# Computer is slow - sometimes



## Arthur Penney (May 2, 2006)

I am somewhat poaching this thread. I don't actually have a problem because the problem seems to go away by restarting my Windows 98SE. I just wonder if anyone has any thoughts on the following.

It seems to happen just occasionally after an Internet use that the machine goes very slow, and my heartbeat goes a lot faster. Perhaps during the session as well. I don't have broadband, just pay by the minute 3kb/s, quite adequate normally, but occasionally downloading 100 pieces of unwanted e-mail can seem to stop halfway. I run the protection things after the Internet. Spybot, for example, normally takes 20 minutes but in this situation an hour goes past and only a quarter done. In future I will be restarting a lot sooner.


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

I've split you off. Its best to start a new thread and fully describe your problem, that makes it easier for others to offer help.


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## blues_harp28 (Jan 9, 2005)

Hi have cleaned out..temp..cookie..history files???
Tools>IE>internet options.


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## Arthur Penney (May 2, 2006)

I apologise for my mistake, which I had already realised. I had not planned the message, just saw the thread, was still in BBC messageboards television mode where wandering takes place, until moderated back on thread.

I will do as blues_harp28 suggested. I did have trouble once before with IE behaving oddly and the deletion of 40,000 files did help.

Unfortunately the description was not right either. 

The message was typed in the library, but when I got home my PC was dreadful, without having been on the Internet. Tetris was very jerky. The Windows system display said 100% cpu usage even though I was just doing nothing, and restarting only helped a bit, with usage going down a bit after each move in a card game. But a race round Donnington in touring cars seemed ok.


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## Fredledingue (Aug 22, 2003)

dowload codestuff starter (free) and uncheck the non needed entries for start up. Reboot.
code stuff homepage

Also make sure you'v got all the w98 updates


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

What is the processor type and speed?

How much RAM is installed?

How large is the hard drive and how much free space is left?

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Click Start - Run, type in MSCONFIG and then click OK - "Startup" tab. How many entries are listed there with a checkmark next to them?

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## Arthur Penney (May 2, 2006)

Flavallee - I will look up the stuff you ask for.

For now, I thought i would report on the CPU usage shown on the Windows system monitor. Is there a program that will show cpu usage for each program?

Spybot finished - cpu 2% me doing nothing
Getting the feeling of cat and mouse.
loaded Adaware wait to start , cpu 2%
after running adaware waiting to close 2%, after close cpu 80% me doing nothing.
Tetris played smoothly, cpu 80 % afterwards with me doing nothing.

It was running at 25% until this internet session, at the moment it is going up and down in what would seem to me to a reasonable way.

Blues Harp28 - I removed the cookies and files that you suggested.


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## blues_harp28 (Jan 9, 2005)

Hi one way to get info Flavallee is asking for.
Click on Start>programs>accessories>system tools>system information>tools>windows report tool..at the bottom>click on Change system file selection.
It will scan and report system info.


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## Arthur Penney (May 2, 2006)

I am in the library again, it is cheaper and warmer, so cannot do as Blues_Harp28 suggests just now. But I have got the following:

The machine is about 6 years old, hence the Windows 98SE.
Pentium 3 600MHz
128 RAM
C: 16 GB, 3.2GB free
D: 37 GB, 21.3GB free

Just to repeat my initial vague message, on the whole it seems to be working ok, just the occasional ploughing through treacle for no obvious reason. Last weekend Spybot, Adaware, AVG scan, Tetris,touring car game, MS backup, the high usage(according to the help file) ICE ECC, all seemed to behave correctly or finish on time.
And yet now that I have the Windows System Monitor on the behaviour of the graph of Kernel Processor usage seems odd. But that does not make it wrong, just that I never thought of looking at it before so that I do not know what is normal. I get the feeling that something is grinding away but reliquishes cpu when something else is wanting it. I know that is not a scientific description. If I do nothing and yet the graph says 25%, or 40%, or even 80%, and I put the mouse over a button where a little yellow label pops up, the usage goes down for a moment, or if I play a card, etc. This morning the graph said 2% after windows had started up and finished the first few minutes doing whatever before it rests, then I activated a program and the background usage went up to 25%, ran another program and the background went up to 40%.

I have laboriously costructed a list of the MSCONFIG window. Y replaces the tick in the box.
I hope that it will display properly.



Y SpybotSD TeaTimer	C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\TeaTimer.exe
Y	X-Cleaner Freeware	&#8216;C:\PROGRA~1\X-CLEA~1\XCleaner_free.exe&#8217; -turbo -autostart -NOREBOOT
Y	MSMSGS	C\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe /background
PhotoShow Deluxe Media Manager	C:\PROGRA~1\AHEAD\NEROPH ~2\DATA\XTRAS\MSSYSMGR.EXE
MoneyAgent	&#8220;C: \Program Files\Microsoft Money\System\Money Express.exe&#8221;
MSMSGS	C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe /background
tkonnect	C:\PROGRAM FILES\TISCALI\TKONNECT\TKONNECT.EXE updatemode
Y	ScanRegistry	C: \windows\scanregw.exe /autorun
Y	TaskMonitor	C: \windows\taskmon. exe
Y	SystemTray	SysTray.Exe
Y	LoadPowerProfile	Rundll32.exe powrprof.dlLLoadCurrentPwrScheme
Y	CHotKey	mk9805.exe
Y	InstantAccess	C \PROGRA~1\TEXTBR~1.0\BIN\INSTAN~1.EXE /h
Y	RegisterDropHandler	C \PROGRA~1\TEXTBR~1.0\BIN\REGIST~1 .EXE
Y	LexmarkPrinTray	PrinTray. exe
Y	CriticalUpdate	c:\windows\SYSTEM\wucrtupd.exe -startup
Y	Welcome	C:\WINDOWS \Welcome.exe /R
Y	S05 Integrator Pass Two	C \WINDOWS\SOINTGR.EXE
Y	Outpost Firewall	C \PROGRAM FILES\AGNITUM\OUTPOST FIREWALL 1.0\outpost.exe /waitservice
Y	AVG7_CC	C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVGFRE~1\AVGCC.EXE /STARTUP
Y	AVG7_EMC	C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVGFRE~1\AVGEMC.EXE
Y	AVG7_AMSVR	C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVGFRE~1\AVGAMSVR.EXE
Y	Tweak U I	Rundll32.exe TWEAKUI. CPL,TweakMeUp
Y	SpywareTerminator	&#8216;C: \PROGRAM FILES \S PYWARE TERMINATOR \SpywareTerminatorShield.exe&#8221;
InCD	C \Program Files\Ahead\InCD\InCD.exe
RemoteControl	&#8220;C \Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD \PDVDServ.exe&#8221;
InterBase Server	&#8220;C: \Program FiIes\Borland\IntrBase\BIN\ibserver.exe&#8221;
Adaptec DirectCD	C:\Program Files\DirectCD \DIRECTCD .EXE
Y	LoadPowerProfile	Rundll32.exe powrprof.dlLLoadCurrentPwrScheme
Y	RegisterDropHandler	C:\PROGRA~1\TEXTBR~1.0\BIN\REGIST~1.EXE
Y	SO5 Integrator Pass One	C:\WINDOWS\SOINTGR.EXE
Y	SchedulingAgent	mstask.exe
Y	Outpost Firewall	C:\PROGRAM FILES\AGNITUM\OUTPOST FIREWALL 1 .O\outpost.exe /service
Y	KB891711	c:\windows\SYSTEM\KB891711 \KB891711.EXE
Y Machine Debug Manager	C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MDM.EXE
Y	KB918547	C \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\K8918547\KB918547.EXE
Y	Cal reminder shortcut	C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Works Shared\wkcalrem.exe
Corel MEDIA FOLDERS INDEXER 8.LNK	Corel MEDIA FOLDERS INDEXER 8.LNK.disabled


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## Arthur Penney (May 2, 2006)

I have just noticed that something called MSMGS has put itself back on the ticked list after I thought I had unticked it, because I don't even know what it is. Perhaps it is something that needs to be present.


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## blues_harp28 (Jan 9, 2005)

Hi 128 Mb of Ram..an upgrade to 256 Mb of Ram would help your system run better.
In msconfig startup..minimum needed for Win98se.
SysTray.
ScanRegistry.
Anti-virus.
Firewall.


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

Arthur:

Adding another 128 - 256 MB of RAM and increasing the overall amount to 256 - 384 MB would definitely improve overall performance. :up:

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Go back into the "Startup" tab and remove the checkmark from the startup entries that I've highlighted in bold print.

Y *SpybotSD TeaTimer C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\TeaTimer.exe*

Y X-Cleaner Freeware 'C:\PROGRA~1\X-CLEA~1\XCleaner_free.exe' -turbo -autostart -NOREBOOT

Y *MSMSGS C\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe /background*

PhotoShow Deluxe Media Manager C:\PROGRA~1\AHEAD\NEROPH ~2\DATA\XTRAS\MSSYSMGR.EXE

MoneyAgent "C: \Program Files\Microsoft Money\System\Money Express.exe"

MSMSGS C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe /background
tkonnect C:\PROGRAM FILES\TISCALI\TKONNECT\TKONNECT.EXE updatemode

Y ScanRegistry C: \windows\scanregw.exe /autorun

Y *TaskMonitor C: \windows\taskmon. exe*

Y SystemTray SysTray.Exe

Y *LoadPowerProfile Rundll32.exe powrprof.dlLLoadCurrentPwrScheme*

Y CHotKey mk9805.exe

Y *InstantAccess C \PROGRA~1\TEXTBR~1.0\BIN\INSTAN~1.EXE /h*

Y RegisterDropHandler C \PROGRA~1\TEXTBR~1.0\BIN\REGIST~1 .EXE

Y LexmarkPrinTray PrinTray. exe

Y *CriticalUpdate c:\windows\SYSTEM\wucrtupd.exe -startup*

Y *Welcome C:\WINDOWS \Welcome.exe /R*

Y S05 Integrator Pass Two C \WINDOWS\SOINTGR.EXE

Y Outpost Firewall C \PROGRAM FILES\AGNITUM\OUTPOST FIREWALL 1.0\outpost.exe /waitservice

Y AVG7_CC C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVGFRE~1\AVGCC.EXE /STARTUP

Y AVG7_EMC C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVGFRE~1\AVGEMC.EXE

Y AVG7_AMSVR C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVGFRE~1\AVGAMSVR.EXE

Y Tweak U I Rundll32.exe TWEAKUI. CPL,TweakMeUp

Y SpywareTerminator 'C: \PROGRAM FILES \S PYWARE TERMINATOR \SpywareTerminatorShield.exe"

InCD C \Program Files\Ahead\InCD\InCD.exe

RemoteControl "C \Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD \PDVDServ.exe"

InterBase Server "C: \Program FiIes\Borland\IntrBase\BIN\ibserver.exe"

Adaptec DirectCD C:\Program Files\DirectCD \DIRECTCD .EXE

Y *LoadPowerProfile Rundll32.exe powrprof.dlLLoadCurrentPwrScheme*

Y RegisterDropHandler C:\PROGRA~1\TEXTBR~1.0\BIN\REGIST~1.EXE

Y SO5 Integrator Pass One C:\WINDOWS\SOINTGR.EXE

Y *SchedulingAgent mstask.exe*

Y Outpost Firewall C:\PROGRAM FILES\AGNITUM\OUTPOST FIREWALL 1 .O\outpost.exe /service

Y *KB891711 c:\windows\SYSTEM\KB891711 \KB891711.EXE*

Y *Machine Debug Manager C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MDM.EXE*

Y KB918547 C \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\K8918547\KB918547.EXE

Y *Cal reminder shortcut C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Works Shared\wkcalrem.exe*

Corel MEDIA FOLDERS INDEXER 8.LNK Corel MEDIA FOLDERS INDEXER 8.LNK.disabled

Click Apply - OK afterwards, but don't restart your computer yet.

Open the Windows Messenger main window, then go into its tools/options/preferences settings until you find the commands that tell it to run in the background and load when Windows starts. Uncheck those commands, then close the program.

Now, you can restart your computer.

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As previously stated in #11, *ScanRegistry, SystemTray, Antivirus entries, and Firewall entries* should always remained checked and running in the background. Most other startup entries can be unchecked and disabled from doing so.

If you would like to research any of the startup entries yourself, this site is the ideal place to do it.

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## Arthur Penney (May 2, 2006)

I thought I would just thank the responders for their comments. I did the alterations as suggested by flavallee, but as it didn't seem to make any noticeable difference I have restored some of them. Teatimer, calendar reminders, and the completely superfluous Windows Hello program.
I feel that the responders have kindly spent their time on what I said in my first post was a non-problem, unlike most of the messages on these boards, such as the one about a persistently slow machine from jeff astle, the dead soccer player. 
Whatever is consuming a lot of cpu kernel % seems to be at low priority and just moves out of the way, even the action of moving the mouse over the desktop causes a drop in the graph. It is not a problem, I was not even aware of the situation when this thread started. It just seems odd. I had rather expected a reply saying either you have got something nasty on your machine that does not show up on the ctrl+alt+del window, or you have some sort of conflicting processes taking place, or you have something authorised and greedy but at a minimum priority. There do not seem to be any programs on a site such as snapfiles etc which will actually identify running processes and their percentage consumption of cpu time, at least not for Windows 98SE. 
Time to drop this thread, I think. Thanks.


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## blues_harp28 (Jan 9, 2005)

Hi check out these two programs.
Free Meter.
http://www.tiler.com/freemeter
Y Kill.
http://www.goblineye.com/ykill.php


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## Arthur Penney (May 2, 2006)

blues_harp28

Thank you for the links.

Although the programs themselves did not give the detailed information, at least not for windows 98se, the support/faq page at tiler.com directed me to the Microsoft KnowledgeBase article http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[LN];227131 , which basically says that the windows system monitor of Kernel CPU Usage may tell lies and can be ignored for the symptoms that I described.

I suspect that Windows 98SE may be unable to supply the detailed information.

Anyway , a puzzle gone.


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## Arthur Penney (May 2, 2006)

Things have been behaving themselves since I started this thread nearly an astonishing year ago, although the thread never really got anywhere except to comment upon my system generally.

One thing that I might mention concerns the odd thing about e-mail stopping midway downloading 200 pieces of unwanted drivel. I now realise it was my fault. Occasionally the AVG update will do an alteration of the e-mail scanner. Since this happens automatically at the start of an Internet session, I think that what was happening was that the e-mail scanner was getting confused and stopped. The remedy is obvious. I now never download e-mails until AVG has finished updating.


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## blues_harp28 (Jan 9, 2005)

Hi Arthur and thanks for the update.


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