual Memory Settings:

For Win98SE:

Go to Start/Settings/Control Panel.

Double click on "System".

Click on the "Performance" tab.

Click on "Virtual Memory" (at the bottom right).

Put a check mark by "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings".

By "minimum", type in 1/2 of your RAM number. For example, if you have 128 MG RAM, type in 64. By "maximum", type in twice your RAM number, like 256.

Then, click "OK" or "Yes". Windows will tell you to NOT do this, but go ahead and do it anyway.

Then, reboot your computer.

What all this does is this:

When windows manages the virtual memory itself, it uses the entire hard-drive for a swap file; meaning every time it opens an application, it stores it all along the entire hard-drive; making it slower to find all the "parts" needed.
By specifying your own virtual memory settings, you are telling windows to only use PART of the hard-drive for memory. Then, it has much less space to search for files; making the computer a little faster.

 

 

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