How to inhibit background programs in Win98SE?

[colin4228]

Certain programs, such as Norton Disc Doctor, require that no other background programs are running (or else they tend continually to re-start due to disc write).

Background programs can be closed down somewhat laboriously by Control-Alt-Delete and selecting a program to end. This has to be done for each background program.

Is there please a faster means of achieving this which shuts down all the background stuff in just one step - or maybe results in none of the background programs running at the next computer re-start?

colin4228

 

[vacunita]

running Windows98 in safe mode would prevent any background programs from running that are not required for the OS to run.



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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[colin4228]

Thank you vacunita for such a prompt response.

The problem I find every time I run up Windows in safe mode is that the whole of the layout of my desktop (ie, arrangement of all the icons in a tidy fashion) gets messed up. It is then necesary to spend quite a lot of time sorting it all out (because I run with around 35 icons on the desktop).

Can this be avoided?

 

[vacunita]

Unfortunately no. The thing with Safe mode is that it uses the minimal native resolution supported, without any drivers. in win98 that is 640*480 px. This means that the amount of space is reduced, and as such your cons are moved around so they fit in this resolution.

I'm not sure if they return to their locations once you boot up into normal mode again and you get the regular resolution again.



With that said have you tried using msconfig.exe to turn off the applications that may be starting up that you don't want to?

http://netsquirrel.com/msconfig/msconfig_98_and_ME.html

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[TouchToneTommy]

Add "icon restore"

http://users.rcn.com/taylotr/icon_restore.html

so you can save your layout, run safe mode, and restore your desktop when you are done.

 

[colin4228]

Thank you VERY much "TouchToneTommy" for this suggestion.This is a really useful and neat little system addition. Would that it had been part of the original OS.

The combination of Vacunita's suggestion of running in Safe Mode and then using the Icon Restore feature to rectify the mess which Safe Mode makes of the desktop layout provides a complete solution to the problem posed.

I am greatly obliged to you good folk for responding.

colin4228

 

[CobolKid]

For vastly improved control and display of "background" progs (actually all), go to

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

Download the freewware prog "Process Explorer." Besides the excellent detail it displays, Process Explorer has a great kill feature that allows you to easily kill a prog, or a prog and its associated tree. Process Explorer has been a favorite here for many years.

Note that Process Explorer was originally developed by Sysinternals Inc (sysinternals.com), Sysinternals was purchased by Microsoft a while back.



Steve

 

[colin4228]

to cobolkid (Steve),

Many thanks for this further useful tip.

I am currently on walkabout in New Zealand, but will download and evaluate your suggestion when I get back home. It looks and sounds VERY helpful.

Will post a comment idc. when I have tried it on the home machine.

Thanks again for your response Steve.

colin4228

 

[colin4228]

Further to my post above :

Now back from NZ. walkabout, I have downloaded process explorer latest version (11.33) and have converted the zip file to its exe (procexp.exe). However, upon trying to run this, nothing happens. Initially I get the "hour glass" for about 30 secs., then nothing more.

Probably I am doing something stupid, and I would be grateful for your assistance.

I am running win 98SE

colin4228

 

[vacunita]

Converted? Don't you mean extracted? If not, what exactly did you do?

From the link it seems however, that Process Explorer only runs on WinXp and Above.

Unfortunately I don't have a Win98 machine handy right now to see if it works on Win98.


----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[colin4228]

Further to the previous post, I am now back from NZ.

I have downloaded and unzipped Process Explorer v11.33 (which seems to be the latest). The resulting exe is procexp.exe.

However, when I try to run it, nothing appears to happen. The hourglass appears for about 30 secs., that's all.

Probably I'm doing something stupid. Suggestions welcomed please.

Colin4228

 

[colin4228]

As a result of further research and access to another forum, I have discovered that the latest version of Process Explorer which works with Win 98SE is v11.11. This despite later versions being described as 98SE compatible.

For some rather odd reason, the official PE site only offers downloads of the latest version, not of earlier versions which are 98SE compatible.

I eventually located a source of v11.11 at :

afterdawn.com

This seems to run fine under 98SE, but I have yet to learn how to use it!

colin4228

 

[CobolKid]

colin4228,

I was not aware of the version difference, however I should of figured Microsoft would do that as they no longer support Win 98 or 98se. Sorry 'bout that.

Anyway, to kill a process or process tree (win 98se), once you invoke process explorer, simply right click on the process listed in the "process" column of the top panel, then from the context menu that appears, select "kill process" or "kill process tree."


Steve

 

[colin4228]

Thank you Steve,

That all seems to work well. I found a forum which provides loads of information about Process Explorer. It is at

http://forum.sysinternals.com

It was through that forum I came to realise that versions after v11.11 are incompatible with Win 98SE. Several contributors reported a similar problem. But if you can get hold of v11.11 it appears to work fine.

Thanks again,


Colin

 

[johnrfsr]

hi i don't know if this applies.
goto start
hilight run
type msconfig
now you can do one of two things
when the ms config menu comes up
you can click on general and unclick the keys
or you can go to startup and unclick all the boxes
i would make a history of some sort.
a sreen capture, write down the choices.
hit apply your machine will now restart without the startup
programs.
after you have finshed doing whatever,
retype msconfig and restore the original configuration.

johnrfsr

 

[colin4228]

Thank you johnrfsr. Above in this thread you will see that Vacunita suggested the MSCONFIG approach, and it works. However it is "fussy" and as you say one needs to remember carefully what was inhibited so it can be un-inhibited.

The easiest solution all round is to start up in SAFE MODE (hit F8 during boot up) but the annoying aspect of this was that it left the desktop layout all messed up upon re-booting normally.

The solution to that was the superb little program suggested above by Touch Tone Tommy - Icon Restore. TTT gave a source of this as

http://users.rcn.com/taylotr/icon_restore.html

I now use this on every machine I configure, as a matter of course. It simply and very neatly gives you two additional options when you right-click on My Computer. They are Save Desktop Icon Layout and Restore Desktop Icon Layout. Couldn't be easier, and is beautifully integrated into the WIN 98SE operating system.

(also works fine with Win 2000)

Regards,

 

[johnrfsr]

i am using two screens. what i do is make a sreen capture of each screen now i have a pictorial reference of where every thing was. i don't know, but you may be able to do a screen capture with just one screen.it makes it easy to drag and drop your icons.
there are lot of dualscreen displays on the market. of course it means getting another moniter
however, it sure makes life a lot easier when copy or dragging files from one location to another
just food for thought

johnrfsr